Bethesda honcho says Starfield is 'the best game we've ever made' in massive bout of amnesia

Starfield NPC with crossed arms standing in front of Trade Authority sign

(Image credit: Tyler C. / Bethesda)

At time of writing, Starfield's Steam review score is at an unenviable, beige "Mixed" rating, with only 59% of its total reviews coming in positive. Its first DLC, Shattered Space, is faring even worse: It's currently sitting at "Mostly Negative," with just 38% positive user reviews.

But Starfield design director Emil Pagliarulo isn't letting it dissuade him. In a recent chat with GamesRadar, Pagliarulo said that—though Starfield might not be "everyone's cup of tea"—he reckons "it's also, in a lot of ways, the best game we've ever made."

Per Pagliarulo, Starfield is also the "hardest thing Bethesda has ever done" in many ways. "We pushed ourselves to make something totally different. To just jam into an Xbox the biggest, richest space simulation RPG anyone could imagine." That the studio—by its own assessment, at least—succeeded in doing that makes it one of its most ambitious and best games. "I'm not saying Starfield is better or worse than any other game," says Pagliarulo, "just different in what we offer. It's that weird Bethesda blend of immersion, action, and RPG."

Morrowind was a much more narratively ambitious game, Skyrim saw Bethesda distil its rambling open worlds into something that still has people hooked 13 years later. Even Fallout 4, far from the studio's most-loved game, was more successfully experimental with its building mechanics than Starfield was with its countless blank-slate planets. Calling Starfield the best game in your library seems more like a statement of defiance against the backlash than a true assessment of its qualities, regardless of how ambitious it was.

Anyway, apparently Bethesda hasn't been too dissuaded by the lukewarm reception its space sim got. Pagliarulo says it's now joined Fallout and Elder Scrolls on the podium as one of Bethesda's "big three”.

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One of Josh's first memories is of playing Quake 2 on the family computer when he was much too young to be doing that, and he's been irreparably game-brained ever since. His writing has been featured in Vice, Fanbyte, and the Financial Times. He'll play pretty much anything, and has written far too much on everything from visual novels to Assassin's Creed. His most profound loves are for CRPGs, immersive sims, and any game whose ambition outstrips its budget. He thinks you're all far too mean about Deus Ex: Invisible War.