if you think starfield is a bad game you’ve never played a bad game
Starfield is a bad game because they didn't even do the basics right. If the story and setting is cohesive, or there is a semi-competent gameplay loop, we have the makings of a fun game. That's a pretty low bar, but Starfield instead decides to play Limbo with my low expectations.
I don't expect great storytelling from Bethesda these days, but I do expect them to craft a cohesive setting that I can somewhat believe. At minimmum, I was expecting factions with an ideology, and an established territory. Fallout 4, which I consider to be Bethesda's second worst game, accomplishes this much. I could rant for days how stupid the ideologies of the Railroaders or the Institute are,
but at least the ideologies exist. There is no cultural difference between the United Colonies and Freestar Collective. They could be under the same governing body and different political parties, and it would make no difference. The art ranges from nonsensical (cowboy city, neon city) to exactly the same as an opposing faction.
Starfield setting is not simply bad, it is not believable.
The story shatters any believebility right at the start, when a man, who you've met for a grand total of 5 minutes gives you his ship. I don't want to spoil the lackluster story but throughout it all, I never felt there were any stakes or compelling mysteries that kept me wanting to play the game. In Fallout 4 your goal was to save your son and the quests involved uncovering the identity of the kidnapper, and discover why he was taken. Again, you can criticize Fallout 4's story, but at least it existed. What is the story of Starfield, become space jesus?
The story in Starfield does not exist.
If a game does not have a good story or setting, they can make a fun game with a good gameplay loop. Take a look at a game like Elex, or perhaps Elex 2. The game does SO much wrong, with terrible voice acting, awful janky combat, and hideous graphics. Yet their gameplay loop is one of best i've played. The dopimine rush from crafting 29 Elex potions in a row after hours of looting handcrafted areas is unrivaled. The main gameplay loop of Explore=>Loot=>Craft is less compelling than other games.
Explore a procedurally generated copy pasted world,
Loot a bunch of materials that you may or may not need in the most boring way possible,
Craft nothing, because there is no reason to create a colony, no ammo crafting, no reason to build weapon mods, no compelling reason to improve your ship because ship combat is boring jousting in space that requires zero skill.
The gameplay loop is not fun, and the fun features like ship-building or possibly settlement-building are not encorperated in the gameplay loop.
People say that "the modders will fix the game." A game like Stalker:Anomoly has a weak gameplay loop, and little thought was put into progression, but it is technologically ambitious. Modpacks like STALKER: GAMMA turn an alright game into a great one by streamlining items (no more old ammo, a lot misc loot removed), adds tons of QOL changes, and tweaks the difficulty and prices makes it an immersive game that you can spend hours playing. However, in Starfield's case, the best the modders can do is elevate it to a 6/10 game. Modders can't fix setting or story, or atmosphere, but they can create a good gameplay loop. I'll probably pick up Starfield on sale in 5 years, once all the DLC is released, and someone makes a good Wabbajack modpack.
Starfield is a bad game because they didn't get the basics right.
why are gamers so entitled?
It is not entitled to want a believable setting, a semi-compitent story, and a smooth gameplay loop. If F2P videogames can give you this, $70 Starfield should as well.
