After what feels like a lifetime’s wait, Starfield’s release is just around the corner. Sure you could spend these remaining days literally staring into space (see what I did there?) waiting for the game to launch, but there are probably more productive things you could be doing to prepare.
Are you sure your set-up is ready to start playing as soon as the game drops? Will your first playthrough be one that’s worth sticking with? Could your hype levels go just a little bit higher? The chronomark is ticking so you better get started.
1. Clear Some Storage Space and Preload
Playing Starfield on Xbox, or on Windows PC via the Xbox app? You can already preload the game. Steam preloads begin on Aug. 30 so although you’ll have to wait a little longer, there’s still plenty of time to get the game installed before the early access period opens on Aug. 31.
Preloading the game not only means that you’ll be able to jump into the game the very second that it launches, but it also gives you plenty of time to clear out some storage space if you need to find room for the sizeable 125GB required by the game.
2. Wipe Your Social Slate Clean
It’s important to spend time with your loved ones. New Bethesda games don’t come around all that often though, so they’ll surely understand if you skip out on that all-important family barbeque. As for work – pfft, no way.
Of course, you could always feign illness on the day, but maybe it’s better to just be upfront and let them know you’ll be off exploring the galaxy instead. That’s got to be worthy of at least a whole week shut up indoors with no distractions. Forget touching grass, you’ll be busy touching moon rock.
3. Get a Spare Battery Charged
Let’s be honest, nobody ever sat down to play Skyrim for a quick 10-minute session. Bethesda games are built to suck you in and keep you in your seat. Starfield’s immersive worlds look to be no exception.
The last thing you want while you’re getting fired on by pirates is for your controller battery to die. You might not be able to afford your own custom Starfield set-up for the occasion but it might be worth keeping a spare battery pack next to those easy-to-reach snacks and drinks when you’re playing a marathon session.
4. Soak in the Trailers (Again)
For the longest time, it felt as though we really knew nothing about Starfield other than that it was ‘the Bethesda space game.’ Since then, there have been several phenomenal trailers, not to mention a super in-depth 45-minute-long Gameplay Deep Dive.
While there’s still a huge amount of stuff that we don’t know about the game, there’s an awful lot to unpack in what we have been shown. If you’ve only watched the trailers once you’ve probably missed or forgotten some things so now’s the time to go back and have another look. It’s worth it just to listen to that beautiful main theme again.
5. Upgrade Your PC
With games such as Baldur’s Gate 3 proving that we’ve truly entered a new generation in gaming fidelity, you may be looking from the Starfield gameplay footage to your dusty PC and wincing slightly.
Sure you can play the game on Xbox Series consoles, or even over the cloud, but for the very best Starfield experience, PC is where it’s going to be at. We already know that the Xbox Series X (& S for that matter) will only run the game at a rather disappointing 30 FPS, but over on PC, the sky’s your FPS limit. Well… 60 FPS is your limit, but that’ll do us nicely! If ever there was a game worthy of an excuse to swap out that old graphics card for something new, this is surely it.
6. Splash Out On the Premium Edition
While you’ve got your wallet open you might as well take the plunge on the game’s Premium Edition as well. It’ll give you access to the game’s first expansion, Shattered Space, once it’s released, and you’ll also get some in-game skins and digital copies of the game’s soundtrack and art book.
That’s all very nice, but the major perk of the Premium Edition is to get Early Access to the game. In other words, you’ll be able to start exploring the farthest reaches of space on Sept. 1, rather than having to wait a whole five days more until Sept. 6. Some might say it’s only a few extra days of waiting, but you’ve waited long enough at this point.
7. Avoid FOMO With a Gamepass Subsciption
Maybe, (whisper it) you never really brought into the Skyrim hype. Perhaps Fallout 76 got your eyebrows raised about future Bethesda projects. Or you might just be more of a fantasy kinda person and the whole NASA-punk thing just isn’t doing it for you.
Yet, there’s that old feeling of FOMO rearing its head as you know this is all anybody is going to be talking about for the next few weeks. You’re certainly not dropping hundreds of dollars on that ultra fancy Constellation Edition, but maybe it’s worth taking out a Game Pass sub for a month to see what all the fuss is about.
8. Watch Some Classic Sci-Fi Films
The team at Bethesda have talked up the game’s cinematic aspirations a lot in the lead-up to release. While the game certainly does have that Hollywood sheen, it’s also clearly taking inspiration from a lot of great sci-fi films.
What better way to get yourself in the mood for playing the game than to watch some of those classics again. 2001: A Space Oddysey is a clear touchpoint for the realistic space vibe that Starfield is aiming for, as is the more recent Interstellar. Then there’s Alien to give you a taste of working life on board a spaceship – if you’re brave enough.
Even Bethesda’s Pete Hines is getting in on the sci-fi recommendations. Just the other day, Hines tweeted that Starfield fans should watch Unknown: Cosmic Time Machine on Netflix, to really get them in the space exploration mood.
9. Clear Your Backlog
This year has already been an all-timer for new game releases – and a lot of them have been very long games. While Baldur’s Gate 3 is currently stealing everyone’s time, chances are strong that you’re still juggling Tears of the Kingdom, Diablo 4, and Final Fantasy 16 as well.
Take this time to try and clear as many of those games out of the way now, or it could be some time before you’re headed back to them. And y’know, there’s also about a thousand other games coming out before the end of the year that you also need to find time to play. The struggles of being a gamer, am I right?!
10. Silence Your Social Media
We know that Starfield looks the part. We know that the character customization is going to be top notch, and we know that there’s going to be hundreds of hours of stuff to keep us engaged with the game for years to come.
But Bethesda has promised us mystery and revelations that we still have no clue about whatsoever. And somebody is going to take great delight in spoiling it all on the internet the minute the game launches. Now might be a good time to step away from social media for a bit.
It’ll only suck more time away from you playing anyway.
How else are you planning to prepare yourself for Starfield’s imminent launch? Let us know down in the comments below.
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