*This review is 100% spoiler-free*

Starfield fails to deliver the immersion Bethesda was strongly confident about. The exploration is the most significant part of Starfield, but when it's combined with back-to-back loading screens, running on empty fields to an area where you'll memorize every single layout after 30-40 hours of playing, that's when the immersion starts to have no effect, and you feel like you're in a sandbox, clearing out the area you encountered 60-70 hours ago.

Unfortunately, Starfield becomes tedious after playing for around 30 hours, and that's not even the worst part. The game doesn't even "start" before you play for about 30 hours. The tedious part is mainly because of the NPC vendors who can't stop telling you their life stories. Compared with the main story conversations in which the characters explain the stuff to you plain and briefly, talking to a random NPC, quest giver, or vendor almost feels like a punishment for exploration and curiosity.

Aside from all of this, the game has way too many technical problems that are begging to be solved by modders. Bethesda yet again left their game's fate to the hands of the modders. I have never seen a game this desperate for mods. I doubt anyone can play the game unmodded with a Nvidia graphics card if they want to achieve a stable 60+ fps experience.

I tried to do the game justice by completing each faction's quests, almost all side quests around the major cities, and so many other random encounters & activities, but after playing the game for 170 hours, none except the faction quests felt like they were worth my time.

That brings me to my final point... the ending. I wasn't expecting Bethesda to deliver a well-written narrative story, though, after seeing so many people talking about how unique the NG+ is, I was expecting the game to end on a high note or at least deliver a sense of accomplishment for all I've done during my playthrough, but it was a huge letdown.

I regret taking the time to bond with my companions, talking with every NPC, flying & running around scanning the planets, and lockpicking every door or chest I encountered. Overall, I regret completing the main story. I can't believe I'm saying this, but IGN was right about the 7/10.

Give it 1 or 2 years, and Starfield will be completely different, thanks to modders. Though, I doubt if they can fix the annoying loading screens.

*This review is 100% spoiler-free* Starfield fails to deliver the immersion Bethesda was strongly confident about. The exploration is the most significant part of Starfield, but when it's combined with back-to-back loading screens, running on empty fields to an area where you'll memorize every single layout after 30-40 hours of playing, that's when the immersion starts to have no effect, and you feel like you're in a sandbox, clearing out the area you encountered 60-70 hours ago. Unfortunately, Starfield becomes tedious after playing for around 30 hours, and that's not even the worst part. The game doesn't even "start" before you play for about 30 hours. The tedious part is mainly because of the NPC vendors who can't stop telling you their life stories. Compared with the main story conversations in which the characters explain the stuff to you plain and briefly, talking to a random NPC, quest giver, or vendor almost feels like a punishment for exploration and curiosity. Aside from all of this, the game has way too many technical problems that are begging to be solved by modders. Bethesda yet again left their game's fate to the hands of the modders. I have never seen a game this desperate for mods. I doubt anyone can play the game unmodded with a Nvidia graphics card if they want to achieve a stable 60+ fps experience. I tried to do the game justice by completing each faction's quests, almost all side quests around the major cities, and so many other random encounters & activities, but after playing the game for 170 hours, none except the faction quests felt like they were worth my time. That brings me to my final point... the ending. I wasn't expecting Bethesda to deliver a well-written narrative story, though, after seeing so many people talking about how unique the NG+ is, I was expecting the game to end on a high note or at least deliver a sense of accomplishment for all I've done during my playthrough, but it was a huge letdown. I regret taking the time to bond with my companions, talking with every NPC, flying & running around scanning the planets, and lockpicking every door or chest I encountered. Overall, I regret completing the main story. I can't believe I'm saying this, but IGN was right about the 7/10. Give it 1 or 2 years, and Starfield will be completely different, thanks to modders. Though, I doubt if they can fix the annoying loading screens.