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

 

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 it for myself. It is a city that is truly a feast for the eyes in way that Night City in Cyberpunk 2077 was not even though the city is much bigger than Neon. In my opinion, the city in Cyberpunk 2077 was generally speaking, a lifeless city without much character. The ads were incredibly annoying and jarring to see. It makes the city really uninteresting to walk around in. While people may complain about the NPCs in Starfield not having as much character as a game such as Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption 2 and Grand Theft Auto V, Starfield's NPCS are more interactive and realistic than what we have seen in many Bethesda titles. Skyrim for example has lifeless NPCs that are just staring at the sky. Starfield, while not the best game ever made, is big step up from how lifeless many of the NPCs were in the previous games. 

Neon is a city those revels in color and sharp, geometric shapes.

One of Starfield's greatest advantages over other games is that the game has a great variety of styles and architecture to the cities. Unlike Skyrim's stale style that is repeated throughout almost all the cities in the game, every city in Starfield seems to have its own culture and history. Neon in particular is a masterpiece and a huge step up from such cities as Whiterun in Skyrim, which were more like a Celtic hill city in the Ancient Roman era. The city is so well-made that I think that players complaining about this game are stuck onto the tiny and lifeless cities of the Skyrim era. 

Cities such as Neon are what make video games such an incredible medium to work around in. 

Neon at first glance when you land on the ocean planet of Voii, it seems like the landing platform at Bespin in the Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. However, it also very similar to the landing platform on Kamino, especially with the rain on the planet. It is a very errie analogue to that planet in Star Wars. I would not be surprised that the planet and city was inspired by those movies. However, that landing platform only gives you an inkling of what is inside the city.

When you approach the entrance to the city, you come across a scripted scene of security officers who are questioning a man who is attempting to exit the city to smuggle out Aurora, the drug that makes Neon so wealthy.  This scene represents the many cop scenes that are filmed on bodycams today in America and I love the presentation of this scene. There is nothing such as this in Skyrim with such a nature to it. 

When you go into the main part of the city, you greeted with an array of colors and many beautiful symbols of corporate might in the game. This is one of several strengths in Starfield. There is a sense of how these cities have life in them and have a culture.

Seafood was the city's original dominant industry before Aurora became all important for commerce

When you look at the city streets, you see how the game's engine, while not the most advanced, is capable of really showing crowds in all their glory. You see security forces patrolling the streets and overhearing conversations between all kinds of individuals. It is a city that is alive and while it may not as interactive as we wish, it is huge step up from Skyrim, which is a game that people tend to overrate too much. 

What I found interesting about Neon is that it is so different from places such as New Atlantis and Akila. New Atlantis is closer to Neon in its style than Akila but Neon is truly a Cyberpunk city with all the trappings in there. 

The industrial sections of the City of Neon

What is even more interesting is how everything looks functional, and it seems like it could actually be a real colony in space. Unlike the towns in Skyrim, which make you question the sustainability of such places, the developers at Bethesda seem to have understood that space colonies need to get their electricity from somewhere and there is a whole section of the city that show show electricity is supplied to the whole city. While some players may grumble that this isn't necessary, it shows how Bethesda was interested in trying to make these cities seem realistic.

The main market in Neon

While I wish that Neon was a larger city, I believe that Bethesda managed to accomplish what they wanted with this being a main quest hub in the game. Neon is a city of life and lights and we should try to appreciate what Bethesda has made here.