I have a funny feeling that the gaming community will have no clue if this game is any good until just before it launches.

• No e3 coverage the public can see
• No judge’s week pre-e3 of closed door hands-on
• The videos so far is mostly talk heads not gameplay

This game will corm in hot, jus sayin', that did not work to gamer favor with most big games in the last five years. I hope it great, because I think the industry as a whole needs a win. Rising tides raise all boats, and the industry without e3 and with Covid-19 now chronic needs a rising tide on some front. A return to form for Bethesda would be a very nice thing for the whole industry. Positivity can be just as infectious and a win is a boost to everyone who is making a big game. I love space games too, because space is in the limelight and topical. James Webb, SpaceX, Rocket Lab, and the upcoming return to the moon on SLS are all very cool thing about space in the public consciousness. [Yes, yes, SLS is doomed...let's forget that.]

It does sucks that PlayStation won't get it, but that is the business now. I'm not even sure that choice by Microsoft will work for them. If the game is broke-ass, it just focused all the bad press on Xbox, Microsoft, and the sorry state of late-capitalism. Which I will point out again helps nobody! Gaming 'as a whole' needs some good games showing up this fall.

yeah- i am curious about this thing. skyrim was the last bethesda game i had a torrid affair with- but strangely enough the more distance i get from that initial playthrough in 2011, the less appeal a new bethesda game has.

it would be nice to have a good space game though. i just wish we had a better sense of how much it will resemble older bethesda games. in other words- are they taking significant design/creative risks...that what would interest me.

I think the minimum amount of I want from this game is for it to play better than The Outer Worlds. That game was really hyped up and it just kinda fell flat for me in the gameplay department so if all Bethesda muster up with this game is a planet hopping version of Fallout 4 then honestly that's fine with me, I'll play the hell out of that. But if they try to go something akin to Mass Effect and try to make this a more guided game with a more closed narrative then that'll be cool too I guess, I just want it to be fun to play.

Granted, I'm a Noted Bethesda Apologist, but I'm not concerned. The lack of real footage is par for the course with their recent marketing strategy; even Skyrim was less than a year of marketing without actual gameplay until QuakeCon if I recall correctly. Based on what Todd's said in various interviews, it sounds like this is going to be much more of an RPG than Fallout 4 was, including not having a voiced protagonist this time, which is very exciting. Is it probably going to be janky as all get out? Oh yes, absolutely. But by this point I'm immune. Bring on the backwards-flying space ships, my body is ready.

Also, is Judge's Week even happening? I thought E3 was outright cancelled.

I mean, I just wait to see if a game is "good" or "not" based on what I see of it when the game is out anyway. Trailers are deceptive, pre-launch gameplay footage doesn't tell the whole story, and in turn; speculation is useless for making purchasing and time investment decisions.

You too?

Note the the playtimes don't include Xbox 360.

??????

We don't know if any game is good until it comes out. E3 never changed that.

Don't preorder and that's never a problem.

While there might be no official E3, MS/Bethesda is doing their showcase anyways. I'm fairly confident we'll see the game at that point. The bigger question is if Bethesda Studios are gonna keep their stingy review copy dates under MS or not.

@besetment said:

This.

If you're judging by E3 coverage then Cyperpunk must've been the best game ever. And we know how that turned out.

You never know if any game is good until after it's out. Just wait 8 hours and you will have all the reviews and videos needed for a decision.

It really depends on their marketing strategy. If they play their hand close then yes, we possibly wouldn't see much more than a series of theatrical trailers and snippets of gameplay.

Or they could stream out hours of gameplay running through the opening missions and hand out early access to press/influencers to stream and record.

Either way, just don't buy it on day one and listen to people you trust who have played the game.

I thought my 350 hours in Oblivion across all platforms was impressive, but good gracious. I bow in the presence of my superior.

I mean... it's gonna launch on Game Pass. That makes any concerns I have about the game entirely nil because I'll just play it for "Like a dollar" when I re-up my subscription in like November

I'm sure we'll get several showings of it, but like mentioned, it's also going to be on Game Pass day one, so not much of a risk to check it out immediately at release.

well, isn't this following what Bethesda always do?? show at E3 time (RIP) and then launch at the end of the year?

Off the top of my head, that['s what happened with Fallout 4, Skyrim, and Oblivion IIRC. Unsure about FO76 though.

It'll be interesting to see if the blowback from Fallout 76 is still with them, or if they're just going to release a barely-functional game and try to rely on rolling space cheese down a space hill to "make up for it."

I'm lucky that I rarely clamor to play any AAA game on day 1 and have a backlog of incredible games to fill my time. I usually wait for "game of the year" / "ultimate edition" releases of the huge games from most big publishers, and I'm rarely disappointed by that strategy.

I mean, Bethesda Games are janky. I really don't mind that so much. I never bothered with Fallout 76 but hat's more to do with the concept not being my game and less to do with a personal reaction to the jank. If Starfield launches and you can immediately put pots on peoples heads to shoplift, that isn't what will make me decide it sucks. In fact, I fully expect it to be broke-ass. Probably not to Cyberpunk levels, but it'll have big, noticeable issues for sure.

Also, guys, there isn't anything to say it can't get delayed too. I mean, shit happens. I would just hold off until launch day, there will at least be a day or two for press embargos and no one should every preorder any digital media anyway. It'll be fine, even if it isn't great.

It's probably going to cost me a dollar to play so whatever.

Are we not going to see it in June? I don't understand. If it follows Bethesda's usual mo well get a lengthly gameplay demo and the press will get hands on shortly after.

It's not like Bethesda reinventing the wheel you've already played it, Skyrim in space or worse Falout 4 in space.