Starfield design director Emil Pagliarulo knows the sci-fi RPG isn't “everyone's cup of tea,” but he still considers it one of Bethesda's most ambitious projects, as well as its best in many ways. .
We sat down with Pagliarulo ahead of Starfield's first ever story expansion, Shattered Space, and he explained how Bethesda views its new IP in relation to its more established and, let's face it, beloved franchises like The Elder Scrolls and Fallout. He first joked that making Starfield taught him that “fans really, really, really want Elder Scrolls 6,” but then gave a more serious answer about Starfield's successes.
“I think in many ways Starfield is the hardest thing Bethesda has ever done,” Pagliarulo said. “We strove to do something totally different. Put on an Xbox the biggest, richest space simulation role-playing game anyone can imagine. The fact that we pulled it off makes Starfield a technical marvel. It's also, in many ways, , the “The best game we've ever made, but for us the most important thing is that Starfield has its own unique personality and is now right up there with Fallout and Elder Scrolls.”
It's hard to overstate the anticipation that preceded Starfield's release last year, but it's safe to say that it fell short of the moment for most fans. Reviews from critics and gamers alike have been generally strong, with our own review of Starfield giving it 5/5 stars and calling it “the best thing Bethesda has done since Oblivion”, but overall the collective feeling is that just wasn't up to par. to the monumental expectations set by genre-defining role-playing games like Skyrim and Oblivion.
Doing little to change that narrative, Starfield's first ever story expansion, Shattered Space, launched to 42% positive “mixed” reviews on Steam this week.