It’s a Bethesda RPG in space. If you’re looking for No Man’s Sky, it isn’t that. If you’re looking for Elite Dangerous, it isn’t that. But it is a BSG RPG, just like I’ve been playing since Morrowind, and it really scratches that itch. I like the characters I’ve met, I’ve enjoyed exploring, and I’m starting to get into the lore and history. The weapons feel great and the gunplay is good. I tried the ship building and was pleased with how smooth a process that is.
I’ve seen a few graphical glitches, but this really is the least buggy-at-launch BSG RPG I’ve played. It’s definitely made for a controller, but that’s fine, that’s how I prefer to play these days.
You’re right that it isn’t NMS nor Elite Dangerous; but God damn do I see bits of their influence in it. The exploration, base building and survey stuff is a bit like NMS. The aesthetics and how random missions fit in the game is similar to Elite. One of the ship builder companies named in Starfield gave me deja vu because it sounded like a knock off of one of the Elite starship companies.
I think if you like either of them, you might enjoy Starfield. Slightly more advanced than NMS, but not quite as hardcore as Elite. Pretty decent middle ground as far as space games go. The story missions have been rather dull, but the random “go out and have fun” shit is fun. I haven’t even been beyond the first 2 star systems. There’s so much shit to find just walking around on a dead planet like Earth.
I’m also surprised that it not only runs, but is playable even though I have an unsupported GPU. 30 fps most of the time, at low settings and 1080p res, but it’s a consistent and smooth 30, and generally only in the large open areas. Inside it’s pretty snappy. Contrast that with Fallout 4 which I got day 1, with the exact recommended specs they had listed, and it was pretty non-playable once you started approaching the city center.