Yea wow this game is huge, over 1 day played now on my Shepard and starting to get the hang of it. Dam so much manufacturing and mining and outposts and quests up the a.. ITS HUGE! thats the shortest explanation of this game i think. Found some decent wepons and now enemys dies much faster, only issue is ammo -.-
I've played a few Bethesda games and none of them was added to my favorites list, but I hoped that this game could be the game-changer for me. I watched two very long streams (different streamers) and from what I saw I could align with your impression. I know that playing a game by myself would be a different experience, but I just couldn't find anything appealing that would make me play the game. Even with a good discount. It looks like they wrote the quests 20 years ago and developed the game 10 years ago. I also don't believe that a single-player game should be played a dozen hours before it gets interesting.I was really excited about Resident Evil 4 Remake, Baldur's Gate 3, Starfield and Phantom Liberty this year. I really enjoyed RE4. Baldur's Gate 3 was great - though they have to fix up the last act.
I think Starfield is just an absolute joke of a game. To me it is a step back from Skyrim and Fallout 4. I have put in about twelve hours and won't be going back. I would honestly give it something like a 4/10.
Hopefully Phantom Liberty is as good as it looks!
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Additional Starfield thoughts -
Positives:
- Companion system is pretty solid. It's great that they are constantly commenting on a variety of different things.
- Combat took a step up from the Fallout games.
- Itemization is solid, found it interesting.
Meh:
- The game looks better than other Bethesda games, but it does not live up to the visual standards of a true 2023 AAA game.
Negatives:
- The very beginning of the game does not seem particularly well thought out or coherent. I meet some guy and he just gives me his ship and robot... and this random group of people take me in pretty much without question. I have no problem with the plot itself, but how rapidly it unfolds is... uhh... a tad ridiculous.
- The writing in the game is atrocious and makes it very difficult to get 'immersed' into the world.
- I would describe almost every quest or thing I ran into as... boring and shallow. None of the quests had any kind of depth to them.
- There is an immense amount of filler content. Some of the first quests I ran into were "Go trade this plate to a guy" and "Can you get me a coffee?". Some people may enjoy that stuff, but it is just pointless filler that makes finding actual content worth doing in the game that much more difficult.
- The randomly generated areas I stumbled upon were all pretty bad. Usually settlements with people who had nothing to say outside of pointing me to a board with radiant quests on it. Some other people seem to have found some cool stuff from the sounds of it - but in twelve hours I found pretty much nothing I would consider entertaining.
- The best part of Bethesda games (for me) was exploring the open world. That was replaced by multiple loading screens, going to one planet, exploring a place and then leaving right away. Still think they should have gone with 5-10 planets full of stuff rather than 1,000 with just random trash scattered across them.
- Edit: One more... the tutorials and introduction to the game are extremely bad. There are a ton of systems and ways to do things in the game with zero explanation of how to do so. I would randomly figure out better ways to do things that went against the pop-ups that came up and was like... uhhh... why did their little tutorial tell me to do this the long way that wastes a bunch of time?
- Edit 2: Oh yeah - and the enemy AI (and companion AI, especially in combat) is extremely bad.
Some people I have read say the more you put into the game the more it gives back. But I shouldn't have to put more than twelve hours into a game to get invested in it or get to 'the good parts'. If that is the case - then the game just isn't good.
Finally, it is all about personal preferences. I'm glad that most people here enjoy the game
Big is an understatement. I'm far enough along with the main mission that I've unraveled the major plot points. I knew that the game had a NG+, that they're not calling a NG+. Supposedly it's some version of a continuation of the story. I think I now see how it works. Sheesh. Big, Big, Big game.
I hate the fact that I have to sleep. Not in the game -- in real life. I have to be back at work in 2 days, and 20 hour gaming days seems to be my limit, now that I'm getting old.
In fact Starfield is the worthy heir of Skyrim and Fallout which share their strengths, weaknesses and flaws. Todd wasn't joking when he said "Starfield is a Bethesda game through and through". It's totally true and trueI've played a few Bethesda games and none of them was added to my favorites list, but I hoped that this game could be the game-changer for me. I watched two very long streams (different streamers) and from what I saw I could align with your impression. I know that playing a game by myself would be a different experience, but I just couldn't find anything appealing that would make me play the game. Even with a good discount. It looks like they wrote the quests 20 years ago and developed the game 10 years ago. I also don't believe that a single-player game should be played a dozen hours before it gets interesting.
Finally, it is all about personal preferences. I'm glad that most people here enjoy the game
So if its ancestors weren't your kind of game, logically Starfield won't be either.
Personnally, I have a blast to play it, but it have nothing to do with the story or the quests
Well...I've tried it, but I'm probably not buying it yet. It's good! To anyone hesitant about whether it's going to be a disappointment -- nope! I've only played a few hours of it with a bud, and he was only about 10 hours in. So I'm sure there's a ton more to experience. But my impressions were that:
It's good!
The downside is more or less what I was expecting. It's not great, in my opinion. The ship customization was by far the coolest aspect of it, and it was very fun to play around with. I'm also impressed by how the skill / perk system works -- I really like that. The rest of the game is suffering from the exact same thing that Fallout 4 and Fallout 76 suffered from: everything about the rest of the game has been done better by other games.
Combat is fun, and I really enjoy the aesthetic designs of the weapons. They feel like they have impact. Plus, characters do not seem to suffer from the bullet-sponge effect that prior Beth games had. Fights feel pretty tight. But...it's a Beth game. There's no AI to speak of. You basically go straight at 'em and shoot 'em all. Alien critters seem to be exactly the same. That's a bit lackluster.
Dialogue is not painful, but it's also not natural. There are still lots of exposition dumps. Some of the characters seemed to be noticeably more nuanced than in prior Beth games -- which is great! -- but the writing is nowhere near things like Detroit, Baldur's Gate 3, or (if I may) CDPR's stuff.
Exploring and mission execution seems really, really menu-heavy. I mean, it's not possible to do anything without spending about half the time in a map selecting an icon. This is probably the thing that I like the least. I didn't get the sense of interacting with a vast, expansive universe. I feel like I'm selecting icons from a visual spreadsheet, then plopping into a "level" that feels artificially constrained.
Ship combat is viscerally and visually pleasing. Oh, this part is very well done on the graphical end. It's very satisfying. And yet (...sorry...) it doesn't hold a candle to actual space sims in terms of truly feeling like you are controlling a powerful, complex spacecraft. It's more of a simple illusion of making your ship feel quick-and-nimble versus slow-and-methodical, with a slider range in between. Aside from that, it's:
_______________
TL; DR:
In the end, it's another game in which almost every aspect has been done better in other games. Like Fallout 4, it's a Bethesda game that fails to innovate on anything significant. It's very true that no other game offers exactly this combination of aspects, but I'm afraid it just doesn't capture me with any particular part. I've been more impressed with everything elsewhere in the past, and there are certain elements of the design and execution that just feel plainly dated and behind the curve. The only thing it does that is unique is that classic, Bethesda-style world building...and that's been done...a lot...already.
But -- despite all of that! -- it's a pretty good game! It's fun! Just don't go into it expecting it to blow your mind, and there is still a seemingly huge world with tons of variety and a lot of really fun experiences to be had.
It's not a "totally, amazing, change-your-life" burger; it is a really good burger.
It's good!
The downside is more or less what I was expecting. It's not great, in my opinion. The ship customization was by far the coolest aspect of it, and it was very fun to play around with. I'm also impressed by how the skill / perk system works -- I really like that. The rest of the game is suffering from the exact same thing that Fallout 4 and Fallout 76 suffered from: everything about the rest of the game has been done better by other games.
Combat is fun, and I really enjoy the aesthetic designs of the weapons. They feel like they have impact. Plus, characters do not seem to suffer from the bullet-sponge effect that prior Beth games had. Fights feel pretty tight. But...it's a Beth game. There's no AI to speak of. You basically go straight at 'em and shoot 'em all. Alien critters seem to be exactly the same. That's a bit lackluster.
Dialogue is not painful, but it's also not natural. There are still lots of exposition dumps. Some of the characters seemed to be noticeably more nuanced than in prior Beth games -- which is great! -- but the writing is nowhere near things like Detroit, Baldur's Gate 3, or (if I may) CDPR's stuff.
Exploring and mission execution seems really, really menu-heavy. I mean, it's not possible to do anything without spending about half the time in a map selecting an icon. This is probably the thing that I like the least. I didn't get the sense of interacting with a vast, expansive universe. I feel like I'm selecting icons from a visual spreadsheet, then plopping into a "level" that feels artificially constrained.
I think that, if you're enjoying the overall experience, it won't really matter so much. I believe that when I do sit down to actually play it, I'll be able to get beyond this and simply enjoy what's there.
However, if you're used to an experience like Elite: Dangerous, Space Engineers, Star Citizen, Evochron, Avorion, or Starbourne, this aspect of Starfield will feel incredibly half-baked. It feels like the moments when the game should be absolutely blowing you away...it switches to a menu and you click on an icon. It's an aesthetic thing -- but it's a huge -- a monumentally impactful -- aesthetic that's simply...missing.
If you have not played any of the games I mentioned (or titles like that) you probably won't even notice! So don't let this stop you from grabbing it! It's still a very fun game!
However, if you're used to an experience like Elite: Dangerous, Space Engineers, Star Citizen, Evochron, Avorion, or Starbourne, this aspect of Starfield will feel incredibly half-baked. It feels like the moments when the game should be absolutely blowing you away...it switches to a menu and you click on an icon. It's an aesthetic thing -- but it's a huge -- a monumentally impactful -- aesthetic that's simply...missing.
If you have not played any of the games I mentioned (or titles like that) you probably won't even notice! So don't let this stop you from grabbing it! It's still a very fun game!
Ship combat is viscerally and visually pleasing. Oh, this part is very well done on the graphical end. It's very satisfying. And yet (...sorry...) it doesn't hold a candle to actual space sims in terms of truly feeling like you are controlling a powerful, complex spacecraft. It's more of a simple illusion of making your ship feel quick-and-nimble versus slow-and-methodical, with a slider range in between. Aside from that, it's:
- Turn ship toward enemy.
- Choose weapon to shoot and fire.
- Repeat process until enemy is destroyed in super-cool explosion sequence.
_______________
TL; DR:
In the end, it's another game in which almost every aspect has been done better in other games. Like Fallout 4, it's a Bethesda game that fails to innovate on anything significant. It's very true that no other game offers exactly this combination of aspects, but I'm afraid it just doesn't capture me with any particular part. I've been more impressed with everything elsewhere in the past, and there are certain elements of the design and execution that just feel plainly dated and behind the curve. The only thing it does that is unique is that classic, Bethesda-style world building...and that's been done...a lot...already.
But -- despite all of that! -- it's a pretty good game! It's fun! Just don't go into it expecting it to blow your mind, and there is still a seemingly huge world with tons of variety and a lot of really fun experiences to be had.
It's not a "totally, amazing, change-your-life" burger; it is a really good burger.
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Similar to Cyberpunk 2077 in that case then
In defense of Cyberpunk 2077...
I do not think any game at the time was as visually stunning - outside of maybe the new God of War game. Unless I am missing one.
I am also not sure if any game has crafted as detailed and alive open world as Night City. Again - unless I am missing one.
EDIT: Forgot about RDR2 - could probably argue it did both of those things as good or better.
The game had a lot of flaws, but it did those two things extremely well.
I actually think Starfield does companion commentary better than any other game that I have played up until this point. I thought Baldur's Gate 3 kind of set a new bar for that - but Starfield put it up even higher. It seems like your companions comment on like... everything that is going on, all of the time, no matter where you go. It is pretty amazing - but I think most people are missing it. I don't know how much work that was to do, but it seems like it had to be a massive undertaking.
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I am loving starfield
I heard there is no level cap so you can get all skills and gear maxed out on NG+ 10.
With each ng+ enemies get harder.
Love the story, the endless quests, the ability to become a smuggler, bounty hunter or even just run outpost to make your money
This just might be my only game from here on out
I heard there is no level cap so you can get all skills and gear maxed out on NG+ 10.
With each ng+ enemies get harder.
Love the story, the endless quests, the ability to become a smuggler, bounty hunter or even just run outpost to make your money
This just might be my only game from here on out
Extra bigly big.
Elden Ring surprised me when the map just would not stop getting larger and larger, then there were several large sub-tera complexes.
In Starfield I just keep finding new places, like actually new places. I've found a fair share of recycled locations sure, but I keep finding different and even unique locations. I stumbled upon an outpost just as settlers were landing and proceeded to steal their massive cargo ship(I'm talking nearly 2000 unites of storage) then landed at a fracking facility in the process of going offline. The workers asked for a ride given they would be stranded a few weeks, during the ride they all change out of their spacesuits and cycle through behaviors ranging from cleaning and lounging to playing cards - and of course sleeping.
I then...
After this I decided to touch down at a casino(still haven't taken the boys home) - the workers from the fracking plant disembarked and commented their appreciation that we'd come to such a fun place, saying things "I need to get you a beer" and the like.
Elden Ring surprised me when the map just would not stop getting larger and larger, then there were several large sub-tera complexes.
In Starfield I just keep finding new places, like actually new places. I've found a fair share of recycled locations sure, but I keep finding different and even unique locations. I stumbled upon an outpost just as settlers were landing and proceeded to steal their massive cargo ship(I'm talking nearly 2000 unites of storage) then landed at a fracking facility in the process of going offline. The workers asked for a ride given they would be stranded a few weeks, during the ride they all change out of their spacesuits and cycle through behaviors ranging from cleaning and lounging to playing cards - and of course sleeping.
I then...
came upon a giant ship that happened to be an old earth shuttle, I had been around before but didn't board, everyone there had been in cryo for centuries and wanted me to communicate with the planet because their comms were down. They wanted to colonize the planet they were orbiting but thought aliens lived there now. I had been there earlier and it was simply a resort and the security there thought the space ship was alien at the same time and has asked me they other day to intervene.
After this I decided to touch down at a casino(still haven't taken the boys home) - the workers from the fracking plant disembarked and commented their appreciation that we'd come to such a fun place, saying things "I need to get you a beer" and the like.
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A rover would be greatly appreciated. I like fishing in an RPG as much as the next guy, but I'm reeling that people made a bigger deal of 'no fishing' than 'no roving'.
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RDR2 definetely did both better imo, Night City just seemed dead and empty, where as Saint Denis felt alive.
And I think I prefered the visuals of RDR2 as opposed to CP77, heck, GoW and Horizon FW are both as stunning.
Hmm, the reason I remain apprehensive toward Starfield is a fear the procedural content isn't able to provide longevity to the game. Say, there are 1000 planets but 800 of them consist of barren rocks where the only thing to do is to shoot things and... mine rock. A plethora of fetch quests where you go get grandma's bucket down the road and return it. Even though some might find that relaxing/enjoyable.
The reason I'm still on the fence is the placed content, or hand-crafted stuff, might be enough to justify a purchase by itself. The game might not last for a decade of play time. It might be enjoyable for several hundred hours with this stuff and the procedural content in between though. Then you consider the mod angle where modders work their magic....
The impression I get from reviews/info on the game is there is a bit of both in play here. I'm still waiting for a sizeable amount of user reviews. Since I stopped taking so called "expert critic" info seriously a looong time ago.
The reason I'm still on the fence is the placed content, or hand-crafted stuff, might be enough to justify a purchase by itself. The game might not last for a decade of play time. It might be enjoyable for several hundred hours with this stuff and the procedural content in between though. Then you consider the mod angle where modders work their magic....
The impression I get from reviews/info on the game is there is a bit of both in play here. I'm still waiting for a sizeable amount of user reviews. Since I stopped taking so called "expert critic" info seriously a looong time ago.
Yeah - RDR2 is definitely a beautiful game. I thought Night City was pretty stunning as well. I also thought the facial models of the characters in Cyberpunk was on another level.
I think GoW 2018 was pretty close. Ragnarok was probably just as good or better - that I agree with.
I don't find the Horizon games to be very visually stunning, but that may be a personal preference when it comes to the art style. I also hate those games - so I may be biased in that regard as well! Haha.
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My personal experience twelve hours in was that most of the content was shallow garbage that seemed thrown together in order to try to fill the vast amount of space they are offering.
But that is just my experience. There seems to be quite a few people who are finding all sorts of cool things scattered around. I wish I had found some of that - I may have kept playing! Haha.
I'm also a fairly story-driven player and I read a lot - so solid writing is almost a must for me at this point. While I do not consider games like The Witcher 3, Cyberpunk 2077, RDR2, Divinity 2, Baldur's Gate 3, God of War 2018/Ragnarok to be literary masterpieces - they are at least well written for video games. For me personally Starfield's writing and dialogue was so bad that it continuously pulled me out of the experience - I kept trying to ignore it and couldn't. But there are other people who seem to enjoy it - so maybe I am just a picky jerk.
From my little experience, if you want to go only for the most interesting and varied locations on planets, only go for those which are already indicated from the orbit. If there is nothing and/or if you wandering on the surface for "unknown locations" and/or if there is nothing indicated from the orbit, you will likely only find "basic" and "repetitive" locations.
But it doesn't means that you won't find something interesting just by wandering... I found an unknow location, which was a huge abandonned base, full of enemies, great loots and with a little bonus, nice ship ready to pickup.
Beside, I didn't complete many quests (I mean true quests, not the little ransomly generated... like main, side or faction quests), but so far, they mostly lead me on "interesting" planets (not rocky, desertic ones).
In this case, I think the reviews are generally pretty accurate. I'm not talking about the review scores, which are largely subjective; but rather the comments in the reviews.
Here's my take on the game, after not planning on buying it, and then buying it anyway, playing the main mission through twice so that I'm now officially on NG++ (because I wanted to see what this Bethesda NG+ was all about), and now taking my time as normal, just going through the game leisurely a third time:
- Did you enjoy the previous games that Bethesda made in this general style (Skyrim, FO4)? If so, then buy Starfield. You'll have a blast with it. Did you not enjoy those games? Then pass on it, because the basic gameplay loop is the same.
I agree with @Spockprime, if you liked previous Bethesda games, buy it. You won't regret it. In my opinion, it's their best since Morrowind but that part is extremely subjective.
Or
Just get a month of Xbox game pass? 10$ and you get some great value out of it. Plenty of free games on there. Worst case scenario you learn Starfield isn't for you and you're out 10$ instead of full price but you might enjoy the other games available. Best case scenario you like a game in which you can easily dump 500-1000 hours and still not have found everything you can find.
I can say that if you go in expecting the mostly restricted path, cinematic experience on offer from games like GoW or Cyberpunk then you probably shouldn't bother. If you're more interested in systems, ones which overlap and respond to one another, or have thoroughly enjoyed Bethesda's previous games - Just get it. I would recommend you consider my previous post and then this one as well. That's not even the start of it. It's massive.
One of the brilliant things they've done is the trait system. I saw it as a cheap trick from the SGF demo before playing, but it has given me precisely what I was looking for. The blend of traits can generate curated content that occurs dynamically throughout your experience. The traits will open up unique dialogue that can, and does, open up new branches into side quests and main quests even.
Example of this in action -
One of my traits is Bounty Hunter, that means I have rep. NPCs respond to this and reflect on my experience. I am a wanted man. A faction of mercs will often touch down on a planet I am on, warp in behind me, or even be present on scene following a warp, etc etc. They're on my ass, but not so much it's annoying. As I've continued leveling up the bounty on my head has increased and now there are 'bounty defenders' who fight with them so that my bounty reaches a critical amount before they'll come after me. Sometimes pirates will have touched down and the mercs hunting me will get into a fight with them, or dogfighting in space, etc, etc. At one point I fucked up and warped in the middle of a scan, making me wanted specifically in that system - later I had to trot through that system as I was piloting a rather slow ship which caused me to be apprehended. This time I didn't simply go to jail and pay a fine, surrendering my illegal wares; I was imprisoned and a high ranking officer of the United Colonies military CIA proposed I become a spy or rot in space prison.. making note of my combat history as a bounty hunter. I was roped into a faction quest line many, many hours late into the game because of my actions and background. That's a top shelf Game Master in my book.
IF you're worried about 'Procedural generation'; don't be, this isn't an entirely random crapshoot from what I can tell. It's more like Animal Crossing rather NMS, if that makes sense. I'll admit I didn't play NMS because it just didn't grab me and honestly I'm not all that into space sim games themselves outside of Homeworld, but I saw the aftermath. I haven't encountered any sort of flying hippo giraffes, but I did find a...
refinery overrun by an alien infestation, my companion commenting on the events in specific detail throughout the encounter, including their combat capabilities. On that same planet I trotted all over it finding location after location. An abandoned fracking facility, a freight yard controlled by pirates, violent religous zealots searching a research lab before bailing after another ship of theirs dropped in, a group of settler's whose ship I stole, workers who needed to hitch a ride, etc. All this followed up by a trip to a massive scrap yard filled with war machines, my companion of course having specific commentary for that, and then a random reprieve at an abandoned meat factory and - you guessed it, she had detailed comments about that, too. Just like she did my resolution to the resort questline in my previous post.
Even the 'barren' planets have something to offer if you look for it. Lots of variation between caves, natural formations, mineral deposits, etc. variants of installations of the same type and numerous different installations - making the ones that are the same, thus far, stand out more so than the ones that are different. I'm shocked. Even the ones that are the same usually feel just fine because of brands and manufacturing. Modularity makes sense here. Some caves have been so large that I honestly want to take a tape measure to Elden Ring's, and some with installations inside of them. The game is just that goddamn big and I've barely touched the main quest line.
Work starts back tomorrow, so here's my final input for a few days.
The more I play the game, the more it feels like a MMO structured as a single player game. I think that Bethesda brought over a lot of the world building ideas from ESO.
The main mission is a game's worth of content. The Ranger story line is a game's worth of content. That's just getting started. I have way more red "never been to it" stars than I do visited stars, and I haven't done but a fraction of the stuff on the ones that I've been to. Acknowledging that this is a Bethesda game, in their style with their engine, I think that they accomplished all that they were shooting for.
Oh, and I expect a ton of DLC.
Edit: I just tried to post a Steam review. It wouldn't let me, because the game hasn't been officially released yet. Lol !!!
The more I play the game, the more it feels like a MMO structured as a single player game. I think that Bethesda brought over a lot of the world building ideas from ESO.
The main mission is a game's worth of content. The Ranger story line is a game's worth of content. That's just getting started. I have way more red "never been to it" stars than I do visited stars, and I haven't done but a fraction of the stuff on the ones that I've been to. Acknowledging that this is a Bethesda game, in their style with their engine, I think that they accomplished all that they were shooting for.
Oh, and I expect a ton of DLC.
Edit: I just tried to post a Steam review. It wouldn't let me, because the game hasn't been officially released yet. Lol !!!
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Yeah, I wasn't expecting a cinematic CP/TW3 style game. More of a TES in space. Although, I never really got into Skyrim until SE had been out for a while. Most of that enjoyment was on playthroughs pimped out with mods too. Oblivion, a bit. Morrowind, yes (best TES game, in my opinion). Daggerfall... I don't remember. Except for the horrifying sounds Vampires made. Those stuck for some reason. I don't know if I even played Arena.
That's the kind of stuff able to hook me, actually. In-game content may pull from the same source but if trait selections lead to large changes in the way things play out it's a definite selling point.
So the similar stuff is still different. In that case I could get past it.
I'll probably give it another look since it sounds like TES in space from your commentary. I appreciate the detailed feedback. Thanks.
Yeah, I wasn't expecting a cinematic CP/TW3 style game. More of a TES in space. Although, I never really got into Skyrim until SE had been out for a while. Most of that enjoyment was on playthroughs pimped out with mods too. Oblivion, a bit. Morrowind, yes (best TES game, in my opinion). Daggerfall... I don't remember. Except for the horrifying sounds Vampires made. Those stuck for some reason. I don't know if I even played Arena.
That's the kind of stuff able to hook me, actually. In-game content may pull from the same source but if trait selections lead to large changes in the way things play out it's a definite selling point.
So the similar stuff is still different. In that case I could get past it.
I'll probably give it another look since it sounds like TES in space from your commentary. I appreciate the detailed feedback. Thanks.
I just want to touch on something so you don't go in with the wrong expectations.
Hopefully that doesn't burst @BabaBooey88's bubble either.
That first example of his is completely unrelated to his choice of trait. The trigger is the arrest, not the traits. It's a major quest line that's available to anyone. The text changes based on what you have done thus far but it's all flavor.
With that said, having compared with a few friends, only 3 traits seem to actually have an effect on the way some quests play out. Those are the three origin traits. It doesn't stop there though. Some skills do have an influence on how things play out. That was a surprise to me. For example, during a particular negotiation, my commerce skill opened up a extra line in a persuasion attempt. A line my friends did not have access too. To be clear, anyone could get to the same result I got but it was made easier for me through a skill I had chosen that's totally unrelated to the persuasion skill itself but was relevant to the overall conversation. There are other skills that produce similar effects.
Your traits and/or skills won't really have a major effect on what you can see/experience from what I have seen so far but they will definitely change how you experience it and there is a lot to experience in Starfield. The game is absolutely humongous.