Starfield Bringing Back Fan-Favorite Skyrim Feature

Starfield developer Bethesda Game Studios has confirmed that it will be bringing back a beloved feature that was last seen in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. With Bethesda's last single-player RPG, Fallout 4, the studio made a somewhat controversial decision to lock players out from completing questlines associated with various factions depending on who they aligned themselves with. And while factions will again play an important role in Starfield, Bethesda has now revealed that it won't be locking out of quests, which is similar to how this system operated in Skyrim. 

In a new video conversation featuring Starfield quest designer Will Shen, it was asked whether or not players will be able to experience every faction's questline in full without fear of losing access to later missions. Shen verified that factions in Starfield won't end up clashing with one another, which is something that happened in Fallout 4. Instead, players will be able to join every different group that is seen throughout Starfield and won't be required to do multiple playthroughs to see each independent route. This is something that fans have loved for quite some time when it comes to Skyrim, Oblivion, and various other titles from Bethesda, so it's not much of a shock to see the studio go in this direction once again. 

"We also discussed really early on like, 'Okay, do we make some of the factions get in conflict with each other?' We decided we really want to make sure that you can play through all the faction lines independently of each other," Shen explained. "We really want the stories to be a little more personal. You're influencing the direction of where this faction is going to go. [...] You don't necessarily end up as the head of every single faction in the game. But obviously, all the major characters and every faction questline will be reflecting on your choices but it can have far-reaching consequences for what that faction is and what it cares about."

For now, the biggest question associated with Starfield remains its launch date, which is something that Bethesda still isn't talking about whatsoever. All that we currently know is that the game launch at some point within the first half of 2023. Whenever it does hit store shelves, it will be playable across Xbox Series X/S and PC platforms. 

Are you glad to hear that Bethesda is returning to this type of quest format in Starfield? Be sure to let me know either down in the comments or shoot me a message on Twitter at @MooreMan12.