Starfield: Shattered Space Broke My Heart… | Review 

the level of self awareness really sets you apart I think from the masses. I appreciate that warning at the beginning, tons of people don’t consider these kinds of vids to be opinions and it’s good to remind them. Thanks for the vid!

The fact that you have to say you think the DLC didn't have the budget when the amount of money they've made is absurd is unacceptable, it tells me they don't care.

I was foolish enough to think, secretly when you brought Andreja it was going to be a homecoming for her, everyone recognizing her and the story would be centered around her and you’re just the side character helping her along….nope.

Far Harbor was $24.99 USD -You had an engaging story with Nick Valentine and DiMa -21 unique side quests -3 content focused factions -15 unique weapons -About 10+ unique armors/outfits -New magazines for skills -1 Unique companion -new perks -50 unique locations -New settlement items/locations Impact on the base game Shattered Space doesn't even have half of that and it's $30 USD.....

The main issue is BGS thinks they are still on the top of the mountain. They didnt learn anything from great RPGs that released after Skyrim and shook up the space - witcher 3, baldurs gate 3, elden ring, cyberpunk, Red Dead 2, etc. Their game design philosophy is stuck in a time capsule and Todd is too established and successful to bend. I'm seriously worried about elder scrolls 6.

This expansion felt like deleted content sold as DLC. It was just another faction.

Shattered Space seems like something that was supposed to be in the game at launch as a faction questline but was cut because it wasn't ready.

Took Andreja with me... what a disappointment that was, I feel like one of my biggest problems with Bethesda games is the lack of acknowledgment of events around the player.

Ngl, I'm thinking of downloading Skyrim and playing that again. The cycle will never end

The fact that you have to say you think the DLC didn't have the budget when the amount of money they've made is absurd is unacceptable, it tells me they don't care.

Bethesda really phoned it in for this DLC. Disappointing

The fact this $30 DLC is barely 50% of what other AAA companies these days are offering is the problem. It took them 1 year to release a dlc that probably could have been in the base game.

BGS is like that friend that you still care about but havent talked to in years and see them going down the wrong path in life. Feels bad man.

Could this be another case of "toxic positivity" from a studio where nobody takes criticism or listens to fan feedback? Bethesda needs to make big changes for Elder Scrolls 6 or they are cooked 🤷

And remember we got Fallout London this year. A fan-made complete passion project that practically feels like an entire independently made Fallout game instead of an expansion. And this mod was phenomenally well revived by the community and public. I honestly believe Bethesda is physically incapable of delivering a worth wild product or experience like they use to. Bethesda's best days are clearly behind them.

This criticism is needed if we want any hope going forward into ES6 and FO5. Not just blind Bethesda hate but actual constructive points.

It feels like they dont care.

Bethesda just does whatever the heck they want. They obviously dont care about fans or customers. Selling product simply off name alone. Now the name is tarnished. They need complete restructure

Best part of Starfield was watching Todd present an idiolized version of the game

Broke your heart?? We all knew it was going to suck.

Matty, you are one of the most genuine dudes on here. Just because you generally have good things to say about Bethesda stuff, doesn’t mean you can’t call out this bs when you see it. It’s so weird to see people mad at you for literally reviewing something. Love your content.

we get new loot all the time in fallout 76, how TF did we not get any significant new weapons or armor in shattered space?? WTF is going on in BGS????

The price is way too high! Maybe 10 dollars.

Sad to say this is Bethesda in 2024….finally uninstalled

Shattered my heart will be a more fitting name for the DLC

Bethesda being comfortably below average as usual

Honestly the arrogance from Bethesda and Todd Howard is staggering. This entire game is everything that’s wrong, outdated tech, early access crap for a single player game on gamepass, overpriced DLC, poor story, boring gameplay. This is atrocious. Either go all out for ES6 or don’t bother, can’t believe they made us wait 14 years just so they can give us this awful game.

I miss finding unique items at the end of dungeons. This procedural stat based loot just ain't it. This DLC was 100% supposed to be part of the base game. As someone who makes BGS content on their channel, I'm all around disappointed with the direction of this studio. They don't make RPG's anymore, they make action adventure games, and that hurts.

If we stop criticizing things that deserve to be criticized, the things we love will continue to degenerate. The people that defend unacceptable products or companies are their own worst enemies. This game was unacceptable.

This sucks man I really thought they might be able to bring this game back but I think Bethesda has truly given up I’m worried for ES6

Matty I appreciate your authenticity and honesty, having just recently interviewed Todd most creators would sugar coat their criticisms but I really appreciate your ability to be objective while wearing your heart on your sleeve.

Xbox and Bethesda are both living off successes from from the 360 era and have continued to disappoint since

At 30 dollars, Shattered Space is the same cost as all of Fallout 4s DLC if you got the season pass. It’s a bad value proposition.

Will Shen wrote Far Harbor and he was a high profile loss for Bethesda just prior to Starfield and his talent was missed! It feels as tough Bethesda made this DLC out of obligation rather than ambition. This does not bode well for TES6.

the Dragonborn failed and Alduin ate Bethesda game studios. They no longer exist. What you’re seeing is just a Microsoft ai generated game. TES 6 is DOA. 😢

Agree Matty... Will Shen being gone from BGS has *severely* impacted their quest design, in the wrong direction. They should hire me, if they want true consequences in their quests, Id fix them up, lol.

$30, compare it to phantom liberty.. oof

I thought it was ok, still not enough acknowledgement about events around the player.

You hoped this was Bethesdas "Phantom Liberty-moment"? Oh you sweet summerchild.

30$ for this is a highway robbery. The visuals look cool tho.

I loaded in, found the space station, thought the atmosphere was dope, and within 15 mins a door for a quest was bugged and prevented me from moving on. Not gonna attempt it until shits fixed or might just drop game entirely.

in Australia the game is $120 ON STEAM and $50 DLC, this is kind of unheard of in the PC realm, not even PHYSICAL DISKS that have resale value, are ever that price, unless it's starfield, i'm sure theres other games that have launched at $120 AUD but it's absolutely insane, thats a 20-30% increase in price over 99% of AAA launch prices. btw a year later the game is still the same price. 60 USD is 87 AUD btw, so most AAA games actually launch around $90 AUD

The fact they claimed it's "like Far Harbor" is damning in the sense it suggests they have no idea why fans liked Far Harbor. People liked Far Harbor because it had an interesting and compelling moral conundrum. The entire DLC is basically truth vs. peace: would you rather uphold the truth, even if this can spark a conflict, or try to maintain a peace that's built on a lie - and infact - a peace that isn't even being sustained by humans...? It wasn't exploration, an eerie setting or anything like that. It was just a brief glimpse of a lead designer for that DLC who understood what Fallout was supposed to be about. (a lead designer who left the company after the completion of Starfield, btw)

It’s egregious that this is $29.99 USD but still £29.99 GBP! This should be around £20-£22. May not seem huge, but even £22 is actually crazy for such a short expansion, let alone £30!

Literally wtf is Bethesda doing

I’m with you Matty. This was my, Bethesda finally let me down experience 😥

all the Bethesda naysayers were right.

if THIS GUY doesn't like your stuff then it's truly well and joever for you, bethesda

Those aren't bugs, Matty. They just didn't put in the work anyone would reasonably expect when it comes to Andreja, or any character, coming to the Varuun homeworld. They didn't even give this totally isolated, technologically advanced, hyper-religious society their own ship line(s) and barely even any unique architecture.

At this point I think it's a problem with the people in charge. Starfield feels absolutely devoid of creativity and soul. It doesn't have good enough ideas, let alone a decent execution of mediocre ideas, to even justify its existence. The DLC again proves that Bethesda doesn't have a vision for this game.

Matty did you see the guards dialogue when they say "salutations" thought this was a nice nod towards you!

That ending felt unfinished too. not really a spoiler, but you get zero lore on their beliefs, what or who the great serpent is, why they are so extreme and so devoted etc. It's all cause '1 guy said he talked to a snake god 100 years ago'. And the most important missing lore bit, in the base game the pilgrim talked about in his logs how he fought some guy and died over and over (he went in the unity so he kept fighting him in different universes) and it was strongly implied the other person was the OJ varuun founder. I expected some sort of extended lore on the unity, the interactions the founder of the house had with the pilgrim, if the snake god is actually a starborn who started a cult. My friends and I were theory crafting so hard and considering the deep lore of TES, expected some GOOD STUFF here, and we got NOTHING. ZERO. NO EXPLANATION ABOUT ANYTHING. The DLC just randomly ends. No end of DLC loot, no explanation of how things work or happened. and NO CHOICES. It's the same ending no matter what. This was INSANELY BAD just from a lore perspective. In fallout 4, at least the crazies (children of atom) you have unexplained magical effects like radiation not hurting you, and a womens voice whispering to you. That could make you a believer even if it's not explained. In starfield? Do we have a snake talking to us, or some magical powers? Nope. Everything was SPOILERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR a science project gone wrong, experimenting with grav drive tech to move people into a state of limbo like existence. How does that make people worship a serpent god? There's nothing moving them to the cult. The children of atom, she (the voice) talks to you, guides you, makes you powerful somehow. It's enough to hook people into worshipping... I expected the first intro quest to at least let us interact with the snake god somehow during initiation. Or hear him talk to you or give you orders. There was NOTHING.

Bethesda needs to have 2 games: The dungeon crawl ones and open world ones.

FYI @mrmattyplays - Will Shen left Bethesda about a year ago after the launch of Starfield and announced it on LinkedIn: " Excited to announce that I've joined Something Wicked Games! I'll be working alongside an incredible group of roleplaying game developers, and it's amazing to think we have veterans from Bethesda, Obsidian, and Bioware all on one team. Thank you to everyone who has supported me and my career at Bethesda Game Studios. I've been so lucky to have been a part of titles like Fallout 3, Skyrim, Fallout 4, Fallout 76, and Starfield. We accomplished the impossible together, and I will miss everyone. "

Much respect for holding them accountable. Was growing tired of all the toxic positivity, prohibiting ANY criticism whatsoever.

Really wished this dlc had come out at launch I think it would’ve boosted the initial release plus taken pressure off the dlc length

Damn Didn’t fans just do Fallout London and then this shit just comes out busted. I enjoyed Starfield but they clearly got their wires crossed somewhere.

They are not only destroying todays hope but also any future hope for Elder Scrolls and Fallout. Time for new Studios to arise (Coming From someone that has Fallout 3 and Oblivion in its top 20 games of all time) I want them to make more great games but Fallout 4 was already showing a lot of cracks.

I genuinely hope Bethesda steps back and changes their approach for ES6 because Starfield feels so... dated. Excited for Exodus as the next upcoming sci-fi RPG tho! Hopefully youll cover that too!

This was their prove it moment. Imo it failed. This did not mean they can't pull something out of their asses later but it raises the bar as to how much effort will be required

you had me at, "this is buggy". good to know some things dont change.

Props to you Matty for speaking what you think despite a lot of your fanbase not wanting to hear your genuine opinions. Yes, being always negative about everything is not good or healthy, but being positive no matter how disappointing or bad the games are is not right either.

I probably liked Starfield’s base game more than Matty. I really enjoyed it a lot while also pointing to things that needed improvement. Hearing this about Shattered Space is truly disappointing. I’m really hoping they can rally, as they’ve made games I’ve enjoyed for years and they should have the resources now to do so.

The price is way too high. Maybe 10 dollars.

so elder scrolls 6 is dead feels bad man.....

I've finished the DLC. Andreja said next to nothing and she was with me from start to finish. I'm in NG+10 so I'm in my final universe for this character so I'm kinda disappointed that the character who married her won't get her input

Bethesda should be delighted with a thoughtful critique, and take that feedback for making a better product. The diehard fans need to grow up, if you love something enough you should be able to take negative feedback and be truthful when the game is garbage.

I do wish Andreja had more involvement since she’s my wife in game. The environment and story is pretty cool so far. I guess im just slow. and the length wouldnt be issue if it wasnt a year later and part of a $30 set. I got at launch with a steelbook patch early access and the 1000 creation club credits so wasnt as bad for me but it is odd that its been this long after release and this is all we got.

My opinion: I’m devastated by Starfield as a whole…i’ve played over 100hrs, finished the Faction Quests hoping it would get more interesting…it didn’t. I haven’t finished the base game. Choices have no consequences, the loot is terrible, the planets are pretty much the same. The vehicle they finally added is terrible…it’s like it has bald tyres. No traction. The game was so overhyped. Nobody ever asked for 1000 boring planets. I couldn’t wait for it to be released. I’ve never been so disappointed in a game in my whole life. 😢

It doesn’t matter what any of you think, Todd already has your money and you will give him more.

What happened to the Bethesda Studios that made the Forgotten Vale in Skyrim? And that was only a FRACTION of that DLC!

honestly, don't know how you didn't see this coming. a buggy, cut content feeling dlc was all but guaranteed

The thing that sucks most for me as a huge Bethesda fan, is I find myself TRYING to be excited and positive for starfield. I had heaps of fun in my first playthrough, but once you recognize the boring design it's just.. Over... Shattered Space dropped and I TRIED to be excited for it. I just wasn't. Then I popped it on with the intention of taking everything in, only to be met with conversations so dry and bland and boring. I started skipping dialogue then snapped out of my personal dilusion and turned the game off. I don't think ill ever finish it, but hopefully oneday... I want to? Edit: Currently re-downloading fallout 4

Even pure Xbox said it’s trash and gave it a 50 meta

"Highly explorable" Me jet packing up another cliff of jagged rocks:

I am obly a little way in and I was very disappointed that Andreja had nothing to say about the home she was worried shed never see again. Then I was angry to find out that she did, I just didnt get to hear it.

Bethesda is going to have a Ubisoft type Problem if they Don’t Change there way’s

Stick a fork in it, uninstalling… So disappointing

Oddly enough, I really loved the DLC for seven [7] main reasons. 1.) I played using many of the newer survival mechanics [food, sleep, shelter, injury], so I needed to eat and sleep, and couldn't wait around for things to happen. 2.) I played on Hard, with a few more Hardcore Settings [slow healing], so Enemies like the Vortex Horrors, The Chosen Apparitions and The Blade-wielding Grunts were actually terrifying to deal with. 3.) The Named NPCs were actually interesting and unique, I could tell them apart in the same manner I could the Members of Constellation, even if there were five [5] times as many. My favorite two [2] are the Zealot Villian you meet when helping the Varuun Outcast, and The Father of the boy who ran away from his duties! 4.) Lock-picking and using your abilities [Puppet Master etc] seems to matter in the DLC, especially on harder locations. I found myself being relieved to find Computer Terminals that disable Facility Security Systems or turn them in your favor! 5.) I also enjoyed how limited your Starborn Powers become when fighting against The Chosen Apparitions, you slowly stop being God-like as the story progresses. 6.) Andreja is a lot easier to understand with the DLC, seeing as how it's easy to mistake her as the "Evil Companion". her and her people will commit evil acts, only if ordered to do so, and it is serving the Great Serpent, senseless violence is different for them, which explains why killing innocent NPCs doesn't sit well with her. They should add a Great Serpent dialogue option for when she gets mad at you if they haven't already! 7.) Having to battle The Speaker at the Citadel was chaotic! That's likely the hardest Mission I've ever played in a Bethesda Game [vanilla], the thought of having to fight powered-up version of The Chosen sent chills down my spine! I was able to document all the bugs I experienced, and there were only a handful. Performance was improved, for the most part for me, but seemed to drop pretty badly during the Final Boss Fight. Overall, I believe that Bethesda knocked this one outta the park! 👍

I think most fanboys need to understand. You can love something, and I mean TRULY love something, but also be critical of something you love. It means you want it to succeed, you have PASSION for it. Just because you love and enjoy something, does not mean you cannot critique it. Especially if you know it can be better. We see this in real life, look at Cyberpunk when it first came out. It was trash, but people gave their opinions of it, and while it took awhile, look at the state of that game now? How did it come to that? Maybe it was passion from the devs that wanted to deliver a truly remarkable piece of art. I think fanboys need to take a step back and realize products can be better, while also still loving them. Having the opinions that Matty has is what most people who wanted this DLC to be great are feeling. Until that happens, we will always get half baked products that are underwhelming, but because an IP has a fanbase. Devs know the fanbase will eat it up, regardless of it being good or not. Like many people are beginning to worry, this doesn't set the stage for ES:6 being a masterpiece at all, and has me a little more worried about the overall product being polished or even fully cooked.

Matty I know you probably won’t do this but you should review and show off a Skyrim mod list called LoreRim. It’s an auto install wabbajack with 3,200+ mods that completely transforms Skyrim into a lore friendly modernized and beautiful open world. It’s absolutely my favorite RPG at the moment. So many new quests, armor, weapons, world spaces and overhauls in general. Unfortunately it’s PC only of course but it’s just mind blowing how great the list is put together and literally a 150+ hours of getting that same feeling you have when you first played Skyrim! It would be worth your time❤️ very easy to install as well.

Matt took the gloves off for his Starfield review too. Its sad we gamers all have to live in a world where Bethesda is what it is now. Sucks that I can't give them money for a quality RPG. I want to give you money Bethesda, but Im not parting ways with my dollars for the minimum viable product you call RPGs these days that release about once a decade.

The trailer was a work of art, tho. That hyped me up. It felt like an epic anime or something with those effects, and voice acting

Dont worry, in a few years when the reality hits em in the face, those same people will wonder why the BGS games they get are just as bad.

13:02 Thank you Matty

A lot of what took me out was all the architecture was just reused assets from other locations, the buildings and interiors didn’t have a distinct look. It didn’t feel like I was in some remote groups home, just like another abandoned factory on some planet

Not going to lie, as soon as you had no CHOICE but to join House Va'ruun before you could even start, I wasnt sold. Didnt finish, uninstalled and downloaded Fallout London. Maybe I'll come back when SF gets its CP 2077 2.0 moment.

I am just still frustrated that they haven't incorporated the physics system (grabbing objects, hiding bodies, etc) into any quests or have found any way to make it actually meaningful.

kinda sucks to think about how starfield WAS supposed to be the prove-it/'phantom liberty' moment after fallout 76. they fumbled this dlc hard

30 dollars for 10 hours at most of content? Why the hell wouldn’t they at least make the base game feel more alive. This is crazy

Great coverage as always 👊🏿

This was literally the only reason to boot up my Xbox again.. Honestly as a fan of your content I was waiting on your review before trying it. Seeing this and other reviews I’m just gonna keep rocking with the PS5 and as an Xbox fanboy this just sucks. And I bought the premium edition of the game and I don’t even care, I’d rather just throw that money away than give Bethesda any more of my time at this point. Just disappointing.

76 is a way better rpg then starfield. 😅

I think most of the "content" we gotten after release has just been cut content. All repackaged and sold to us for additional cost. Really if you want to buy Starfield today consider it to be a $100+ game if you want the (Im not sure i should call it this) full experience. Base game $70 SS $30 Creation club content (by Bethesda) $$$$$$

It's not the budget, it's the incentive structure. Produce the bare minimum and then sell the new weapons, quests and companions that players were first hoping to get in the base game (and then were hoping to get in the dlc), as separate individual mtx. This is why so many people were dead set against the Creation Club, it's not a matter of "don't like mtx, then don't buy them" it's the way that mtx affect the core product. Why wow players with loads of new content when you can just drip feed them that content and extract tons more money in the process.

it's because the whole game was made to be a live service modding platform, it merely wears the aesthetic of a narrative driven RPG. This DLC probably started out as hardly more substantial than the Trackers Alliance. I think they should have stuck with whatever that original vision was, the sandbox-y elements are actually quite fun (e.g., everyone loves the ship building) and more deep systemic stuff could have been really great. My guess is at some point Bethesda veered into jamming in traditional BGS game elements, over focusing on the 'proc-gen systemic sandbox space sim as a backdrop for modders' foundation. Maybe it was M$ meddling, maybe it was the pressure of being _the studio_ known for exploration, or maybe they just couldn't get the sandbox/sim elements working technically or figure out how to make that stuff fun (I actually think a year or two of early access could have really benefitted Starfield). Who knows, but I think Todd talking about nerfing survival mechanics to the point of irrelevance is good evidence in favour of this. The fundamental issue is this half-bridged gap between the proc-gen sandbox and FO/TES style highly authored content ends up being less than the sum of its parts.

TES6 will be just fine though right? Right guys?

I completely agree that Andreja was one of the strongest companions/interesting characters in this game and it seemed like they completely squandered her potential.

I guess we can say that Bethesda has no more real talent left in the studio, unless something changes before the next elder scrolls

After they announced this, My only worry was it’s length. All i wanted was it to be long enough and not be a few hours