500 ЧАСОВ В STARFIELD • НОВАЯ ВСЕЛЕННАЯ БЕСЕДКИ, КОТОРАЯ НИКОМУ НЕ НУЖНА? • ВЕЛИКАЯ АНАЛИТИКА

Summary

Spoiler warning: This review discusses major story revelations and the ending.

After roughly 500 hours in Starfield, the reviewer argues that the game has a compelling central idea but fails to realize much of its potential. Its vast scale, faction stories, shipbuilding, and multiverse premise offer moments of genuine appeal, but the world feels sparse, repetitive, and underdeveloped overall. The game receives a 4/10.

Story and setting

The player begins as a miner who touches a mysterious artifact and experiences visions. They are recruited by Constellation, an organization searching for more artifacts. Much of the main quest involves retrieving artifacts from locations that often amount to enemy-filled caves or camps.

The reviewer recommends visiting the United Colonies Vanguard early, since its introductory tour helps explain the setting and its history. The major powers include the United Colonies, the Freestar Collective, House Va’ruun, and the Crimson Fleet. The faction questlines are described as more engaging than the main quest, though their impact on the wider world is limited.

The main story introduces the Starborn—people who travel between universes through Unity—and presents a choice about pursuing power and more artifacts. A major revelation is that Earth’s magnetosphere was destroyed after scientist Victor Aiza developed the grav drive using knowledge from an artifact. Humanity then left Earth, which the reviewer says is represented mostly by empty desert and a handful of landmark locations.

The reviewer especially praises “Entangled,” a quest set in a research facility where two realities overlap. Its choices and alternate-world premise make it one of the game’s best missions.

In New Game Plus, the player enters another universe with a new ship and suit but loses most accumulated gear, ships, outposts, and other progress. The reviewer considers the multiverse concept clever but objects to how much it resets—and to the repetitive temple and power-up process.

Gameplay highlights and criticisms

• Exploration: The game offers many systems and planets, but each planet is explored through separate, limited landing areas with randomly placed points of interest. Locations and encounters repeat frequently, making planetary exploration tedious.
• Cities and worldbuilding: Akila City is the most inviting settlement, with a dusty frontier atmosphere. New Atlantis feels static and artificial, while Neon’s cyberpunk-style setting is undermined by lifeless NPCs.
• Factions: The Vanguard, Freestar Rangers, Crimson Fleet, and Ryujin Industries each have questlines. The review praises some missions and set pieces but says the stories are short and choices rarely affect the wider world.
• Combat and powers: The reviewer praises the gunplay, weapon sounds, and zero-gravity fights. Special powers are compared to Skyrim’s shouts, but acquiring and upgrading them requires repeating similar temple sequences.
• Companions: Four major companions have personal quests and can become romantic partners. They can also contribute skills when assigned to ships or outposts, though the reviewer finds the explanations of those skills confusing and says companions can behave unreliably.
• Outposts: Players can build resource-producing facilities and connect them into supply networks. The reviewer criticizes storage limits, awkward object placement, and the lack of settlers, shops, or a lively community.
• Shipbuilding: This is the reviewer’s standout time sink and one of the game’s most compelling systems. However, the editor is cumbersome: parts vary between vendors, ship interiors are arranged automatically, and large vessels can become confusing mazes.
• Inventory and interface: The review repeatedly criticizes the interface, particularly the clutter from miscellaneous junk, limited storage, awkward selling and sorting, and unhelpful local map.
• Progression and equipment: Skills mostly improve incremental stats, and many items are randomly generated rather than distinctive. The reviewer also criticizes the lack of weapon-mod transfer and the scarcity of truly unique gear.

Tips and takeaways

• Consider joining the Vanguard early for a guided introduction to the setting.
• Explore faction questlines for more substantial stories and rewards than the main quest’s repeated artifact hunts.
• The Mantis quest can provide a useful early-game ship and suit.
• Check what companion skills actually do before assigning crew; similar names or icons can be misleading.
• Think carefully before starting New Game Plus: it advances the Starborn story but discards most of the progress and equipment from the previous universe.
• Approach exploration with realistic expectations: the large number of planets does not mean there is an equally large variety of handcrafted content.

Featured creator and sources

• ANDRUX — reviewer and video creator
• Imba Energy — sponsor featured in the video
• INARA — companion-skill reference linked with the video