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Starfield, and everything concerning it, represents much more than just the content in the game for Xbox. This is Bethesda’s next ambitious RPG, more than a decade after Skyrim and years after the disappointing Fallout 4. It’s one of the first major games to come out of the Xbox purchase of Bethesda. Starfield is claiming to be everything Star Citizen promised and thus far has failed to deliver. The most crucial thing Starfield represents after its 2023 showcase is that it can be the shot in the arm Xbox’s first-party desperately needs.
Starfield Prepares for Liftoff
During the Xbox 2023 showcase, Starfield game director Todd Howard kicked off a comprehensive 45-minute Starfield showcase, breaking down just about anything and everything their first foray into space entails. Ship crafting, piracy, immersive storytelling, and the world — or galaxy, I should say — of Starfield looks like it has everything a sci-fi fan could dream of in one package.
This presentation was a full-blown Starfield celebration of sorts. After years of secrecy and a handful of delays, Starfield looks poised to come at the right place and time for the Xbox platform. When Starfield was initially announced, Xbox was in a pretty unique position. It had just acquired Zenimax Media, in addition to many other studios, in a bid to strengthen its first-party portfolio as the Xbox Series line of consoles promised to move Xbox far away from the disappointment of Xbox One’s launch failure.
Starfield was just a pipe dream when it was initially unveiled. A promise of a new frontier claiming to be a Skyrim in space was quite the selling point, and Xbox fans everywhere began waiting for this title, among a slew of others, to kickstart a new era for Xbox. Sadly, those fans are still waiting.
Xbox has had some great titles, don’t get me wrong, but for every Grounded and Hi-Fi Rush, there was a Redfall or Halo Infinite mess that consistently set the brand back. This Xbox generation is still missing that special game you could feel good about purchasing with a new console and feel completely satisfied with. Well, I think Starfield just demonstrated why it’s poised to take that mantle for this generation of Xbox.
Starfield Has It All, From Space Sandwiches to Space Cowboys
In terms of the actual presentation itself, to cover even half of the stuff it showed would take a couple of essays worth of writing, so instead, feel free to check out the video for yourself above. Some highlights were the obsessed stalker making another appearance after pestering players in Oblivion. Another standout moment was a clip of somebody stealing sandwiches and hoarding them in a dedicated space sandwich room. Just about anybody who played Skyrim correctly has stockpiled more than their fair share of cheese wheels.
So instead of drilling down into every tiny detail, I’m left to describe the feeling of watching the showcase. I couldn’t help but feel some of the awe and grandeur of what the footage was promising. Something that tickles the imagination and provides my brain with endless theories and what-if gameplay scenarios that I want to try out for myself. Combat looks drastically improved from previous Bethesda titles, with stellar hit reactions from firearms and melee weapons. Companions and romance are back. You can live out your favorite Star Trek fantasies with a whole crew to hire and manage during missions.
More important than any feature or gameplay highlight was the overall feeling the presentation left me with. A comfortable, relaxing, familiar feeling. It felt like a game I could turn on and not realize day turned to night or vice versa. A game where I can call my buddies and we can share stories of our experiences. Starfield represents a title that can anchor the brand and provide Xbox with the rocket-fueled positive momentum it has needed for quite some time.
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Whether it actually does or not remains to be seen, but we will all find out once and for all when Starfield launches on September 6 for Xbox Series S|X and PC.