Summary
In many ways,Starfieldrepresents a bold leap forward for Bethesda Games not just in terms of being a new IP and the studio’s first dedicated foray into sci-fi, but also in being the culmination of decades of design experience on some of the industry’s most revered RPGs. AcrossThe Elder ScrollsandFallout, the studio has successfully carried on several trademark design elements from entry to entry, andStarfieldis the latest game from the legendary studio to iterate and improve upon the key mechanics that fans have come to expect from a Bethesda RPG. Unfortunately, one area that the game fails to improve on is the studio’s tendency toward lackluster UI and map design.
For all the appreciation that fans have for the various immersive RPGs from Bethesda Games, it’s safe to say that many have felt that bothThe Elder ScrollsandFalloutseries were lacking in terms of their user interface and menus, as well as their implementation of maps. Each of the studio’s games features massive worlds rife with opportunities for worthwhile exploration, but the actual act of pinpointing where to go and getting there can often be cumbersome.Starfieldtakes many of the studio’s trademark elementsand brings them a step forward, but its UI and maps are decidedly a leap in the opposite direction.
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Both the Surface and Star Maps in Starfield Lack a Necessary Detail
The version of the Milky Way galaxy presented to players inStarfieldis undoubtedly impressive. That said, the act of navigating through that galaxy is less than ideal, with cumbersome menu hopping and marker chasing necessary to get from one place to another in any reasonable amount of time. Sure, players can technically fly from one end of a system to another without ever using fast travel, but players have proven that these treks take a massive amount of time to complete within the context ofStarfield’s world. Unfortunately, things don’t really improve once on the surface.
It’s somewhat telling that the maps inSkyrim, a game that was released 12 years ago, are somehow more detailed and legible than those ofStarfield. Pulling up the surface map on any ofStarfield’s planets with the scanner open simply displays a vague layout of the relevant points of interest along with a difficult-to-read topographical display. The maps themselves are completely devoid of detail, which is a shame considering how much effort has gone into some of thehand-crafted planets inStarfield. Bethesda’s latest RPG may have its most ambitious world yet, but getting around it and making sense of its layout is no easy task.
Starfield’s UI Continues a Trend of Unintuitive Menu Design
For all the time that players tend to spend in and out of menus in games, it’s surprising that few developers place emphasis on ensuring that the user interface is intuitive and easy to navigate. While some RPGs absolutely nail having an intuitive and aesthetically pleasing menu and UI design (withPersona 5’s menusbeing a great example of matching an aesthetic fluidly), others fall short despite the fact that menus take up a significant amount of the player’s attention during a typical RPG playthrough. The Bethesda RPGs are somewhat notorious for having clunky and unintuitive menus to navigate through, and it’s a shame thatStarfielddoesn’t course correct in this area.
There are actually several uniquefeatures offered byStarfield’s menusthat the game never communicates, but still somehow expects players to discover organically without any button prompts or sense of user flow in the menu design. With inventory space so limited, it would have been helpful for the menus in the game to at least notify players that items can be transported to a ship’s cargo hold directly from the inventory screen within a certain distance.Starfieldimproves on several well-worn characteristics of Bethesda’s other franchises, but it’s definitely a missed opportunity to not overhaul the maps and menus to catch up with contemporaries.
Starfieldis available now on PC and Xbox Series X/S.
