Starfield: The Good and the Bad | Friends Per Second #29

[@SkillUp]

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[@jzilla1234]

Everyone should read the metro/gamecentral review of Starfield. It's hilarious.

[@IAmTheBugInsideYou]

Thanks!

[@X862go]

you should revisit no man's sky 100%

[@StayFractalesque]

Why make fallout76, an online MP game, if they weren't going to take what they learned and apply it to starfield? I dont even mean having 76 players at headquarters, I just mean like campaign co-op.. ill say, starfield is the best fallout4 dlc yet.. Conspiracy theory time.. starfield released in the state it did, because they _specifically_ intended to give modders something to do.. ..button mapping.. the map itself.. ..textures.. animations.. ..empty planets waiting to be filled.. whatever happened to fallout games with wildlife trying to kill you every 100m.. ..starfield will stay in a limelight it doesn't deserve because it will be completed for free by the community.. ..honestly, BSG modders, if you read this, please consider putting your skills and time elsewhere.. BGS and MS are using you..

[@Hi12239]

Why no review?

[@nickd7935]

I loved the second interview with the dev for Sea of Stars. He was quite eloquent and had great insights into dev that most of us consumers don’t get. I’m so glad y’all continue to interview devs. Please continue to have them on!

[@spas6433]

I think the major difference in starfield is that exploration is quest driven as opposed to world driven. Usually, in old bethesda, you want to explore because the world is just so cool and filled and leads you around every corner. In starfield, you have to go to city hubs and settlements, pick up quests, and explore the world through the questline. This is the most similar to oblivion, which had the weakest worldspace of old bethesda, and is why comparisons are being drawn.

[@andresgonzalez5676]

I remember I was too afraid to explore in Skyrim and FO4 out of fear that I would sequence break quests accidentally, so I would ONLY enter areas if quests told me to go there.

[@canniballistic555]

Which is essentially them trading their strength for their weakness.

[@travisadams6279]

I basically agree. I was really disappointed that Skyrim has better exploration and geographic features than an entire game sold to us as space exploration with promises of full planetary exploration. Why is every planet flat as a pancake? Why are there no mountains, rivers, lakes of ice? Particle effects?? Or weather??

[@rioplats]

@@travisadams6279 Not a huge fan of the exploration format myself, but there are all of those things, except rivers as far as I can tell, in the game, lmfao. Including rain and storms and the like. It's just that planets aren't microcosms in this game - when you explore a tile, you explore one tiny section of an enormous biome, so you won't be coming across a mountain range -> swamp -> hot springs -> forest -> coast in a 10 minute hike, like most open world games that want to cram all the variety into a manageable worldspace. There being no rivers is the biggest kicker, though, I think. Would have cut up the scenery a bit nicer.

[@travisadams6279]

@@rioplats Ive watched hours of people playing including Asmongolds long videos. I just never saw any of those geographic features you mentioned. So I thought they were non existent or next to non existent. Ill have to look up and see if theres more than just flat barren rocks or flat plain vegetation since you mentioned there were. I also have never seen different kinds of weather or other planetary phenomenon. Im assuming its very rare then? Idk, I just find that the games design and rigidness to be frustrating. Especially considering how Todd Howard and co sold it as planetary and space exploration. I think a lot of problems could of been avoided if Bethesda and Todd Howard had just said its a story based action RPG like their previous games but with space/interplanetary themes and mechanics. Everyone would of known what to expect. Fallout with some planet hopping mechanics. The fact that people compare the space exploration to No Mans Sky isnt a accident. Or people just wanting the game to be something it isnt. It was sold this way, and of course Bethesda did not want to be open about the games limitations because that kind of honesty doesnt build hype.

[@MichaelFormoso]

For the record, I enjoy Ralph's long review videos because ever since I first watched in MHW review video, he was the only one to convey exactly how I felt about MHW when I first played it. I had never played a MH title ever, and after watching Ralph's review gave me an enlightened perspective to any video game I played since. His videos gave my perspective a voice that I did not know how to convey in the past. Mind you, I don't agree with some of his reviews for games that I've played, and that's ok, but when we see eye to eye on an IP, his videos just give so much detail and context to why we love the games we love.

[@rautesth]

Exactly how i felt coz MHW was my first MH and it blew me away.

[@erikhendrickson59]

This is how I choose my reviewers. I looks for reviews of games I've *_already played,_* and see if the reviewer's opinions mostly match mine.

[@HendrikGreaves]

It was Red Dead 2 for me, he encapsulated why i love that game very well at the time and i became a regular viewer

[@seaniverse]

What is MHW?

[@MichaelFormoso]

​@@seaniverse If you're being sarcastic, "haha", if not, it's Monster Hunter World. You're welcome.

[@adamgarms3727]

Was playing Starfield, dabbling in photo mode, and yeah, it totally loads up your photos during the loading screens. Such a cool feature, I'd love to see more of it.

[@HazyJ28]

F76 🫠

[@johnmecca9008]

Agreed. Weird to say but I actually don’t mind the loading screens because I get to see my adventure unfold.

[@ErmineViolinist]

Photo mode in Starfeild: I take photos of the bugs and now my loading screens are a hilarious record of the best bugs.

[@kdjets]

When Lucy talks about being in menus during the ship part. I didn't realize it either, but if you go into your scanner, you can do most of your jumps and plan it observation directly for your ship without going into the menu.

[@YouTubeCensors]

I literally played it dumb like that Until 20+ hours in I realized oh , I can Click on my destination or use the scanner too. Doing it all via the main menu is the dumb way to do it.

[@beezusHrist]

So even worse, fast travel lol

[@scottpolson514]

You also don’t need to be in your ship to travel to another planet. Select your mission, hit travel and you’re there. It at least saves you heading back to your shop to plot your course.

[@JstBringIt]

There is definitely a way to minimise going into menus and it makes it more immersive. Lots of reviewers never figured that out and it shows why many were frustrated with menus.

[@larrote6467]

you can't do that to fly to other systems, only bodies within the system, (or if you have a mission selected you can go to that particular system)

[@erikhendrickson59]

If they weren't going to implement vehicles or cargo-carrying robots then resources needed to just have 0 weight like ammo. That change alone would make basebuilding feel way, way better. Also, *_Sea Of Stars_* has been a real treat so far. Absolutely magical game if you're a fan of retro-styled JRPGs.

[@itsaUSBline]

Just wait for them to introduce a premium subscription to give you more carrying capacity.

[@djnorth2020]

Yeah, monthly subscription to increase carrying capacity.

[@andyeban]

I dont get how anybody could play a game that looks like it came our 30 years ago, when there is BOTH Baldur's gate 3 and Starfield (two of the greatest games of all time) out

[@simpson6700]

@@andyeban there is more to games than graphics

[@ABIADAB]

that problem can be very easily fixed by modders, its probably just a few tweaks in the INI files

[@ChrithBraown]

As an Australian, "jimmy barnes at rooty hill rsl" had me dying

[@raymondbenito1405]

As an ex-Rooty Hill local, I felt heard.

[@tommyswain3762]

That’s got nothing on the 8th BABBA gig of the year at the Whalebone Hotel in Wonthaggi, I tell you what.

[@Moshmaschine]

@@tommyswain3762 The fuck is going on in this comment?

[@Kaibat1205]

Yea except Jimmy Barnes is way too high profile lol

[@rydakule]

He described the Sea of Stars experience so eloquently. It really does feel like I'm taking a vacation within my gaming hobby. Some games feel like a chore while Sea of Stars feels so easy to just pick up and play.

[@karateffekt1106]

Hands down my favorite gaming podcast. Felt like I was waiting forever for this one to post.

[@42crazyguy]

'I'm not here to say anyone is wrong about loving the story, ya know maybe it's their first' wow that was underhanded lmao.

[@LiliumPetal]

The vast majority of the "good" things they seem to have said here have felt like sidestepping outright saying "it's not fun" or "I don't like it"

[@ZedAmadeus]

I mean, I felt that a little too, but maybe what he meant was more along the lines of him being like a massive sci-fi fan and Starfield's take not feeling super fresh/novel. And like, I thought I hated musicals for a long time, then I watched La La Land and Steven Universe and discovered an appreciation for it, but neither are top tier musical experiences. They're hardly like, in the canon of great musicals, right? But they still hold a special place for me though. and like--underhanded or not, it's still more respectful than shitting on that attachment people might have to it.

[@klaytonfeldman3614]

I really like Starfield after about 50 hours, but I totally get that there's problems in the game that some people don't jive with. Great episode and good, nuanced conversation

[@casey8836]

I just hate going to a planet, visiting a POI and having the same chick dead on the stairs, the dead guy just below her in the same position, on the same couch, with the same cred sticks laid out near the bed in the exact place, and the same locked door with one medpack and pens. It's like these places are literally copied and pasted from poi to poi.

[@UniverseGlider2]

People have a hard time with games that are good I think. It feels like a game can be either great or awful with no in between. And starfield is good. Not great. Not bad.

[@borissand3891]

Stockholm syndrome

[@TMV420]

check out Nexus Mods. the mods the community have already made is unbelievable and the quality of life enhancements most of them offer are just insane!

[@rafterman5072]

@@casey8836 I am just sticking to faction and main story quests, which are good. It's kind of a shame that they thought people wouldn't notice the copy and pasted stuff. If they were going to do that, they should have just made a smaller game.

[@coffeedudeguy]

So good to see Sabotage Studio in such a healthy spot, and being able to achieve what they have. Wishing the best and looking forward to the next project!

[@milesmlambo6473]

Loving Lucy talking about Shooting Stars! That show was incredible.

[@makasete30]

Ul-Ri-KA-KA-KA

[@MrThephonypope]

Bob Mortimer skanks like a madman

[@xensonar9652]

@@woodchuck2 "Eww, girls!"

[@daviddelara7158]

British people FTW

[@mikeydflyingtoaster]

I absolutely did not expect Shooting Stars to be referenced here! What are the scores on the doors, George Dawes!!

[@NewRaven2]

Mhm... I mean, I'm not a huge fan of the Starfield main quest myself, but saying that this game gives you not enough lore or "world-building" (or in this case... "universe building") is... weird. I mean, of course TES5 and FO4 have a more elaborated, further developed game world, because... well, they are game five and four in a series, but as a staring point, there is plenty explained in Starfield about what happened why, when and for what reason. There are tons of things getting "teased" without playing much of a role in the game itself, but are important to the universe. From that point, I would argue that it “dumps” even more lore on you than ME (1) did back then. It may be less interesting than the Mass Effect universe, yeah, probably because its more "human-centric" (something that is also explained in the game), but it's certainly not build badly in any way.

[@praisetheoak]

The problem as I see it is that the world and settings are incredible dull and amateurish specially given that this is Bethesda, the same company that made Morrowind and Fallout 3. The world in Starfield lacks any kind of interesting conflict and its devoid of tension. Past Bethesda titles, specially Morrowind, have all these crazy things like racism, cults, slavery, etc, that made the world much more hostile, interesting and appropriate for its setting. Starfield feels like it was written by Californians in their 30s and its devoid of any risks, it plays it too safe hence why it feels so wrong, dull, empty. It feels much more two-dimensional in the conflicts and reasoning behind them because it doesn't try to make any attempt at pushing boundaries becuase that might be too sensitive. Keep in mind I'm only about 20hrs in Starfield, yet games like Morrowind, Oblivion, Fallout 3, Skyrim... had no problems in presenting their world in a masterfully crafted way by the first hour, yet I'm still waiting Starfield to get better.

[@bitbat9]

No goofiness to Starfield is just wrong. There’s random encounters involving people contacting you about your ship’s extended warranty. You come across a guy in his ship cracking a stupid Uranus joke. You can find your Grandma flying around in space and board her ship. I had a random encounter involving a party ship that invited me aboard.

[@scabby.knees99]

Ralph's line about Jimmy Barnes playing at the Rooty Hill RSL again is so fucking funny if you know what he's talking about. Classic Australia

[@takoshihitsamaru4675]

I was going to say that Australia also offers the chance see a bunch of 30-somethings in morph suits throw down violently in a pit with ninja kicks in the Valley 😅

[@restlessoblivion]

Dude, the way Thierry described Chrono Trigger with a series of metaphors is the best quick CT review I've ever heard. It spoke to me on a deeply human level. No wonder this man is a brilliant game designer holy shit 😅

[@marigi-]

Starfield has a lot of content. I'm 25 hours in and the only major Star systems I've been to are Alpha Centauri and Sol. I'm currently following the UC vanguard questline and I've reached the point where it splits into 2 tracts. One major thing Starfield is trying to convey is the concept of humanity spread across a galaxy, that's probably why they chose to have so many planets in the game. This is a very hard concept to convey convincingly in a narrative even for books or TV. So far, I've found that Bethesda were somewhat successful at this, different religions and cultures have sprung up around the fact that space travel exists, UC is a very good example of human bureaucracy spread across different star systems and their conflict with Freestar Collective is interesting. However, the biggest flaw I've found with the game is how disjointed everything is. Usually exploration in a BGS game is intrinsically rewarding with meaningful narrative discoveries that can start whole questlines, here you'll just find points of interest that are randomly placed on massive maps separated. It's frustrating to trek a bunch of kilometers just to find some abandoned mining facility or a meaningless cave. The best way to experience the narrative is by doing missions. I think Starfield has some of the best mission structuring in a BGS game since you get to learn a lot about the world, but there's also an issue here because some mission are complete duds only handing you XP and credits. The world building in this game, character progression and features like spaceship & base building, weapon and spacesuit modding make me feel like it's a great game despite the issues I'm facing. If Bethesda had managed to cohesively connect the world together in something like No Man's Sky we'd be talking about something that's truly special.

[@jopearson6321]

This is my feeling so far. It's a weirdly hardcore experience. Like they saw the people who load in all the extra base-building mods for Fallout 4 and made a game universe for them. I kind of love that, but also thought "uh-oh" because I know that's going to turn a tonne of people off. In some ways its much more got the feeling of a classic survival game that some talented modders have added BGS-style questlines to.

[@borissand3891]

​@@jopearson6321 BGS wishes they could make something as engaging as Sim Settlements

[@ninjettenine]

Hour long BG3 review! Yes, please.

[@njsteere]

Straight up, I’m buying Sea of Stars off the strength of that interview. Such passion and clear love for the genre.

[@elpaquito]

Are you enjoying it ? You can feel his passion on the game

[@njsteere]

@@elpaquito yes! I grew up playing many of the games that inspired Sea of Stars so it makes me feel like a kid again. They struck a good balance of “feeling” throwback while keeping the conveniences of modern game design.

[@langleymneely]

As a theater kid and actor in a former life shout out to Jirard and his show! That’s the dream man, taking every part of what makes you YOU and exposing it to the world onstage through your talent! You need to come to Chicago dangit!❤🙏🏾

[@ThatOneVideoGamer]

I did 2 shows in Chichago already! :(

[@ChichiNaka]

I don't understand the "ITS A SHOOOTER OMG THE SHOOTING" it feels identical to fallout 4, the shotgun from the first 10 minutes of the game oneshots enemies on the hardest difficulty for the first 20 hours. Enemies do nothing, wether docking a pirate ship, infiltrating a bank heist, entering a bandit cave, all the AI enemies do is turn around and say their voice line before retreating to 7 meters away and standing still as you shoot them to death

[@MrWess1997]

My yellow shotgun felt like it was shooting rice rather than slugs on hardest difficulty early on so I kinda gave up on it. I even had the starter extra shotgun damage skill… What’s your secret?

[@ChichiNaka]

@@MrWess1997 idk I'm literally still using a 6shot revolver type thing from the cowboy town you go to nearly immediately, the elemental coachman is still there too but 2 shots before reloading was getting too much

[@WritingOnGames]

Was already super interested in Thank Goodness You're Here but hearing that it's Shooting Stars-esque has maybe made it my most anticipated game.

[@MathiasN]

It is never too long video Skill Up. Longer the better

[@AndrewEhrenreich]

Been loving every minute of Sea of Stars. Playing on PS Plus, but I'm 100% gonna buy a physical copy when they're out. Maybe for switch

[@fracture4047]

Ralph. I just wanted to let you know that I love your linger reviews. They give an incredible amount of effort, insight, and critical thought that not many channels offer with the same amount of polish and prestige

[@JamesThomas-wf6qm]

“I want to find ammo, weapons, medpacks, etc.” Then look for them? The weapons are in bright yellow crates, the ammo is bright yellow and the health packs are in bright green wall mounts. I feel like the scanner point is a you problem.

[@garyjones7721]

Yeah the scanner is just an option to quickly show everything interactable in the room but the things she wanted are pretty easy to find as you stated.

[@Blade12121]

Just a heads up you don't have to go to the menu to jump to another planet. If the mission is already selected you just have to point your ship to the way point then target it, after that you can hold X to jump to it. No menus needed.

[@Avesevenfold]

This interview made me download sea of stars. Seeing this behind the scenes makes me so excited to see this vision.

[@fulminate]

I literally thumbs upped this video as an honest reaction to Jake saying "I've never seen one of those before!", referring to Ralph being a tall person.

[@Tronjheimr]

Michael is one of the most interesting guest show in a while. Good job guys.

[@HendrikGreaves]

Agreed, really enjoyed his takes on Starfield and the surrounding talk about reviews

[@dantedellavella440]

Sea of Stars wasn’t really on my radar with how packed this year has been. Listening to Thierry Boulangers interview single handedly convinced me to make time for it

[@suros8105]

Loved the Thierry Boulanger interview! It went perfectly with me just finishing Sea of Stars. I'm really looking forward to seeing what kind of game Sabotage will work on next! :D

[@fungunfanatic]

Did you know that there is a mode when flying your ship you can hold "spacebar" to "uncouple" and you can rotate freely while flying in a direction. Example your flying away from an enemy chasing you, you hold "spacebar" and rotate to point at the enemy and fire at him while still maintaining your forward momentum away from the enemy.

[@treyw38]

love the guests. thierry was awesome and so articulate

[@CaptainNamikaze]

Agreed, I could listen to him talk about game dev for hrs.

[@TheChug00]

2:29:00 Jake’s “Mamma mia” in the background is probably one of the most Jake Baldino’s moments in history. Loved the episode, the interviews and everything. Great as always!!!

[@GreenSpaceWizard]

I love this pod cast

[@jonathangrover3176]

It is truly one of the pods ever cast

[@Batlafication]

I like this pods cast

[@MomoWax1000]

so do I, steve

[@TheErikjsm]

wish it was weekly but i get why its not

[@anaguma90]

I cast this pod, love

[@deschain1910]

It's not just hanging out in space people are talking about, I don't think. You can also do things that let you travel around without going into your menus sometimes. For example, you can point to your mission objective when you're in your ship and target it in order to grav jump straight from your cockpit without having to use the menus. Or you can turn on your scanner view in your cockpit to land at your objective on a planet without opening the planet view. It's still functionally fast travel, but it is so in-universe and less game-y.

[@user-dj9iu2et3r]

Ralph’s transparent disappointment when Terry responded to his teaser-question with, “We’re going to make another game!” had me laughing lol. His “..okay” made it sound like he was waiting for the inside scoop or something 😂.

[@rajismiley8937]

Terry is a legend, embodies such infectious energy and creativity that cannot be bound by anyone or anything. Just awesome.

[@themightyant.]

Thierry. (French and all that) But yes I agree. Great interview, lovely to see Sabotage doing well. Deserved success.

[@victorn1291]

Man I cannot agree with you guys, Starfield is absolutely oozing with Lore and Personality, I think its just as Jake mentioned, you really need to just play the game and it just happens randomly. You have to go out and find it and try things and the game will surprise you. I love that myself, but I can see how people who don't really like these types of emergent experiences, and prefer something more tailored, would bounce off from it. That being said, I still haven't really even started the main quest, I am currently undercover with Space Pirates.

[@nicholaskinkaid]

1:25:30 I 100% agree with Ralph. 1,000 random planets is the opposite of a selling point to me.

[@kdjets]

I think a lot of people just aren't connecting with the NASA punk aesthetic because, although some of the characters are a little bland, due to the game taking itself more seriously, I still find a lot of personality in the trinkets and environmental design. It feels like the first Bethesda game. I'm actually going to play further than the initial 20 hours or so that burned me out because I'm already nearly passed that and still figuring out what I can do and starting to explore some deeper systems.

[@BrotherO4]

its more that Todd sold people on one type of game... and it turn out it was completely a different game. people wanted Space exploration not Fallout with a space theme. Todd sold it has space exploration game... but in reality, it was just Fallout.

[@etboyette]

Regarding Starfield's photo mode, I can confirm that it uses your photos from photo mode as loading screen backgrounds. I don't normally engage with photo modes in games but have been enjoying Starfield and was in awe of some of the views. After taking a couple photos on the first planet I really ran around and explored, it showed up not long after on a loading screen. Very cool feature that rewards you for using it!

[@DWEGOON]

In Starfield, I prefer to not use the instant travel options whenever possible, and I only use them when I have to, or need to go back and forth a lot for outposts. There is a lot of fun stuff to find when you actually travel with your ship, like an Irish man singing a space shanty, or a long lost NASA probe that gained sentience, but the tutorial really only teaches you how to open your menu and click on your objective, which I think is a mistake

[@pdpMASTERP]

Both Destiny and Cyberpunk and Borderlands 3 TROUNCE Starfield in shooting and combat imo. on top of that every enemy is the same and they bug out/go through walls constantly. where are the REAL boss battles?!

[@Lightsaglowllc]

It’s so odd how many people don’t like this game. It hooked me from the start. Oh well.

[@Antisxy]

i love that dredge-types are starting to take off, pacific drive sounds incredible.

[@rshandle]

Really appreicated the Starfield conversation here. The Gamespot reviewer clearly really really liked certain aspects of the game and really really disliked certain aspects. And he didn't seem to come into the game with "expectations" that colored how he reviewed the game. This was the best critical dicussion I've seen. IGN podcasts were dumpster fires compared to this. I do think some of the criticisms is because the game doesn't hold you hand-like, you can travel to missions with minimal use of menus but the game doesn't connect all those dots for you and the loading screens are replaced by canned animations. Thta's what everyone complains about. But you can actually do that with minimal use of menus.We loved that Elden Ring didn't hold our hands and didn't explain everything or lead us by the hand everywhere. There wasn't a "useful" map in that open world either. After Elden Ring, everyone wanted games to be less 'Ubisoft'. Well Starfield has a bajillion quests but has a much subtler guiding hand. And some people don't seem to like that here. Fair enough-everything in gaming is always a moving target. Me, I love finding out, "What, you can do that!?!" or "Wow, that's so much better than how I figured it out" That can be a frustratingly realistic addon to an RPG like Starfield. But for others it can be part of the fun of the experience.

[@ThisandThat___]

Comparing this mess to ER is wrong on so many levels. Back up with that nonsense.

[@dox_plays]

The chat with Thierry Boulanger was really good and gives insight into how indie devs do what they do. I think it's so great they retained that creative control of their IP

[@swoosh26]

I already know that in few years time starfield wil be the most underrated game of the past years. I'm 30 hours in and I'm hooked

[@LaztstaNd]

It's not underrated at all though... The subreddit has been getting 100k members every week. It's a goddamn masterpiece and people are nitpicking the game because it's not coming to PS, that's it.

[@lucifer0247]

Honestly the UC Vanguard Questline leans heavily into building that lore, I think all factions do, but UC Vanguard is the most extreme. They rly fighting with the remains of that big colony war, the Freestar Collective too. The Sidequestlines from both parties is how those factions have to deal with those reminders of that war. To avoid spoilers I rly try to tell as little as I can do :D I think they have rly interesting lore here. But you rly get into that lore by doing the factionquests

[@BrandinPlaysRPGs]

Starfield is amazing and i dont agree with alot of this guys points. Theres so many good stories and writing in starfield. Characters animations arent that good but they never have been in bethesda games, not every game has to be mocap performances. Its just a fun space game with tons of quests to do, base building, ship building, places to discover, guns and armour to find and upgrade the entire loop is just great and fun. How someone could give it a 7 is mind blowing to me personally.

[@Starfield-Guy]

You don’t need a map for every planet, the landmarks you find are highlighted. We just need maps in cities to find shops, useful locations

[@Battleneter]

Yea the missing City maps are odd, not the end of the world however it is annoying until you get to know the place.

[@johnmecca9008]

Yes, take photos in Starfield. And they show up in the loading screens. Weird shit to say, but I’m excited to see loading screens in this game so I can see how my adventure unfolded and what I’ve seen. More devs, do this!!

[@jackfeng813]

I agree with the game throwing you right into the setting and not giving much back story but it’s definitely there, take a walk around Akila or Neon and you get side quests pop up and these give a good idea of how society operates in those areas. World building is definitely there but the game expects you to play to find out more

[@andresgonzalez5676]

This the equivalent of Elder Scrolls lore being on ingame books no one reads?

[@HunterTracks]

​@@andresgonzalez5676Nah, there are NPCs out there that constantly discuss lore stuff, sidequests definitely give you a feel of the world, and there are museums and stuff if you're ever curious to find out more. If anything, I wish there was more interesting text-based lore in the game.

[@andresgonzalez5676]

@@HunterTracks I'll just Vaati it or wiki it, too much of a hassle. Earth's lore is interesting I gotta admit.

[@averyterribleperson5292]

​@@andresgonzalez5676not no one, me. Im the only guy reading the real barenziah hehehehe >:y

[@rioplats]

New Homestead in particular is absolutely astonishing in terms of worldbuilding. Go there, take the tour. I don't think I've experienced such a meaningful guided tour in any game. Or in irl, now that I think about it.

[@m.o.x.d]

I feel like Starfield is a great reminder once again that boiling a review down to a number out of 10 is worthless for an individual review. It causes people to skip what's being said, and they jump straight to the number and get mad when it's not 8 or more. At this point I actually prefer something like 'recommend, don't recommend' + a 'wait for a sale/wait for it to get fixed' - at least with Steam, if you want a QUICK look at where a game sits without digging into it, it generally gives a good feel based on how many people recommend or don't recommend it, and then you can glance at what people are saying to see the common complaints.

[@Major_Zephyr]

I'm surprised how little these gaming journalists know about certain features in Starfield. Shipbuilding and outposts I would say are some of the biggest features and later-game content of the game, and it sounded like they had hardly explored either aspect. Shipbuilding especially is great and heavily incentivized, especially for stowing cargo and ship combat. Also, spoilers, early on they mention the lack of magic-like abilities in the game, but anyone who has played the main quest knows that you can unlock powers which are very cool and interesting. I'm not sure if they were trying to avoid spoilers, but its weird none of them mentioned that at all and made me wonder if they actually even played the main quest or not.

[@ncpolley]

He mentioned no magic in context of talking about ordinary gameplay--as in, unlike Skyrim, you aren't casting spells as a part of dealing with a bunch of ordinary mobs. You're shooting them--thats the design. He also mentioned shipbuilding and outposts? Also, their guest speaker is the only person who did a full playthrough.

[@Major_Zephyr]

​@@ncpolley well but there is a magic system similar to shouts in Skyrim. When talking about combat, they completely neglected to mention that for some reason. They only talked about gunplay and specifically said there's no magic-like abilities, which isn't true. It gives the impression they didn't even play the main questline and unlock those abilities, which doesn't seem right for a game journalist who put out an official review of the game. How does he not know about that? They briefly mentioned ship building and outposts, and the main reviewer guy said he's barely touched either of them, and only bought a new ship once the starter ship that he was mostly using wasn't strong enough. They also talked about weight limits, but didn't mention how cargo holds remedy that. Again, ship building and outposts are a major part of the game and it sounds like none of them have spent any significant time doing so. It's a big game, so I don't expect them all to have completed it, but for a panel of game journalists giving an impression of the game, they seemed extremely unknowledgeable about large aspects of the game. I also find it weird they spent an hour talking about the game when most of them either have only played some of it or haven't played it at all. I've spent like 20 hours and have only barely scratched the surface of the game, yet even I know the importance - or at least the existence - of a lot of these features.

[@MistGR]

​@ncpolley LOL you are so wrong, I could answer to you but I don't want to throw spoilers...

[@ncpolley]

@@Major_Zephyr No, they did not. I read your comment before I finished the podcast, so I was listening for it. They said that magic isn't a core component like it is in other Bethesda games. They never said magic wasn't a part of the game. As for shipbuilding and outposts, they certainly mentioned them. Their guest didn't talk about them much, but in the exact same paragraph where he was talking about getting a new ship, (which, btw, it sounds like he got multiple new ships from how he said it), he also mentioned that each ship was unique, which is why buying new ships and engaging with shipbuilding were important. Apparently he didn't conclude that they were the major part of the game, at least not the way you do.

[@ncpolley]

@@MistGR I looked up every single magic ability in game, watched a video on all of them being used, and 90% of them were utility abilities. The guy showcasing the magic used his gun to kill almost everyone after the spell ended. The longer I am in this comment section the more I think that everyone is just mad that the game isn't getting glowing reviews.

[@Infisly]

One of my favourite guest interviews yet. Gave me some great laughs.

[@mattys3248]

Ralph 1hr destiny vid was AWESOME! Need more of that stuff dude!!

[@patrykjedi4583]

I have a 3.5hr drive today. Perfect timing. 🔊

[@TrustTheDice]

Cant wait for the hour long baldur's gate 3 review skillup

[@octomammoth6156]

When I got the notification that Sea of Stars was available on steam, I bought it immediately. I don't have time to play it for a long time due to parenting, work, school, baldur's gate, But I knew I would sink into it and love it eventually. Can't wait to play it

[@dustinfoto]

It's weird hearing people say the game is too serious when I've ran into many moments of absolute goofiness (not just bugs but actual scripted events). A lot of it happens in space (random ships hailing you for silly conversations). I guess it depends on how you end up approaching the game.

[@HunterTracks]

"You've been the best Charlie-4 I've talked to all week!"

[@YouTubeCensors]

​@@HunterTracksI'm the Best 3rd Charlie. Also I've had a jerk Asking about how to get to Uranus. The first time it got me. The second I attacked and Sarah got mighty mad at me for attacking and dispatching the crew with extreme Prejudice...

[@jacob3761]

When you first enter new Atlantis there is this kid and like 3 other people and they are all like “poor little kid, his parents were killed and he’s in denial” and he’s like “cmon guys they are just late they are gonna be here any minute now” and then they discuss how they gotta send him to foster care, but a few hours later if you wander around the residential district you can come across him hanging out with his parents and he runs up to you like “see I told everyone they were just late but nobody would believe me” and I was just thinking how much I love the goofy scenes that you have to explore to find; I think all these KZbinrs are just too pressed for time to actually go and explore the nooks and crannies to see where the game really shines

[@ransom7813]

Totally agree. It’s so confusing listening to people (who haven’t put as much time into the game) refer to Starfield as sterile, slow, etc. It’s like we’re not even playing the same game! Interesting to see group-think in motion. Elden Ring had many of the same idiosyncrasies (no quest log, confusing start for some, etc), but we all agreed that game was amazing for some reason? Totk’s item management and systems were klunky too, but we all saw past it and appreciated the game for what it is. It’s all opinion obviously, but sometimes things don’t seem to add up when there’s a toxic conversation surrounding the whole thing.

[@ransom7813]

To be clear: I absolutely love Elden Ring and Starfield. You get out what you put in.

[@JaydevRaol]

1:52:11 - I really enjoyed the interview with Thierry Boulanger! It was quite funny and incredibly insightful. I was already pretty interested in the game, but this interview made me even more pumped for the game. It's easily one of my favorite interviews you guys have done, so far (and I've enjoyed pretty much all of them). A big shoutout to Jirad and the FPS gang for inviting Thierry, and of course, huge thanks to Thierry himself for sharing his passion, excitement and general design philosophy behind their game, along with those fun and relatable anecdotes. 😁🙌

[@Krakenfall]

Lucy, I relearned I have social anxiety when I saw you and Tam walk past me coming out of the hot pot shop near the convention center at PAX. I didn't want to stop you both! Hope you had a great PAX! Jirard, I hope I catch you next time you're in Seattle! It was such a fun weekend.

[@shaneharrington3655]

"Ok.... ok... sure... ok... ok..."

[@ADHDad]

Mhm yeah Fuhshur Fuhshur yeah

[@shaneharrington3655]

Right?! It's so incredibly annoying, like bizarrely controlling@@ADHDad

[@0FFICERPROBLEM]

are we condemning someone's form of basic listening affirmations now? Weirdness

[@Ashtarte3D]

What Ralph asks about minimizing your fast travel abuse is 100% accurate. If you want to have more fun do not abuse the "Press X to Land" level of fast travel. Warp to planets and then bring up the map to land or you will 100% miss all of the random events in space. I'm not defending the choice cause I too think it is kind of dumb but it did make my game a lot more fun. I also appreciate that for once being a Sneak character isn't the optimal path; I did a stealth char as my second playthrough and had way more fun on my first character who was basically Rambo so I abandoned stealth after a while to become John Wick instead going full pistols.

[@samjames3947]

When I first played Oblivion (when it was released) I didn't know fast travel was a thing. Everything took ages, but the journey was great. The journey should be more encouraged, rather than having fast travel so readily available.

[@ChealyTheNinja]

@@samjames3947same experience for me. Fond memories of trekking from one end of oblivions map to the other

[@SteveBonario]

I try to use fast travel judiciously -- I like being able to avoid "problems" when I just want to get from A to B because I'm in the middle of getting resources for base building or some such project; but otherwise, I don't mind going through the motions for space travel. I really like having the choice.

[@rbdriftin]

That British cartoon game reminds me of stuff like The Beano, Monty Python, Viz. I love it.

[@neonx1620]

@Michel obviously did not play full Game.. because He says there's no Magic.. but Yes Our Main Character Gains Special Powers as You Play Main Quest Along .

[@SYLRMHA]

He is the Dragonborn

[@Puketapu]

Great Sea of Stars interview

[@kharacon]

Congrats on BG3 credits!

[@davidkymdell452]

"The walls were wet"....shoutout to all those chill rooms at 90's raves, off iff my face with sweat condensing, running down the walls and dripping off the ceiling.

[@PSWiitch]

It was amazing seeing Lucy & Jirard at Pax, and seeing Jirard’s show! I wish I had known Ben and the FF16 cast was at Jirard’s show! I would’ve tried to meet them! If you all get a chance to see his show, you’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll be entertained!

[@JohnBradyIRL]

The screenshot on loading screen was done in Fallout76 and they brought it over. good feature

[@kevinwelchhhh]

Omg we’re getting Ralph’s Baldur’s Gate 3 review soon EVERYONE GET READY

[@SYLRMHA]

Everyone already knows its great...wont bring anything new to the table

[@kevinwelchhhh]

@@SYLRMHA it will bring joy to people who enjoy hearing Ralph’s thoughts.

[@SYLRMHA]

Bootlickers you mean

[@clevelandbrown4571]

Then Skill Up didn't give BG3 the highest score he can give. Everyone: Get Shill up!!! GET HIM!!!

[@Jeremus717]

Shout out to the incredible and inspiring interview with Thierry Boulanger. Huge congratulations on the game. I've already finished my first playthrough, and Sea of stars was truly special.

[@bryanroy3239]

Firstly I am not a big fan of numbered scores cause they do a disservice to the game, which is why I like what KZbinrs like ACG, Gameranx, even Skill Up have in place because they give you an idea of what the game is and you decide for yourself if you want to jump into it. I think Starfield has really made me question the review systems gaming sites like GameSpot, IGN have in place because a 7 out of 10 is 'above average' in my book and cannot be classified as "good". I think Bethesda have taken what they've made in games like fallout and Elder Scrolls and improved the systems in those games in a significant manner. Are there faults? Of course there are but they're not egregious as these 7 out of 10s make them up to be. If you like previous Bethesda RPGs, I absolutely suggest diving into this. It'll also be worth your money if you outright buy it cause of the amount of content available.

[@benexler]

Love the Sea of Stars interview. Always nice to hear about how smaller teams approach development and release.

[@JDLaney-zk4wb]

I had sporadic fun with it, but it’s still far too buggy and dated to be considered great. The fact that some people are saying this is a game of the year contender in the same year that TotK and BG3 came out is hilarious.

[@casey8836]

2:42:22 love the interview! Playing Sea of Stars while listening to the show

[@JaydevRaol]

Yes, it was a great interview. I was already excited for the game but now I'm definitely going to get it and show my support to this fine team.

[@LastActionHero_]

Cant wait for Skillups starfield review.

[@_Chris390]

Can't wait to see how in denial he is going to be about how much he hyped this up, and how he still thinks there is hope for it to one day turn into something decent.

[@_Chris390]

The simple fact is he hyped up C2077, which was a massive disappointment, he did the same for this, and will probably do it again. These hack "content creator" commentators are just serving to push people towards preordering and wasting money on games which clearly look unfocused and unfinished. It's not good, at all, and they should be held accountable for it.@@thelastpersonwhosaidyouwer1827

[@rioplats]

@@_Chris390 I don't think he did? He praised the Starfield showcase, but so did everyone. It was a very slick presentation and got people talking. But other than that, it's not like CP77 where he gushed about the game pre-release. Plus, this will be coming in after everyone's already put out their thoughts, and with the questions Ralph asked in this podcast, I feel like his expectations are set.

[@izzyizzy1502]

You should check out mortismal gaming if you get a chance that dude is amazing at reviews. He only reviews after 100% a game and his knowledge is great.

[@clevelandbrown4571]

Same here. Skill Up will have his revenge on Bethesda for not giving him that review copy!!

[@trolledchaos6531]

This is such a great podcast. I love watching a quad of venerated professionals with different industry specializations all come together and discuss their views on video games. Keep going, homies, we love you.

[@Kompl3x]

I would like to mention, the planets are actually spheres that do rotate and orbit, not just images. On PC you can find this out easily because you can freecam, raise the speed to like a million and fly around the sphere

[@LeonidasGGG]

Thiery Boulanger is SUCH a passionate guy, I don't even think Xbox or Playstation had a chance in saying "no" just watching him talk about videogames! They we're like "oh this guy knows, this guy's legit, let's get him on board" (I know it wasn't this easy but man)... I can see this guy winning a GOTY award for sure. More than one really! (and then be like "F THE OSCARS! lol - he's got that vibe). Loved him. Love the interview. Love you guys!

[@dodgyburgers8666]

20 or so hours into Starfield, it's everything I wanted and more! Totally engrossed and addicted. Love the game.

[@IHJello]

I like how Jerard said nothing during Starfield until it got to maps. Lol that was crazy resilience.

[@izzyizzy1502]

If a game has a lot of weight behind it. It is also open to more criticism imo

[@NimiKhan]

"Brevity is a soul of wit", said a guy on 3 hours long podcast... Love the long format though, hope that future episodes will be equally dense and lengthy.

[@jariel2568]

Please please please do an hour long BG3 review. Skillup, i beg you.

[@casthedemon]

2:39:27 I wish all devs viewed achievements this way. Usually trophies are just useless in games.

[@Noskradamus]

This is such a good show. These four have such good chemistry I love it!! Nobody interrupting each other and still meaningfully contributing to each others talking points

[@itisWhatitis12345]

Pro Tip for starfield for immersion: 1. Turn of Floating Markers and use scanner when required 2. Don't use menu for fast travel in space. Just take off to orbit then look in the direction you have to go select it with E and hold R to travel there. (If you have floating markers off just keep pressing E till you select the Mission destination or open scanner in space and see stuff)

[@Reflexion89]

I love this pod, and this cast.

[@langleymneely]

All 19inches of FPS baby!😜

[@christopherricca2321]

‘Doesn’t have this, doesn’t have that …’ Peak 2023. I’m enjoying Starfield for what it is - not what it’s not or could have been.

[@DotPone]

Thank you for answering my question! I actually buy games based on its photo modes and I know hundreds of people like me 🤭

[@Sir.Craze-]

Know of? Because if not damn dog, that's a lot of friends. I need to put in some work to catch up!

[@OkamiBestLoZgame]

As someone who is not artistically good at photos, man did I love Prompto from Final Fantasy 15 for taking random pics throughout the game and picking and choosing said pics and the culmination at the end, recalling your whole adventure through images, really impacted that last campfire scene.

[@Enoshima-v.ez.]

Gimme photo modes and tools to film awesome stuff! Edit: I noticed Ralph said it's a lot of work for developers but in my experience with working on pre-release games, some form of this is already there in order for the video people to get footage for trailers and such. We don't need a fully fledged UI or even every feature under the sun. Just letting us have access to specific console stuff made for marketing would be more than enough!

[@Greenghoulsbuddy]

No. Just no. You do not spend 60-70 dollars on a video game for the sole purpose of taking virtual photographs. I literally do not believe you.

[@kbkb4284]

What are some of the games with the best Photo Modes in your opinion?

[@SmackStudioGame]

Thanks for hyping up Smack Studio! You played a mean Mr. Beast 😤

[@1candondor]

I have gotten to the sea of nightmares in sea of stars and honestly my only gripe with the game is not having a clear window of when to have the hit input for skills. Like hurl. Besides that excellent so far