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It is no secret that Starfield is one of 2023's biggest games. With it being a totally brand new IP from Bethesda Game Studios in two decades, many eagerly anticipate its launch next month. Others, however, are more wary and have been critical of its technical makeup given the team's past. The game's start screen has now leaked online, drawing attention for the wrong reasons.
The seemingly minimal design has been called out for being lazy or, at the very least, hasty.
How does this minimalistic design affect Starfield?
Twitter user @Grummz who brought up this issue, pointed out how these are signs of troubled game development. It is true that Bethesda's games have never been cutting-edge. Their in-house tech, "Creation Engine," has often been labeled archaic by players due to how dated their past games have looked.
Both Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, as well as newer titles like Fallout 4 and Fallout 76, are by no means lookers, especially when pitting against peers from their respective launch years. So there is some merit to the studios' games being technical subpar, which does put Starfield in a worrisome position.
This also begs the question of how buggy the game could be at launch. Fallout 76, in particular, was a disaster, drawing ire across the gaming sphere for being unplayable at launch. How Starfield will turn out remains to be seen. Furthermore, this main screen issue also seems quite far-fetched. In the long run, it does not affect the game in any significant manner.
For one, bugs and technical issues are something Bethesda fans have become used to. So unless it is yet again a Fallout 76 situation, that is unlikely. And given how long Starfield has been in development, mirroring that ill-fated scenario seems improbable. Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, fans deem this a non-issue.
Many have been quick to the game's defense, pointing out various other titles over the years that feature simplistic menu screens, including Bethesda's previous releases like Skyrim.
The original poster's point remains unclear, unless they intended to be contrarian for the sake of it, but other users are spot-on. The fact is that minimalistic design works and will continue to, as seen by some of the all-time greats with basic menus. This includes classics like Half-Life 2 and The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild.
So although the game's menu is considered to be "bad," it does not have any bearing on the game's overall quality. On the flip side, Bethesda has a lot to prove with the upcoming release, especially since their games have been plagued with technical issues in the past.
Starfield launches on September 6, 2023, for PC and Xbox Series X|S.
Check out the Starfield Mantis puzzle walkthrough and guide.
