Starfield

Play it on: Xbox Series X/S, Windows (Steam Deck: YMMV)
Current goal: Figure out which quest I want to finish next
Buy it from: Amazon | Best Buy | GameStop

Playing Starfield amounts to boldly going where Bethesda has totally gone before, but damn if it isn’t a time sink of a good time for me thus far. I have my fair share of criticisms to share, and there’ll be a time and place for that, but right now I am thoroughly enjoying this bottomless quest machine.

But it’s not just the quests, which are fun and satisfying (all but the main quest has yet to truly win me over, but nothing’s felt like too much of a slog), it’s also the down time, the exploration, the sight-seeing

Read More: Starfield’s Photo Mode Is Deeply Satisfying

Having leveled up my survey skill, I’m spending a lot of time just wandering planets, scanning for resources, and enjoying the quiet, gentle stroll through these worlds. Interestingly, I’m enjoying the surveying more than I have in No Man’s Sky. Starfield’s worlds take far less legwork to 100%. You can round up everything on a single planet with very little trouble, and I kind of like how much easier that is. Combined with the photorealism of some of these worlds, Starfield’s proving to be a fine walking simulator where I can just be alone with my thoughts under the starry skies.

That said, I’ve got a few outstanding quests among different groups. So hopefully this weekend I’ll figure out whether the pirates, corpos, or Freestar Rangers are likely to get more of my attention. — Claire Jackson