“It just feels so boring and bland compared to Fallout and Skyrim”
Starfield has a “mixed” rating on Steam, which players aren’t surprised about. The hype surrounding Bethesda’s first new IP in over a quarter-century was enormous, and while it managed to surpass 6 million players to become Bethesda’s biggest launch title yet, beating beloved games like Skyrim and Fallout 4, things aren’t looking so good for the expansive space-based RPG two months later.
On Steam, Starfield’s overall rating has dropped to “mixed,” with only 48% of the 5,996 user ratings in the last 30 days being positive. In total, 69% of the 75,701 ratings submitted since the game’s release have been positive. In comparison, both Skyrim and Fallout 4 have “very positive” ratings on Valve’s platform.
Over on the Starfield subreddit, players were unsurprised by the games’ mixed reviews and weighed in with their own thoughts on why it’s a fair response based on their own experiences.
Starfield isn’t compelling enough for some. “I tried hard to get into Starfield, but it just feels so boring and bland compared to my beloved Fallout and Skyrim games,” Kombatsaurus says. According to JumpUpNow, it is “Bethesda’s most mediocre game to date,” adding that “even Fallout 76 has a more gripping gameplay loop and setting.”
Many people who initially enjoyed Starfield have stated that it becomes somewhat stale after a significant amount of time has been invested in it. ” I enjoy it and it’s still one of my top games of the year,” BrotherlyShove791 says, ” but I’m at the 80-hours played mark, and I’m starting to get bored with the game.” ” I enjoy it, but the luster wore off quick. The biggest issue is that there are no ‘different ways to play’, it is just shoot. Feels empty without dynamic ways to play and build your character.”
Some, like Talex1995, believe the RPG would benefit from being a hand-crafted experience on a smaller scale. ” The procedurally generated aspect ruined this for me tbh,” they say. “Too many of the planets have repeated bases, which detracts from the immersion.” Too many of the planets have repeated bases and it ruins the immersiveness. They should have focused more on a few planets and fleshed them out.”
Of course, Starfield is still in its early stages, and with the help of the modding community and official mod support via the Creation Kit, we may see that user rating improve in the future.