The people defending Starfield make me never want to play it

I haven't played Starfield yet. It's not because I have anything against the game or I'm part of some Sony-influenced campaign against Xbox. I still think Sunset Overdrive was one of the best exclusive games of the last generation. And space is calling to me. But I was never fully captivated by the magic that Bethesda exudes, and after waiting a month for the console release of Baldur's Gate 3, Starfield is taking a back seat. But damn, you're really making me not want to play this game.

It's not the "bad" points that bother me. The combat isn't great - but it's a Bethesda game, that's not the main reason to play it. There are loading screens and you can't walk around a planet in circles - so what, I'll manage. It can be repetitive and superficial, with too many resources and a lot of filler content - yes, you've already told me it's a Bethesda game. I don't expect a game to be perfect. Minor complaints about minor issues don't deter me. It's the people who love it that turn me off from it.

Video games are art, and our reaction to art is a profound part of our personality. But I just can't believe that so many of you already care so deeply about the game. It's barely released, and you're ready to defend it with your life. The vehement defenses against any criticism make the game seem weak and fragile, as if the best part of it were the Xbox and Bethesda logos at the beginning.

The best games exude a certain confidence, which leads to a fanbase that can more easily accept criticism. Most fans of Red Dead Redemption 2 will admit that the missions, in comparison to the freedom of the game world, are strangely restricted. The fans of The Last of Us Part 2, apart from Troy Baker, accept that the game is too long and has a poor narrative structure towards the end. When comparing this to Pokémon, where the games have relied on brand recognition and empty promises for some time now, for every critic, you will encounter three individuals who cannot see any flaws in the game.

Pokémon has me in its clutches. I am trapped in this life. But not Starfield. I am still free from Starfield. And if the fans are so unsure and overly protective, I have no desire to waste my time on it. When someone says, "This part of the game is bad," and your response is, "Maybe, but this other great part is important to me," it piques my interest. Those other great parts seem to be quite good. But when someone says, "This part of the game is bad," and your reaction is, "No, you're playing it wrong, idiot!" it makes me think that the game is truly bad. And right now, I think Starfield is really bad.

It's free on Game Pass, and I love having a character creator, so I'll check it out soon. After finishing Baldur's Gate 3, I have Spider-Man, Mario, Assassin's Creed, Detective Pikachu, and the Lamplighter's League on my radar, but I'll make time for Starfield eventually. Some parts of it seem decent. Even good. And I like space, so maybe I'll find something I enjoy in the vast ages of colonized systems. But the fact that the game's biggest defenders don't want to see any flaws only convinces me that there are so many that the fan base had to retreat into an obviously illusory denial.

It's okay to like Starfield. As I mentioned before, there are some enticing elements, and parts of it fascinate me. Whether it's the prospect of becoming a space pirate or the significance behind the main storyline, there are things that can pique my interest.

But blindly defending it against any criticism doesn't make me think the game is perfect; it makes me think that most of the points of criticism must be true if you're so desperate to deny them. Starfield is a big success for Xbox and Bethesda, but for some of you, that's not enough. The game has to be perfect, and the longer you pretend that it is, the less likely I am to play it.