Starfield Suffers Player Backlash: Game Earns Only "Mostly Negative" User Reviews

Starfield faced challenges upon its release in 2023, sandwiched between two big RPG titles. On one side, there's the Game of the Year winner Baldur's Gate 3, setting new standards for future RPGs. On the other side, there's the revamped Cyberpunk 2077 with its immersive storytelling, a thorough update with version 2.0, and the addition of the Phantom Liberty expansion.

As a result, Starfield had mixed reviews from the start but with more positive reviews than negative ones. As players spent more time with the game, some felt a bit disconnected, missing the love and passion found in previous Bethesda titles like Skyrim or Fallout 4.

Starfield: Public Opinion Is Getting Worse

At the time of writing (December 27, 2023), only 31% of the written reviews on Steam in the last 30 days are positive, leading to a "Mostly Negative" stand in the recent added reviews for Starfield.

Some negative reviews by the community:

• Review by user "Ceilium" – [...] "I would not recommend this game for $70. I would recommend waiting until the game is fully released with all of its DLCs *on* *sale* to buy it. To me, there was just not enough there to justify the price. It feels like a game that's only had a few years of development rather than seven, and it's just kind of under cooked." [...]
• Review by user "Zoethar" – "I tried getting into this game, but I just can't. I tried multiple times to get into this train wreck of a game. To many loading screens. Horrible UI. Vast emptiness of plants and moons. The DLC won't fix this game. This game isn't worth the time."
• Review by user "Strato Junon" – "Big fan of TES, big fan of space games. I was expecting to adore Starfield. Instead, i discovered that Starfield is a deeply flawed game. If you're just planning to play through some storylines, then you'll enjoy it. If you're wanting exploration, base building, a satisfying skill tree, etc. etc. then you're going to be disappointed." [...]

But there are still some positive reviews here and there, just like:

• Review by user "Dankinia" – "I fully admit to being a fan of Bethesda games and while I had super high hopes for Starfield that were not totally met, I still found the game fun to play, and I'm already planning on what I'm going to do differently in my NG+ play through." [...]
• Review by user "Fishy McBites" – "Personally, I don’t agree with the review bombing Starfield has been getting. It’s no Skyrim or even Fallout 4, but It does feel like a Bethesda game, for better or worse. It doesn’t quite deliver on Todd Howard’s lofty promises, and probably never will. I enjoyed my time during my first play through, but haven’t had any desire to return to the game. Here’s hoping the upcoming DLC can address some of the concerns shared here".

Starfield: A Gap Between Community And Bethesda

It's clear that Starfield hasn't lived up to the high expectations the gaming industry had for the game, whether those were set by Bethesda's ambitious goals or the community's overly high hopes.

After the game received negative reviews and criticism, Emil Pagluarulo, the Studio Design Director, expressed on Twitter/X his frustration about gamers making assumptions about game design without understanding how games are actually created.

Video game development is a series of concessions and tough decisions. There's that perfect game you want to make... and then there's the game you can make.

Here's Pagularulo's statement, and it's getting a lot of criticism from the community in the comments section below:

Loooong (1/15) Funny how disconnected some players are from the realities of game development, and yet they speak with complete authority. I mean, I can guess what it takes to make a Hostess Twinkie, but I don't work in the factory, so what the hell do I really know? Not a lot.

— Emil Pagliarulo (@Dezinuh) December 13, 2023

Despite the negative reviews and comments, Bethesda remains optimistic about Starfield. They shared on their Reddit page that they'll be introducing several new features to the game in the upcoming weeks:

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