‘Starfield’ is inspired by “older, hardcore RPGs”

Bethesda Software has released a new video blog about the creation of Starfield, with game director Todd Howard saying it’s inspired by “older, hardcore RPGs”.

Speaking about how a lot of the team behind Starfield have been making games for a long time now, Howard explained how it was “nice to go back to some things we didn’t do [on previous titles like] the backgrounds, the traits, defining your character, all those stats.”

He went on to say that a lot of modern games have started incorporating those elements “and people are ready for something that does the things those older, hardcore RPGS that we used to make, did (but) in a new way.”

In recent years, Howard has worked on Skyrim and Fallout 4.

The video also sees the team talk factions, persuasion and the possibility of romance with repeated mentions about the importance of “immersion”.

“It’s a level of immersion that we really focus on, you’re not just playing a game but really living in this world, in this universe,” said Istvan Pely, lead artist with design director Emil Pagliarulo describing Starfield as “a giant open world for the player to do what they want”.

Lead quest designer Will Shen added: “You feel like you’ve had an impact on the world, you really feel like you’re there”.

Pagliarulo said: “We don’t just make RPGs, we make simulations.” Later, he explained how Starfield will have ”romance, adventure, and mystery” alongside this other layer of “the cosmos, the universe and what is out there.”

“At the end of it, we want the players to have told their own journey, but then look back at it. And we’re asking the big questions. ‘Why are we all here?’, ‘Where is it leading?’, ‘And what’s next for humanity,” added Howard.

“The more we can put you in the situation where you’re going to decide – that’s what makes video games the best form of entertainment that they are.”

Starfield is due to launch on November 11, 2022 and will be exclusive to Xbox Series X|S and PC platforms.