At Starfield Direct on Sunday, we had a lot of Starfields crammed into our eyeballs, especially in the planets and moons department. New ones arrived, one another. It’s almost as if this space RPG was supposed to have over a thousand, or something.
The variety of celestial bodies in this deep dive was very interesting: we saw different biomes, different types of fauna and flora, and even different levels of gravity and atmosphere. When Starfield launches, I’m definitely planning to visit every planet and moon in the game, and with so much to see, I’m kinda excited to get there. So, shit, I’m not going to wait for September! I will start right away.
During the 45 minute presentation we saw about 100 different planets and moons and learned the names of about 50 of them. Below, I’ve grouped them together: the worst (planets that clearly suck), the best (planets I might want to build a base on), and the bad (planets I don’t have a strong opinion on).
Here’s the good, the bad, and the ugly of Starfield’s over 1,000 planets and moons, at least the ones we’ve seen so far.
The worst
Porrima IV-C (moon, above)
I mean…it’s just Skyrim. This moon is Skyrim! Instant failure, Porrima IV-C, because when Starfield comes out, we’re officially done with Skyrim. We had 13 years to play there, and that’s a lot.
Bardin III
It contains an alien creature called “spiderwasp”. Difficult pass.
Earth
I don’t know why players seem so excited to visit a ruined Earth in Starfield when they can just play Fallout. I don’t want to go to Earth, I already spend about 90% of my time there, and honestly it wasn’t worth visiting because it was crawling with dinosaurs.
Beta Ternion III (above)
Sometimes the color schemes of alien planets are amazing, like when the grass is blue or the trees are red or the lakes are orange. Other times they look like someone who partially digested a plaid shirt and threw up all over the place. This planet is like that.
March
Looks like Starfield starts out in a mining colony on Mars, and with sincere apologies to the geniuses at NASA and all the smart rovers who’ve been roaming Mars for years… Mars is boring. It’s just a ball of dirt! Plus, bad things always happen out there in science fiction. Once I finish the Starfield tutorial, I’m definitely going back to the red planet.
Ka’zaal (moon, above)
The moon itself looks pretty cool, but it orbits a massive turd-colored planet. I don’t want to look up at the sky every night and see a giant turd, do I?
Jemison
I know, it’s the biggest, with the huge city of New Atlantis and probably tons of other things to do and see. But Jemison is guarded by space cops who scan your cargo hold every time you approach. Uh, have you ever heard of a warrant, you pigs? It’s also the planet where your parents live, and while it’s nice to visit your parents once in a while, you don’t want to be too. close at home.
The best
Algorab III-B (moon, above)
Not only is it beautiful and lush, but there’s also someone…or something…standing there in the distance. An alien? Companion? Or maybe just decoration? I don’t know, but I’ll find out.
Altair 2
Starfield won’t just be filled with planets, it will be filled with sci-fi references. We didn’t see the surface of the planet, but we did get a glimpse of an inside firefight on Altair 2, which means there’s definitely going to be an Altair 4 because that’s the name of the planet in the 1956 science fiction film Forbidden Planet. Will there be a robot named Robby on Altair 4? Yes, there will definitely be. And I will find this robot and add it to my crew, if possible.
Cassiopeia IV-A (moon, above)
It’s weird how much science fiction ringed planets really are, even though in our own solar system, 50% of the planets have rings. Hell, even the sun has dust rings. But there’s no denying it, ringed planets are cool and never fail to make you feel like you’re on a space adventure. I will never tire of the view from this moon.
Freya IX-B (moon, above)
Weird but cute alien insects. Fog and lightning, some of the only real time we’ve yet seen at Starfield. And this is the moon where Adoring Fan is taken to be brutally executed in Starfield Direct. What’s not to like?
Groombridge VIII-A (moon, above)
I thought at first there were giant mushrooms – an annoying whimsical cliche – but they’re just alien trees, so I can relax. And with large, impressive alien dinosaurs, as well as winged creatures in the sky, it looks like a nice place for a budding alien biologist.
Arcturus III (above)
A large and beautiful blue ice giant with rings of ice, with a temperature helpfully listed as “cold”. It does not contain any plants or animals either. Seems like the perfect place to get away from it all.
Pluto
Science has stripped Pluto of its “planet” designation, and you should always listen to science. But I still love the little guy and will definitely land on it and walk around. But here’s the thing: I won’t exploit the resources. No. We’ve already taken enough from poor Pluto.
Io (moon, above)
Yes, I would absolutely love to wander around the moon of Io to mine resources while watching Jupiter, friggin’ Jupiter, hovering over the horizon. They even included the rings of Jupiter, which are often overlooked. Thanks Starfield!
Verne II
A giant alien insect (a thornmantis) is shown being hypnotized on this planet with Starfield’s Xenosociology skill. If you can mind control hideous alien bugs, this one seems like the best one to start with, so I’ll definitely be paying Verne II a visit.
The rest
Akila (above)
Akila was almost on the best list. There’s an old western town full of space cowboys, a beautiful moon to gaze over the mountains, and it’s not part of the united colonies, which probably means no cops snoop around in your holds. But the city of Akila is called Akila City, which would be like calling Tokyo, San Francisco or Paris “Earth City”. Weak.
Mercury
The tiny sun-loving planet in our solar system that we hardly ever think about. I was going to stick it in The Worst because literally, who cares, but it looks like there are caves. Caves are cool. How often do you have the opportunity to walk in a cave on Mercury?
Volii Alpha (above)
Home of Neon, a town that was once a fishing platform but is now a “pleasure town”. I don’t really like the drugs, the dancing or the wild vibe of Neon. I especially hope that you can still fish there.
Moon (moon) (you know, our moon)
I don’t even know if I want to walk on Earth’s moon anymore. It’s done to death. I probably will, but in space games I generally want to get as far away from home as possible.
The rest (of the rest)
Look, there were tons of other planets shown at Starfield Direct, and most of them looked pretty dusty and barren, like all of these:
But it’s the universe for you. Look at our own solar system: the only planet with stuff on it is Earth, the others are mostly gas planets that you can’t even walk on or places like Mars that are just cold earth.
At the same time, even a barren planet can be beautiful, and even though a lot of those planets are a bit dull and the same, I think it’s still worth landing on if just to take a nice capture of it. screen of a planet rising on the horizon. I fully accept that most starfield planets will be boring places you only visit once. And I agree with that. The goal, after all, is to find the diamond in the rough, the perfect planet to build a base, settle down and call home.