WhenStarfieldlaunches at the end of this year, it will apparently feature a persuasion minigame that takes “beats” from the one found inThe Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.
Speaking ina new trailerabout the interactions players will have with NPCs,Starfieldlead quest designer Will Shen explained that players will be able to persuade NPCs through a small dialogue minigame, though it won’t be a carbon copy ofOblivion‘s. “It was funny, we didn’t start with an evolution of ‘let’s look back at the oldOblivionsystem’ but, there are a couple of beats there. You have to think about ‘what’s my risk here?’ right, ‘which one do I want to choose?’ we didn’t want it to be a system where there’s definitely a right thing to say.”
InOblivion, NPCs could be persuaded into friendly dispositions with the player. While this didn’t always have an effect, persuading merchants successfully meant that they would offer players cheaper prices on their goods. It’s not clear if players will be able to do the same inStarfieldor if persuasion will go into Fallout territory, where NPCs can have their outlooks on situations changed with just a few words.
Along with some details on a persuasion minigame, today’s trailer forStarfieldrevealed that players will be able to join each of the game’s four factions, including its dastardly space pirates. According to Shen, players will have to choose which part of the game “to engage in.”Starfield’sfactions range from the tame, spacefaring United Colonies to a western-inspired frontier group called the Freestar Collective.
It also seems like players will be able to manipulate these groups by going undercover.Starfielddesign director Emil Pagliarulo, explained that players who don’t want to play an evil character can side with the pirates and report back to their superiors with other groups to share their plans.
Starfieldis set to release onNovember 11 for Xbox Series X/S and PC. Due to Bethesda’s acquisition by Microsoft, the game willnot be released on PlayStationor Nintendo platforms.
