Starfield Is Being Called “No Man’s Skyrim” Like That’s a Bad Thing

The No Man’s Sky comparisons also appear to be largely accurate, if a bit surprising. If the reveal that Starfield will feature 1000 explorable planets didn’t trigger your No Man’s Sky reaction, the gameplay footage of the player’s character mining resources and navigating largely barren landscapes almost certainly did. Indeed, it really does look like most of the time that you’ll spend away from Starfield‘s more scripted content will be spent gathering resources, crafting items, and building impressive structures and ships. It remains to be seen if Starfield‘s exploration and crafting elements will be anywhere near as deep as No Man’s Sky‘s are (that game is built around those survival mechanics), but it’s clear those concepts will be significant parts of the gameplay experience.

In short, if you’re someone who got burned out on Skyrim/Fallout 4 (or never got into those games in the first place), hate the basic No Man’s Sky experience, crave fast-paced shooter action, or demand the absolute best modern visuals and performance possible, Starfield will probably not be the game for you. Even those who accept its apparent “No Man’s Skyrim” pedigree could obviously end up being disappointed by the things the game does or doesn’t do.

Yet, I still find it difficult to not get excited about most of what I know about Starfield, even if the game doesn’t turn out to be much more than that blend of somewhat familiar experiences it is shaping up to be.

First off, it’s been a long time since we’ve gotten a proper Bethesda RPG, and there aren’t exactly a lot of studios out there who have been willing and able to fill that void. Part of the reason that Bethesda can get away with all those Skyrim re-releases over the years is that there really aren’t a lot of other games out there that offer what Skryim offers. Games like Kingdom Come: Deliverance, Greedfall, The Witcher 3, and even Elden Ring feature elements of that BGS formula, but few games properly replicate it. There are times when you want to lose yourself in a massive single-player open-world filled with traditional RPG elements, a ton of quests, many secrets, and Triple-A design qualities. Even in what we have to assume will be its most basic form, Starfield is poised to offer just that. It’s kind of hard to fault a company for sticking to a successful formula that nobody else seems entirely capable of delivering.

I also wouldn’t judge those No Man’s Sky comparisons too harshly. Granted, there was a time when No Man’s Sky was synonymous with the word “bust.” Since its 2016 debut, though, the game that overpromised and underdelivered on a historical level has grown into a sci-fi epic that simply delivers. Not everyone vibes with its exploration and survival-based gameplay, but No Man’s Sky has shown that you can deliver a massive universe exploration experience without having to resort to a Star Citizen-style scam. Granted, that game is still filled with countless planets that don’t offer much more than barren landscapes and a few resources, but that’s not always a bad thing. The thrill of seeing what is on the next planet typically remains high on those games, and the promise that the next one will feature something truly fascinating is delivered often enough to keep you hooked.

Actually, if No Man’s Sky has been missing anything over the years it’s exactly what a BGS RPG typically offers: an epic narrative-driven RPG experience with tons of scripted content and gameplay-driven discoveries. No Man’s Sky has grown to incorporate more of those ideas across numerous updates, but again, there are very few companies that can make the kinds of games that Bethesda makes in that department.