The best science fiction is the kind you can reach out and touch. Stories that take place in a far-flung future but are still built using the blueprints of our own reality. Technology, locations, and characters who, if we closed our eyes for just a second, we could envision standing right alongside us pursuing the final frontier. Loftier examples are all well and good, but I gleam so much more from realistic examples where flying into space and discovering what awaits us out there isn’t such a great leap for mankind after all. 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Starfield understands that philosophy.
Earlier this week, Bethesda updated the which is designed to chronicle events from 2050 up to 2328. It isn’t an exhaustingly dense recollection of events and individuals, but does a decent job of setting the stage and informing us of characters and organisations which previously only showed up in leaks. It’s exciting, partially because it isn’t absurdly out there or reaching for a galactic mythology the game itself won’t be able to deliver. 💜It’s grounded, honest, but still harbours the possibility to do so much more. That’s good sci-fi, and everything about Starfield gives me the enthusiasm to dig further.
It begins in 20🔜50 as the human race lands on Mars for the first time, and this seemingly acts as the catalyst for greater exploration of the solar system, as by 2100, many of us now live in space and are actively constructing livable orbiting outposts or colonising planets. 2156 sees humanity reach Alpha Centauri, 2159 has us found the United Colonies, while 2160 sees the city of New Atlantis built, firmly establishing humanity as a major player in the galaxy, even if we’re still taking our first steps into a place of unknowable size and consequence. Good for us.
This timeline establishes the foundations before Starfield can delve into more complicated and existential concepts su🌸ch as alien life and fantastical space magic, since doing so too quickly would either feel unrealistic or ruin the gradual illusion of progress this timeline has done an otherwise fantastic job of conveying. Start off slow before taking our breath away, although I think the cold vacuum of space will do a good job of achieving that no matter what we do.
Like The 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Elder Scrolls ꧅before it, Bethesda is constructing an in-universe history it has no obligation to explain, but knows it will enrich the characters we meet and stories were told once we step into Starfield of our own accord. I don’t yet know the exact roles bodies like the Constellation and Stroud-Ecklund will play in the wider narrative, but by perusing this breezy timeline I’m able to plant seeds in my mind and revisit them in the coming weeks.
Besides, I am far from the type to soak up every piece of lore I stumble across in games like this, mu🌊ch preferring to act on vibes alone and base my decisions on personal relationships I eventually form with characters over going deep on the political and social ramifications. Bethesda isn’t expecting us all to think like this either, but knows the importance of selling us on its fictional universe with established lore and circumstance regardless of how much attention we intend to pay. No matter how outlandish or ridiculous, a game world needs to feel real for it to work.
Past Bethesda RPGs were able to achieve this by gradually feeding us important details or exposition through tꦜhe characters we meet and quests we embark upon. But even beloved masterpieces like this relied on existing universes, while Starfield is an entirely new property that needs to pull us in and convince us not to let go. Planting us in a future where it feels as if everything is held together with duct tape but the possibilities remain end🎉less is the perfect way to achieve such a thing, even if it requires us to peruse a timeline or remember a couple of proper nouns to avoid getting stumped. So much of it is a mystery even as all events are laid out before me, and it’s only a matter of weeks until I can see everything for myself.