Should you give this game a thumbs down?
Well I thought about this for a while. Actually I think it's more of a 6.5/10 kind of game, maybe a bit less because of the really boring points of interest and the stretched out missions.

But how else are players able to voice their opinion? How will Bethesda notice they need to change something? Through a negative rating, that's all we players have. Think further, what if the next TES releases in the same quality? My honest opinion: It would be devastating. Bethesda is developing into the wrong direction and other aspects are stagnating. Decades passed since Skyrim, even more since Oblivion and games evolved. We've now games with better story, better graphics, better animation, better open world, better quest design and much more interesting POIs. I'm not sure what Bethesda thought, when they shipped those really boring and repeating spots to explore. Having more copy paste planets, is not the solution.

I haven't finished the game yet, because the main story simply doesn't accelerate. I'm not sure if it will speed up or when. Some elements are just added but have no purpose, like building a base or upgrading weapons. The perk system is overly restrictive, you need a huge time investment to collect perk points and plan ahead to unlock some stuff that should be basics or equipment based. Some of the grinding feels annoying, as you have to level up by using, which slows you down. We've seen this kind of hybrid system done better in other games, like in Gothic from 2002.

The graphics are way too demanding for what it is. Loading screens where there's absolutely no need for, show how dated the engine is. Bugs from Skyrim are still popping up, including save corrupting ones. Bringing back paid mods is another huge hit for us gamers who love modding, this is damaging to the community. Bethesda needs to stop this.

As said earlier, towns feel bad in Starfield. You have a jetpack to explore, yet all roofs are empty and boring. You have so many planets, yet there's only one city on some of them and this city is tiny. All other planets are never empty, there are always concrete structures, which feels off. The few natural POIs are quickly explored and repeat and repeat and repeat and repeat...

I could go on with things I don't quite like. Like traversal with space crafts but never have any big battles other than tiny ship vs x amount of tiny ships. How you can't travel without fast-travel. How there's barely variation on the planets or how temperature, elements, radiation don't matter.

Should you give this game a thumbs down? Well I thought about this for a while. Actually I think it's more of a 6.5/10 kind of game, maybe a bit less because of the really boring points of interest and the stretched out missions. But how else are players able to voice their opinion? How will Bethesda notice they need to change something? Through a negative rating, that's all we players have. Think further, what if the next TES releases in the same quality? My honest opinion: It would be devastating. Bethesda is developing into the wrong direction and other aspects are stagnating. Decades passed since Skyrim, even more since Oblivion and games evolved. We've now games with better story, better graphics, better animation, better open world, better quest design and much more interesting POIs. I'm not sure what Bethesda thought, when they shipped those really boring and repeating spots to explore. Having more copy paste planets, is not the solution. I haven't finished the game yet, because the main story simply doesn't accelerate. I'm not sure if it will speed up or when. Some elements are just added but have no purpose, like building a base or upgrading weapons. The perk system is overly restrictive, you need a huge time investment to collect perk points and plan ahead to unlock some stuff that should be basics or equipment based. Some of the grinding feels annoying, as you have to level up by using, which slows you down. We've seen this kind of hybrid system done better in other games, like in Gothic from 2002. The graphics are way too demanding for what it is. Loading screens where there's absolutely no need for, show how dated the engine is. Bugs from Skyrim are still popping up, including save corrupting ones. Bringing back paid mods is another huge hit for us gamers who love modding, this is damaging to the community. Bethesda needs to stop this. As said earlier, towns feel bad in Starfield. You have a jetpack to explore, yet all roofs are empty and boring. You have so many planets, yet there's only one city on some of them and this city is tiny. All other planets are never empty, there are always concrete structures, which feels off. The few natural POIs are quickly explored and repeat and repeat and repeat and repeat... I could go on with things I don't quite like. Like traversal with space crafts but never have any big battles other than tiny ship vs x amount of tiny ships. How you can't travel without fast-travel. How there's barely variation on the planets or how temperature, elements, radiation don't matter.