Bethesda made many RPGs beforeFallout 3includingThe Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion. One could argue that they didn’t become a phenomenon untilFallout 3launched and they became even bigger afterThe Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrimwas released. That game became bigger than itself, appearing on almost every console known to man after 2011.
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People still buy and play it on Steam, which is a good tracker for older RPGs. Because of these successes, the bar was raised perhaps too high forStarfield. Is the game the nextFallout 3orSkyrim? How does it compare toThe Elder ScrollsandFalloutfranchises overall? It’s complicated, butStarfieldadmirably does a lot of things differently to set itself apart. Some of these things are good while others are questionable.
8Open-Universe, Not Open-World
Let’s begin with one of the most obvious comparisons between this game and other Bethesda RPGs. Players are not trapped on one planet, exploring an open-world environment. They are instead exploring dozens upon hundreds of open worlds.
Now, this doesn’t mean players are going to be exploring heavily populated planets as if the game is comprised of a hundredFallout-scaled worlds. Most of the inhabited planets are part of the mainquests inStarfield.
7Spaceships
Another big difference is that players can go into space and fly around in aspaceship inStarfield. Now, flying is a bit of an overstatement because players cannot fly from one planet to the next manually unlikeNo Man’s Sky.
Players instead use a warp system to go from planet to planet. They can hang out around the atmosphere of these planets and hail ships, board them, or even commence in dogfights. As limited as the space travel is, it’s more than what theFalloutandThe Elder Scrollsfranchises have.
6Gravity And Disease
The other two series have plenty of afflictions that can set players back. TheFalloutgames, for example, have limb damage as well as radiation poisoning.Starfieldhas a lot more going on because the planets players will fly to have different atmospheres.
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Some may cause excessive burns if the suit players are wearing is not protected enough. This means the inventory should be filled with more cures than just Med Packs. Also, instead of Stamina, players have to worry aboutOxygen and CO2 levels while moving inStarfield.
5A Lack Of Non-Humans
One of the wildest things about the game is the lack of alien life. There are robots to interact with but they are huge by comparison and are more like tools. They are nothing like the androids in theFalloutgames. TheFalloutseries also has various mutant species like Ghoulsto contend with.
As a fantasy game,The Elder Scrollsseries is brimming with different races and players can customize their character into these races as well. Khajiit is a good example which is a race of cat-like beings. It’s just odd to make a space game without distinct races.
4No Animals
Not creating alien life is one thing but it is another thing to forget about pets. There are no dogs, or cats to speak of in the colonies inStarfield. InFallout 4, Dogmeat was a trusty companion dog.The Elder Scrollsseries had horsesfor getting around quickly and the idea of mounts is missing fromStarfieldtoo.
Admittedly,Starfielddoes have monsters on other planets and some may even be seen as pets. It’s not the same thing as having an Earth animal in the game which the Internet loves to see especially when these critters can be pets.
3The Skill System
All of Bethesda’s RPGs have extensive skill trees for players to customize. How they work is quite different between these three franchises. InStarfield, players can select a skill categoryand put a point into a plethora of corresponding skills below.
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For example, in the Physical category, players can purchase Wellness which allows them to have more HP. Players can dump more points into skills to make them stronger but they have to pass a challenge for each new tier. For Wellness, they must heal a certain amount of HP before the next upgrade can be unlocked. This new system is a bit more convoluted than the other Bethesda RPGs.
2A New Way To Customize Your Character
Character customization has gotten better inStarfieldwith more options for the face and body than ever before. Also, there are two new additions that players have to contend with. Backgrounds are like starting classes and they will give players three skills.
For example, becoming a Beast Hunter will grant players the Fitness, Ballistics, and Gastronomy skills. Players can also choose threeTraits inStarfieldwhich grant players additional bonuses but with a price. Alien DNA is a Trait that gives players more HP and Oxygen levels but healing items and food heal for less. Players can decide not to choose Traits to avoid these debuffs.
1Being Encumbered Is More Lax
Typically, there is one thing players want to know about Bethesda RPGs or RPGs in general at launch. How do I make the most money as fast as possible? Sometimes there are glitches like the duplication bug inThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomand sometimes players have to make money the old-fashioned way.
InStarfield, it’s best to loot bodies and sell gear to vendors. The trouble is that Bethesda games have weight limits and grabbing too much in theFalloutandThe Elder Scrollsgames will slow characters down. Players will not get slowed down by being encumbered inStarfieldbut they will use more Oxygen when walking around. It’s a bit more lax which is nice.
Starfieldwas released on Jun 03, 2025, and is available on PC and Xbox Series X.
