Recently, Bethesda dominated conversations simply by announcing that the long-awaited Elder Scrolls 6 has an official subtitle: Sentinel. We didn’t learn much more than that, but it was enough to keep us talking because that’s the sort of hold Bethesda has on us. Sometimes. There have been other instances, however, when the hold loosened.

Starfield, launched Sep. 6, 2023, represented a rare loosening of that grip. Despite offering the sort of sprawling environments for which Bethesda is known, the game was met with a collective shrug from much of its potential audience. We’d been there, done that — or so we thought. Comparisons to No Man’s Sky, which launched to similarly disappointing reviews before righting the ship, seemed only natural. No one seemed to love the game and its story. And yet, if you skip the story and find other ways to amuse yourself, Starfield is pretty much a ten out of ten.

Our expectations were part of the problem. Ahead of the game’s release, we looked forward to a vast universe populated by dozens memorable characters, telling entertaining stories about the time they took an arrow to the knee. Given the change in setting, maybe they would survive a blaster shot to the elbow? I could see that.

Instead of delivering a clear, focused narrative, Starfield unfurled with nary a storytelling hook in sight. There are references to a great war and to exploration. You find magical artifacts in caves. But there’s no proper sense of urgency.

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