Insert the Miyamoto delayed game quote here as Bethesda’s sci-fi Skyrim, Starfield, has seen huge improvements after its year-long delay. While many were upset to see the massive RPG delayed, the delay has certainly paid off.
As pointed out on the Starfield subreddit forum, the differences between the game one year on is monumental. While we can’t say for sure how the gameplay has improved, the title has seen sweeping changes from a visual front.
One post points out the differences between one of the game’s main hubs across the two builds: Akila City. Designed to be a Western-style, olde time cowboy strip, the location has seen a night-and-day improvement from its reveal one year ago.
While the location is visually similar to its past incarnation, there are a number of improvements. Firstly, the visuals are not dustier, giving off more of a filmic Western movie style. The location’s ground textures have also been massively overhauled, showing more granular details and more realistic tessellation.
In another post, improved character rendering was also shown off. While characters do still look a tad off — especially the return of the Adoring Fan — they do look markedly improved over their already fine appearance last year. Characters now have improved animations, better hair and - in some cases - completely overhauled designs.
In some areas, Starfield does still look a tad behind the curve, but that’s to be expected for a Bethesda game at this point. Despite its shortcomings, the game does look brilliant graphically, and its intricate gameplay systems do look utterly enthralling, although maybe not enough to spend hundreds on its pricey Constellation Edition.
As the first game from Bethesda Game Studios in seven years, Starfield is showing almost a decade of improvements. For starters: NPCs can finally use ladders — what a world we live in.
Starfield launches on Xbox Series and PC on September 8th. The game will also be available Day One on Xbox Game Pass.