I forever live in the shadow of pain and regret over my purchase of the Dragon Age: Inquisition - Inquisitor's Edition. For well-north of a hundred clams I got a cheap plastic box full of cheap plastic crap, as well as a download code for a pretty good follow-up to Dragon Age 2.
I've been burned by collector's editions before, but it helps heal my soul when other people have better luck, and the $300 Starfield Constellation edition seems to be treating people well.
The centerpiece of the whole deal is a functional smartwatch replica of Starfield's in-game Chronomark. I'm not really a smartwatch guy, but I was easily wowed by the Chronomark's pretty standard suite of apps like a step counter and smartphone notification display.
- 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'
- Shockingly, nobody bought the $386,000 special edition of Dying Light that came with parkour lessons and a full-size custom zombie survival shelter
More than anything, it's cool to see one of these collector's editions come with something you can get actual use out of. I've got all manner of art books and die-cast tchotchkes strewn about my office, but not anything with even a hint of utility.
I'm impressed enough from far away, but early recipients posting to the Starfield subreddit seem really chuffed. User PotatoKitten011 shared a picture of the watch in-person, as well as a fairly glowing mini-review, wearing it all day at the office and stating that "Honestly it did feel special all day to have this prop. It doesn't look too tacky to where people could discern it and notice, but my knowing it's there was super cool." You just couldn't pull off bringing the Fallout 4 limited edition Pip Boy to work.
Okay… this things is REALLY COOL. from r/Starfield
User Xzanos117 has a slightly more sober but still positive take on the prop, noting that, for pure functionality, you could just get a non-name brand smartwatch for cheaper, but also that "The real joy is that the icons and visuals of it are all hints for what we'll see in-game. For the Starfield fan it's very cool!"
It's a nifty little doodad, and the whole Fallout 76 bag fiasco (remember that?) feels well and truly in the rearview mirror. I'm happy for all the newly-minted Starfield watch guys out there, even if the collector's edition I crave is now forever out of my reach—Baldur's Gate 3's mondo edition is now going for like, a gazillion dollars on the secondhand market.
Pillars of Eternity is getting turn-based combat to mark its 10th anniversary, and that means PC Gamer editors will soon be arguing about combat mechanics again
Today's RPG fans are 'very sensitive to feeling like they wasted time' when they die, says Metaphor: ReFantazio battle planner—but Atlus still made combat hard anyway
