Shack Chat: What are you most excited about from the Starfield Direct?

Greetings, fellow space travelers. With the Starfield Direct now in our rearview mirror by a few days, we thought it was a good time to poll the staff and Chatty community to see what has you the most excited for Bethesda’s upcoming open-world RPG. In the feature below, you’ll find our answers, but we really want to hear from you!

Question: What are you most excited about from the Starfield Direct?

Character creation - Ozzie Mejia, Senior Starman

I'm typically not the person to spend hours in character creation. Anybody who has seen my Street Fighter 6 eyesore can attest to that. However, if there's anything from Obsidian's The Outer Worlds that I came to appreciate, it was the game's trait system. Starfield looks to be outdoing that with cool traits and fun backstories that you can give your character. Is it silly that I can be somebody who still visits home all the time? Maybe? Do I love that option? Heck yeah, I do!

Power punchies - TJ Denzer, Interstellar pugilist

I sure do like much of the technology I saw in Starfield’s gameplay, but one of the things that caught my attention most was the capabilities for martial arts in the game. You see, I like the idea of getting in close and personal and wrecking a fellow with my bare hands. In previous Fallout and Elder Scrolls game, we were dissuaded from focusing all our attention into hand-to-hand combat. There were too many situations where if an enemy was on a higher elevation than you, like a catwalk, you were just out of luck. Starfield solves this problem fast by giving you a jetpack. Nobody is out of reach of my knuckles when I have a jetpack to carry me to them.

More than that, we got a look at abilities specifically designated for unarmed combat. There was a part where we saw a dude get hit with a haymaker so hard, he bounded into the stratosphere. That’s quite an uppercut. I’m most certainly going to explore all of the weapons in Starfield, but I’m happy to know that if I choose to go the way of the fist, the game will not only allow it, but give me special abilities and gear that encourage it.

Boarding action - Sam Chandler, Space Pirate

It’s basically impossible to pick just one thing from the Starfield Direct that excited me. There were so many reveals, so much detail about the universe Bethesda created, that every few minutes I was giggling with glee. But, something that I’ve not seen done previously is the ability to disable and board an enemy ship in space. Sure it exists in FTL: Faster Than Light, but to be able to do this in first-person, while fighting my way on board, and sometimes in zero gravity, is mindblowing. I can’t wait to hijack a ship I like the look of and add it to my inventory to either use again, strip for cash, or sit there as a trophy. Every other game this year has a big task ahead of it if it wants to compete with Starfield.

Jetpack gameplay - Asif Khan, Shacknews CEO/EIC/EIEIO

If your video game has a jetpack, I instantly bump up the review score by 1/10. The Starfield Direct really impressed me with the showcase of various new Bethesda gameplay systems demoed, and I can’t wait to get into all sorts of trouble with my jetpack.The devs mentioned verticality playing a role in how players will encounter enemies, so a jetpack will come in handy. Sign me up!

Getting lost in the world - Captain Lavoy

There is something special about a Bethesda RPG set in an open world. Fallout 4 is one of my favorite games. It’s one that I return to for at least a few weeks every year. Whether I’m starting a fresh playthrough or picking up where I left off, it’s never long before I’m lost in the world, exploring locations because they are interesting without having quests or waypoints attached to them.

What makes a Bethesda world worth getting lost in was alluded to by Todd Howard both during the Starfield Direct and many years ago when Fallout 4 was revealed during E3 2015; details. Whether it’s the way loot is carefully placed, or the stories that unfold while reading terminals and collecting pieces of lore, each location is carefully crafted and tells a story if the player is paying enough attention to notice it. 

With Starfield, I can’t wait to ignore the main quest and head out on an adventure that is fueled by my desire to uncover the secrets of the universe. I can’t wait to find unique gear that helps me fully build the character that I want to play. I want to loot locations and find items that will make the trip back to my ship or outpost and make it my own, the way I collected billiard balls for my pool table in Fallout 4.

Starfield is going to provide the tools for players to do whatever they want and be whoever they want, and I can’t wait to get completely lost in the world for years to come.

Space piracy and companions - Dennis White Jr., 

The thought of being able to dedicate a character to becoming a cosmic warlord with a pirate fleet one hijacked ship at a time is very appealing to me. I also am excited that such an idea could be supported by additional play with my friends made along the way and a crew that I really get to know. This game really sold me on how much you’ll want to customize your ship as well. So when I’m not harboring space criminals, maybe I’ll have a 2nd character who’s into physical therapy until folks force him to get really physical. I’d love to sell folks on my future self help program with a ship that includes a zen garden and dance room haha. I’m totally down to live different dreams in this game. I appreciate that you can build out your character’s backstory as well and for those of us that truly want to flesh out the storytelling and roleplay down the line, this game has the potential to fully deliver with branching relationships that make me feel like my decisions matter. 

Going on a space adventure with my crew - Donovan Erskine, Spacefarer

I’m not the best builder in games, but dammit I’m going to put everything I have into crafting the coolest ship possible. I want racks to display my most coveted weapons, and areas for my crew to chill and hang out. I look forward to traveling space with a group of NPCs that I hire to my crew, forging relationships with them through our shared adventures and taking them to the end of the galaxy with me. I’ve always loved having a companion by my side in a Bethesda RPG (it gets lonely out there), and Starfield looks like it’ll let me do that in a beautifully dynamic way.

Customs - Steve Tyminski, Stevetendo Show host, Create my way

I think if I had to pick one thing from the presentation to get excited for, it would have to be the customization. It sounds like you’ll have the option to customize all kinds of things in the game. I think one of the cooler things is having the option to make your spac ship the way you want it. I may not be the best when it comes to crafting super cool stuff in these types of games but I do like the option to be able to make those cool things. Getting to craft my spaceship in any shape and design I want is pretty cool. Getting to create a cool character that looks right and feels like me is fun too.

There you have it, folks. A wide range of things our staff is excited for when Starfield launches on September 6, 2023, and we're sure that our community will have an even wider range of things they're excited for. So, are you going to tell us? What has you most excited after watching the Starfield Direct?

Shack Staff

Shack Staff stories are a collective effort with multiple staff members contributing. Many of our lists often involve entires from several editors, and our weekly Shack Chat is something we all contribute to as a group.