Tag: Starfield

As you may know, Bethesda’s Starfield is a game about exploring space. In its universe, an environmental disaster has made Earth unihabitable, forcing humanity to settle among the stars. But the bulk of the universe remains unexplored and uncolonized, which is where you, the player, come in.

Naturally, Starfield’s main quest and side content is built around this theme of exploration. You’ll trek across the galaxy surveying planets, scanning minerals, and building outposts. Most of this exploration is optional — but the main quest necessitates answering the age-old question: What’s out there?

And yet, Starfield’s gameplay designers seem to have forgotten what makes exploration fun. Because they’ve literally copy-and-pasted environments and levels to assemble the main quest.

At about the mid-point of Starfield’s main story, you’re tasked with finding mysterious temples scattered across the stars. But unlike the other story missions that take place across varied locales, these temples are identical. And while each grants you a new power, attaining that power always involves solving a simple, predictable puzzle. They’re all the same — and across all twenty-plus I’ve discovered, they never change.

This is especially strange because Bethesda have done better before. In The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, upon receiving a new power (shout), the game asks you to prove you understand its use with a quick challenge. For example, you can’t progress the Greybeards quest until you’ve used your “Fus Ro” power. And later on, a dungeon requires you to use the “Whirlwind Sprint” power to advance.

Meanwhile, Starfield’s temple puzzles test your ability to float in zero-g — a task that a kindergartener could complete. Again. And again. And again.

It’s painfully predicable. And in being predictable, there’s no sense of discovery. And that is the antithesis of what Starfield is all about.

I can only assume Starfield‘s designers were rushed to finish this aspect of the game. There’s no other explanation. And there’s no excuse.

Here’s a fun fact about Starfield: According to Reddit user iOnlyWantUGone, every time you start a new game plus iteration in Starfield, the odds are increasingly stacked against you.

The game does this on the backend by increasing the damage you receive and decreasing the damage enemies receive, as seen in the table below:

	NG1	NG2	NG3	NG4	NG5
Damage Received	+15%	+30%	+44%	+57%	+69%
Enemy Damage Received	-5%	-10%	-15%	-20%	-25%
	NG6	NG7	NG8	NG9	NG10
Damage Received	+79%	+88%	+94%	+99%	+100%
Enemy Damage Received	-30%	-35%	-40%	-45%	-50%

Presumably, Starfield does this to scale difficulty to player strength. While you don’t keep any of your items or ships in each New Game Plus, you do retain your player progression via skills. And since there’s no level cap, this means you’ll only ever get stronger in Starfield — eventually allowing you to max-out every in-game skill.

You can check out the full Reddit explanation post for yourself here. Interesting stuff!

My player character in Starfield emerged triumphant from the “United Colonies Vanguard” quest line, saving the galaxy from certain doom in the process. No small feat!

Now I’m sitting at level 20 with my pistols skill maxed as planned, several ships (including a new Class B freighter!), and a nicely furnished apartment in New Atlantis’s slums — as well as a shiny new penthouse.

I could dive headfirst into the remaining faction quests, but Starfield’s unique “new game plus” system gave me an idea.

SPOILERS FOR STARFIELD AHEAD!

Continue reading “Starfield: Shooting for the Stars”

Starfield features a massive arsenal; An array of guns that puts any Call of Duty title to shame. And while you can use any weapon you find across the game’s many planets, you’ll be more combat-effective by specializing in a specific weapon type.

For example, in my most recent playthru, I’ve specialized in pistols — the semi-automatic bread-and-butter of any space-faring arsenal. Pistols might sound like a boring choice since Starfield also boasts laser weapons, chainguns, and explosives. But these are some damn good pistols, let me tell ya. And to do so, I’ve decided to highlight three of my favorites — in no particular order.

Rattler Ballistics Pistol

The Rattler is one of Starfield’s “starter” weapons — but it makes a memorable debut. Its quirky metal-and-wood design sets it apart from Starfield’s other starter-fare and even invites comparison to Fallout’s own 12.7mm pistol.

Mechanically, the Rattler more than “sqeaks” by, featuring a satisfying and smooth gunfeel with minimal delay or recoil. You can spam the trigger and the Rattler will keep spitting lead while remaining on target. It’s a joy to use, and the tactile feel reminds me of Fallout 4’s 10mm pistol. It’s certainly possible Bethesda built it by referencing that game code given the similarities.

In my latest Starfield plauythru, I was lucky enough to roll an Epic Corrosive Rattler early on. It’s been a dependable sidearm ever since.

Solstice Laser Pistol

I have to admit: I overlooked the Solstice with my first Starfield character. The sleek, almost effeminate design was a turn-off, and by the time it started dropping, I had already upgraded from pistols to rifles. Besides, Sarah is always carrying one around, and I have no aspiration to be more like Sarah.

But I’ve since changed my mind on the Solstice. Stats-wise, it’s solid and even seems to outshine the other starter pistols in damage-dealing. It grew on me even further when I looted a Legendary Explosive/Anti-Personnel/Med Theft version — which lasted me well into my teen levels.

Unfortunately, the Solstice doesn’t feel as “premium” as, say, the Rattler. Its fire rate is sluggish and even seems laggy, as if there’s some kind of input delay. It could be that, as a laser gun, the Solstice’s shots don’t land/register like the ballistics weapons. Whatever the reason, these caveats make the Solstice less enjoyable to use — but if you want to rock a laser weapon that feels like it was designed by Steve Jobs, this is the one. And you can’t argue with the immersion it lends Starfield’s sci-fi world.

Kraken Ballistics Pistol

Pistols are often presumed to be wimpy, semi-automatic potato guns; The kind you’d find next to lipstick and tampons in a woman’s purse.

The Kraken is anything but. This nasty beast packs a show-stopping 25 rounds by default; Far more than any other pistol. And it’s automatic to boot, meaning you can let it loose on any foe and deliver a bullet baptism in seconds.

But there’s a catch. With such a high rate-of-fire, The Kraken’s damage-per-shot is meager; Among the lowest of all Starfield’s pistols. That said, if you can get your hand on a unique or Legendary variant with an increased mag size, fire rate, and elemental damage, you’ll nullify those shortcomings and have yourself one mean son-of-a-gun.

Conclusion

There you have it — my top three favourite Starfield pistols. Do you have a favourite Starfield pistol? And with such a smattering of weapons to choose from, do you even consider yourself a pistol lover? Drop a comment and let me know. In a vast galaxy like Starfield’s, there may not actually be many of us out there.

Bethesda Game Studio’s Starfield is a game I enjoy very much, but haven’t covered at all on this blog. It was infamously (and perhaps deservedly) overshadowed in 2023 by another juggernaut role-playing game (RPG), Baldur’s Gate 3 (BG3). I played both, and while I think BG3 is objectively the better RPG, Starfield is more my style: Real-time combat, sci-fi, and lots and lots of guns.

Upon release, I played thru Starfield’s main quest and dicked around with side exploration and character customization. However, I shelved the game soon after and many of the game’s main faction quests untouched.

But I love Bethesda’s games: the open world, character progression, and customization. And I always come back. So after taking a break and delving back through Bethesda’s older game catalog (Fallout 4, Skyrim, Oblivion), I returned to Starfield ready to start anew.

And I’ve been having a great time.

Not only did replaying Bethesda’s older titles remind me of their greatness, but it refreshed my appreciation for Starfield. Users and critics have been tearing this game apart since release; Lambasting it for being “derivative” and featuring “stilted exploration.” Some of these criticisms have merit. But given the sheer amount of negativity and polarization, it’s apparent that many gamers have started to take Bethesda’s development style for granted. There’s a saying that “familiarity breeds contempt,” and I think it very much applies here. Hell, we got a taste of it when Fallout 4 released: Despite being Bethesda’s most innovative title yet (expansion of the shoot-and-loot gameplay loop to include building and better crafting), its reception was lukewarm from day-one. It’s safe to say public opinion on Bethesda has soured and gamers are looking to dismiss the studio’s efforts.

Not that they deserve it. Starfield constantly impresses me with its size and scope. From cities to dungeon interiors, these are Bethesda’s largest and greatest environments yet. All of the main quests I’ve played feature heavy amounts of scripting, environmental diversity, and varied gameplay. The gun roster is diverse and immensely satisfying to toy with; AND the largest I’ve seen in any game since Borderlands. Character progression is meaningful and rewarding. Ship-building is the best new addition and endlessly entertaining. I could go on, but I digress.

My new character is a beleagured ex-space hauler who had his piloting license revoked due to a freak accident. In reponse, he relocates to the mines of Vectera to make a living with the Argos mining company, where Starfield’s main quest begins. He’s an older, meek man; Not one for fighting and is terribly gun shy. In gameplay terms, this means I’m restricting him to pistols until he maxes out the Pistol skill tree. After that, he “gains the confidence” to use a larger weapon type and can begin progressing in its associated skill tree. Starfield supports my character vision by allowing me to express these charactertistics thru origin and skill selection choices (Long hauler, Pistols).

Starfield may be rightfully outdone by Baldur’s Gate 3’s master-class writing and story, sure. But I don’t play games primarily for story. I play them to build my own characters and tell my own stories, and Bethesda seems to agree — because that’s exactly what Starfield does and does so well.