There’s dark mature themes and deep social commentary in Starfield for those willing to look beyond its sanitised veneer.
Like what happens if you let billionaires make decisions for us all? Sure, let’s ignore the problems on Planet Earth and head to the stars instead - even if the cost is billions of lives, the most diverse ecosystem known thus far, oh, and only the privileged few got to escape and survive. *shudders*
Here’s a nightmarish monster that can seemingly spring out of nowhere, control people’s minds, and slaughter thousands.
Here’s another leader controlling an entire planet, keeping his people alive by selling magic beans to farmers and then strip-mining their properties when their crops fail. Framed as a likeable good guy.
Here’s a bunch of veterans who can’t accept the war is over.
Here’s a science experiment that split time and space, you can either save the bunch of people living a good life, or the one person who is trapped in the nightmare (or a secret third option).
Here’s a band of pirates and you’re going undercover, you’re going to build relationships with these people - then turn on them for the greater good? Or side with them for great personal gain?
Here’s a shady corporation that develops tech that can control people’s reactions. And they want to put this highly experimental tech in your brain, then control the market so no one else has this dangerous advantage.
Here’s a group of zealots that want to force their way of life on the rest of the settled systems through fear and religion.
Here’s yet another experiment on aliens that went horribly wrong and killed everyone (rinse and repeat).
Oh no, we drilled too deep out of greed and let loose even more monsters.
Sentient AI is so feared it’s considered contraband.
Sorry, we cloned the worst people in human history, just to see if we could. Oh no, they escaped, my bad!
Oh, and now you have to make the decision on whether you abandon everyone you know and love for a do-over and a chance of learning the meaning of life, be warned - do it enough times and you’ll eventually turn into the bad guy.
Okay, okay, I’ll stop but consider this. All of Bethesda’s games before Starfield you are thrown into a world hundreds or thousands of years into a fantasy story. You start in the middle.
But with Starfield, its lore is not fantastical, it’s just our history, plus a few hundred years. It doesn’t feel as deep because we’re at the very beginning of this new fantastical journey. While Bethesda hold up a mirror to our current late-capitalist society and ask uncomfortable questions - I think that’s why among Bethesda’s titles, Starfield is different and so polarising.