Former Bethesda designer Bruce Nesmith has been dropping a lot of takes recently, and the newest interview reveals his thoughts on Starfield. Nesmith has a long history of creating RPGs, ranging from writing Dungeons & Dragons modules to work as the lead designer for the The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim. While he left Bethesda before the release of Starfieldhe worked as systems designer during most of its development.
Speaking to FRVRNesmith notes one of the essential challenges of Starfield was thatspace is inherently boring.” While he considers himself an “enormous space fan,” the emptiness of space required planetary exploration to pick up the slack. Unfortunately, “when the planets start to feel very sameyand you don’t start to feel the excitement on the planets, that’s to (Nesmith) where it falls apart.”
Bruce Nesmith Thinks Starfield Falls A Little Short
A Good Game, But No Skyrim
Nesmith isn’t a Starfield hater, to be clear. He calls it a “good game” on the wholethen loops back to declare it a “great game” after acknowledging the pride he takes in personal efforts and those of colleagues during Starfield‘s development. It’s merely a question of what it’s living up to, and Nesmith doesn’t think it’s of the “same calibre“neither Fallout hrs The Elder Scrolls.
To this point, Nesmith thinks Starfield would have earned a better reception without the Bethesda name to live up to. He also doesn’t consider it a failure, as it still managed to prove itself in the market and build a solid community.
Nesmith’s Starfield Critique Is On The Money
Exploration Needs To Be Exciting
Nesmith’s take on Starfield echoes many common complaints, and it touches on the reason I was never personally compelled by the game. He calls out the reliance on procedural generation as a key problem, which I couldn’t agree with more. Skyrim and Oblivion have their fair share of random bloat, but the bespoke elements of exploration are the best part.
It’s always easy to point out a game’s mistakes in hindsight, but Starfield‘s fundamental focus on procedural design was a mystifying choice from the start. Nevertheless, as Nesmith acknowledges, the game still has plenty of fans, and it might fulfill the space-faring fantasy perfectly for some of them.
For those left unsatisfied by Bethesda’s most recent outing, The Elder Scrolls 6 might deliver a more traditionally engaging Bethesda experience. Hopefully, Bethesda will learn the lesson that Nesmith calls out in the wake of Starfield‘s disappointments and ensure that exploration is as consistently exciting as it needs to be.
- Released
- September 6, 2023
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood, Suggestive Themes, Use Of Drugs, Strong Language, Violence
- Engine
- proprietary engine
- Cross-Platform Play
- no multiplayer
- Cross Save
- no
- Steam Deck Compatibility
- yes
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