Starfield was hyped until people saw the demo. That Starfield direct had some cool parts but was overall underwhelming. It took the mining and procedural planets elements from No Mans Sky. Two of the things people really didn’t like. Then gave off some many red flags, it begs the question, how many red flags does it take for a community to question or cancel preorders? Lets look

Strike 1: Phil Downplays

Phil Spencer said something an exec should never. “There is no world where Starfield is an 11 out of 10 and people start selling their PS5s”. Seems we could be reading too much into it, but this problematic. The fact hes saying one of the most hyped games isn’t a system seller is bad and says it’s going to be mediocre at best. Then he tried saying he wasn’t happy with it. Read It

Ball: The co-founder of ResetEra went on to complain that people are already not giving the game a fair shake. Then said that people think an 8 out of 10 isn’t good enough. Its like the gaming media is looking to run interference and create another Xbox is being hated on narrative.

Strike 2: The Demo

The Starfield Direct show was just bad, most wanted Fallout/TES in space. What we got was a bunch of stuff taken from other games, meh graphics, weird characters models, barren planets and systems dumbed down from previous games. People point out the game is still running on Bethesda’s old engine, which they keep changing the name of when it is just revisions on the original. Thats true but the lighting and vision seem to be worse than Fallout 4. The coolest thing in the demo was the ship building mechanic. It feels like the games budget was cut, even the accessories are just basic designs. The controller, headset, and the jacket look like someone did them in like a few minutes. The watch is probably the best of them.

Strike 3: The Marketing

The marketing for the game is strange. Since that demo we haven’t seen any other gameplay, until a few days ago. We’ve just gotten some posters and a random animated shorts.

People have questioned and got shamed by Parris, he reminded them to stop complaining they got a demo in June and started calling people grifters. Then says it’s not a game you can demo, and then says, having a playable demo would do nothing for anyone. Then asks why grifters are worried about the marketing? Concluding the people saying this aren’t Xbox fans, when they were.

Strike 4: The Planets & Environmental Storytelling

Todd Howard announced 1,000 planets are in the game. Only 10% have any life. Then why do we need all those planets? NMS showed having all those planets is pointless. People who like to explore will defend it again.

Whenever you hear a dev speaking highly on their use of environmental storytelling, this usually is a big red flag and means a regularly story is taking a backseat. They claim it adds to the immersion in Starfield. I know there has always been books and notes to read in Bethesda games. Why is this now a feature they need to bring up as something special?

I want a good space rpg, that can be as good as Mass Effect and have the features of Star Citizen. I want Starfield to be a classic, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. The game seems to have gone to chase trends more than anything. Taking a more basic approach rather than what you saw in the earlier games. Bethesda before would usually wow when it showed off a new game like Fallout 3, 4, Prey 2, 2017, Wolfenstein, Doom and Skyrim. Not all lived up to the hype, but they got you hyped.