Starfield's Dialogue System Kills Two Birds With One Stone Compared to Skyrim's
Many fans are looking forward to Bethesda's upcoming sci-fi RPG Starfield, as it'll be the first new IP from BGS in quite some time. Set to release in September, a lot has already been revealed as to what kind of improved mechanics the game will possess, but more will be shown at the upcoming Starfield Direct.
For example, the dialogue system of Starfield has already been outlined in detail. When looking at Starfield's dialogue system compared to Skyrim's, it's clear that the former possesses some big advantages over the latter and that Starfield could rectify some of the biggest dialogue-based mistakes made by Skyrim, while also maintaining its benefits.
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The Pros and Cons of Skyrim's Dialogue System
The dialogue of Elder Scrolls titles has become iconic for a variety of reasons. Meme culture has carried forward a lot of the discourse behind TES dialogue, and Skyrim was no exception to this rule. For example, Skyrim's dialogue system was responsible for the game's iconic "I took an arrow to the knee" meme. The spread of this meme came directly from the often recycled voice lines that Skyrim possesses, with players quickly exhausting the ambient dialogue of the game.
On the other end, this can also be considered one of Skyrim's biggest dialogue cons, with the often-repeated voice lines of the game breaking player immersion and giving way to repetition. This con has always been a form of a double-edged sword for Skyrim, with the aforementioned memes that this small dialogue range produces being a huge benefit. With many NPCs sharing the same voices and phrases, there is clearly room for Starfield to improve Skyrim's dialogue system, but it can also smartly maintain a lot of its charm.
The Benefits of Starfield's Dialogue System
The dialogue system of Starfield is set to be expansive, with the mechanic clearly being a point of pride for Bethesda. As well as its improvements, the Starfield dialogue will return to the classic Bethesda system of direct multiple-choice speech options. This differs from the controversial and vague dialogue system of Fallout 4, which watered down the complexity of prior systems in the eyes of many.
Newer elements will of course be added to this classic feel, with a revamped point-based version of Bethesda's persuasion system also being present. Despite this, the main talking point for Starfield's dialogue is the scale of its involved content. It is reported that Starfield will have over 250,000 lines of dialogue, which completely dwarves the 60,000 lines within Skyrim, as well as the 111,000 lines of Fallout 4.
With so much involved dialogue, Starfield holds an instant advantage over the speech of Skyrim. By possessing so much dialogue variation, Starfield will escape the Skyrim critique of overused voice lines. However, with such variety being present, Starfield can also possess the same potential meme power of Skyrim where certain lines become iconic. As so many lines of dialogue are present, the possibility that some become fan favorites is only set to increase proportionately.
The replayability of Bethesda titles is always a major factor, and this is often spurred on by the memorability of in-game experiences. With Starfield's overall experience set to be so massive, the detail behind its dialogue system seems like a huge bonus. While it is important that this system improves over the likes of Skyrim, it seems the dialogue of Starfield will still crucially possess the comical charm of its predecessors.
Starfield launches September 6 for PC and Xbox Series X.
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Source: GameRant
