Starfield Story Cringe - Supercut

#Skyrim #fallout4 #Starfield
Bethesda's creative Writing hasn't been in the best of shapes for quite a few years now. I think Starfield sets a new low in this regard (and a few others).
Here, I want to focus on writing and storytelling exclusively, as I am not the best person to be reviewing all the gamey bits. I don't care about them as much, and I don't think the abysmall writing in Bethesda games has been discussed enough.
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I'm using clips from a few brilliant youtubers, mainly:
MauLer:
/ @mauleryt
Ryan George:
/ @pitchmeetings
Generalkidd:
/ @generalkidd
Rohlix:
/ @rohlix
Trophygamers:
/ @trophygamers
DareToGame:
/ @dare_to_game
BelisaurusGaming:
/ @belisaurusgaming6192
Also, the YT classic, ASDF movies:
• asdfmovie3
from TomSka Channel:
/ @tomska
And, last not least, the Interstellar theme shittyfluted:
• HANS ZIMMER - INTERSTE...
By Shittyflute: / @shittyflute
Chapters:
00:00 - Why?
02:43 - BTW, Far Harbor Was Crap As Well
07:22 - Trailer Comparison: Starfield vs. Skyrim
14:24 - Plot Summary - Exposition
19:19 - Plot Summary - Meet the Cringe: The Starborn
20:50 - Plot Summary - The Hunter
23:42 - Plot Summary - The Wasted Potential of The Pilgrim
25:20 - Plot Summary - 30 Minutes of Pointless Dialogue
29:48 - Plot Summary - Nasa and the Cringe Reveals
38:22 - There Is No Fixing This Mess
40:29 - Plot Summary - The Unity of Forced Multiverse
41:21 - Plot Summary Summary
45:10 - Characters
53:40 - Worldbuilding
01:16:25 - Why Multiverses suck
01:20:10 - Themes
01:20:25 - Summary

[@domm6812]

For decades now Bethesda's story, character and dialogue writing appear to be what a stupid person thinks a smart person would write.

[@Vert_GreenHeart]

Emil "Keep it Simple, Stupid" Pagliarulo writing in a nutshell.

[@kittydaddy2023]

They are endlessly flogging themselves for putting "Skyrim for the Nords" out there into the Multiverse.

[@GaribaldiBiscuit]

@@Vert_GreenHeart Paliarugo’s ‘I could write well, but it’d be wasted on this audience,’ is the kind of defence a peevish twelve year old would come up with.

[@kukipett]

@@GaribaldiBiscuit Yes they think gamers are stupid and just want to blow up things, well they are not always wrong, i have watched a lot of gameplay of streamers playing Fallout 4 and it was disapointing and infuriating. Most of them don't read anything, don't listen to dialogues, skip everything they can, get lost, bored and give up! So Emil is probably not stupid but he thinks he has to just write some little quests and dialogues just because it's funny or dramatic without thinking about logic, lore and consistency. So Starfield is a masterpiece in that style of mindless writing.

[@Cloud_Seeker]

Starfield isn’t set in a multiverse. It is stuck in a timeloop where only Dragonborn, I mean Starborn are able to remember the old timeline.

[@Vert_GreenHeart]

Sad to see the fate of this game barely even talked about anymore, it's a boring midiocre slop of a game that showed Bethesda how truly incompetent they are.

[@emperorofscelnar8443]

Also the illusion of choice, we have like 3 or 4 questions and answers that lead to the same result, it like having 3 doors that lead to the same path metaphorically speaking.

[@emperorofscelnar8443]

And The Crimson Fleet is a dumb name for a gang or pirate group, a fleet is what you call a group of ships not a gang, the Crimson Demons or the Crimson Scar would have sounded better.

[@emperorofscelnar8443]

The Crimson Demons would have sounded more intimidating if you ask me.

[@emperorofscelnar8443]

Plus Constellation should actually be a group of explorers not be a group of rock collectors not to mention it also looks like a rich boys club then a group of explorers.

[@emperorofscelnar8443]

Constellation members are also like teenagers but in the bodies of adults as if they’ve never grown up.

[@cargorunner9960]

The writing in Bethesda games gets worse with every new release. It is not just bland and forgetable it is so bad now that you just don't want to play the game. I wanted to quit the game every time there was a meeting & conversation with the Starborn. That dialogue was the worst sci-fi writing I can think of in any game or movie. I have never wanted to quit reading a sci-fi book or wanted to quit watching a sci-fi movie. But I really, really wanted to quit playing Starfield. The only reason I finished the game was because I like the games on my xbox profile to be 1000g. If I had been playing on the switch I would have totally quit playing.

[@Cloud_Seeker]

The reason for it is because they follow a formula, and then try to streamline the formula. The issue with it is that the formula is bland, and if you streamline it you only cut out what didn't make it so bland. It is something I noticed very clearly with FO76. Yes. Robots are NPC's in game design. They just do not connect with humans as they have no soul to them. If you only look at quests as: Quest giver -> whatever -> reward. You think having robots doing this is just fine. It is just a quest dispenser for the player anyway. But when you start treating NpC's as quest dispensers, you also made the player not care about them. It is very clear that Bethesda having the designers doing all of the quests by themselves is harming them.

[@Cappuccino_Rabbit]

Another reason why their writing sucks, at least with Fallout, is mostly because of Emil. Now i don't know if he had anything to do with Starfield, but it wouldn't surprise me if that's the case

[@jameshughes3014]

This game has everything i love. an open world. space travel.. even one of my favorite actors Armin Shimerman. It really shows that if you skimp on writing, there's just no point to even making the thing. it was such a letdown. But I do have to thank Bethesda. It was the disappointment I had in this game that inspired me to become an indie dev and make my own games. Someone has to.

[@Cloud_Seeker]

I kind of thought the same back in 2016. All games are so bad, so I just had to make my own games. That is how I started playing D&D.

[@mathiaschristensen1194]

The fact that they thought that having the same "minigame puzzle" for when you go get a new Starborn power actually boggles my mind. Like genuinely, did they even playtest half of their systems?

[@publiusdos5925]

It'd maybe work if the mingame was actually a game, it's really just a tedious chore.

[@emperorofscelnar8443]

Lazy writing and lazy game programming all in one go.

[@Tamperkele]

I don't think they tested the game as a whole.

[@emperorofscelnar8443]

@@Tamperkele If I saw the end result of this game development, I would have the entire project shelved, fire a lot of the staff, hire new staff then tell them to build a new space game from scratch.

[@Tamperkele]

@@emperorofscelnar8443 It feels like they tested stuff in parts instead of actually playing thru the whole game

[@lastexile6924]

The fact that only one writer was credited for this game is telling...very

[@iexist.imnotjoking5700]

Didn't Pagliarulo write this nonsense?

[@lastexile6924]

@@iexist.imnotjoking5700 Yes hi was the only one credited as the writer

[@quantumqwazi3621]

to each thei own personally i found starfeild so atrociously boring and filled with loading screens that i found trips to the dentist more entertaining the story was just added on to the steaming pile of boredom in my opinion always enjoy ppl talking crap about it though while i’m doing other stuff

[@barachiel212]

I will add one defense: the problem with MOST multiverse stories is that they treat it more like time travel. All the people are the same, just little to mid level differences. The version where "every little decision creates a new universe", destroying all consequences. The way you do multiverses is to do a grander approach where the worlds are highly different. The original DC comics multiverse from the silver and bronze ages of comics is the best example. Earth-1 was the main DC Comics Universe. Earth-2 was the Golden Age, where the Big three appeared in World War II and were noticably OLDER than their Earth 1 versions. Then there was Earth-3 where the superheroes controlled crime and ruled the world. Then Earth-X where the Nazis won World War II. Then Earth-S where the only superheroes where the (Captain) Marvel Family. If you went to another Earth, it had a VERY different look and feel and tone, and there were rarely direct 1-for-1 counterparts. If they did do that, they were VERY different people. Earth-1 Clark Kent is the one we all know and love. Earth-2 Clark Kent was the EDITOR of the Daily Planet and had largely retired his cape. Earth-3 "Ultraman" wasn't raised by the Kents, but a gangster. In the other Earths mentioned, there was no Superman OR Clark Kent. Every world felt unique. Every world had its own stakes. You never felt like "oh this character died? Just hop over to the next Earth over and grab the one who decided to wash his hands before eating that day." THAT is how you do a good multiverse.

[@aldiascholarofthefirstsin1051]

Wasn't there a whole story with the Owlman where he became nihilistic and wanted to destroy the multiverse because he believed that in a world where samey multiverses exist, no choice is real or makes sense. DC was already deconstructing the idea of multiverses way before anyone else.

[@Cloud_Seeker]

Apart from one thing. Starfield isn’t a multiverse story. It is a time loop story. You are stuck in a set period of time and endlessly gets to repeat the same events over and over again with the memory of the past repeat. So in a way. Bethesda literally treats multiverse as time travel as you are always traveling back in time to repeat what you already did before.

[@HGeorge1993]

​@@Cloud_Seekerwhat about the fact that the lodge becomes le funny reddit sitcom cutaway jokes then? It's a crappy multiverse so stop coping.

[@Cloud_Seeker]

@@HGeorge1993 What are the creators but a 4th wall break? Just because the devs change a few things does not mean it isn't a time loop. You can not play any other adventure since you haven't actually changed universe to another universe. What the lodge becoming a sitcom actually is is a failed attempt to create idea of a multiverse. It isn't actually a multiverse for the reasons I already said.

[@HGeorge1993]

@@Cloud_Seeker it's both I suppose, a crappy multiverse which in execution ends up essentially being a time loop.

[@leonardoferreira7189]

i dint know about this chanel, im from brazil, you are my hero! THANKS for saying all of this! IM SUBSCRIBED!

[@mckorr2116]

There are 5 main quest lines, Constellation, UC, Freestar, Ryujin, Fleet. A properly written "multiverse" would have had you running through one of those stories for each multiverse you jump into. At the end of all 5 your next jump you get to pick the next one, or go to a new one either by DLC or mod. No forced jumping; if you like being a space cowboy for a while stay in the Freestar universe. Move on when you want a new one.

[@vasilyd8578]

Given that it was their new universe and they could do anything with it, it's really a wasted opportunity for interconnected, clashing questlines. Different organizations could've drastically affect or completely destroy each other and the player would have to meet the consequences (at least minor ones like after Skyrim's civil war founding out that there always will be dissatisfied people no matter which side you choose). And given whole NG+ system there would be no need to create a new character every time or to load an older save file which Todd hates (and hence why Skyrim questlines are so disconnected).

[@demark365]

THIS! You can do 99% of the content in one playthrough, eliminating the intrigue of NG+

[@SpookSkellington]

8 years of development on a 200 million dollar budget. The more you think about it the sadder it gets. Where on earth did that budget even go?

[@seraphimipx2611]

nice.... that intro speech... you had me alrady before the 2min mark! agree 100%! cheers

[@AndrewBrownK]

52:47 oh no!!! oh no you didn't!!! wow... I've always said..... Delphine being unlikable is NOT the problem with her writing. It's the shortage of choices the player has to respond with or push and pull her disposition. So it's amazing that you call her out for having a more interesting personality than the Starfield folks, it makes perfect sense and I agree. But yeah how far Bethesda has fallen

[@publiusdos5925]

You would think a decade on Bethesda would have noticed they made the Blades the villains through ignoring player agency, but nope...

[@RabbitWatchShop]

After completing the game, I just looked up “Starfield cringe dialogue.” The dialogue options seem to be written by a 12 year old, yet adults wrote the script. Thankfully, others agree with my findings 😂

[@kittengoddess4259]

1:10:05, caught me off guard

[@Terragen]

I finally played the Far Harbor story a couple years ago, and man, what a stinker. If that's the best Bethesda can do ... they should just quit. And then they make you do those mini-games pushing the blocks around in the cyber-space. Holy Hell. I quit the game because of that dumb crap.

[@peterd9698]

Maybe the best way to fix starfield is to remove story, remove unkillable NPCs, remove constellation except as just another faction, remove the starting point (or at least have several ways out of that tutorial world and dont throw a starship at the player right off) ... and shore up some other systems eg replace the instanced locations with a decent procedural dungeon crawler mechanic, and add a mechanic eg propellent depots so outposts have a purpose. ie make sure the game is pretty fun in stripped down sandbox mode where the "story" is just you starting with nothing, taking some jobs, collecting some loot and friends, eventually owning a ship (initially you might be just crew or hitchhiker) and finally becoming a badass. Then on top of that allow DLC and modders to throw in all sorts of story and factions, so what you have is more like the core game being the Traveller TTRPG rule system and setting, plus arbitrary adventure modules which together make up a traveller campaign. Some could add really structured main stories if you like that sort of thing but it is not required. You could have none, one, or several and the one you end up in could happen organically during play.

[@rwbyrose4491]

I still think that you can still make a interesting Multiverse story. It's like saying fantasy is bad because magic can solve every problem.

[@oystersoup3434]

That doesn't change the fact that 99% of multiverses are bad and weaken a story tremendously.

[@rwbyrose4491]

@oystersoup3434 fair but thank Rick and Morty for that

[@Cloud_Seeker]

@@rwbyrose4491 Well.. Is it actually a multiverse story however? You do no ever travel to different universes. It is a time loop. Every single "universe" is just a repeat of the same universe. All events will play out almost the same way and what seperates you from everyone else is that you remember what happened in the past. Starfield is as much as multiverse as Majoras Mask is. Both play around the same concept, execpt one of the games knows what it is actually about.

[@unkosherfood]

great summary of my feelings on this game. so many writers see "nuance" as just writing no-win scenarios where the only way to win is to not play the game at all. no engagement, no motivation, nothing that makes you feel good or bad, its all just a muddy puddle masquerading as depth.

[@domm6812]

Great video editing. I laughed all the way through the video 😂

[@schpeidermann]

That seems exhausting.

[@terratorment2940]

As someone who frequently runs tabletop RPGs it can be very difficult to write a story that still works despite not having control over the protagonist or POV character. In a tabletop RPG, to get around railroading, you simply don't write a story. You create a world, villains, and some events that happen without player intervention. You put in hooks to entangle the players in those events and inconvenience them if they fail or don't get involved and you have the flexibility to adjust on the fly. That is not feasible in a video game unless you go for the level of detail and planning that Baldur's Gate 3 has. Starfield's story is built upon absurd contrivances from the very beginning to justify why no matter what, your character can always complete the story they wrote regardless of how much of a murder hobo they act like. They can walk in to the president's office and shoot her, pay a fine, and still complete the main story and even be a celebrated hero of the UC. This was true of the Bethesda Fallout games. They are afraid of soft locking you. When they made Fallout 3, someone was judging them based on whether or not you could complete the main quest without killing anyone, which is part of why the main quest is so weird and bad.

[@Cloud_Seeker]

"to get around railroading, you simply don't write a story. You create a world, villains, and some events that happen without player intervention." - Sorry but that is what is called "writing a story". Just because you make the story reactable and moldable by the players actions does not mean you are not writing a story. If you didn't write a story you simply have discontected ideas where one adventure do not have anything to do with another adventure. If you have a BBEG that has something they want to achieve, and some events that will push that along. That is a linear story. A sandbox is where you have adventures not connected with each other.

[@peterlawson8040]

Comment

[@TheSultan1470]

Best one. Only good one.

[@JackdotC]

Damn bro, sorry to hear you cant enjoy spiderverse movies

[@SoulTransient]

I love this video, I played starfield all the way through and It was torture, dumb story, cringe characters and petty motivations (in scope)

[@rockcat9424]

The moment you said you hate the multiverse bullshit I subscribed I agree 100%, the easiest way to make your entire story meaningless and shitty is slap multiverses in it Also the entire plot feels like it was ripped off no man's sky plot, but made 1000 times worse; No man's sky has a nicer way of telling it's stories via fragments around it's procgenned world, in starfield EVERY SINGLE OUTPOST has the exact same individuals sending the exact same mails

[@Cloud_Seeker]

It is even worse. It isn't even a multiverse story. It is a time loop story. They are not even ripping off No Man's Sky by Mass Effect, but much worse.

[@CStelTV]

Great video!

[@jashloseher578]

The Hunter's hair clipping through the top of their helmet. 😭

[@jesterssketchbook]

"...then you hire Michael Kirkbride to write it, and the only question you make him answer is "sir, how do you take your coffee?'" this^

[@supermac8619]

The fact you highlighted Delphine being a better NpC than all of constalation...so accurate I want to vomit and cry

[@The_Endless_Now]

35:05 funny man says funny words funnily

[@SheevPalpatine]

The Pilgrim is Keeper Aquilus.

[@OuroborosChoked]

I don't know about you guys, but I _respect_ Bethesda's commitment to diversity hiring by making their lead designer and head writer an intellectually-disabled individual. If only Emil was also a black lesbian, too... well, that's nothing a few surgeries and some time at the tanning salon can't fix. Isn't that right, Rachel Dolezal?

[@kittydaddy2023]

My favorite part of Bethesda games these days are watching videos about people criticizing every little bit of them. I haven't played one since Fallout 4. I got the DLCs and never played any of them except the Robot one I guess because that's on the main map.

[@kalenics123]

Best thing about the game are the quality videos shitting on it.

[@grimvisionz91]

this is late stage "keep it simple, stupid" writing culture.

[@TheSultan1470]

Keep It Simple, Stupid.

Concerning Starborn, I'm still convinced, that Starfield was initially planned as a multiplayer game, or at least with online components. The Starborn in the 'Endgame' would then have been other actual players...

[@xaxaxaxaxa6417]

I will play a bad game a see a bad movie just to laugh but a boring game or a boring movie it´s something else NO THANKS so happy that a manage to refund this shit of a boring shit .

[@syd4952]

There is hardly any “game” to starfield either. Just boring.

[@stevendeamon]

Oh god... another rage bait channel...

[@BigBoyBelisaurus]

Dude, how do you react to Starfield without rage?

[@stevendeamon]

@@BigBoyBelisaurus by not being braindead. You should try it lol. Really. The game is trash but making the same fucking rage bait video that you already made a few months ago... bruh...

[@dominic.h.3363]

"Why is (sic) so many crucial story points happening off-screen? Oh, because it's hard to write them." Here's a quote for you regarding worldbuilding: "You can't have a setting if the universe only exists where the camera is looking." Starfield is crap for many reasons, this is not one of those reasons.

[@anagittigana]

No, this is nonsense. Story-crucial points should always happen on screen so that the player can participate, or they are not STORY CRUCIAL. They would be SETTING RELEVANT. If the player is required to react to Event X, then they need to have experienced Event X.

[@dominic.h.3363]

@@anagittigana And exactly what would make Barrett talking himself out of a hostage situation crucial to the plot? It isn't. You know what's crucial to the plot? That you contribute to defusing the galbank heist in Akila... and surprise, surprise... the whole situation just stalls until you intervene, complying with your wish that story-crucial elements should be experienced by the player. The thing is, this is arguing for the sake of arguing, and there is no actual, credible point of any merit, logic, or relevance to this criticism, because Starfield is prioritizing off-screen vs. on-screen events right.

[@carlosleyva-calistenia6400]

@@dominic.h.3363 I understand where are you coming from and I agree, but wouldn't it be good to show Barret's negotiation skills somewhere else to enhance characterization or something? I suppose the ideal would've been showing him being diplomatic in less dangerous situations earlier in the game, so not showing him deescalating a conflict with the pirates would have been more believable. Am I right? I think that what Belisaurus argues is that what Barret does is not believable because we never see him being a good negotiator before or after.

[@aldiascholarofthefirstsin1051]

@@dominic.h.3363 The story is still boring trash.

[@Cloud_Seeker]

Nonsense. Imagine if LotR was written so that when Frodo got the ring we never saw him again. Maybe we encountered him when he is talking to Sam, but while he does that the siege of Gondor happens and is resolved. Yes. Things should happen off screen as well. But crucial plot points should not. You should be there for the crucial bits as the main protagonist. Imagine if Fallout 3 had it so that the Enclave showed up off screen and took over Project Purity and killed your father. It should suck as you the player do not get to take part in a major event that ruin the motivation for the main story so far.

[@captainvanslaughter1380]

Most of the characters were made, so racist african americans can feel good about themself.

[@Tamperkele]

...what?

[@TheSultan1470]

​@@Tamperkele ...exactly what he typed. Left your reading glasses at home?

[@Tamperkele]

@@TheSultan1470 yes

[@TheSultan1470]

@@Tamperkele Ok, fair enough. Have a pleasant day.