This reviewer won a key to this product from a giveaway

Originally posted by JetBlurraku:

"The game is beautiful on PC, in Early access on the steam deck I can say, Starfield works well in potato mode on the Deck. There is issues on both PC and on Steam Deck, but it is remotely playable albeit you need to have the game on your SSD/Primary drive to be remotely playable."

====================================
[Levels based on a 1/10 score]

====================================

[Based on gameplay with] (🎮) PC & Steam Deck

🕹 [Mechanics]
The game is a light take on a space survival adventure, a diet coke of space sims. My personal take is the space exploration is niche in the aspect its catered to the person whose willing to spend actual time in space. Think like manual input, liftoff, detachment, & such seem to be correlated to cutscenes for brevity to help pinnacle the main aspect of the game, which is it's storytelling. I was a little disheartened I couldn't go flying through an atmosphere even though you can't actually manually fly to a planet. It's not a deal breaker but its not focused on making it complicated for you to fly a spaceship. Using a MASS weight system, a gimbal system for traversing the universe of Starfield as well as opportunities to zero gravity combat. With it being space you have dangers such as Physical, Energy, & Electromagnetic damages those are the main three. Then there is Corrosive, Thermal, Airborne, & Radiation. The guns in the game have attachments & mods to them that can do better fire rate, circumvent restrictions, as well as help with extended barrels, magazines, & like other titles, there is a ranking system to weapons & armor you can't just make them, you have to find them. You can choose to follow the main story or get out & explore. There is character customization as well you could spend just hours alone making your own character as well as your ship in the game.

The character itself has a skill & cert mechanic. When you start out you will gradually become more proficient in what you allocate your skill points under as well as allotted skill points into classes you prefer. You can even mix & match playstyles to get that perfect category of playstyle.

The World mechanics are procedural & linear for continuity. Where on arrival of a planet, but more prolific things like cities, sites, or outposts will be more grounded, there is an amount that will need to be surveyed before your exploration of the planet is complete. Major landmarks for events like the main questline & side quests may be the same, but the exploration of worlds will have similarities & be different but when it comes to the side & main quests things will be more grounded to keep a grounded narrative.

There is a karma system in the game as well, depending on your actions & methods in the game, some people or groups may come to fear you while others revere & respect you. It really depends how you take charge in a situation. If you're silver tonged you can save yourself spending more credits you more otherwise would of in encountering a sour disposition, or a individual just looking for a easy mark to con out 1000 creds for. Money holds weight in the game just as much as any diplomat can solve the issue a simple jingle of credits loosens lips just as quick as well.

👨‍👩 [AI/Difficulty]
The AI is level based & difficulty based. If you want a more grueling experience where shots do matter rack up the difficulty. But if you are looking to just enjoy the game & play loose then play on a easier gamemode difficulty. The Ai itself will use tactical maneuvers like taking cover behind structures, using special equipment like jetpacks, falling back & retreating if necessary. I think it should be noted to save manually often.

💻 [Artstyle]
The game is gorgeous from the seat of the cockpit to the moments of respite in Atlantis to the dirty grungy alleys of Neon. In true fashion everything in the game feels as if alot of care & effort into making the worlds, characters, items, & equipment. It locates that theme of classic 80's sci-fi analogue, if you remember Blade Runner, The Fifth Element, Demolition man or Alien. Its alot of those elements that would feel BGS has taken inspiration from. Each locale is different from the next so describing them in stunning detail would take forever. The amount of physics in the game is outmatched as well, with the new advances in technology clothes have weight to them, hair flows more naturally as well as NPC's who go about their day to day.

🎧 [Music]
The music itself is volumetric in nature in fights it'll accompany you in the moments where your in danger & in moments of rest the atmosphere & ambiance takes over. You can feel at times the music takes turns in letting you enjoy the moment of the silence and let you hear the weight of you & the world around you, while in those moments you're fighting to survive will occasionally hear a lone trumpet play or a low quick trombone will alert you when walking into a room full of enemies. The one thing I had to do was during dialog the music came in at the wrong time and had to drop the music down around 25 just so I could hear one of the Constellation members tell me their backstory.

🎬 [Synopsis]
You start out on a independent planet Vectera, as a mining operator. One of the more lower classed jobs in the universe. You start out getting a brief introduction into the company by Heller & Lin. As Lin guides you deeper into the mines your team discovers an anomaly of gravity spikes upon discovering the spikes you waken up several hours later and being told someone who hired the mining company will be coming to collect you & what you found. Upon arrival a rogue squadron of Raiders make their way onto the mining site you are guided to leave the planet and handed a special watch, instructed to head out to a city called New Atlantis in the Alpha Centari region and to deliver the artifact to a place called the lodge where the rest of the members of Constellation are waiting for you.

📋 [Conclusion]
The game is beautiful on PC, in Early access on the steam deck I can say, Starfield works well in potato mode. There is issues on both PC and on Steam Deck, but it is remotely playable albeit you need to have the game on your SSD/Primary drive to be remotely playable. I probably spent more time in 3rd person just exploring & absorbing all I saw in the first few hours. If you are new to space games, this feels much better as a entry level to the space game genre than a fitted mold of other popular titles. I'm not worried, & neither should be you, but I'd hold my breath on this title.

[Issues]
•Able to swim in water, but not able to dive
•Departures, Arrivals, & Docking procedures are automated cutscenes, would love if the option for manual flight or even atmospheric entry.
•Game HAS to be installed on Main drive/SSD known problems with virtual memory is being allocated to compensate for manual operation of the game, graphic & audio errors.
•Locations on planets are allocated into "chunks" you can't physically explore the entire planet. Planets are cut into zones for high interest areas, like outposts, hidden caves, or even small city installations.
•While not a game breaker the title itself is patchless, at best. NPC's or even objects placed in world tend to float or sink depending of the player's perspective. Highly recommend refraining from manually dropping items in world if its not in a secure container. Things might get rubber-banded out of existence.

This reviewer won a key to this product from a giveaway