Highlights
- Some fans are disappointed with the lack of freedom in exploration in Starfield, as certain boundaries restrict players from moving too far away from their ship or finding resources easily.
- The inclusion of mods and potential updates from Bethesda developers could address fans' concerns and improve the game's exploration aspect, bringing it closer to the total freedom anticipated by many.
- Players have also expressed the desire for faster traversal through the implementation of ship flight on planets or the addition of vehicles, as traversing on foot can be time-consuming due to the large scales of terrain. Additionally, fans want more and larger mining resources on planets for a more satisfying gameplay experience.
Given the reactions and impressions among fans during Starfield's reveals and showcases, many expectations adhered to that of complete freedom in exploration and spaceship flight. While it is still very manageable for many players, some fans have voiced their complaints over the lack of freedom in exploration.
Despite this, the confirmation of mods eventually becoming available for Xbox and the potential of a plethora of updates from developers at Bethesda, Starfield still has the potential to become the best space game, especially within the realm of its exploration. If developers can adhere to fans' wishes based on their feedback, it will be incredibly beneficial.
5 Removal Of Boundaries
One of the biggest surprises for many players at Starfield's release was the reveal of exploration boundaries, which hinders players from moving any further away from their ship. Some feel that this hinders the idea of freedom in exploration, especially when looking for resources to mine which can help with the research features present in the game.
While there is a mod for players on PC to completely remove these boundaries, it will result in the game crashing after continuing forward, which makes it less favored at this current point in time. These boundaries could stem from Starfield's engine, which would explain the presence of loading screens when entering a building or landing on a new planet. If Bethesda could manage to change this entirely, it would push Starfield closer to the total freedom that many fans had first anticipated.
4 Traversal Vehicle/Ship Flight On Planet
With the aforementioned activity of mining present in Starfield and the requirement to traverse across different planets to find certain materials, faster traversal should be implemented. Currently, if players decide to either explore a planet to find something new, or specifically mine, they would have to do so on foot, which can take quite a while since most planets have huge scales of terrain.
Unlike No Man's Sky and many fellow space titles, players cannot take off and fly around on the planet itself. While the presence of a jetpack can help, especially for a planet with low gravity, the potential inclusion of ship flight on planets, or the addition of vehicles that can take players from one zone to another in quick succession, will drastically improve traversal and exploration in Starfield.
3 Bigger Mining Resources
Speaking of searching for resources and materials for research, players have also voiced concerns over how small most of the mining spots are over terrain on most planets. This is different from No Man's Sky specifically, as players will often find areas that contain plenty of materials ready to be collected, making its mining mechanic an instrumental part of its gameplay loop.
While Starfield's combat, space flight, and companion dynamics are arguably at the forefront of the game, fans would love to see planets filled with more materials and that are larger, considering the aforementioned boundaries that are put in place for exploration.
2 Better Looting UI
When it comes to the aftermath of enemy encounters or even traversal in search of new items, the UI is incredibly integral to the looting experience. As seen in titles such as Cyberpunk 2077, while looting, players can see what it is they will be picking up, whether this is a new weapon or clothing, it will help players loot a lot faster.
In Starfield, players will have to open up the looting menu to pick out which items they would prefer to leave or take, and this can break the flow of gameplay. Given the presence of mods and the likelihood of modders making their own unique UI, this could be changed a lot sooner, but it would be beneficial for Bethesda to implement this so that Xbox players will attain this too.
1 Longer Space Flight
Aside from combat in space going up against other NPCs, players won't have as much to do in space as they may have anticipated. Taking No Man's Sky, Elite Dangerous, and Sky Citizen into consideration, fans assumed the space exploration present in those games would be replicated here on this occasion, but it appears that this may not be the case with Starfield at this current stage. Since the option of fast traveling and landing is available through the main menu, some feel that there is no need to take off in space.
While fans may feel that this may not be changed in the future, not all hope is lost as Hello Games worked toward providing a far more satisfying space experience with No Man's Sky over the years after its release. If both modders and developers at Bethesda can provide adjustments and improvements to the space flight experience here, it would likely result in positive feedback all around. This could be dependent on whether Bethesda's engine can allow this to be implemented, as some fans suspect it may be what is holding the new IP back from reaching its full potential, but they will be hoping these tweaks and adjustments can be done in the future.
Starfield is now available on Xbox Series X/S and PC.