No one knows when Bethesda plans on releasing the next Fallout game, but the long stretch between entries has left me with a lot of time to think about what features need to be part of the franchise’s future. There are several Fallout projects in the works right now, but Fallout 5is the one I’m most curious about. Bethesda hasn’t revealed a single detail about the game, besides the fact that the studio is working on it. After Starfield failed to meet expectations, a lot of people are now concerned about The Elder Scrolls 6 and Fallout 5, but the sci-fi adventure still has one core feature going for it that Bethesda needs to bring to its future projects.
Starfield may not have been the mind-blowing space exploration experience that many were hoping for, but the game does a great job when it comes to customization. With practically zero details about The Elder Scrolls 6 and Fallout 5 to obsess over, Starfield is currently the closest thing fans have to a blueprint. If Bethesda learns at least one lesson from Starfield, it needs to be that the customization mechanics are the best that the developer has ever made.
Starfield’s Customization Features Can Bring Future Bethesda Games to New Heights
Even though Starfield‘s world and story fell flat, the customization features are a silver lining that shows the game doesn’t have to live in vain. Whether it’s the character creator, ship building, or outpost customization, Starfield managed to do this part incredibly well. The Fallout 4 settlement building system was a hint that Bethesda had bigger plans for customization, and Starfield delivered in more ways than one.
Guess the games from the emojis.
Speaking specifically about the outpost/settlement building side of things, Fallout 4 was better in this regard. However, Starfield added a top-down camera view for building, which is a huge improvement that made the process easier. Beyond building outposts and settlements, though, the way Starfield approaches character creation and adds ship building into the mix sets a new standard that Fallout 5 and The Elder Scrolls 6 have to meet.
Starfield may not have been the mind-blowing space exploration experience that many were hoping for, but the game does a great job when it comes to customization.
Making a character in a Bethesda game is seriously rough. It’s pretty difficult to create a character that truly looks good. Starfield finally changed that, though. Granted, Starfield‘s character builder falls short of being one of the best character creators in gaming, but that doesn’t keep it from being a great step forward for Bethesda. The pursuit of perfection can often overshadow something that is still quite good. Starfield has a really solid character creator to work with, and that could pave the way for The Elder Scrolls 6 and Fallout 5 to have character creators that turn out to be amazing.
The character customization isn’t the only way that Starfield gives Bethesda’s formula a facelift. From a visual standpoint, Starfield is the best-looking Bethesda game across the board. Sure, the various NPCs in Starfield still suffer from having an uncanny quality about them, but that’s more in the lack of expression than the actual appearance. That’s a completely different issue that hopefully gets addressed in future Bethesda games, but as for now, custom characters that look better than in previous projects is a big win.
Fallout and The Elder Scrolls obviously have no business introducing spaceships. With one being a dystopian post-apocalyptic setting and the other being fantasy, that just wouldn’t make sense. Starfield‘s general idea can be repurposed, though. Even if this kind of crafting isn’t exactly your thing, it’s clear that building ships in Starfield is one of the most well-rounded parts of the game. This presents the opportunity for Fallout 5 and The Elder Scrolls 6 to reuse the system in ways that make sense for each game’s respective world. For example, The Elder Scrolls 6 could feature customizable sailing ships.
One of the biggest questions about Fallout 5 that fans want to see answered is where the game will be set. The wasteland setting of each entry serves as the heart of the entire experience. There are still so many areas of America that Fallout has yet to explore, but there’s also the chance that Fallout 5 could return to an old location during a different time period.
Fallout 5 has even more potential with this kind of system, though. There are only two Fallout games that have ever featured usable vehicles; Fallout 2 and Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel. Wastelands in Fallout are covered in pre-Great War debris, with some of those remnants including cars. Fallout 5 could introduce a car restoration and customization system to the series, which would then give players a fresh way to travel across the wasteland. I know it’s too early to know what Bethesda has in store for Fallout 5, but there are some solid qualities found within Starfield that could breathe new life into the wasteland.
