Todd Howard, director of Starfield, Skyrim, and Fallout 4, amongst numerous other Bethesda classics, shared his thoughts with BBC in an interview last year.
He talked about the enormous scale of the game, admitting it was much larger than anything they had done before. He even wondered if they were in over their heads with the scope of the game.
Starfield Had a Grand Vision Once Upon a Time
In the BBC interview, Howard talked about how Starfield aimed to give players unmatched freedom. As part of a space exploration group, players could travel to over a thousand planets, customize ships and weapons, and dive into countless stories, missions, and side quests.
The studio wanted the game to be something that players would engage with for a long time. However, the question remained about how long is too long.
Many gamers often discuss whether modern games need hundreds of hours of content. Shorter, more focused experiences are sometimes preferred. According to Howard, there’s a risk that in trying to offer too many options, errors and inconsistencies might slip through, and lead to a messier experience.
Although, experienced RPG studios like Obsidian and Larian would heavily disagree. But Bethesda isn’t on their level, not when it comes to pure roleplaying mechanics at least.
Howard, however, believed that even if players spent only 10 or 20 hours on the main story, the choices they encountered would make each player’s experience unique and enjoyable.
During the game’s development, Howard admitted to feeling overwhelmed by the sheer number of choices and options.
At times we thought, ‘are we in over our heads?’
He believed that a game’s longevity depended on these options, as they kept players thinking about the game even when they weren’t playing.
Despite the challenges, he felt confident that they were on to something special when he found himself losing track of time while testing and playing the game.
Reality Falls Show When It Comes to Starfield
When the game finally launched, it received mostly positive reviews, thanks to its decent technical aspects, and not being absolutely buggy or broken. On the surface, it seemed like a well-functioning game.
However, a deeper inspection revealed several disappointments. The story, characters, narrative, exploration, gameplay, and gunplay all fell short of expectations. For a game meant to be Bethesda’s grand comeback after Fallout 4 and Fallout 76, it was rather underwhelming.
A few months after its release, the initial excitement and hype had faded. Months on, Starfield was no longer a hot topic in the gaming community, not for positive reasons anyways.
This was supposed to be the studio’s chance to prove itself, but it seemed it had bitten off more than it could chew. The grand vision Howard had for the game, with its vast universe and countless options, didn’t quite hit the mark.
Comparisons with other space exploration games, like No Man’s Sky, were inevitable. While the game promised freedom to explore and a rich storytelling experience, it didn’t quite live up to the legacy of Bethesda’s previous titles.
Howard argued that making the game an Xbox exclusive allowed for better focus, but it didn’t seem to translate into the expected success.
How do you feel about Starfield almost a year after its release? Let us know in the comments!
