September 1st 2023.
This week's Friday letters page had some interesting discussion about the newly released Starfield game. The reader reactions to mixed reviews were quite surprising, with some PlayStation owners exhibiting an aggressive attitude towards Bethesda for withholding review copies from certain sites. This decision was apparently made to avoid negative reviews, though the initial reviews were not particularly positive.
IGN gave the game a 7/10, which was lower than most expected. It seems that Bethesda's post-Skyrim decline has continued, and it looks like Starfield will not be the game of the year.
The reviews suggest the game has some flaws, with weird design decisions and a lack of interesting features. It's a shame, as some were looking forward to playing the game. It's worth noting that the Metacritic score is likely to change once the reviews from those sites that were left out are published in a week or so.
The other big discussion this week was about Remnant 2, which has been described as a Soulsborne game with guns. A reader who decided to take the plunge has had a good experience with it, noting that it takes some of the pressure off as you don't have actual souls to lose. It also has multiplayer elements, with tougher enemies and better rewards.
Overall, it's been an eventful week for those in the gaming community. It's clear that Bethesda's games aren't quite what they used to be, but there are some positive experiences to be had with other titles.
The discussion around Starfield has been quite heated this week. With Bethesda withholding review copies from certain sites, fans of the game whipped themselves into a fervour. It was particularly disturbing to watch them revel in the idea that their corporate heroes had stopped journalists from reporting on issues that could save customers money.
The mystery of why Bethesda was doing it is now clear from the initial reviews: the game isn’t that great. Credit should be given to the sites that were singled out, as the decision was obviously, ‘Which sites are most likely to give the unvarnished truth?’
It appears that Bethesda’s post-Skyrim decline has continued, and Starfield is probably not game of the year. It may be worth playing on Game Pass, but it looks like Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has tied up the award.
IGN gave Starfield a 7/10, which is disappointing considering it was one of the most hyped games in recent memory. The reviews are underwhelming, with a lot of weird design decisions and a lot of stuff that’s a lot less interesting than the trailers made out. In particular, it seems like space travel is nothing more than a cut scene and some fast travel.
Phil Spencer must be wondering if Starfield will shift consoles or, more importantly, boost Game Pass subscriptions. With the current Metacritic score likely to change, it remains to be seen how gamers will react to the game.
Remnant 2 is a Soulsborne game with guns, and has been great fun to play. It offers tougher enemies with better rewards and is also multiplayer. It takes some of the pressure off as you don’t have actual souls to lose.
It looks like Starfield and Remnant 2 will both be worth playing, but it seems clear that Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom will be the game of the year.
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