November 21, 2023
The issues identified related to performance are no longer an issue with the recent addition of DLSS support.

I've seen numerous reviews that put this at around 7/10 and I am inclined to agree.

Starfield certainly isn't a bad game but there are a few issues I've observed thus far (5hrs at the time of review) that make the experience a bit of a letdown.

1: Scope. The scope of this game is enormous and its pretty easy to feel overwhelmed by everything. The controls on Keyboard are a little strange, the environments are very dense (tons of decorations) which can make navigating areas tricky, the cities (at least the first couple) are large and have a decent amount of vertical design that can make navigation difficult.
2: Aesthetic design. There is a washed out look to the game that appears to be associated with making the experience cinematic but it makes the world(s) feel flat and compounds the navigational difficulty already mentioned.
3: AI highs and lows. Enemies tend to hide behind cover and do behave somewhat realistically some times, but they will also not engage with the player or ignore the player completely while their buddies are fighting right next to them.

I feel like they could have backed off significantly when it comes to environmental density and cinematic effects to make the game perform a bit better.

There are some great things about the game though.

1: Space combat is fun
2: Ground combat is fun
3: Leveling system is enjoyable (emphasis falls onto things you regularly do a bit better than other games in this genre)
4: Being able to fulfill ground and space missions is a very uncommon thing. Starfield does it well. Docking with ships to take out enemies from within is a joy.
5: Starship customization is very well implemented
6: Building outposts is fun

I do recommend this game but with a major caveat. My rig isn't the most high end in the world but Starfield runs at around 30fps at medium settings 1080p (I do not play 1440p so the resolution isn't problematic for me). It is certainly playable but the density of environmental decorations and the general look/scope of the game can make 30fps feel weird.

For reference my rig looks like this:
CPU: I9-9900k
RAM: 32gb
GPU: RTX 2070 Super
SSD: Samsung 860 EVO

November 21, 2023 The issues identified related to performance are no longer an issue with the recent addition of DLSS support. I've seen numerous reviews that put this at around 7/10 and I am inclined to agree. Starfield certainly isn't a bad game but there are a few issues I've observed thus far (5hrs at the time of review) that make the experience a bit of a letdown. 1: Scope. The scope of this game is enormous and its pretty easy to feel overwhelmed by everything. The controls on Keyboard are a little strange, the environments are very dense (tons of decorations) which can make navigating areas tricky, the cities (at least the first couple) are large and have a decent amount of vertical design that can make navigation difficult. 2: Aesthetic design. There is a washed out look to the game that appears to be associated with making the experience cinematic but it makes the world(s) feel flat and compounds the navigational difficulty already mentioned. 3: AI highs and lows. Enemies tend to hide behind cover and do behave somewhat realistically some times, but they will also not engage with the player or ignore the player completely while their buddies are fighting right next to them. I feel like they could have backed off significantly when it comes to environmental density and cinematic effects to make the game perform a bit better. There are some great things about the game though. 1: Space combat is fun 2: Ground combat is fun 3: Leveling system is enjoyable (emphasis falls onto things you regularly do a bit better than other games in this genre) 4: Being able to fulfill ground and space missions is a very uncommon thing. Starfield does it well. Docking with ships to take out enemies from within is a joy. 5: Starship customization is very well implemented 6: Building outposts is fun I do recommend this game but with a major caveat. My rig isn't the most high end in the world but Starfield runs at around 30fps at medium settings 1080p (I do not play 1440p so the resolution isn't problematic for me). It is certainly playable but the density of environmental decorations and the general look/scope of the game can make 30fps feel weird. For reference my rig looks like this: CPU: I9-9900k RAM: 32gb GPU: RTX 2070 Super SSD: Samsung 860 EVO