Starfield is Bethesda’s first try at new game plus, and it mostly works

It took a few hours for me to really “get” Starfield, but I’m now in love with Bethesda’s biggest, sprawling-est space RPG. There are many stories to be explored between my explorations with Constellation, and the various factions of the Settled Systems that want my assistance. The real story is the one that takes place in the Settled Systems. Starfield’s new game plus mode. The game’s main storyline is worth all the trouble, even if some of the mechanics can be a little annoying.

[Warning: This article contains major spoilers for Starfield’s main quest and its conclusion.]

I played the game for dozens and dozens hours. I became a Freestar Ranger as well as a UC resident, while also dabbling with piracy. I eventually ended up playing the game. As a gift, a moral person would be willing to break the laws a bit. Sure, I’d break into the restricted cargo area to steal some supplies for a lady I met two minutes prior, but I never pulled the trigger on any truly terrible decisions. I stayed well within the “lovable scoundrel” archetype.

At first, I found the main narrative’s Constellation quests to be a side show to the faction questlines for every other major group in the game, such as the United Colonies, Freestar Collective, Ryujin Corporation, or Crimson Fleet. Sure, you get cool space powers for hunting down Artifacts and temples, but it feels like busy work – going to various backwaters and secret temples to complete isolated projects.

Constellation’s characters repeat the same question over and over again. You’re also harassed by a faction called the Starborn, and they refuse to give you much in the way of solid information. It’s a mystery that hangs over your narrative for the remainder of the game. Are Starborn aliens? Angels? Angels?

Image: Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Softworks

You eventually find answers that lead you to Unity, the heart of the universe – and a portal to You can also read about other ways to get in touch with us. universes. New game plus is a great way to do this. After you finish the final battles and see how all of your choices played out, you can walk into the light and start all over with a new universe – same story, same locations, but a fresh save. Thanks to my journey I’m now a Starborn and can keep the cool stuff I have, including a cool ship and all of my abilities.

In new game plus, I can go to a fresh copy of Constellation’s headquarters, the Lodge, and skip the main quest by choosing a dialogue option that lets me spoil everything to the rest of the society. I It is a good idea to use play along and go through the main plot again, but where’s the fun in that when I can roll up on a gaggle of alternate dimension coworkers and casually explain their life’s purpose to them like it’s no big deal? I applaud such a brutal drive-by.

After several repetitions, you will start to notice some funny things. The following are examples of unusual behaviorsAlternate realities. As is essentially mandatory with alternate universes, some of these possibilities include evil versions of Constellation members – including an alternate version of you from yet You can find out more about this by clicking here. galaxy.

Narratively speaking, the new game + is an almost complete reset. My inventory is gone, as are all my outposts and custom-built vessels, rare loot and mission progress. It’s back in the previous galaxy. It’s a new galaxy, so all quests and crafts have been reset.

Mechanically, I do feel like new game plus (and plus plus, and plus plus plus…) is a little bit lacking. The talent points were nice but I was missing my old loot and ship, as well as my old, kludgy outposts. It’s not all bad; you get to keep your fun new Starborn ship, and it’s nice to have all the skills from your first playthrough. Starborn bonuses are stacked with each new game, plus I’m able to improve my Temple skills by going through Unity.

Starborn is a great game, but the 600,000.00 credits that I earned should have stayed. It’s also making me hesitant to invest any real time into playing with the game’s building elements. I feel like I’m waiting for the “perfect” run, where I’ll finally be satisfied to settle down. It’d be nice if new game plus was a little more generous with what it let you bring over, so my favorite stabbing element could survive the trip. New game plus also struggles to scale; even on harder difficulties, my talents mean I can stomp the opposition quite easily, including when I’m using the humble Frontier instead of my fancy Starborn ship.

With a lack of formidable battles, it’s up to players to find their own fun challenges in new game plus. Others may choose to rush to Unity and escape the consequences of their actions by racking up as much bounty as possible. This new playthrough, where the main quest is now skippable captures the fantasy of space living so much better. It’s much easier to imagine myself as a space pirate or trucker.

We’ll see whether Bethesda ends up tweaking new game plus, and I’m sure the mod community will eventually make some changes, too. As of now, I’m not sure. StarfieldIt is a very elegant way to handle the idea of multiverses. Mechanically, I wish the jumps brought over a little more from my prior run, but narratively, I’m excited to keep digging into the rest of the game’s facets through a Starborn’s point of view.