In a gaming landscape awash with big-budget, high-stakes releases, Bethesda Game Studios’ Starfield occupies a single constellation. As the developer’s first original IP in 25 years and the inaugural venture into its hallmark first-person RPG genre since Fallout 4 in 2015, the hype surrounding Starfield is, for lack of a better word, astronomical. But it’s just not the hype that’s expansive; the game itself, set to launch on September 6 is promising a universe so sprawling that it practically begs the question: How long would it take to beat this behemoth?
In the lead-up to its launch, Bethesda pulled no punches in raising expectations. Boasting over 1,000 explorable planets and more than 100 star systems, the sheer scale of Starfield’s world is, at least on paper, almost incomprehensible. Todd Howard, the director at Bethesda, confirmed that the game would be even lengthier than its most recent and storied predecessors, Fallout 4 and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. According to Howard, the main story alone would take around 30 to 40 hours to complete, suggesting that the campaign is nearly 20% longer than those of the developer’s previous titles.
But to frame Starfield’s grandeur solely in terms of its main story would be a grave underestimation. Players have often found that the soul of Bethesda games lies just as much in the sprawling side quests, the ancillary activities, and the almost obsessive attention to environmental detail. Reviews corroborate this sentiment.
Xbox boss, Phil Spencer, who compared Starfield more to The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion than Skyrim, had logged over a hundreds hours in the game with multiple playthroughs, and so too have Pete Hines, an executive at Bethesda that also recommends watching a certain Netflix documentary.
It’s safe to say that the Starfield experience, like other Bethesda classics, is designed to be open-ended and tailored to the whims and fancies of individual players. If you’re the type who wants to rush through the main story, you’ll be able to possibly finish it in as little as 23 to 30 hours. On the other end of the spectrum, those interested in a more leisurely, completionist approach – including the engagement in faction quests, and the exploration and cataloging of the game’s numerous planets – could find themselves immersed for over 200 hours. This is without even accounting for the time spent on ship customization, base building, and other crafting activities that the game encourages as well as off-game time like theocrafting and talking about it.
To add another layer of replayability, Starfield also includes a New Game Plus mode. This unique Starfield-exclusive mode – Bethesda doesn’t typically add a New Game Plus to their games – allows players to restart their adventures with the skills and perks they’ve amassed in their initial playthrough. However, items along with money, and equipment are reset. It’s an enticing prospect, giving players more latitude to explore new narrative paths and challenges from the get-go.
Early access to this universe will be available on August 31 or September 1, depending on where your location is but it’s only for those who opt for one of the premium editions of the game. These more expensive editions – Digital Premium, Premium Upgrade, and Constellation – serve as the keys to this early gateway, with the rest of the gaming populace having to wait until the official launch date.
Whether or not Starfield lives up to its titanic expectations remains to be seen, but what is already clear is its enormous scope and the flexibility it offers players. It’s a game where the question, “how long does it take to beat?” becomes an almost irrelevant query, replaced by the far more personal question: “How much do you want to experience?”
Starfield doesn’t just offer a world; it offers a universe, vast and full of potential, awaiting your exploration. Your journey through Starfield, therefore, could be as brief as a shooting star or as enduring as a celestial body, and in that lies its most promising allure.
And, if the single-player campaign isn’t enough, you’ll only need to wait a couple more weeks for the mods to come in. The last we heard, modders will be able to create entire planets in Starfield.
