Starfield (PS5) Review – A Successful Cross-Console Voyage

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It’s widely accepted that Starfield has sparked a lot of debate. Since its release in 2023 for Xbox Series X/S and PC, many players have criticized Bethesda Game Studios’ space RPG for not innovating enough, failing to live up to its initial promise, or struggling with technical issues.

Many players are really enjoying the vast sci-fi world of Starfield, including its detailed backstory, interesting quests with different groups, and the fun of designing and building spaceships. I’m definitely one of those players! I loved the game when it first came out almost three years ago, so I’m not surprised I’m having a great time playing it on the PS5 now.

I went into this game really hoping for something like Skyrim, but set in space, and honestly, that was a bit of a misstep. The way the game’s world is built is just fundamentally different, and it doesn’t quite deliver on that expectation.

Okay, so if you’ve played games like Skyrim or Fallout from Bethesda, Starfield feels pretty familiar – it’s the same core gameplay with a shiny new space setting. You create your own character, and pretty quickly you get involved with this group called Constellation. They’re basically space explorers trying to figure out the mysteries of the universe, and it all kicks off when you stumble across a weird alien thingamajig.

Like many Bethesda games, Starfield lets you encounter diverse groups with their own stories, quests, and characters, enriching the game’s vast universe. The game strongly emphasizes player freedom, a hallmark of Bethesda RPGs, though this can sometimes mean your choices don’t have a significant impact on the overall story.

Bethesda’s RPGs have consistently followed a familiar pattern, and while this doesn’t always fully work for Starfield – particularly compared to other major RPGs that have innovated more – the fundamental strengths of their approach still shine. A key reason for this is the strength of Starfield’s setting, the Settled Systems, and especially its rich lore and backstory. Discovering the history and conflicts of this world remains captivating, and the engaging storylines offered by the different factions contribute significantly to that appeal.

It’s important to realize that Starfield isn’t quite the same as previous Bethesda role-playing games. Expecting Skyrim in space will lead to some disappointment, mainly because of how the game’s world is designed. Unlike a single, continuous open world, Starfield is divided into separate areas connected by loading screens. Plus, you’ll be traveling through vast stretches of space in your ship, adding to the segmented feel.

Since its release, many players have found traveling between planets in Starfield to be a bit boring and repetitive. However, the recent Free Lanes update, released alongside the game’s version for PlayStation 5, aims to address these concerns and make space travel more engaging.

The space exploration in Starfield hasn’t changed much since the game first came out.

The latest update to Starfield aims to improve the experience of traveling and exploring space. It introduces Cruise Mode, which allows for hands-free travel within a star system while you manage your ship, along with more locations to discover and battles to fight. This addresses concerns many players previously had with the game’s space-based gameplay.

The recent updates do improve things – you’ll encounter more space battles and interesting sights, and the new Cruise Mode is a welcome feature. However, even with these changes, Starfield’s space gameplay doesn’t feel dramatically different from when the game first launched. It takes longer to become repetitive, but space still isn’t the game’s strongest area. Ironically, building and customizing ships remains one of its best features.

The latest Starfield update, Free Lanes, introduces more than just a few changes. It adds a new currency called X-Tech, which lets players customize their builds in more ways and offers new challenges and rewards for endgame players. This includes better gear, more ways to customize ships, and new weapons.

If you liked the original game, the Free Lanes update improves and enhances it even further.

The Free Lanes update brings fresh quests, new places to explore, better outpost building, and a New Game Plus mode – just to name a few additions. While it doesn’t fundamentally change the game like the major updates to Cyberpunk 2077 did, it still enhances the overall experience in a worthwhile way.

If you liked the original version of the game, the Free Lanes update improves it with some nice refinements and polish, making it a better experience for new players on the PS5. While some might wish for bigger changes, I thought the update’s improvements were worthwhile, especially since I already enjoyed the game as it was.

When Starfield launches on PS5, players will get the latest version of the game, including all updates and downloadable content released since it first came out on Xbox and PC in 2023. This means the game is much more polished and stable now than it was at launch.

Let me be clear, you’ll still find the typical Bethesda RPG bugs – things like awkward movements, objects appearing where they shouldn’t, and NPCs with blank stares. However, playing on the PS5, I encountered far fewer major glitches or crashes than I did during my extensive time with the game on the Xbox Series X. (It’s been a while since I played on Xbox, though, so that might factor in.)

If you own a PlayStation 5 and like science fiction or role-playing games, Starfield is definitely worth checking out.

Beyond the standard updates, the PS5 version of Starfield launches with several advantages, including land vehicles (with a brand new option), the Creations feature, and numerous quality-of-life improvements. It also includes both expansions: Shattered Space and the recently released Terran Armada. Essentially, for players experiencing Starfield for the first time on PS5 – and many likely will be – Bethesda’s RPG is a more refined and complete version of the original, packed with content, which is typical of Bethesda Game Studios’ approach.

Whether Starfield reaches the same heights as classic Bethesda RPGs is subjective, but if you’re looking for a huge, immersive sci-fi role-playing game set in space, you’ll find it here. Despite some flaws, Starfield offers a captivating world, interesting backstory, compelling quests with different factions, and tons of content to keep you playing for hours. If you’re a PS5 player who enjoys RPGs or science fiction, it’s definitely worth checking out.

This game was reviewed on PlayStation 5.

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2026-04-07 18:43