Image Source: Electronic Arts via Twinfinite<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nFor all its expert craftsmanship though, those games like so many others drew their inspiration primarily from space operas such as Star Wars, Star Trek, and Dune. We share a human connection to the characters in them, but they’re too fantastical to trigger any deeper existential feelings (although it should be noted that a handful of Star Trek\u2019s 700+ episodes do manage it).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Great though they may be, all too often the plot can be boiled down to a simple battle between the good guy humans versus the bad guy aliens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Starfield\u2019s Great Unknown<\/h2>\n\n\n\n But Starfield, with its NASA punk aesthetic, is more grounded. While humans have been able to colonize the stars, there are, at the start of the game at least, no other intelligent species with whom the human species are friends or foes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the gameplay trailer for Starfield, set against a backdrop of mysterious planets and a rousing score, a voice-over states: “Humanity has always hunted for knowledge in the unknown”. The unknown is very much the status of Starfield\u2019s overall narrative, even mere days before its release. All we know is that, at the heart of the story is Constellation, an organization whose discovery of an alien artifact sets you off on your mission to make contact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s pretty standard issue sci-fi plotting, but one which could lead the game in two very different directions.<\/p>\n\n\n\nImage Source: Bethesda Game Studios via Twinfinite<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nTypically, video game history dictates that the artifact will lead us to the discovery of a hostile alien race. Consequently, we\u2019ll get to unload heaps of ammo into hordes of little green men. However, for Starfield\u2019s big reveal to be a simple descent into bombastic action would be a supreme failing of the potential this game could have to affect people in a more poignant way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Look, we know this game will have plenty of action. We know there will be rogue factions and space pirates and plenty of ugly-looking creatures to shoot and loot. All that should hopefully play great. However, the trailers, hype, and secrecy surrounding Starfield have me hopeful Bethesda could be aspiring to something more elevated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is first and foremost a roleplaying game \u2013 you are the character you design and play. Imagine if all those hours spent peeling back the game\u2019s mysteries led to a reveal that affected not just the character on the screen, but you<\/em> specifically. <\/p>\n\n\n\nIt’s hard for us mere mortals to imagine how this might actually play out in the game. It’s inevitable that we will, at some point in the story, find out the truth behind the alien relics, but what happens then?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Perhaps it will lead to one of those famous Bethesda step-out moments that reveals the already huge galaxy in a new and previously unthinkable way. One which makes us rethink not just the game we’ve been playing, but also the life we’ve been leading outside of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s a big ask. But then again, Starfield is a big game. Is it too much to expect that it does something so small as make me reevaluate my place in the universe?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Great expectations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":394,"featured_media":977745,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ub_ctt_via":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"_article_tier":null},"categories":[8,203511],"tags":[9,181375,132703],"internal-label":[],"article_type":[194383],"coauthors":[{"id":394,"display_name":"James Crosby","user_nicename":"jamescrosby"}],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/twinfinite.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Starfield-Official-Art.jpg?fit=1200%2C675","author_info":{"display_name":"James Crosby","author_link":"https:\/\/twinfinite.net\/author\/jamescrosby\/"},"apple_news_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/twinfinite.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Starfield-Official-Art.jpg?fit=1200%2C675","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/twinfinite.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/980031"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/twinfinite.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/twinfinite.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twinfinite.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/394"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twinfinite.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=980031"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/twinfinite.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/980031\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":980347,"href":"https:\/\/twinfinite.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/980031\/revisions\/980347"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twinfinite.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/977745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/twinfinite.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=980031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twinfinite.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=980031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twinfinite.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=980031"},{"taxonomy":"internal-label","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twinfinite.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal-label?post=980031"},{"taxonomy":"article_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twinfinite.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_type?post=980031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}