PC Gaming

I got it for free with my cpu, spent three hours trying to get it to work on Linux and then, finally achieving that, spent two hours in game and just got bored. The Bethesda veneer is fully on display here and it's hard to not feel like Neo at the end of The Matrix when he sees the underlying design behind everything. You just realize it's the same game all over again with a different skin, with no evolution in mechanics, UI, or technology.

I specifically recall getting to the major city hub and walking past a mission board and just thinking "well fuck that" and walking right past it. That is shit lazy design. Side quest emergence should be organic, not a shopping list. I spent twenty minutes trying to travel to a moon that was very much visible to me before realizing I'm not actually able to and have to fast travel. That was an unbelievably frustrating experience and is inexcusable given how long Space Engine, Elite: Dangerous, No Man's Sky, Star Citizen (at least partially) and others have existed.

The writing in the tutorial and Constellation intro fell very flat for me, and the hook was very very weak. The turnaround from "you're a nobody" to "you're a galactically important person" gave me whiplash and the Constellation group felt unrealistically eager to bring a stranger on board (except, of course, for token Mr. Tropey McGrumpypants). It felt less like a story and more like a shoehorn.

"Why would they do that?" "So the game can happen. " "Oh ok."

I mean, Bethesda writing has always been pretty bare bones and pedestrian, so I guess it's not that surprising, but it is still disappointing and jarring.

Oh and the companion robot was easily the most annoying companion I've ever had in a video game. I put it down after those two in game hours over a month ago and have had no compulsion to revisit it whatsoever.

I feel like Bethesda, from top to bottom, has a lot of introspection to do. Sadly, from this news, it doesn't sound likely to happen.