Bethesda has responded to player criticism over excessive use of loading screens and “generic” gameplay in its latest action role-playing game, Starfield.
Several Steam users who purchased and played Starfield have been expressing their dissatisfaction with the game in their reviews. The Customer Support team at Bethesda has recently begun defending Starfield in its elaborate responses to these negative reviews.
In their review, one Steam user referred to Starfield’s story as “generic” and its gameplay “boring”. They wished the game offered them a reason to explore planets and building outposts. They mentioned that the game stops being fun after all activities have been exhausted, after which “it’s all a repeating, soulless chore”.
In response, Bethesda Customer Support stated that players can fly, shoot, mine, and loot. They explained that Starfield is an RPG with hundreds of hours of quests to complete and characters to meet, and that most quests will also vary on the player’s character skills and decisions, massively changing the outcome of a playthrough. Bethesda advised the Steam user to try creating different characters with backgrounds and characteristics that clash or are opposite of their previous character. They mentioned that, in doing so,they will feel like they are playing a totally different game. They added that there so many layers to Starfield, that players will find things they never knew were possible, even after playing for hundreds of hours.
Another Steam user complained about excessive loading screens adversely affecting their experience. They referred to Starfield as a game about exploration that delivers “the thrill of opening your menu, selecting the fast travel option, clicking to fast travel to a star system, loading, then opening your menu, clicking to fast travel to a planet, loading, then answering the same NPC dialogue at every planet before you’re treated to another loading screen to finally land on planet.” They further stated that every door in every colony in Starfield is a loading screen.
In response, Bethesda Customer Support mentioned that, while there may be loading screens in between fast traveling, the Steam user should consider the amount of data for the expansive gameplay that is procedurally generated to load “flawlessly” in under 3 seconds. They added that it is their belief that shortcoming will not hinder players from getting lost in the world Bethesda created.
