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I've finally gotten around to playing Starfield and after fixing the terrible lighting (and not fixing the terrible UI, I think I've missed something when installing SkyUI) I think it's peak Bethesda at its worst. The only thing that keeps me going is "player sees number go up: neuron activation".
The main quest is surprisingly anemic even for Bethesda. The planets are realistically barren and I really want a land vehicle to get around on. Fast travel is essential, but it's such a kludge. Lore and exposition? Ah, you'll glean enough if you play enough. But I want to put more mods on my gun and for this I need to level up this and level up that, to gather this and to gather that and so on.
I’ve spent (perhaps too much) time this last week playing Path of the Dovahkiin, a Skyrim modpack.
It replaces the loot, xp, and spawning systems to make something much more like Path of Exile or Borderlands: blitz through packs of enemies, sift their corpses for cool gear, portal back to town to sell it and level up, repeat. Most of the existing mechanics of Skyrim are adjusted to suit this character-improving feedback loop.
The end result is a game that sacrifices verisimilitude in favor of a very different part of the Elder Scrolls experience. Bethesda always tapped into that sort of number-go-up power fantasy; it was just trading off with all the other design goals of their fantasy worlds. Can’t let your merchants buy anything without breaking the economy in half. Can’t keep the full space of spells and skills without taking dev time from quests and environments. And, of course, can’t limit you from being a murderhobo or a paragon.
That’s what I’m thinking about when you say “neuron activation.” Bethesda games have always done it, but they are forced into compromises by the rest of their game. Skyrim is 12 years in to a fanatical modding scene, determined to take the game in each of these conflicting directions. Give Starfield a few years, and I expect its community to home in on its stronger points. Until then…have you considered reinstalling Skyrim?
Every time I consider reinstalling Skyrim I:
God, I wasted so much time installing this pack. I didn’t realize, when I started, that the launcher only automated the installations and not downloads. It pops up a window for the right versions, but you have to click “download” manually unless you have some sort of nexus subscription.
It was far too long and involved far too many bullshit graphics mods. I wish there was middle ground to get all the gameplay mods without downloading 100GB of 4K rugs. I set up an autoclicker and chatted with my gf while I tended it. The upside is that I learned a lot about new music genres!
In the end, I’ve made an illusion mage who frenzies entire rooms, then goes invisible while they lose their damn minds. Anyone who survives is paralyzed and hacked to tiny pieces. It’s good fun, and cheerfully breaks the normal gameplay in half. But that’s kind of the idea!
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