Highlights
- Bethesda's Pete Hines reveals that there is still a lot to do in Starfield even after finishing the main quest, highlighting the game's immense size and content.
- Players can spend hours exploring and engaging in various role-playing activities on the game's many planets and cities, including building settlements and ships.
- With Hines praising Starfield's main quest narrative as the best in a Bethesda game, fans can expect an exciting and immersive storyline, but also have the option to focus on other activities and fully explore the vast galaxy.
Bethesda's Head of Publishing Pete Hines hints that there's still tons to do in Starfield, even after finishing the main quest. As Bethesda's behemoth space-faring RPG nears its September 6 release date, Todd Howard and Pete Hines have been appearing on interviews and podcasts, with Howard even recently taking the stage at Geoff Keighley's Gamescom Opening Night Live to unveil Starfield's live action launch trailer.
Starfield has been touted by Bethesda Game Studios and Todd Howard as perhaps the most ambitious western RPG ever made. As the legendary RPG studio's first original IP and its first traditional single player game since 2015's Fallout 4, Starfield has been garnering a ton of hype and attention from the gaming world, as it's become one of the most highly anticipated games coming out in an already stacked 2023. What took Starfield to the next level was Todd Howard's reveal that the space RPG will feature over 1,000 fully explorable planets. This inevitably kick-started comparisons to Hello Games' much improved No Man's Sky. However, Starfield plans to set itself apart with its commitment to realistically populated worlds, intricate factions and companions, and what's being called by another Bethesda executive the studio's best main quest narrative ever.
On Twitter, Darrius Fears posted a clip of an interview Bethesda's Pete Hines had recently done. In it, Hines calls back to a conversation with Starfield's director Todd Howard, where Howard was surprised to hear that Hines spent upwards of 80 hours playing the game without ever touching the main quest. Hines went on to mention that Starfield "doesn't even really get going" until the player beats the main quest line.
This type of sentiment may be surprising to hear, as it's usually attached to ongoing live service games like Destiny or the recent Diablo 4. However, it's safe to assume that Hines is speaking on the sheer size of Starfield and all the different types of role playing that can be done on its many planets and cities, much of which can likely still be accomplished after beating the story. It's also possible Hines is referring to Starfield's robust settlements and ship building systems. Todd Howard had previously stated that players won't be able to truly dive deep into building ambitious settlements and ships until very late in the game after they've amassed enough resources to be able to do so. Thus, that fantasy of building a space settlement may be relegated to late in the narrative or after beating the story entirely, depending on players' pacing.
With Pete Hines also mentioning in the clip that Starfield features his favorite main quest narrative in a Bethesda Game Studios title, fans should be quite excited to experience the game's storyline and characters. That said, fans eager to basically never touch the main quest and get lost in Starfield's vast galaxy may be compelled to do so now, especially since there will be so much more to do in Starfield even after beating it.
Starfield is coming to PC and Xbox Series X|S on September 6.