Starfield lets you be a total faction flip-flopper, so don't worry about pissing anyone off

Starfield — a masked character with a colorful, hooded outfit in electric blues and pinks.
(Image credit: Bethesda)

As I wrapped up the Freestar Rangers questline in Starfield, a system-hopping detective romp that I thoroughly recommend to players starting out, my eyes drifted to the United Colonies Vanguard quest I'd neglected starting two dozen hours earlier. Would the Vanguard still want my company after I'd climbed the ranks of their biggest competition? Surely they'd at least give me the stink eye as I approached the help desk dressed in full Freestar cowboy getup, I thought.

Nope. The Vanguard rep didn't give a second thought to my Ranger badge, and even brushed off the brash comments of my companion, and noted UC hater, Sam Coe. In fact, the game treated me as if my history was a blank slate, and it seems like the same goes for the rest of the Starfield factions. Starfield will let you join every team without any repercussions, so don't worry about pissing them off.

On one hand, this is great: faction quests are the bread and butter of Bethesda RPGs, and it would be a bummer to get locked out of a huge chunk of content because you chose a side early on. I probably would've regretted going with the Freestar Rangers because, even though it was fun unraveling a galactic conspiracy, I'm already having a better time being a UC Vanguard errand boy. I'm glad I won't have to spin up another playthrough just to see what it's like to be a Crimson Fleet pirate, too.

According to Bethesda, that constant availability of content was exactly the goal.

"We really wanted to make sure you can play through all the faction lines independently of each other," explained lead quest designer Will Shen in a promotional video last year. "We really want the stories to be a little more personal. You're influencing the direction of where this faction is going to go."

On the other hand, the "one of everything on the menu" approach to Starfield's factions does soften their impact. What does it mean to be a Freestar Ranger if a few hours later I'm prancing across the galaxy in UC blue? I'm never truly committing to a role in Starfield, unless that role is "guy who does literally everything." 

Even if getting to do all the quests is ultimately for the best, I think I should at least get called out for all my flip-flopping. Getting to wear every hat at once is empowering, but not exactly immersive. When Starfield treats me like I'm the center of the universe, the fantasy breaks down and the whole world starts to feel artificial. Something as minor as a snide remark about loyalty from my Vanguard boss would go a long way toward suspending disbelief.

The flip-flopper life is nothing new for Bethesda's writing style, but it does feel outdated among other great modern RPGs that have come out since Bethesda last finished a game. Baldur's Gate 3 constantly asks you to make decisions that affect what you'll get to do later in the game, which can be harsh, but also has me excited to see what I missed in a second playthrough. CD Projekt Red is closer to Bethesda with buffet-style questlines in Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3, but I like that both V and Geralt are often cast as temporary allies or incidental spectators to clashing factions. You get to be non-committal in a way that makes sense for your character, and without the part in Bethesda games where you literally swear an oath to a faction you're probably gonna ghost for the next hundred hours.

The bright side is Starfield has zero barriers to seeing all the good stuff it has to offer. At around 30 hours in, I'm a prodigy Freestar Ranger, a top prospect of the UC Vanguard, and as of last night the newest member of Neon's most pathetic street gang. My spacer is a walking contradiction, and though the world will never acknowledge it, at least I know it.

Starfield guideStarfield traitsStarfield companionsStarfield romance optionsStarfield console commandsStarfield mods

Starfield guide: Our hub of advice
Starfield traits: The full list, with our top picks
Starfield companions: All your recruitable crew
Starfield romance options: Space dating
Starfield console commands: Every cheat you need
Starfield mods: Space is your sandbox

Morgan Park
Staff Writer

Morgan has been writing for PC Gamer since 2018, first as a freelancer and currently as a staff writer. He has also appeared on Polygon, Kotaku, Fanbyte, and PCGamesN. Before freelancing, he spent most of high school and all of college writing at small gaming sites that didn't pay him. He's very happy to have a real job now. Morgan is a beat writer following the latest and greatest shooters and the communities that play them. He also writes general news, reviews, features, the occasional guide, and bad jokes in Slack. Twist his arm, and he'll even write about a boring strategy game. Please don't, though.

Read more
The envoy from Avowed takes a dreamlike rest amongst a glimmering city.
I don't care about being able to kill everybody and steal the Mayor's pants in an RPG like Avowed, and I'm tired of pretending it's mandatory
Casting a fireball at a mushroom creature in Avowed.
My respec in Avowed turned the combat from Skyrim into Dishonored, and now I'm having a blast as an invisible parkour sword-mage
The creepiest guy leans in front of an NPC mid-conversation in Starfield.
Starfield promises it still exists as silence drives fans to space-madness, but it mostly just annoys everyone: 'They are deliberately choosing not to communicate more'
Paradise building in the sun in Avowed
Avowed's inert cities remind me just how good we had it in Skyrim and Oblivion
Mushroom encrusted Envoy looking toward camera in Avowed.
Skyrim stealth archers and NCR Ranger wannabes rejoice: I'm 45 hours into Avowed's hardest difficulty as a glass cannon gunslinger and I've loved every minute of it
A man shouting while waving his sword in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2.
Baldur's Gate 3 and Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 show that the future of RPGs is in games way more ambitious, weird and unexpected than anything Bethesda and BioWare have to offer
Latest in RPG
Alligator skull with glowing eyes on human body and cords coming out sitting at piano with "The Norwood Etudes" ready to play
My new most anticipated RPG let me be a kleptomaniac gourmand set loose in a noir city on a quest to make 'the perfect sandwich'
Rise of the Ronin review
Rise of the Ronin review
Wyrdsong concept art
Wyrdsong, the RPG from ex-Bethesda talent, isn't dead—but it's no longer an open world: 'We're down to a skeleton crew'
A lolporrit squeals in excitement while being driven in a moon buggie in Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail, patch 7.2.
Final Fantasy 14 patch 7.2's trailer has me finally hyped to get stuck back in—and to go to the moon and pilot some mechs, because why not
Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 barbers change hairstyle - Henry sitting on a horse wearing armour.
How to find a barber and change hairstyle in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2
Key art of the videogame Lunacid, showing a pale, long haired knight in purple armor contemplating a purple, flaming sword surrounded by the different phases of the moon.
One of my favorite indie RPGs is getting a follow-up made with FromSoftware's 25-year-old Super Mario Maker for first person dungeon crawlers
Latest in News
Crying laughing emoji with disturbing realistic elements for REPO
REPO's first update will add a new map and a 'duck bucket' so we can finally give that pesky quacker a time out
Man facing camera
The Day Before studio reportedly sues Russian website for calling infamous disaster-game a 'scam'
Will Poulter holding a CD ROM
'What are most games about? Killing': Black Mirror Season 7 includes a follow-up to 2018 interactive film Bandersnatch
Casper Van Dien in Starship Troopers
Sony, which is making a Helldivers 2 movie, is also making a new Starship Troopers movie, but it's not based on the Starship Troopers movie we already have
Assassin's Creed meets PUBG
Ubisoft is reportedly talking to Tencent about creating a new business entity to manage Assassin's Creed and other big games
Resident Evil Village - Lady Dimitrescu
'It really truly changed my life in every possible way': Lady Dimitrescu actor says her Resident Evil Village role was just as transformative for her as it was for roughly half the internet in 2021