One can sit tight for two years with Bethesda’s space epic Starfield with reactions ranging from one side of the spectrum to the other. Following up with the official Starfield account, a celebratory tweet stated, “Celebrating two incredible years in the #Starfield” with a space emoji, thanking all the players for their time spent in the Settled Systems, and an exciting array of adventures ahead. The replies, however, paint a very different picture from a simple anniversary post.
So, just two years along now? With the answers following the tweet, it looked like a battlefield of love and hate. Players praising to the brim had called it, on the one hand, their “personal fav game of all time” and “the best adventures I’ve had the pleasure to play through,” and on the other, some say it’s “worst AAA game I’ve ever played” and give it a wash “2/10” rating. Surely a very enviable polarization!
Because the image accompanied with the anniversary post has got players joking, Price, one of the very first commenters, said “ARMADA huh” with the eye emoji. Others are sorting to read texts they think say, “TE_AN?” and “Armada” in the image. And that has set off a giant speculation on whether Bethesda is teasing some DLC or some upcoming content. David Schmidt followed up with a tweet saying “New Starfield DLC teased? LETS GOOOO” in full excitement. Others are getting annoyed about teasing without any delivery on the actual anniversary day, stating, “a very strange marketing technique.”
Then a seemingly unending debate about platform exclusivity raises its ugly head. On the other hand, many are begging for a PS5 release, commenting “Bring It to PS5! 🥹❤️”, while others still defend it from Xbox claws. One user with the name meyerpark quickly turned the replies into a war with plot lines with “Starfield is Xbox pc exclusive forever” and “Stay true to Xbox” over and over again. This started the debate circling around Microsoft acquiring Bethesda and whether exclusivity hurts or helps the game.
Things get animated once players began to discuss other games. One even said, “Starfield sucks. Redfall is better because its Xbox pc exclusive,” which, okay, it sure took some boldness considering how Redfall was received. Others are asking about potential crossovers with Outer Worlds, which, considering the weirdness just in itself.
What is really striking is the fact that it looks like a lot of gamers had dropped Starfield after that initial launch. Another player ridiculously said, “Played like 70+ hrs on launch then never touched it again,” and that’s probably a good summarization of many people’s experience. Lots of comments, pleading for content, with “Please more content…PUHLEAZEE” and “Give us another teaser please! That’s too short 😭😭” suggest that while this game does have detractors, there’s a passionate fan base desperately craving content.
In criticism of technical aspects were: “revamp the armillary jump to maintain bases and ships, add new procedurally generated elements and do something for new atlantis that city is awful gagarin is so much better oh and the fucking loading screens.” And, yeah, loading screens have been a perennial complaint since launch.
But with all the criticism comes love and praise. There are multiple players greatful to Bethesda for the experience, “Thx for this beautiful game!” while another was “Long live to Starfield. Can’t wait to see what’s coming next”. They’ve even gone as far as to request more language support: “Happy Anniversary Add the Arabic Language to the Game.”
The whole dialogue indeed paints a picture of a fissured gaming community, divided over Starfield two years hence. Some regard it as a masterpiece; some see it as debased. But it does seem clear that, loving or hating it, the conversation nonetheless zealously revolves around it. “Adventures yet to come” got everyone wondering what Bethesda has in store-is that DLC; are they going to update it; or are they just going to be focusing on Elder Scrolls 6?” as some comments suggested.
End-ways at two years, this is not just about looking back on Starfield but about what comes next. So much is in the game already left and right; it rests ahead that Bethesda must earn those who turned against it without betraying those with warm hearts. At two years, The Settled Systems is experienced, but what lies ahead for it is just beginning.
