Bethesda's upcoming space RPG, Starfield, will address some of the "big questions" raised by contemplating the universe, according to game director Todd Howard. In an interview, Howard further indicated that Bethesda will have a "unique" way of presenting those themes.
The studio revealed a second Starfield teaser trailer during Microsoft's E3 2021 stream. Though using in-engine graphics, the trailer once again avoided gameplay, and only provided hints to the title's story. The player's character appears to be part of a mission - or organization - called Constellation, and has found something a narrator calls "the key to unlocking everything." As the protagonist prepares to take off from a planet's surface, the narrator talks about discovering "what's out there" and embarking on "the beginning of humanity's final journey."
Speaking with The Telegraph, Howard refused to say what the player finds. "But we ask some big questions in the game – the kind that people have asked when they look to the sky, you know? ‘What's out there?’ Why are we here? How do we get here?’," he continued. "And we get into science, we get into religion. I really enjoy thinking about those big questions. I see them in other [forms of] entertainment and I think we have a unique way of presenting it with a game like this, where maybe we don't have all the answers but I think it's good to get people thinking."
Unlike most space RPGs, Starfield is an example of hard sci-fi - that is, it attempts to be at least semi-realistic, and focus on the implications of science and technology instead of just using them as a backdrop like Star Wars. Indeed the visual style of the game is reminiscent of movies like The Martian and Interstellar, both of which dealt with the ramifications of space exploration. Interstellar might be Starfield's most direct reference, since it likewise features an expedition on which humanity's hopes are pinned. There may also be hints of alien artifacts, as the game's E3 2018 teaser featured faster-than-light (FTL) travel - something generally deemed impossible without bending space-time. The discovery of alien FTL technology is a founding plot point of Mass Effect.
Howard has separately described Starfield as "like 'Skyrim' in space," only more robust. People will have a while to wait though - the game is only launching November 11, 2022, which could mean it will be several months longer before the first gameplay footage is out. It will be an Xbox and PC exclusive, made possible by Microsoft's takeover of Bethesda, which was completed in March. More story details should be forthcoming, even if Bethesda chooses to continue keeping an element of mystery.
Source: The Telegraph