To the Stars
What is this, another video game blog post, you say? Nonsense.
Ok maybe it is.
Growing up I spent a lot of time escaping to Bethesda’s worlds, from the fantasy world of Tamriel to the nuclear wastelands of Fallout. If I had to pick my favorite Bethesda RPG, it would probably be The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. I still go back and replay that one more than any other, and the recent rumors of a remake (along with the mind blowing Skyblivion mod) have me excited to return once again. But today is about Bethesda’s first new original IP in over 20 years: Starfield.
Admittedly when Starfield was first announced, I was a little underwhelmed. There was only a logo and not much to go off of. Then after a questionable gameplay trailer, the game was delayed out of 2022. So red flags were just popping up everywhere and I found myself slowly losing interest in the game, worrying it was going to be another Cyberpunk 2077 situation at launch. This game had a lot of work to do to win me over, and it did it with flying colors.
The nearly hour-long showcase at this year’s Starfield Direct blew my mind. This was a Sci-Fi fan’s dream game. Every feature they announced was just leagues above what I was expecting. The game quickly shot up to the top of my most anticipated games of the year list, and I have been waiting very impatiently for release ever since. So it will come as no surprise that I pre-ordered the digital deluxe edition to get in on the five day early access period. I just can’t wait another week, I guess.
Starfield’s early access opens up tomorrow night, the first single-player Bethesda game launch in 8 years. The last was Fallout 4, and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim before that. Both excellent games in their own right, and I am extremely excited to spend hundreds of hours getting lost in space for the next few months. Between this and Baldur’s Gate 3 (which I still have yet to finish), I have a lot of work to do on the gaming front.
While Fantasy has always been my favorite genre, I have been a huge fan of science fiction and space operas from a young age as well. Halo is arguably my favorite sci-fi universe, but I also grew up with Star Wars. Worlds I got into as I got older include Dune and Mass Effect, and recently I have been broadening my science fiction experiences even further, reading books such as To Sleep in a Sea of Stars from Eragon author Christopher Paolini and others.
I even have my own sci-fi series planned, but that is years away. For now I have my work cut out for me with A Night of Knives, which reminds me, I need to get back to writing so I can give myself a few days off for Starfield.
See you in the stars.
~Brandon