Posts

Showing posts from January, 2024

Starfield and the Urban environment in Bethesda games

Image
 I wrote an article about my impressions of Neon in Starfield as well as my impressions of Akila and New Atlantis. These cities are the main hubs in the game, and they represent some of the best work I have seen Bethesda do with urban environments in video games. In comparison with the sparse towns of Skyrim, these cities are some of the most realistic cities I have seen in a video game in my opinion. It is definitely better than what we had in Cyberpunk 2077, with its rather boring scenes and static npcs. Of course, people have been trying to criticize the game for months, nitpicking everything they can about the game. They have been claiming that Starfield is not a game that is worth the time to buy. However, I have to say that the cities alone in this game are worthy of the price of admission.  This is one of the most beautiful aspects of the game. Bethesda has always been moving towards more realism in their games since they made The Elder Scrolls: Arena some 30 years ago. Some peo

The City of Neon: Bethesda's Space Hong Kong and my impressions

Image
  The alleyways of the City of Neon Starfield has undergone some intense scrutiny by gamers of all types. Much is written about its reviews on Steam though I tend to believe that these reviews are generally speaking being written in order to push agenda that seeks to taint Bethesda's reputation. The company has generally been more receptive to the will of gamers than most companies. Their contribution to the modding community is astounding and has given players an incredible amount of creativity that is missing in many other games. While they are not a prefect company, they were able to release Starfield with few bugs and with no microtransactions in the game. While the game has flaws, Starfield is game with a great start and it will continue to get better with more updates. Unlike Akila's earth tones, Neon revels in colors. The pleasure city of Neon is one of my favorite parts of the game. I made sure to stay away from any descriptions of the city after release and experience

Why playing Starfield is so important to me

Image
  While I wouldn't say that I am the most prolific Starfield player, I will say that I truly enjoyed the game. Starfield is something really special that cannot be touched by many other games. It isn't the best game ever made but honestly that is really tough to replicate. We have reached a point in the development of video games that it seems really tough for games to truly be innovative in a way that they were in 1980s. It is really strange to me that people want to continue criticizing Starfield as if it is a game that was supposed to be prefect. This is a video game and people should accept that. Coming into this game with those expectations, I just have to say that I love the game and enjoy it for what's it worth. I had always wanted a game that was like Skyrim in space but I knew that such a game would not be a duplicate of Skyrim and that it would be its own thing. That is what people seem to forget about Starfield. It isn't supposed to be a continuation of Skyri

Starfield and The Haves and Have Nots

Image
  The beauty of Starfield. Realism in Science-Fiction is a remarkable achievement. While people may criticize Starfield for being too big, there is something that most criticisms seem to miss entirely, the social commentary.  Having social commentary can be tough, especially in capital heavy projects such as video games. The people who at the corporate level, generally speaking tend to be very pragmatic about art. They are kind of individuals who artists do not like dealing with. However, they are important people behind the scenes, and they have influence in order to prevent artists from going off course. While some artists decide to not deal with this and become auteurs, people who are interested in their creations alone without any interference from anyone. However, such auteurs tend to be rare in America. The Entrance to Akila City Starfield is a game that aims to be mainstream but also has the touch of auteur in some ways. The game has the touch of ambition from a studio that has

Starfield and those who aren't complaining

Image
  There is a narrative that Starfield is entering this year with many players criticizing it and saying that it is not worth the money. However, this is largely the opinion of a very active and angry minority who may have legitimate issues with the game but are using it to stir up conflict between those who dislike the game and those who enjoy it. majority is always going to remain somewhat quiet in its approach online communication. The internet has always been seen as a great leveler of communications but in reality, it has been mostly used as a way to increase the visibility of people who are generally speaking, outside of the mainstream. There is another side to this issue, in that people are using online communications to silence others they believe in ways that are contrary to them. This is why the Starfield fanbase has seemed to be under siege, with YouTube being filled with negative content and little about the many mods that are being made. The Internet is as usual a home for

Starfield and the Nature of Exploration

Image
 The central aspect of Starfield's gameplay and story is exploration. Unlike Skyrim, which is more about a traditional questing model, Starfield attempts to attach some of this traditional model to what we see in other games that are more sandbox in their nature. Starfield is essentially a game about exploration. The main faction in the game, Constellation is devoted to the exploration of the Settled Systems and to continue man's desire to understand the cosmos. Within that context, Constellation is a highly exclusive group of heavily armed but also idealistic explorers. Considering that the Settled systems has so much piracy, it makes sense for Starfield to heavily feature combat and space battles. However, the battles in this game are not the main focus of the game's themes. Unlike Skyrim, where the player's default identity is assumed to be Nord Male who is destined to save the Empire from attacks of dragons. The main character is already a great warrior who is going