Starfield Fans Wish The Game Was More Like Mass Effect in One Way

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home December 9, 2024 12 Views 6 Min Read
Starfield Fans Wish The Game Was More Like Mass Effect in One Way



Key Takeaways

  • Fans of Starfield remain disappointed in the game’s watered-down nightlife, feeling that it lacks realism and depth.
  • The presence of drugs in the game’s nightclubs contributed to its Mature rating, but fans find everything else about Neon unconvincing, with Mass Effect’s clubs used as an example of sci-fi nightlife done right.
  • Despite updates and DLC, Bethesda has yet to address fans’ desire for seedier nightclubs in locations like Neon.



With 15 months since the release of Starfield, fans of the space exploration RPG are still wishing some of its locations felt a little more steeped in realism. One particular element of Starfield that’s been drawing criticism since its early days is its nightlife, which fans feel doesn’t fit its Mature rating, and it’s an issue that still has players talking.

Prior to its release, Starfield was given a Mature content rating from the ESRB and several other software ratings boards around the world. While these organizations weighed the game’s violence, language, and themes among their decisions, the issue that really pushed the game into the mature category was the presence of drugs, which are most prevalently on display in the game’s nightclubs. But these same nightclubs have drawn the ire of players, who feel they’re incredibly watered-down and unrealistic when compared to similar locations in fellow sci-fi RPGs like Mass Effect and Cyberpunk: 2077.


starfield sequel should break its own rule

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If a Starfield Sequel Ever Happens, It Should Break the Original Game’s Biggest Rule

There may not be a Starfield sequel announced yet, but if Bethesda makes a follow-up, it needs to change one lackluster feature.

The most obvious example is in the Starfield city of Neon, a bustling metropolis built on artificial platforms on the oceanic planet Volii Alpha. Regarded throughout the galaxy as one of its most corrupt major cities, Neon is home to a few bars and nightclubs. Unlike most of the galaxy, drug use isn’t frowned upon inside these facilities, but fans of the game like Reddit user SexySpaceNord are still finding them to be exceptionally tame when weighed against similar clubs in the Mass Effect series. In a recent post, the player compared the crowded, exotic dancer-filled Afterlife nightclub from the Mass Effect games to Neon’s Astral Lounge, which is much more sparsely populated and features non-interactive dancers clad in awkwardly shaped bodysuits that the player compared to children’s TV icons the Teletubbies.


Starfield Fans Still Want Neon to be Seedier


This is far from the first time that fans have complained about Starfield‘s squeaky-clean image. Even before the game’s release in September 2023, some fans had been hoping Starfield‘s nightlife would have Mass Effect vibes, particularly after a pre-release look at Neon in a showcase from June 2023. A lot of fans expressed their disappointment in the city after the game’s launch, and despite some major updates and the release of the game’s first expansion DLC earlier this year, it’s a problem that Bethesda still hasn’t addressed.


Although it’s certainly not a new complaint, the recent post has shown that fans are still wishing for a seedier Neon. The planet is run by Benjamin Bayu, one of the most evil characters in Starfield, and quests surrounding Bayu delve into his connections to organized crime, the drug trade, and even framing the player character for murder, which many fans feel makes it the perfect location for Bethesda to show a darker side of life in the 24th century.

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