Bethesda's Starfield had a rough start, and the recent Shattered Space DLC didn't exactly save the day. It seemed like a chance to fix things, but it looks like fans weren't happy.
Shattered Space: The Letdown
Lots of gamers were hoping Shattered Space would be amazing. It promised a cool, handcrafted experience, a chance to see more of the Starfield universe, and tons of new stuff to do. But, sadly, it fell flat. Many think it's too late for Starfield, and that this DLC is the final straw for Bethesda. They've had several messy game releases, some things that were shown too early, and worries about their future games, and they really need a major shift!
Problems With Shattered Space
There are many reasons why people aren't happy with Shattered Space. The story was boring and poorly written. The House Va'ruun faction, which should have been super cool, was underdeveloped. The homeworld, Va'ruun'kai, just looked like every other place in Starfield – no special features to make it feel unique. They reused too many assets and didn't create anything new for House Va'ruun. It felt lazy. Plus, the choices you could make weren’t meaningful, and the story wasn't inspired at all. It felt like a waste of $30.
A lot of gamers are angry, and the DLC is now rated as "Mixed" on Steam. This adds to Bethesda's many mistakes. It all might have started with the bad release of Fallout 76, a game that only barely recovered. At that point, Bethesda was already on shaky ground!
Bethesda's Missteps
The Negative Reviews for Shattered Space aren't just because it was buggy and had bad design. It’s because Bethesda has been relying on its fans' good will for a long time, and they've messed up too much. They overpromised, especially with Starfield itself, with dull, randomly created planets. They should have made Starfield like Skyrim but barely fixed any issues at launch! Their quests and writing were mediocre. The first big expansion, Shattered Space, was their chance to show fans some of the magic that made Skyrim awesome; but it just wasn't there. Gamers are wondering what happened to the amazing Bethesda. The reviews are a wake-up call, and Bethesda needs to step up their game or be left behind!
Bethesda Needs to Change
There’s a limit to how many times a company can mess up before it needs to change drastically. Like Ubisoft, Bethesda is running out of chances. They need to change everything: how they release games, and how they make them entirely. Starfield: Shattered Space showed that they’re stubbornly stuck in their old ways; they don’t innovate enough. They have a huge team, and tons of money from Microsoft, but still can't do what a smaller team did back in 2016. Shattered Space could have been their chance to be awesome again, to compete with other RPG makers, but it failed! Bethesda needs to get better, or they're going to fall way behind.
