Summary
- Starfield allows players to create their own story, moving away from predefined characters.
- Starfield's abandonment of a voiced protagonist enhances player immersion and role-playing opportunities.
- Starfield offers more replayability by letting players establish a detailed backstory and reputation within the game's universe.
Since its launch in September 2023, Fallout 4 saw following the launch of the live-action Amazon Prime Video adaptation. However, there is one thing Starfield did significantly better than Fallout 4, and it comes down to the role-playing aspect of the game.
Fallout 4 saw players becoming the Sole Survivor, who as their name would suggest, was the sole survivor of their vault. Vault 111 was an experiment by Vault-Tec to was observe the effects of long-term cryogenic stasis on unsuspecting test subjects, but this experiment fell apart as the staff was only supplied for 180 days, with directions to evacuate upon receiving an all-clear signal that ultimately never came. As supplies dwindled, the vault's security team led a mutiny against the overseer that killed many, and any survivors left the vault, leaving the test subjects frozen in their pods for over a century.
The couple that can players can choose from to create the Sole Survivor are canonically named either Nate or Nora, even though players can change this to whatever name they wish.
In 2227, the Sole Survivor and their spouse are reawakened by the mercenary Conrad Kellogg and his group, who open the spouse's cryogenic tube with the intent of kidnapping Shaun. Though conscious, the Sole Survivor is trapped in their cryogenic pod and is powerless to do anything but watch their spouse being killed and their child abducted before they are refrozen, awakening on October 10, 2287, and escaping the vault, vowing to avenge their spouse's death and find Shaun.
Starfield vs. Skyrim & Fallout 4: Player's Detailed Infographics Compare Every Quest In Each Game
A Starfield player mapped out the amount of quests in the game to compare their quality and quantity against the likes of Skyrim and Fallout 4.
Starfield Lets Players Create Their Own Story
Rather Than Playing A Predefined Character's Story
Despite Starfield's criticism, it is a step-up in of roleplaying from Fallout 4, bringing back the feeling of building a unique reputation in a Bethesda world by letting players fully create their own character, rather than a pre-written one. While both Fallout 4 and Starfield let players build their character's key skills using Fallout's S.P.E.C.I.A.L. system, and Starfield's more general Skills tab, players could establish their backstory too, choosing what planet they came from, whether they have a good relationship with their parents, whether they were religious, what career they used to have, and what side of the law they used to fall on. Meanwhile, Fallout 4's Sole Survivor's backstory was somewhat pre-determined, with Nate being a retired U.S. Army veteran and Nora being a lawyer.
When combined with the tools to customize physical appearance and names, Starfield has more replayability in a sense, as players can create all sorts of characters to roam the Settled Systems. From here, they could choose to interact with certain groups or people in a different way based on their past - for example, someone with a past as a thief may be more comfortable with the Crimson Fleet than the United Colonies' SysDef, opening up far more roleplaying opportunities that remain in character for each build.
8 Easiest Starfield Character Backgrounds To Start The Game With
There are over 20 character backgrounds to choose from in Starfield, all of which come with a set of starting skills and special advantages.
Starfield Abandoning the Voiced Protagonist Was The Right Call
Further Letting Players Imagine Their Characters' Unique Voice
While Fallout 4's Sole Survivor was an interesting character and went on an emotional journey as they searched for their son, which was exemplified through the voice acting of Brian T. Delaney and Courtenay Taylor, Starfield made the right call in abandoning the idea of a voiced protagonist in Starfield. As reported by Toufexis and Jones became the two companions Sam Coe and Andreja.
By taking this approach to Starfield's protagonist, Bethesda allowed players to imagine each of their characters' unique voices as they read the text options, which further made each build feel like its own, and not just a reskin of an established character. For role-playing and greater immersion, this was certainly the correct move, and offers far more replayability where players can create their own stories for years to come.
Source: Forbes
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Bethesda Game Studios presents Starfield - the first original IP from the studio in twenty-five-plus years. Set in the year 2310, the United Colonies and Freestar Collective are observing a shaky truce after a war set 20 years prior. The player will customize their character as a member of a space exploration team called Constellation while navigating The Settled Systems and the conflicts between the warring factions. According to Bethesda, players can explore over 100 systems and 1000 planets to find resources and build their ships, living out their own sci-fi journeys.
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