starbornsarah

[starbornsarah]

The last artifact I needed from 2nd playthrough/universe.

[starbornsarah]

I got covid for the first time and am too sick even to play Starfield 😔. But here are some photos I like that I already took. I'm in my 3rd universe now but these are from number 2.

[starbornsarah]

I appreciate how Starfield has things to say about criminal justice reform in the middle of a game where you've been indiscriminately killing hundreds of space pirates and other miscreants.

[starbornsarah]

"Miss the sound of my voice, huh?"

[starbornsarah]

Earth in Starfield

I keep thinking about the state of Earth in Starfield lore. In some ways, it makes the game more post-apocalyptic than Bethesda's actual post-apocalypse franchise, Fallout. At least in that series, Earth is still somewhat inhabitable. In Starfield, Earth is completely decimated to the point that nothing can naturally survive on it. It's kind of a bleak contrast to what I thought was Starfield's more general theme of hope for humanity's future. Even though colonizing space is exciting, there would be so much lost if Earth had to be left behind in the process. Even if the technology were available, most people would not be willing/able to leave the entire planet. Not to mention all the animals, plants, culture, and history left behind.

[starbornsarah]

Sarah Morgan on Ixyll II

[starbornsarah]

Mars launchpad

[starbornsarah]

The MAST building.

[starbornsarah]

I'd been eyeing the "outpost management" rank 3 skill since the beginning and it took me over 220 hours to finally get it unlocked yesterday. I love this game.

It lets you add more crew members at outposts. Then I was able to capture this sight of some of the B team all together (+ Sarah in the back🧍🏼‍♀️) at my main outpost ❤️.

[starbornsarah]

Andreja is a cool headed woman, is used to working under pressure and to deceit.

Also Andreja, a fumbling, stuttering mess: "Yes, yes we are t-t-together"

[starbornsarah]

Mercury at noon.

[starbornsarah]

starfield is just perfect:

- sapphic love story

- IN SPACE

- WHERE YOU EXPLORE THE GALAXY TOGETHER

- AND IT’S HAPPILY EVER AFTER

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like that idea of soulmates, lovers in every sense of the word, facing the universe and experiencing their passion, finding out firsthand what’s out there, together…

space is already so romantic, and here we have a love story fit for such a setting. a love fit for the stars.

it’s just perfect and i love it so so much.

[starbornsarah]

My Starfield journey so far

I need somewhere to put my thoughts because this game is life changing. Spoiler warning for the main quest.

I got Starfield in early access on the evening of August 31st 2023. Now it's September 28th 2023 and I have 9 days and 9 hours of playtime. I basically live in this game now. I thought I was "taking my time" finishing the main questline in about 80 hours (while doing side quests in between main quests) but then I crossed into the next universe and the game kept getting better and more expansive. I realized at some point around this time how rewarding the progression feels. There's a lot to learn and it's slow-going for figuring it all out but that's what makes it so satisfying when you do notice your progress. You feel like you're leveling up your real skills and knowledge of this world as your character does the same. Not only that, but replays are built into the lore so your character is as aware as you are. This makes the connection with your character even stronger over multiple playthroughs.

There were still so many quests and so much to do in that first universe I left behind. Now in this new universe, I'm taking even more time—trying to do every quest and see every planet. Playing this way really shows the breadth and depth of this universe and recontextualizes even my first playthrough as something more weighty. That's not to say I wasn't already deeply affected by my first playthrough, however. There was one moment, maybe 30 hours in that was particularly memorable. I was on one of the temple planets. The sun happened to be setting (or rising?) and I was surprised how beautiful it was. Then I looked to the sky behind me and saw a small planet (or moon?) in the distance. I was suddenly struck with a visceral sense of awe and wonder. I could feel in my body the real experience of being on a distant world in a massive universe. At that point, I had forgotten I was playing a game at all. It had crossed over from a mere piece of entertainment into the realm of a spiritual experience. Everything was vast and beautiful and I was part of it.

I tried romancing Sarah in my first playthrough but she tragically died. My heart sank when I saw her lying on the floor of The Lodge in a pool of her blood. Her death affected the rest of my playthrough. I felt more motivated to finish the main quest—particularly once I realized I could start over with her in another universe. I could have a chance to save her after all, in a way. But before finishing the main quest, I tried romancing Andreja after Sarah was gone. It never felt quite right though. Maybe because I'm just not that into Andreja or because I was still mourning Sarah's passing. Either way, it felt a bit icky going to another universe to see my dead almost-girlfriend (we never made it official) when my perfectly-alive girlfriend was in this one. Still, maybe it would work out between me and Andreja in yet another universe. There was also the Starborn Sarah that showed up in a particularly dramatic plot reveal of her as The Emissary. I was giddy to see her and there was something even more appealing about her with all her multiverse experience. But of course, she wasn't romanceable and was not quite the Sarah I had lost. All that said, I knew I was going to crossover eventually so I accelerated the timescale a bit toward the end of the main quest.

That was that. I built the Armillary, sided with The Emissary, "defeated" The Hunter (through persuasion), entered The Unity, and became Starborn. I feel nowhere near truly finishing this game or even slowing down. I've never played a game where new game+ felt as good and relevant as my first playthrough. In fact, it feels like a continuation of the same playthrough rather than a new starting point. It's like the more I play, the bigger the game gets because its full landscape becomes more and more into focus. I enjoy every feature of the game and it's packed full of them: quests, exploration, ground combat, space combat, ship building, character relationships, outpost building, Photo mode, and RPG progression/skills. It's amazing that all of these systems are fun and rewarding in their own way yet they exist within a singular video game.

I'm still in my second universe and taking my time for real this time. I've now finished dozens of new quests I missed or skipped the first time. I still haven't even finished one of the major faction quests (UC Vanguard). Ironically, I did prevent Sarah's death this time and even married her only to realize it was a mistake. I wasn't too keen on her judgmental attitude when I brought her to Akila (I'm a Freestar Collective native, after all) and Paradiso was a pretty bad choice of wedding locale. I realized I liked her more as a friend than a partner. There's a life lesson in there somewhere. I tried to reverse fate by going to a whole other universe to save my love but sometimes the dream is better than reality.

Overall, Starfield isn't just deep in its mechanics and replayability but in what it has to say about life and the universe. The end of the main quest finds you presented with the choice to start over but only through renunciation of your worldly possessions and relationships. This is a decidedly spiritual concept, as is Unity itself, which remains somewhat mysterious but can be interpreted as representing God, reincarnation, enlightenment, and/or nonduality ("oneness") beyond the more scientific multiversal viewpoint. These themes reframe everything in the game as part of a more meaningful cycle of existence and interdependence. They even reflect what you are doing in real life as you play--dying and reloading, replaying quests in new playthroughs, creating multiple characters, and progressing/growing as a player yet seemingly remaining your core self. In other words, there's a lot more here than just pew pew space shenanigans (though there's plenty of that as well) but you do have to be open to seeing it. All of this puts Starfield on equal ground with the best sci-fi offerings available. I can't wait to see what else I find.