Unveiling the Spectacular Starfield Mission: A Journey That Transcends Time

Highlights

Starfield quests suffer from an outdated mission trope of slow-moving NPCs that frustratingly stop if players deviate from the designated path.

Despite this flaw, the majority of Starfield's missions are thrilling and do not suffer from the same design choice.

In general, the slow NPC problem should not greatly affect one's gaming experience, but it would be preferable if future Bethesda games abandoned this cliché.

The Starfield quests that require players to follow NPCs who move slower than the player character should have been left behind in the past. Bethesda's highly anticipated game, Starfield, is now available in early access, providing eager players with the opportunity to embark on a massive-scale sci-fi adventure before its official release date.

Although the official release of Starfield is just around the corner, some fans simply couldn't wait to dive into the new game. These individuals had the option to purchase the Premium Upgrade for $34.99, granting them early access through Xbox Game Pass. Alternatively, Steam users could opt for the $99.99 Premium Edition of the game. Starfield has garnered significant success on Steam, attracting hundreds of thousands of concurrent players. Furthermore, the game has received predominantly positive reviews from critics, solidifying its position as one of the highest-rated new releases of the year thus far.

Despite receiving positive reviews, Starfield, like any other game, is not without its flaws. One particularly irritating flaw that is likely to vex most players is the repetitive mission mechanic of following non-playable characters (NPCs) from one point to another. This mundane task becomes even more exasperating in Starfield because the NPCs move at a slower pace than the player character and cease their journey if the player veers too far off the predetermined path. Many modern games have abandoned this mechanic for good reason, but if it was deemed necessary to include it in Starfield, then the NPCs should have been programmed to walk faster or to continue on their predetermined route regardless of the player’s chosen direction.

Fortunately, this issue does not significantly impact one's enjoyment of Starfield. While most of the time players only need to follow Starfield NPCs for a short distance, there are moments when players find themselves repeatedly catching up with the NPCs, waiting for them to move forward, and repeating this process until reaching the desired destination. However, it is worth mentioning that other missions in Starfield feature more thrilling and modern design, and it would be great if Bethesda focuses on incorporating these types of missions in their future games instead of the slower NPC-following missions.

Starfield launches September 6 for PC and Xbox Series X.