Starfield is an Awesome Hero Experience

If you haven’t played Starfield, this article will not include major spoilers but might spoil minor things. Read on whether you’re on the fence about playing this game.

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Let’s dive in!

You Have a Healthy Relationship With Your Parents

I know this point might not resonate with everyone. For me, who probably needs therapy thanks to my Orthodox Jewish father, this game made me feel seen.

You can have your parents around if you take this as a feat at character creation.

Your parents love you without any conditions. Well, there is one condition. Help them pay weekly rent in New Atlantis. If you stop paying rent, they will leave the city, and you won’t be able to contact them again.

This feat pays for itself as your parents shower you with gifts. They even give you one gift at some point (which I won’t spoil), making it all worth it.

While I did enjoy this part of the game, the developers need to improve it to react to things that happen in your life. If you get married in the game, it seems like you can't bring this up with your parents in any way. And yes, getting married is something you can do in the game.

The game can award you a title, or you can complete an amazing storyline. Those actions are not visible when talking to your parents. I wouldn’t care if your parents were completely detached from everything you do in the game. Yet, they are pretty involved in things you do in the first few hours. They even visit Constellation, which is your home base on New Atlantis.

You Can Make A LOT of Money in This Game

Aside from selling all the junk you find in every location you visit, you can build a business in the game. By building outposts, you could set up automation for selling resources you harvest. That is a whole other article to write.

Setting this up at the beginning of the game could allow you to buy a good late-game ship or even a house. You don’t need the most expensive ship you could buy, but it’s a video game! Wouldn’t it be awesome to do it anyway?

While you could sell all your junk in the Trade Authority kiosk, you should find the right buyer for some items. Not everyone is willing to pay the same.

Investing skill points in the Commerce skill can also make you a lot of money, especially early on in the game.

Your Skill Tree Requires Evidence

One of the things I love the most about this game is that leveling up doesn’t mean you’re good at what you do. You need to prove it by completing challenges. For example, persuade 5 people if you want to upgrade your persuasion skills.

All skills have requirements, meaning getting experience is only part of the game. You must also work on those challenges to allow spending those skill points. That is the definition of a hero’s journey. You provide evidence to the game that you are getting better by doing the thing you’re trying to improve.

Since there are so many skills, and each tier depends on the last, it pushes you to think about who your character is. What are they focusing on? Are they an explorer who will invest much time into building outposts and doing research? Are they a gun for hire who is amassing skills in combat? (you could crush combat without them, BTW)

You choose who you are in this game and focus your skills around that. Yet, there’s no level cap; it just becomes harder to get experience as you level up more and more. But it’s possible. How much time are you willing to commit to your character development?

You Get Awarded Titles in This Game

There are so many storylines in this game. You can become a space ranger, a corporate executive, a military veteran, and so on.

Each of those storylines is like a little game all on its own. You could skip them all, but you’re missing out on a chunk of content that makes this world feel alive. Some of those storylines present decisions affecting many lives in the galaxy. Not just around you.

Your companions will react to your actions after each storyline's conclusion. Their reaction will depend on their personalities.

I would have loved it if the game recognized those titles around the game, but I realize it’s a lot of work in such a huge game.

As discussed above, some of those storylines may coincide with who you choose to become as a person. There’s a storyline for a stealth-based character, one for a fighter, one for a space pirate, et cetera. You could do them all, but those that are in your wheelhouse would be easier to complete.

Starfield Favors Good People

Being a good person is something I thoroughly enjoy doing in all the role-playing games I play. I could never play a Renegade run in Mass Effect. It’s too cringe.

In Starfield, being a good person works in my favor. Aside from enemies, people reward you when you lead with truth and kindness. Treating my parents with kindness always worked in my favor. Treating my companions with kindness always led to better relationships. Treating random strangers with kindness always seemed to yield better results.

Some people are looking for confrontation in these games. The game steers you towards being a good person, which I appreciate in a game where you can be and do anything you want.

What Do You Think About Starfield?

Have you played it? What do you think about it? Let me know in the comments below!