Bethesda Continues to Recreate Identical Games: Good or Bad?

A Glimpse into the World of Gaming: Bethesda's Unique Approach

Picture a game where the player, an emerging hero with an undefined name and gender, is abruptly propelled into a vast adventure in an expansive universe. This nascent hero quickly finds their footing, rises in power, allies with diverse factions, and undertakes a series of quests and mysteries throughout the realm.

Their journey takes them through an immense open world teeming with adversaries to defeat and treasures to claim, along with cities housing guards, peaceful NPCs, traders, and taverns. Interestingly enough, this exceptional character often veers off course, getting absorbed in the construction of settlements or honing their culinary skills.

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What game did I just describe? Essentially, every RPG ever released by Bethesda Game Studios.

Experience the Familiar Comfort of Bethesda's Open-world Adventures

Like a warm, comforting, and utterly predictable bowl of oatmeal, Bethesda’s open-world adventures often feel very similar. Sure, the setting shifts, the characters change, the main quests differ, and the name on the box swaps out every few years. But in many ways though, each of Bethesda’s games—whether Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, or now Starfield—are merely variations on the same melody. The bones are always unchanged.

For some, Bethesda’s dedication to continually making the same game is boring and disappointing. But for others it works, and is like returning home every few years to a slightly glitchy world that’s built entirely for the player. And in Bethesda’s defense, it’s gotten really good at making this kind of game after 20+ years of doing it.

Starfield: A New Shell, Not a New Game

The studio’s latest massive open-world RPG is Starfield, out now on Xbox and PC. This giant space adventure, the first new IP from Bethesda in decades, is set in a fully explorable galaxy that contains hundreds of planets and quests. This isn’t a fantasy RPG like Skyrim or Oblivion. Nor is it a post-apocalyptic wasteland survival sim like Fallout 3 or Fallout 4. Instead, Starfield is a large-scale sci-fi game heavily inspired by NASA, Star Trek, and countless other space-based movies and TV shows.

Yet while Starfield is filled with aliens and spaceships, it’s still a Bethesda RPG. You can almost feel the ancient bones of Morrowind and Fallout 3 poking through bits of the scenery and menus as you play.

A piece of concept art shows a Starfield ship and astronaut. Image: Bethesda

For example, as in most previous Bethesda-developed games, you can still pick up and collect nearly every mundane object you see, including all the worthless sandwiches you can carry. All of these things have physics, which can lead to wild piles of trash.

Players can also still find a random chair, sit down, and quietly wait for 24 hours like a meditating monk. Likewise, beds still heal you when you sleep, characters still stop you in your tracks to discuss quests via oddly zoomed-in conversations, and every group in the galaxy will let you join their ranks regardless of your other alliances.

A Central Player in Bethesda's Universe

A significant characteristic of Bethesda RPGs is the unwavering focus on the player. The games revolve entirely around the player, making them the center of the universe.

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