It works fine using mouse and keyboard. Ship combat is probably better with a joystick, but I’m too lazy to haul my HOTAS out of the bin.
As for storyline…yeah, I’m kind of missing something compelling at the start, even F4’s Minuteman quest in Concord, with them marching up the hill at the end to move into Sanctuary. I like the open sky feel of that home base. The Lodge is all indoors, and feels stuffy. And so far, all the companions are Constellation members whom you can take with you if you like. Isn’t there anyone else? Hope so.
I did just complete the quest to become a “Space Texas Ranger” or whatever they call them…Freestar thingies. This meant lots of ground combat, rescuing some trapped scientists and two friendly soldier factions at an outpost. Then some more ground combat. Then more. Then two moderate space battles. Then a defensive ground battle, with 3+ waves of baddies. Finally over.
I got a cheap new ship. The “Sparrow” has 2x the Frontier (starter ship) cargo capacity, is a LOT faster, slightly higher jump range, and handles well. With this minor upgrade (only 62000 credits) I can now beat moderately small enemy ships. I feel kinda bad with Sam Coe and his daughter being onboard–child endangerment and all–but nobody seems to care.
A warning for those who care: according to multiple online reports, using the console is likely to disable achievements for that character. Some people have reported that even using mods can disable achievements. Again, many don’t care, but just wanted to mention this in case it is important to you.
I was doing a Rangers mission that basically has you run a gauntlet, and I was prepared to, and willing to if it came to it, temporarily enter God mode. But it turned out OK (though I used a tremendous amount of ammo1), and I didn’t even have to save-scum. It was difficult, though.
I will almost certainly resort to a cheat eventually, probably because being a Bethesda game there will likely be a quest path that will get knackered without a workaround.
1 I priced buying ammo at Jemison Mercantile and for pretty common rounds (6.5mm I think) it was 24 credits; other rounds were similarly priced, 18-26 credits. I couldn’t believe it; how could someone afford to shoot at these prices? Then in bed last night I wondered: maybe those prices are per hundred rather than per round, which is much more affordable. Anyone know? It would be crazy otherwise, as many of the low-level crafting components like Sealant are cheaper.
Quoting myself to answer myself: confirmed that it is per round.
Example: 6.5mm CT rounds were 25 credits EACH. A measly 40 rounds would set you back 1,000 credits, which is just a couple of bursts.
Using mods usually disables achievements. In Skyrim, some of the console commands disable achievements, but not all of them.
I don’t think I have ever run a Bethesda game without mods. I was kinda annoyed the first time I found out that this disables achievements, but then I don’t really care about achievements so for me it was no biggie.
So, have any previous games had major quests/factions that you can join by accident? I don’t recall any, but I may have missed some.
I ask, because last night I got kidnapped, and forced to join a top-secret undercover mission. Just because I decided to hack a GalBank ATM. I don’t know if any other crime would have triggered this, as I haven’t committed any other crimes yet.
Oh, BTW, you can hack GalBank ATMs. Just be more stealthy than I was.
I used similar mods for FO4 and Skyrim, and they work fine. I think the mod here is literally flipping a “isGameModded” flag back to “false” in a config file somewhere, so it should be pretty fool proof.
In Skyrim there is a quest where you get into a drinking contest with someone in a tavern and you basically end up stuck in a fairly lengthy Daedric quest.
I went the Vanguard route, even though I took the Scoundrel background and I’m frequently picking locks on stuff, and I’ve even stolen a handful of items.
I see my character as a guy with a checkered past who is trying to make things better for himself and the people around him, but he’s not above cutting corners to get things done. And when he swore the oath to the Vanguard and the United Colonies, when he raised his right hand he kept his fingers crossed behind his back with his left hand.
I think this review/analysis is kind of how the game will be remembered. Not groundbreaking, or at least not as much as some thought it might be, but another good Bethesda RPG.
Yeah, give it a chance. I was really disappointed at first, then I answered a random distress call as I tooled around the galaxy and now I am completely hooked. I’m level 14 and I have barely scratched the main quest, I pretty much just headed for the frontier, thanks for the ship Constellation.
Makes no sense. NMS has no ship building mechanics at all. The ships are procedurally generated from parts, but there is no input from the player other that deciding to buy it or not.
Thanks, I have not played No Man’s Sky. I heard it is good, though I’m not sure what you exactly do other than land on planets, mine materials, and catalog animals and plants?
What reminds me of NMS is using the cargo hold of your ship as an extension of your own inventory. That’s a good thing, I like that feature.
But yeah, you don’t build ships in NMS.
By the way, there is nothing exceptional about this game but I just get sucked in and hours have gone by. It’s so much like Skyrim in that way, it’s scary.
I’ve never had a wait time with cloud gaming before, and I’ve used it for a couple of years now. Yesterday I had to wait five minutes to get into Starfield, and right now I’m in a 15 minute wait.
Mod/Achievements update: I have installed one single mod, the StarUI Inventory mod that everyone loves. Two separate play sessions later, I completed the Rangers questline and DID receive the Steam achievement.
This anecdote may not apply to other mods (particularly ones that alter the gameplay, rather than just the UI), and it may not apply to XBox/Gamepass achievements.
Finally, I do recommend StarUI Inventory; it lives up to its hype. My favorite feature: it includes DPS stats for weapons and DR (damage reduction) stats for wearables.
Does cloud gaming improve graphics or is it running the game from the cloud? I don’t get what the cloud is doing here.
Neat that it is popular. I mean, Cyberpunk was under attack much more at release and it sold a huge amount. I’m sure Bethesda has made a huge profit already.
