Thanks to Bethesda’s periodic episodes of “Into the Starfield,” players have been given more insight into how the world of the game functions and the level of freedom that they will have within it. With the release of trailers, screenshots, and interviews with members of the development team, Starfield is becoming less and less mysterious. From explaining the complex inter-character interactions to Starfield’s factions, every detail revealed so far seems to hint at a diverse and intricately crafted game world. One of the aspects that should help add depth to the gameplay is the player’s choice of background – a decision that could have far-reaching consequences throughout Starfield.
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Starfield’s Character Backgrounds
One of the main features of the game that was discussed in more depth in a recent “Into The Starfield” episode were the potential character backgrounds. In addition to Starfield’s extensive character creator mode that will even let players pick their pronouns, gamers will be able to choose a background for their space explorer that will affect how and where they start their game. Not only will this help to give players a vast array of tools to competently create the character that they want, but it should open up some interesting avenues for the decisions they make early to affect how they experience Starfield as a whole.
Only a handful of backgrounds have been revealed so far, but there are bound to be more on the way. Currently, Starfield has three very distinct options when it comes to starting the player’s journey, and each offers a look into the game’s various factions and organizations. Two of the largest groups in The Settled Systems are the United Colonies and the Freestar Collective. These factions have a history of rocky relations and were the key instigators of the Colony Wars that ended in an uneasy peace spanning twenty years prior to the start of the game. As well as being a member of an organization of space explorers called Constellation, players can choose to join either of these factions when they begin Starfield.
This is a big decision, as The United Colonies and the Freestar Collective are two very different groups. The first is an organized and central group that prioritizes order, whereas the latter is a ragtag bunch of hardy explorers who prefer the challenging outer edges of colonized space rather than the more controlled areas. In addition to these two factions, Starfield players can also choose a company called Ryujin Industries as their character background, providing a more corporate start to their journey in a route reminiscent of Cyberpunk 2077’s own Lifepaths.
What They Could Mean For Players
Giving players the choice to customize their characters to such an extent bodes well for the flexibility of Starfield’s gameplay. Developers have confirmed that whichever background players choose will affect the manner in which they start the game, with the Ryujin Industries affiliation giving players the chance to climb the corporate ladder as they prove they would be a valuable hire. In addition to the different starts the backgrounds give, there could be wider impacts. It’s hard to believe that a game striving for authenticity and depth in all of its NASA-Punk design will offer players the same equipment, armors, and ships irrespective of which faction they first join.
Another major aspect that Starfield’s developers have revealed is the focus on companion characters and how they interact with the player. Starfield will look to upgrade the persuasion mini-game from Oblivion to add complexity to dialogue. Companions will also reportedly add to the game’s depth and will comment on player actions as well as provide meaningful relationships. Companions and NPCs will surely have their own affiliations, and it will be interesting to see how they interact with players based on their own groups and faction loyalties.
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How Starfield Should Use Dragon Age: Origins For Inspiration
There are lots of games that Starfield could look to in order to create a truly diverse, carefully crafted, and significant system of player backgrounds. To make the feature really standout, it needs to be more than just an aesthetic choice or a shallow segregation. While Cyberpunk 2077’s Lifepaths look diverse, they didn’t have much of an impact on the rest of the game. One title that handles this aspect much better is Dragon Age: Origins, which offers players meaningful differences depending on which background they select for their character.
In Dragon Age: Origins, players can choose both the race and class of their protagonist, and then within that there are additional choices like whether to be a dwarven noble or commoner. Each choice offered a variety of ways to start off the story, but they also impacted the wider gameplay as well. The race in particular was an aspect that added nuance to character interactions, as players that chose elves witnessed firsthand the widespread prejudice they were subjected to. While the galactic hierarchy in Starfield is not exactly clear, it should emulate the fractured society in Dragon Age: Origins to make the entire world feel more authentic and layered.
Another aspect of Dragon Age: Origins’ backgrounds that could help Starfield successfully create their own version would be to make sure that there is real depth and diversity to each option. Dragon Age: Origins did such a good job of using the backgrounds to introduce players to the world of the games and its expansive lore. It gave insights into the relationships between factions, races, and classes, and added to the game’s replayability so that players could experience the different paths for themselves. Starfield needs to ensure that the character backgrounds are as distinct, grounded in the wider lore, and as impactful as Dragon Age: Origins.
Starfield releases November 11, 2022, for PC and Xbox Series X/S.
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