Shaun Savage
Story Highlights
- Starfield combines elements from previous games to create an all-new skill system, where leveling up awards skill points for unlocking or ranking up skills.
- Each skill has associated challenges which become increasingly difficult, catering to a variety of play styles and rewarding players for their efforts.
- The game’s design was grounded in realistic elements of space exploration, with a focus on rewarding player curiosity and exploration.
Starfield, the highly anticipated upcoming release from Bethesda, provided a closer look at its character skills system during a recent direct presentation. Developers shared that the process of building a character marks just the beginning of a player’s journey, as the game’s all-new skill system draws upon favorite elements from previous games.
Each time players level up in Starfield, they are rewarded with a skill point. These points can be used to either unlock new skills or to rank up existing ones. Uniquely, ranks are unlocked by completing challenges related to each skill. As players advance, these challenges increase in difficulty, providing an ongoing test of player abilities and engagement.
A Variety of Skills for Various Playstyles
With five different skill trees and four ranks per skill, players are given a wide array of choices to enhance their characters and influence their gameplay. The Xenosociology skill, for example, provides the ability to mind control aliens, whereas boosting the physical skill tree allows players to powerfully punch their way through combat scenarios.
These different skills cater to varying playstyles. Whether players prefer a stealthy approach, skulking through vents and pickpocketing unsuspecting targets, or negotiating their way out of tricky situations, the game’s skill system provides ample opportunity to shape a character’s development to suit individual preferences.
In Starfield, exploration is a key aspect of gameplay. The developers have designed full star systems filled with new life, resources, and adventures, ensuring there is always something to discover. Striking a balance between fun and realism was a central goal for the team, who studied data from NASA and multiple other sources to ensure their in-game world would feel believable.
The game developers placed considerable effort into creating realistic planetary atmospheres and biomes, depending on a planet’s distance from the sun. Once this groundwork was established, they turned their attention to populating these worlds with fun and intriguing elements.
Space exploration will involve navigating asteroid fields, encountering strangers, engaging in space dogfights, and exploring derelict ships. The emphasis is on rewarding curiosity, regardless of whether a player is exploring the surface of a planet, the alleys of a city, or the vastness of space. There’s no telling what players will uncover in Starfield. The game’s wide range of skills combined with its focus on exploration signifies a rich and diverse gaming experience awaits future Starfield explorers.
