Summary
It’s no secret that Bethesda’s newly released RPGStarfieldhas borrowed a lot of ideas from theFalloutseries.From the expansive Sci-fi world to the combat and questing,Starfieldowes quite a lot to the giants that came before it. The question now, however, is what exactly doesStarfieldhave to offer future Bethesda titles likeFalloutin return?
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Much like how Bethesda’s work onThe Elder Scrollswent on to influenceFallout 3and each of its sequels,Starfieldmay very well provide some inspiration of its own. Here is a list of some ideas that theFalloutseries could Learn fromStarfield.
6Customized Player Backgrounds
Starfieldintroduces a new mechanic for Bethesda games that allows the player to choose their character’s occupational background. This comes with its own set of tagged skills and influences interactions with NPCs. For example, the player can choose to have the background of a bounty hunter, diplomat, gangster, or even a chef, among plenty of others.
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This is not a mechanicFallouthas ever had, with even themost RPG-centric gamesin the series (Fallout 2andNew Vegas,for example) having a defined player background of courier, tribal, or vault dweller. This would be an excellent idea for futureFalloutgames to experiment with.
5Enhanced Skill Check Options
Skill checks inStarfieldhave received a bit of an overhaul compared to previous Bethesda games. Choosing the persuasion option will present the player with several dialogue options of increasing skill requirements and point rewards. The higher the skill requirement, the more points that dialogue option will contribute to an overall persuasion score, which must be met in order to successfully persuade an NPC. The player must choosethe right combination of responses, taking into account their skill level, the level of risk each response has, and the potential point reward.
It’s an interesting system thatFalloutcould potentially adapt for its own style of role-playing, especially sinceFallouthas historically been very good at having more skills than just speech play a role in dialogue. This could be a more than adequate replacement for the usual single dice-roll style of Skill checks.
4Open World Pacing
Bethesda had stated prior to the release ofStarfieldthat many of the game’s planets would be empty and devoid of all life. No doubt this was done to capture the reality of space travel, however, it also serves as a great pacing method as the player explores the world. Seeing impressive cities and settlements over the horizon after long gaps of nothing can make them feel more significant and special. Not only does this fit within a game about space travel, but it also fits one about a post-apocalyptic wasteland.
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The originalFalloutgames also had large swaths of nothing between major locations, though as the series progressed into the 3D era, the maps became much smaller and more densely packed due to technological limitations.Falloutbringing back some of the wide open, expansive wasteland (not unlike2015’sMad Maxgame) of the older isometric games and mixing it with the impressive locations that one would see inStarfieldwould be a real winner.
3Vehicle Mechanics
To date,Fallout 2is the only game in the series to let the player drive a vehicle, at least on paper. In practice, it was mostly just a speed boost to the normal grid traversal system, though it did also serve as a second inventory space.Starfield, however, allows the player tounlock and customize their own spaceships. These ships can be bought, found, or flat-out stolen and added to the player’s own personal fleet.
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Imagine if the nextFallouttook a similar approach with cars or other methods of transportation, where the player can build a personal vehicle like inFallout 2via scavenging the wasteland for parts and accessories. If the next game does indeed feature a much more open wasteland, this would be a really fun thing to have.
2Enhanced Movement Options
Some of the more popular mods for theFalloutgames have always been movement-related. ForFallout 3andNew Vegas, sprinting has several mods dedicated to it, to the point that bothSkyrimandFallout 4would later include it.Starfield, however, adds a few new ones: mantling and sliding. Both can be found as mods forprior Bethesda games, so it’s no surprise they’ve ended up inStarfield.
Being able to slide in combat and quickly vault over or climb objects would certainly be a welcome addition by the developers in the nextFalloutgame.
1Bounties and Crime
Given that the game is set during an era of expanded Human civilization,Starfieldfeatures an actual crime and punishment system thatFalloutnotably lacks due to its post-civilization setting. When committing a crime inStarfield,the player can have a bounty placed on their head, which will not only cause them to run into trouble with law enforcement it will also attract the attention of bounty hunters. The laws that govern the player also seem to govern the NPCs, as the player can, in turn, pursue bounties of their ownwhile traveling the galaxy.
Fallouttraditionally has not had a system of crime and punishment nor a bounty mechanic. If the player is caught doing something bad, NPCs will often just start attacking them. There is no jail sentence or bounty placed on the player’s head, which fits with a wasteland setting in theory. There are, however, plenty of areas in theFalloutuniverse that are developed enough to support these systems, such as the NCR’s territory on the West Coast. A game set here could easily take advantage of some ofStarfield’scrime mechanics and perhaps take them even further.
Starfieldis out now on PC and Xbox Series X/S.
