Coming out of the Xbox and Bethesda showcase was first gameplay and story footage for Bethesda's highly antipicated next roleplaying game Starfield.

And lots of very exciting details.

The Expected

Ground combat looks like a standard first person shooter. Same as Fallout 4.

We see digipicking (aka lockpicking) and skill descriptions which indicate a persuasion system.

The physical side of character creation looks like a more advanced hybrid of Fallout 4 and Elder Scrolls Online.

The statistical side of character creation includes choosing a background - each of which gives you 3 starting skills.

You also have the option of choosing up to 3 traits which come with both advantages and disadvantages.

To our eye most of them looked a bit silly but one suggests a housing system, as in their previous games:

Starter Home: You own a small house on a peaceful little moon, but it comes with a 50,000 credit mortgage with GalBank.

Skills can be unlocked as you level up and each skill can also be ranked up through use and also challenges.

What are challenges?

At least for the combat tree they seem inoffensive, eg. killing x number of enemies with a specific weapon type.

So they'd rank up through playing naturally, unlike many achievement systems.

Other than combat, three other skill trees were shown - social, science and ?-ical.

But there could more.

Crafting includes running research projects and creating weapon mods.

The Unexpected

None of these are never before seen features in any game but they're new for Bethesda roleplaying games.

How big is Starfield?

There are over one hundred star systems and over one thousand fully explorable planets.

So it dwarfs Fallout 4 and Skyrim.

In addition to the hinted at housing system, players can build modular outposts wherever they choose, though we presume there are some off-limit areas like cities.

Those outposts serve a survival function, can be used to generate resources and can also be staffed with non-player characters.

There's also a modular shipbuilding system which allows you to control the appearance and function of ships.

You can fly those ships and also choose crew for them.

Our Thoughts

We were never expecting Starfield to be terrible but have to admit to being more impressed by this presentation than we had anticipated.

It looks like a game that will be fantastic value for money.

The only question we have is whether there will be enough skill points to learn all skills on a single character.

In Skyrim there wasn't initially but player-made mods were quickly made and released to allow that, and Bethesda eventually included that functionality with a patch.

Interestingly there was no mention of official mod support for Starfield or of their dreaded "Creation Club" (i.e. cash shop).

Though Bethesda having retired their dedicated launcher should have spelled the end of any ambitions they might have held to aggressively monetize mods for Starfield.

Most people following this game would be aware that its release on PC and Xbox was pushed back from November 11 this year - which will be Skyrim's 11th anniversary - to the first half of next year.

We noticed that the opening gameplay sequence has you landing on the moon of Kreet on May 7, 2330 so if Bethesda is of a mind to choose another poetic release date, May 7 might be what they'll aim for.

[ Main Image: Starfield Full Gameplay Reveal Overview. Credit: Bethesda via YouTube. ]

References

IGN (June 13, 2022). Starfield - Full Gameplay Reveal Overview | Xbox & Bethesda Showcase 2022. YouTube.

IGN (June 13, 2022). Xbox & Bethesda Showcase and The PC Gaming Show Livestream I Summer of Gaming 2022. YouTube.