Starfield: Unexpected DLC
According to my Steam statistics, I last played Starfield on 19th December 2023. I bought the game upon its release in September of that year and played in total for 136 hours. Starfield held my interest for three and a half month and I wrote seven blog posts about various aspects of the game. Although there were some engaging aspects to Starfield, I did feel that that the game was somewhat lacking in systems and content, at that point in its lifecycle. I also think that the marketing and player expectations associated with Starfield were overblown and unrealistic. The shadow of Skyrim looms large over all new Bethesda releases and they don’t seem able to quite recapture that magic. Hence, I inevitably drifted away from Starfield and to another game and was effectively “done” with it. I have not played the game since which seems to validate the theory that game are becoming increasingly more ephemeral.
According to my Steam statistics, I last played Starfield on 19th December 2023. I bought the game upon its release in September of that year and played in total for 136 hours. Starfield held my interest for three and a half month and I wrote seven blog posts about various aspects of the game. Although there were some engaging aspects to Starfield, I did feel that that the game was somewhat lacking in systems and content, at that point in its lifecycle. I also think that the marketing and player expectations associated with Starfield were overblown and unrealistic. The shadow of Skyrim looms large over all new Bethesda releases and they don’t seem able to quite recapture that magic. Hence, I inevitably drifted away from Starfield and to another game and was effectively “done” with it. I have not played the game since which seems to validate the theory that game are becoming increasingly more ephemeral.
With this in mind, I was somewhat surprised when I launched Steam a few days ago to find that there was new DLC available for Starfield. Furthermore because I had bought the premium edition of the game at launch, I could access this new content for free and avoid the £8.99 charge. Apparently, the first DLC for the game, Shattered Space, completely passed me by. This was additional story content which added new factions, creatures and bosses. It also provided further weapons, armour and equipment, as well as crafting and research materials. The latest DLC, Terran Armada, is similarly a story expansion but also includes the Free Lanes update which adds the ability to freely fly between planets in a star system and reduce the game’s dependency on loading screens. The DLC also includes the new X-Tech system, allowing players to further customise their gear. The new content also adds lots of minor additional features and quality of life changes to Starfield.
Naturally the appearance of this DLC after all this time, piqued my curiosity and I immediately considered re-installing the game. No doubt this was exactly what Bethesda intended. However, I am currently writing a blog post about gamers tendency to move from game to game and how it is easy to lose focus on a specific title due to the sheer abundance of games available nowadays. Hence, I immediately decided not to download Starfield for a second time. Crimson Desert is my primary RPG at present and it displaced Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon; a game that I have not finished at present. That game also dropped some unexpected DLC recently, compounding my dilemma further. With regard to Starfield, when I stopped playing in 2023, I was effectively done with it. I didn’t see that it had any more to offer and I’m not sure if two additional storylines change that. My disinterest in the game was due to a lack of engaging systems and a compelling reason to stick around.
To be fair, Bethesda have made it abundantly clear that the recent new content for the game is just that and the new DLC does not change the base game into Starfield 2.0 to coin a phrase. This is not like No Man’s Sky where multiple patches effectively re-invented the game over time. Although the DLC for Starfield addresses many issues that have been a source of criticism, it is still essentially the same as it was at launch. The game offers a focused experience that some will find to their liking, especially those who like the concept of a vast and somewhat barren universe. However, those wanting Skyrim in space (which so many people did) will remain disappointed. As such there is not sufficient reason for me to start playing again. My gaming time is best used focusing on those titles that hold my interest. For me, Starfield was an interesting experiment which didn’t quite hit the mark and at present, I am more inclined to return to No Man’s Sky, if I am to start playing a space themed game once again.
