Starfield and the Nature of Exploration




 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 to save the people of the Empire. Starfield has no such narrative in there.

In Starfield, the player character is special in that they have some connection to the magic minerals that some communication properties. It is because of such special abilities that the player character becomes part of Constellation. However, the player character is simply one piece of a whole, having to work with a great many people to get more information about the nature of the magic minerals. The game does not make player into an all-compassing hero who can do everything. In the character creation screen allows for the player to able to create any character they wish but these characters are not extraordinary hero archetypes. 

This is a change in how Bethesda approached it games.

In comparison with Skyrim, Starfield is more about realism than being a story about archetypes. This ties right back into exploration. The player character is more like a heavily armed Nasa Astronaut many years into the future than a hero who is going to save the Empire. This is probably why so many people gave issues with the game. It doesn't make the player a great hero but more of an appendage to organization trying to explore the cosmos. That's probably why people are saying that this game is boring. 

Exploration for its own sake is an important aspect of Starfield. The game itself talks about how humanity is no longer interested in exploring and is more than satisfied with its internal squabbles.

People seem to no longer to want to explore. Starfield is a great step towards reclaiming that spirit. 

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