Bethesda's Starfield

Max Peck · Post by **Max Peck** » Wed Aug 30, 2023 1:34 pm

With the pre-load in hand, we're all set to complete the installation come launch time.

Max Peck · Post by **Max Peck** » Wed Aug 30, 2023 1:47 pm

FYI, for anyone that's feeling splurgey and likes watches, Amazon.ca has the Constellation Edition available for pre-order again. I presume that means that they will actually have some available to ship (albeit not in time for the early access period).

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0C7LYLFW7

jztemple2 · Post by **jztemple2** » Wed Aug 30, 2023 2:09 pm

Max Peck wrote: Wed Aug 30, 2023 1:34 pm With the pre-load in hand, we're all set to complete the installation come launch time.

Wait, my box had only eight floppy disks!

jztemple2 · Post by **jztemple2** » Wed Aug 30, 2023 5:55 pm

Max Peck wrote: Wed Aug 30, 2023 12:48 pm

Well, this makes me nervous. Having a song commissioned made specially for the release of your game brings back bad memories. Surely everyone remembers the Cyberpunk 2077 tie-in "My Body Fits Me Like A T" by Cold Play. Or perhaps ABBA's hit "My Skull Is Melting For You" released on the eve of Assassin's Creed Unity. Or a previous Bethesda game, Fallout 76, tied in with the song "Milk It Like A Cash Cow" by Aerosmith.

Kurth · Post by **Kurth** » Wed Aug 30, 2023 5:59 pm

jztemple2 wrote: Wed Aug 30, 2023 5:55 pm
Max Peck wrote: Wed Aug 30, 2023 12:48 pm
Well, this makes me nervous. Having a song commissioned for the release of your game brings back bad memories. Surely everyone remembers the Cyberpunk 2077 tie-in "My Body Fits Me Like A T" by Cold Play. Or perhaps ABBA's hit "My Skull Is Melting For You" released on the eve of Assassin's Creed Unity. Or a previous Bethesda game, Fallout 76, tied in with the song "Milk It Like A Cash Cow" by Aerosmith.

Is that official? I thought that was fan work using an existing Imagine Dragons song. Did Bethesda actually commission that?

Max Peck · Post by **Max Peck** » Wed Aug 30, 2023 6:06 pm

Kurth wrote: Wed Aug 30, 2023 5:59 pm Is that official? I thought that was fan work using an existing Imagine Dragons song. Did Bethesda actually commission that?

It's an actual Imagine Dragons video on their official Youtube channel.

Imagine Dragons Releases Official Starfield Song Called Children of the Sky

Imagine Dragons has released its official Starfield song, called Children of the Sky (a Starfield song).

It’s “inspired” by Bethesda’s space role-playing game which launches early September. Frontman Dan Reynolds said: "The song, like the game, asks some of the most difficult questions we face as humans trying to find our place in the universe. Bethesda created iconic games we've been playing for most of our lives, and we're honoured to have collaborated on this song for Starfield."
Children of the Sky (a Starfield song) is out NOW everywhere.

we’ve been playing @BethesdaStudios games for most of our lives, so we’re honored to have collaborated on this song.

listen to the song and watch the lyric video on our youtube.
— Imagine Dragons (@Imaginedragons) August 30, 2023
Starfield composer Inon Zur collaborated with Imagine Dragons on Children of the Sky. He said: “The band has created an amazing, emotional, and memorable song, and I joined them in crafting the Starfield motif into the song as well as iconic elements from the Main Theme and the Starfield orchestral treatment. The outcome is a massive celebration for Starfield and I hope that the group’s fans as well as gamers from all over the world will find it as exhilarating and magnificent as we all feel.”

jztemple2 · Post by **jztemple2** » Wed Aug 30, 2023 6:26 pm

Original post updated to reflect that the song wasn't apparently commissioned for the game, although it does apparently have blessings from Bethesda. Seems the humor of the post rather missed the mark

.

Also, not a single "And don't call me Shirley!"

Kurth · Post by **Kurth** » Wed Aug 30, 2023 8:07 pm

jztemple2 wrote: Wed Aug 30, 2023 6:26 pm Original post updated to reflect that the song wasn't apparently commissioned for the game, although it does apparently have blessings from Bethesda. Seems the humor of the post rather missed the mark .

Also, not a single "And don't call me Shirley!"

No, I think that's a distinction without a difference. Sounds like it's an official Bethesda/Imagine Dragons collaboration to me, Shirley.

As the kids might say today, that's a bit cringe.

jztemple2 · Post by **jztemple2** » Wed Aug 30, 2023 9:44 pm

Less than 24 hours till early release. And then unlocking and decompressing 86GB... and the day zero patch; or is that called the day one patch?

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Wed Aug 30, 2023 10:27 pm

And until the review embargo is listed. Between that and the response here - well, I'm not hopeful, but I'm hopeful.

Punisher · Post by **Punisher** » Wed Aug 30, 2023 11:30 pm

I thought it lifted today. Guess I was wrong.
Not sure why they are holding back a day before release and I wonder if that's a bad sign.

jztemple2 · Post by **jztemple2** » Wed Aug 30, 2023 11:36 pm

Punisher wrote: Wed Aug 30, 2023 11:30 pm I thought it lifted today. Guess I was wrong.
Not sure why they are holding back a day before release and I wonder if that's a bad sign.

I thought it was lifted today as well, but I'm committed so I wasn't really looking for reviews.

I have greased the skids with the wife so I'll be in my room at 8pm tomorrow starting the unlock and loading process. The bad news is that since my wife can't drive yet after her surgery I have to take her for her manipedi tomorrow...

. And in the early evening I've promised to take her to Walmart

. So if I'm not posting soon after release it means I'm still stuck at Walmart

UPDATE: "The Starfield review embargo lifts on Thursday, August 31 at 5pm BST/12PM ET/9 AM PT."

Kurth · Post by **Kurth** » Thu Aug 31, 2023 12:05 am

I have not looked forward to a game this much in a long, long time.

I'm sure to be disappointed!

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Thu Aug 31, 2023 7:59 am

I'm looking forward to it too. Need to take a BG3 break anyway. The last unlock and update (for BG3!) took a good hour so I doubt I'll get much time in tonight but I've carved out some time nonetheless. My company gave us Friday off on top of labor day and the wife is off to a bachelorette outing for the weekend so plenty of time to dedicate to this.

Freyland · Post by **Freyland** » Thu Aug 31, 2023 8:36 am

New rig set up yesterday. Comes with 1 month free of game pass.
THERE WILL BE TRYING BEFORE THE BUYING! YESSSSS!

jztemple2 · Post by **jztemple2** » Thu Aug 31, 2023 8:48 am

malchior wrote: Thu Aug 31, 2023 7:59 am My company gave us Friday off on top of labor day and the wife is off to a bachelorette outing for the weekend so plenty of time to dedicate to this.

The Universe obviously wants you to play this game... or catch up on your chores

Fardaza · Post by **Fardaza** » Thu Aug 31, 2023 9:37 am

malchior wrote: Thu Aug 31, 2023 7:59 am I'm looking forward to it too. Need to take a BG3 break anyway. The last unlock and update (for BG3!) took a good hour so I doubt I'll get much time in tonight but I've carved out some time nonetheless. My company gave us Friday off on top of labor day and the wife is off to a bachelorette outing for the weekend so plenty of time to dedicate to this.

Sweeeet!

Max Peck · Post by **Max Peck** » Thu Aug 31, 2023 9:39 am

According to the intertubes, the Starfield review embargo lifts on Thursday, August 31 at 5pm BST/12PM ET/9 AM PT, so there should be plenty of stuff to read this afternoon.

This article makes a couple of good points: The ‘Starfield’ Review Embargo Date Is Here, And Don’t Freak Out

The review embargo date for Starfield is Thursday, August 31 at 12 PM ET. This is uh, eight hours before the launch of Early Access release (ie. pay more to start early), which begins in various regions either on August 31 or September 1. Here in the US, that’s August 31 at 8 PM ET. So yeah, eight hours.

Because I’ve been around long enough, I know, I know people online are going to freak out about this and say it’s a “red flag” and all other manner of hand-wringing, especially console warrior types. However, without saying anything about the quality of Starfield, it’s important to remember that Bethesda essentially always does this.

It is beyond common practice, for some reason, for Bethesda to do day before or even day-of review embargoes, even on many games that were perfectly good or even really great. They’ve done this for installments more or less all their major series at one point or another. There was also a time when they decided they wouldn’t give out pre-launch review copies at all, though that immediately seemed pretty damaging when good games like Prey underperformed. But they are still doing the whole “very late review embargo” thing.

I’d say a more important date to note is when review copies went out, which was yesterday, August 17. That leaves two full weeks for critics to play and review the game, and as someone who has dealt with insanely short times between review copies going out and embargo deadlines dropping, two weeks is fantastic, as you really only see this with Nintendo games most of the time. Baldur’s Gate 3, for instance, had something like four days between review copies going out and launch, making it literally impossible to review except for outlets trying to rush out a number. Weeks later, scored reviews are still trickling in.

Kurth · Post by **Kurth** » Thu Aug 31, 2023 11:34 am

30 minutes to reviews. Predictions on the high and low scores and which outlets/reviewers they will be from??

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Thu Aug 31, 2023 11:42 am

Whatever the mean, IGN will be the score furthest from.

jztemple2 · Post by **jztemple2** » Thu Aug 31, 2023 11:47 am

Thinking about it, I'm realizing that it's been quite a while since I really paid attention to which sites tended to give which ratings.

Of course, I'm of the generation that used to have to wait for PC Gamer to arrive in the mail to check out reviews

Max Peck · Post by **Max Peck** » Thu Aug 31, 2023 11:50 am

And now you can read video game reviews from Forbes.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Thu Aug 31, 2023 11:51 am

As a visual thinker, video reviews are a godsend. Seeing what they're talking about while they're talking about it gives me a lot of information and understanding that a written review does not.

UsulofDoom · Post by **UsulofDoom** » Thu Aug 31, 2023 11:51 am

FYI Green man gaming has 17% off.

Kurth · Post by **Kurth** » Thu Aug 31, 2023 12:08 pm

Blackhawk wrote: Thu Aug 31, 2023 11:51 am As a visual thinker, video reviews are a godsend. Seeing what they're talking about while they're talking about it gives me a lot of information and understanding that a written review does not.

It’s so interesting. I’m the exact opposite. If I’m watching a video review, I’m really just coming up with my own review in my head. I can’t really pay attention to what the reviewers are saying while watching them play. If I want to know how others have reviewed a game, I need to read the review.

It’s the same with me and just about all internet content. My kids are the exact opposite. Reading? That’s for suckers. Anything I send them, the response is, “Is there a video?”

Max Peck · Post by **Max Peck** » Thu Aug 31, 2023 12:08 pm

Speaking of PC Gamer...

Starfield review (75)

It's Bethesda's biggest RPG by far, but nowhere near its best.

And speaking of Forbes...

‘Starfield’ Review (PC): It Is What You Wanted It To Be

The weight of expectations on Starfield and in turn, Bethesda, has been crushing. It’s not just their first mainline single player game since 2015’s Fallout 4, but a recovery effort from the rocky launch of Fallout 76. Oh, and after being acquired for $7.5 billion, Bethesda now has to make Starfield Microsoft’s flagship franchise since Master Chief is on an indefinite vacation.

And they do it. They pull it off. Starfield is going to make a lot of people happy.

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Thu Aug 31, 2023 12:11 pm

https://www.metacritic.com/game/xbox-series-x/starfield

Max Peck · Post by **Max Peck** » Thu Aug 31, 2023 12:25 pm

https://opencritic.com/game/14907/starfield

Skinypupy · Post by **Skinypupy** » Thu Aug 31, 2023 12:27 pm

Both IGN and Gamespot gave it 7's as well. Seems like the general consensus is that it's...fine.

Was debating on maybe grabbing the version that lets you start early so I could play this weekend, but I think I'll wait for a bit.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Thu Aug 31, 2023 12:28 pm

Just kinda skimming the articles...my gut feeling is that it's going to be a solid game on release - better than prior Bethesda titles on average. However, just like every other one of their games, it's going to be 6-12 months before the mods/patches/expansions turn it into a classic.

Kurth · Post by **Kurth** » Thu Aug 31, 2023 12:29 pm

Max Peck wrote: Thu Aug 31, 2023 12:08 pm Speaking of PC Gamer...

Starfield review (75)
It's Bethesda's biggest RPG by far, but nowhere near its best.
And speaking of Forbes...

‘Starfield’ Review (PC): It Is What You Wanted It To Be
The weight of expectations on Starfield and in turn, Bethesda, has been crushing. It’s not just their first mainline single player game since 2015’s Fallout 4, but a recovery effort from the rocky launch of Fallout 76. Oh, and after being acquired for $7.5 billion, Bethesda now has to make Starfield Microsoft’s flagship franchise since Master Chief is on an indefinite vacation.

And they do it. They pull it off. Starfield is going to make a lot of people happy.

I was prepared to come away disappointed after reading the quote above from the PC Gamer review, but on reading the whole review, not so much. For a game he gave a 75/100 score, he sure did like a lot about it. After all, his parting shot is:

I don't love Starfield, but I'm happy to say that I do like it. Those first 90 hours I played were far from perfect, but I've got plenty of reasons to play 90 more.

Given the number of options out there in terms of games to play, if you’re willing to put 90 hours into a game after already putting 90 hours into a game, that says a lot to me, regardless of the score.

Max Peck · Post by **Max Peck** » Thu Aug 31, 2023 12:40 pm

I've skimmed a bunch of reviews, and a couple of takeaways I have are that it seems stable and not notably buggy, but still has some of that Bethesda jank going on. It also sounds like the main story gets off to kind of a slow start, which might be part of the reason for the more lukewarm takes.

Also, speaking of video reviews (can you tell I'm a graduate of the Robert Evans School of Segues?), here's one from Fextralife:

Kurth · Post by **Kurth** » Thu Aug 31, 2023 12:48 pm

It’s interesting to me how some of the reviews that are on the lower end seem to have played the game for far less time. For instance, the IGN reviewer played for a dozen hours. Does that seem kind of on the low side to give a review of a game as big as Starfield? Seems like that’s more a review of the intro . . .

baelthazar · Post by **baelthazar** » Thu Aug 31, 2023 1:00 pm

Kurth wrote:It’s interesting to me how some of the reviews that are on the lower end seem to have played the game for far less time. For instance, the IGN reviewer played for a dozen hours. Does that seem kind of on the low side to give a review of a game as big as Starfield? Seems like that’s more a review of the intro . . .

No, the IGN review said they played around 80 hours. They said the game doesn’t get GOOD until after about a dozen hours in.

I hate a bad gut feeling about Starfield. So I think holding off for patches and a sale seems ok for my needs.

baelthazar · Post by **baelthazar** » Thu Aug 31, 2023 1:02 pm

Blackhawk wrote:Whatever the mean, IGN will be the score furthest from.

Weirdly enough - they seem to be pretty much in line this time.

Carpet_pissr · Post by **Carpet_pissr** » Thu Aug 31, 2023 1:30 pm

Max Peck wrote: Thu Aug 31, 2023 11:50 am And now you can read video game reviews from Forbes.

And even Sports Illustrated FFS! Who would have guessed we would ever see that back in the late 80’s and 90’s?!

(Sports Ilkustrated)
"Starfield is a Bethesda game in every way. If you’re going into it expecting something like No Man’s Sky, you’re going to be disappointed. It’s Skyrim in space, which is exactly what I hoped it would be."

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Thu Aug 31, 2023 1:35 pm

Kurth wrote: Thu Aug 31, 2023 12:08 pm
Blackhawk wrote: Thu Aug 31, 2023 11:51 am As a visual thinker, video reviews are a godsend. Seeing what they're talking about while they're talking about it gives me a lot of information and understanding that a written review does not.
It’s so interesting. I’m the exact opposite. If I’m watching a video review, I’m really just coming up with my own review in my head. I can’t really pay attention to what the reviewers are saying while watching them play. If I want to know how others have reviewed a game, I need to read the review.

It’s the same with me and just about all internet content. My kids are the exact opposite. Reading? That’s for suckers. Anything I send them, the response is, “Is there a video?”

I also read constantly. I just learn better if there is a visual element (and if I'm reading non-fiction, I almost always have a phone or PC nearby, and I'm constantly looking up images or videos to give missing context.)

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Thu Aug 31, 2023 1:38 pm

My go-tos:

Kurth · Post by **Kurth** » Thu Aug 31, 2023 1:46 pm

baelthazar wrote: Thu Aug 31, 2023 1:00 pm
Kurth wrote:It’s interesting to me how some of the reviews that are on the lower end seem to have played the game for far less time. For instance, the IGN reviewer played for a dozen hours. Does that seem kind of on the low side to give a review of a game as big as Starfield? Seems like that’s more a review of the intro . . .
No, the IGN review said they played around 80 hours. They said the game doesn’t get GOOD until after about a dozen hours in.

You're right. I misread that. Thanks!