How Bethesda Designs for Moments

Starfield has been released lately and is a huge deal for the industry — with this being the first original IP from Bethesda in years, and taking the fantasy developer to the realm of the sci-fi. With that said, if you’re hoping that this would be a bold new world for the studio, it is not. Starfield represents the peak of Bethesda’s, and by extension, the distinction of CRPG design and why this kind of gameplay just doesn’t interest me. At long last, I think I can finally explain why this kind of CRPG design has yet to grab me. <h1>A Slice of Swords and Lasers</h1> For people reading this, let me just say that this is not going to be a review of Starfield, I spent about 90 minutes in the game, didn’t enjoy it, and uninstalled it after two different game crashes. I recently finished my book on RPG design, and one of the hardest parts of it was trying to break down the differences between a JRPG and a CRPG. It’s easy to just say “One is from Japan and one is from the West” and call it a day, but that doesn’t get at the systemic differences that occupy each part of the genre. While both aspects draw heavily from tabletop RPGs and Pen and Paper design, CRPGs heavily emphasize the “role-playing” elements, while JRPG design focuses on the systems and abstraction. When you play a CRPG, it is about you obviously inhabiting the role of a character in that world — or universe if we’re talking about Starfield. You are meant to guide the progression of your character just as you impact the story and characters in that space. <a href="https://medium.com/@GWBycer/how-bethesda-designs-for-moments-a2264177e22d">Learn More</a>