Starfield doesn’t get enough credit for fixing Fallout 4’s biggest blunder

Since its launch in September 2023, Starfield has faced its fair share of criticism, mostly for its open-world galaxy feeling largely empty and lifeless at first despite there being 1000 planets to explore, with players seemingly preferring past Bethesda RPGs with smaller maps but much more to see and do across them , and this was evident by the huge surge in popularity Fallout 4 Seen after the launch of the live-action Amazon Prime Video adaptation. However, there is one thing Starfield Has significantly better than Fallout 4And it comes down to the role-playing aspect of the game.

Fallout 4 Saw players become the sole survivorWhose name would be forgotten, was the only survivor of their vault. Vault 111 was an experiment by Vault-Tec to observe the effects of long-term cryogenic stasis on unsuspecting test subjects, but the experiment fell apart because the staff was only supplied for 180 days, with instructions to evacuate upon receiving an All-clear. Signal that finally never came. As supplies dwindled, the Vault’s security team led a mutiny against the Overseer that killed many, and no survivors left the Vault, leaving the test subjects frozen in their pods for over a century.

In 2227, the sole survivors and their spouse are reawakened by the mercenary Conrad Kellogg and his group, who open the spouse’s cryogenic tube with the intention of kidnapping Shawn. Although conscious, the sole survivor is trapped in their cryogenic pod and is powerless to do anything but watch their spouse killed and their child abducted before being refrozen, awakening on October 10, 2287, and escaping the Vault, vowing revenge. their spouse. Death and find beauty.

Starfield lets players create their own story

Rather than playing a predefined character’s story

Despite Starfieldthe criticism, It’s a step-up in terms of roleplaying from Fallout 4Bring back the feeling of building a unique reputation In a Bethesda world by letting players completely create their own character, rather than a pre-written one. While both Fallout 4 And Starfield Let players build their character’s key skills using Fallouts special system, and Starfields more general skills tab, players can also establish their backstory, choosing what planet they come from, whether they have a good relationship with their parents, whether they are religious, what career they used to have and what side of the law they used to be on fall on Meanwhile, Fallout 4The backstory of Sole Survivor was a bit pre-determined, with Nate being a retired US Army officer. it. Army veteran and Nora is a lawyer.

When combined with the tools to customize physical appearance and names, Starfield Has more replayability in a sense, like Players can create all sorts of characters to roam the settled systems. From here, they may choose to interact with certain groups or people in a different way based on their past – for example, someone with a past as a thief may be more comfortable with the Crimson Fleet than the United Colonies systeff, opening up far. More roleplaying opportunities that remain in character for each build.

Starfield leaving the voice protagonist was the right call

Next let players imagine the unique voice of their characters

While Fallout 4‘s Sole Survivor was an interesting character and went on an emotional journey as they searched for their son, which was exemplified by the voice acting of Brian T. Delaney and Courtenay Taylor, Starfield Made the right call in abandoning the idea of ​​a voiced protagonist in Starfield. As reported by Forbes, Elias Toufexis and Cissy Jones were originally going to voice the player character, but this idea changed during productionAnd after Bethesda opted to have the protagonist mute with only text options for dialogue, Toufexis and Jones became the two companions Sam Coe and Andreja.

By taking this approach to StarfieldThe protagonist, Bethesda, allowed players to imagine the unique voice of each of their characters when they read the text options, which made each build feel more like its own, and not just a reskin of an established character. For role-playing and more immersion, this is certainly the right move, offering much more replayability where players can create their own stories for years to come.

Source: Forbes