Why Skyrim Still Reigns Supreme: A Deep Dive into Why It Outshines Starfield
Why is Skyrim so much better than Starfield? The answer isn’t simple, but it boils down to a potent combination of seamless immersion, intuitive exploration, and a deeply engaging world that Starfield, despite its grandeur and scope, struggles to match. While Starfield boasts a massive universe with over 1,000 planets, it often feels like a collection of isolated instances connected by loading screens, rather than a cohesive, breathing world. Skyrim, on the other hand, presents a compact yet intensely rich environment where every location feels organically connected, fostering a sense of genuine discovery and belonging. Starfield, while innovative in some aspects, often feels like a less cohesive experience when compared to the timeless charm and effortless engagement of Skyrim.
The Power of Seamless Immersion
Skyrim’s Organic World Design
One of the most significant advantages Skyrim holds is its seamless world design. Players can traverse the entire province without encountering disruptive loading screens, barring the initial entry into an interior cell. This allows for uninterrupted exploration, where discoveries feel natural and rewarding. The mountains, valleys, and cities of Skyrim flow together seamlessly, encouraging players to simply wander off the beaten path and unearth hidden locations, dungeons, and quests.
Starfield’s Fractured Experience
In contrast, Starfield’s travel system, while allowing for interstellar hopping, often feels clunky and disjointed. Moving between planets involves multiple loading screens, which can break the flow of exploration and diminish the sense of immersion. Even within a planet, landing zones are often segmented, requiring loading screens even for travel short distances. This creates a feeling of playing a series of disconnected vignettes rather than exploring a contiguous world.
Exploration: Intuitive vs. Regimented
Skyrim’s Effortless Navigation
Skyrim’s map, although smaller in scale than Starfield’s, is designed with an emphasis on intuitive exploration. The environment itself serves as a guide, with landmarks and terrain features naturally leading players towards points of interest. Getting lost is rare in Skyrim; instead, you feel like you are naturally discovering new locales and paths, making exploration a core part of its charm. There’s a strong feeling of being present in the world, navigating via natural cues and observation.
Starfield’s Systemic Navigation
Starfield’s exploration, while theoretically vast, often feels less intuitive. While there are vast planets with unique biomes, the vastness can feel empty and procedural. Finding specific locations often involves checking menus and using fast travel. The reliance on systemic navigation can detract from the sense of organic discovery that is so central to Skyrim’s appeal. Although Starfield emphasizes its 1,000 planets, much of the exploration feels disjointed and less rewarding than in Skyrim.
Engaging Quests and Characters
Skyrim’s Memorable Narratives
Skyrim’s quests are generally regarded as more memorable and engaging. From the Daedric quests to the guild storylines, each offers compelling narratives and unique characters. Side quests in Skyrim often feel deeply integrated into the world, offering interesting stories and character development that make the overall gaming experience feel richer and more complete. The sheer number of these memorable quests makes it a joy to explore.
Starfield’s Questing Nuances
While Starfield presents a solid amount of quests, they sometimes lack the unique and memorable quality of Skyrim’s. Although there are some stand-out moments, many of Starfield’s quests can feel procedural, lacking the depth of character and narrative complexity that makes Skyrim’s quests so compelling. It’s a common criticism that while the main story of Starfield is of good quality, the side missions are generally less interesting than the side quests available in Skyrim.
The “Skyrim in Space” Fallacy
Starfield was often touted as “Skyrim in space.” While it shares some similarities in structure and gameplay mechanics, this comparison ultimately underscores where Starfield falls short. Skyrim’s charm lies in its coherent and naturally explorable fantasy world, while Starfield, though set in space, feels more like a series of connected game instances. Starfield doesn’t quite capture that same feeling of free-form exploration that Skyrim perfected. The expectation that Starfield would recapture the magic of Skyrim unfortunately, fell short for many gamers.
Why Skyrim Still Endures
Ultimately, Skyrim’s enduring appeal stems from its ability to make players feel truly present in its world. The seamless exploration, intuitive navigation, and engaging stories create an immersive experience that Starfield, despite its ambition, hasn’t quite managed to replicate. While Starfield is a significant accomplishment in its own right, it struggles to reach the same heights of engagement and immersion that Skyrim has achieved, cementing Skyrim’s position as a true gaming masterpiece.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. Does Starfield really have 1,000 planets?
Yes, Starfield does feature over 1,000 planets. However, only about 100 of these planets are habitable. The rest are mainly there for resource gathering or exploration purposes. The developers intentionally didn’t pack every planet with content, choosing to vary the types of exploration and activity levels available.
2. Is Starfield bigger than Skyrim in terms of map size?
Absolutely. Starfield is significantly larger than Skyrim, primarily due to the inclusion of multiple planets. The map of Skyrim is about 15 square miles, whereas each landing zone in Starfield is estimated to be about 19.63 square miles, and there are multiple landing zones per planet.
3. Does Starfield have more quests than Skyrim?
While Starfield boasts a large number of quests, the number of main story quests is actually the same as in Skyrim. Many players believe that Skyrim features more engaging and memorable side quests, especially when it comes to factions and guilds.
4. Is Starfield a spiritual successor to Skyrim?
Starfield is the first new IP from Bethesda Game Studios in over 25 years, and the director Todd Howard described it as “Skyrim in space”. However, while both games share similarities in structure, they don’t feel the same. Starfield’s fractured exploration and systemic navigation makes it a very different experience than the seamless open world of Skyrim.
5. How long does it take to complete Starfield?
Starfield’s main story takes about 30 to 40 hours to complete, while a thorough playthrough, including side quests and exploration, could take 60 hours or more. Speedrunners have managed to beat the game in under three hours.
6. Does Starfield have multiple endings?
While Starfield doesn’t have multiple distinct endings, the choices you make throughout the game do impact the final act. However, you can use the New Game+ feature to explore the story with new permutations and dialogue options.
7. How much does Starfield cost?
The Standard Edition of Starfield costs $70. The Premium Edition, which includes access to the digital artbook, original soundtrack and the “Shattered Space” expansion, is priced at $100.
8. Does Starfield feature any Skyrim Easter eggs?
Yes, there are some Skyrim easter eggs in Starfield, including references to the “arrow to the knee” and Delvin Mallory from the Thieves Guild. These nods to Skyrim are small acknowledgments of Bethesda’s previous work.
9. Is Earth explorable in Starfield?
Yes, Earth is explorable in Starfield. However, it is in a state of decay, having been abandoned by humanity in favor of settling other, more habitable planets.
10. Is it possible to 100% complete Starfield?
Yes, it is possible to 100% complete Starfield, but it can take well over 100 hours to unlock all achievements. The game lacks a level cap and has significant post-game content, making it a very replayable experience.
11. How long is one day in Starfield?
Each planet in Starfield has its own day that lasts for 24 hours, though the day/night cycle can differ from planet to planet. Players can also skip or change the time of day to progress through missions or quests.
12. Does Starfield feel like Skyrim in space?
Starfield has certain gameplay elements in common with Skyrim, but it doesn’t capture the same seamless open-world feeling. The segmented exploration and heavy reliance on fast travel make it a distinct experience.
13. How many different worlds will there be in Starfield?
Starfield features over 1,000 planets spread across 100 star systems. These planets are a mix of handcrafted and procedurally generated worlds, with only 100 being habitable.
14. What is the longest game in development?
While Duke Nukem Forever holds the Guinness world record for the longest development period of 14 years, other games like Beyond Good and Evil 2 have also had extremely long development cycles.
15. Has Starfield gone gold?
Yes, Starfield has gone gold, meaning the game is ready for distribution and has been finalized before release.