Starfield has begun introducing the sci-fi cities it'll take you to
I'd like to get high on the dopefish in the pleasure city, please
Starfield committed to a November 2022 release date during E3, and we're now beginning to learn more about Bethesda's next big RPG. This week they released three "Location Insight" videos, describing in basic detail some of the cities you'll visit on your interplanetary adventure.
The videos are narrated by design director Emil Pagliarulo and were sent to subscribers of Bethesda's free mailing list, Constellation. You can sign up for future updates via the game's official site. The videos aren't locked away however, and are simply unlisted on Bethesda's YouTube channel. You can watch them below, with each one featuring Pagliarulo talking over some animated concept art.
New Atlantis is a space port and the capital city of the United Colonies, the big military and political power in Starfield. Pagliarulo describes the city as a "a true melting pot" whose residents come from every race, creed and ethnicity. It looks like a built-up future city, but it's also not unrecognisable when compared to some real large cities. The buildings still look like buildings.
Akila City is the capital of the Freestar Collective, "a loose confederation of three distinct star systems." It looks like a colder Mos Eisley, with concept art that features a patchwork of low, stone buildings, and the residents are described as believers in "the sanctity of personal freedom and individuality." Stepping outside of the walled city puts you in danger from the Ashta, alien predators that are "a cross between a wolf and a velociraptor."
Neon is a pleasure city built upon a giant fishing platform built upon a "nondescript aquatic world". The corporation that built the fishing platform discovered a fish with psychotropic properties, realised they could make more money from the drug than from fish, and made the drug - Aurora - legal in Neon. It looks like a floating Las Vegas covered in a giant yellow dome, and to me, it's the most immediately interesting concept out of these three locations. Yes, please let me get all fucked up on the fish.
As science fiction goes, none of the above are out-there concepts, and all three are reminiscent of the kinds of locations I'm used to from previous Bethesda games. It's still nice to see Starfield becoming a more concrete thing, anyway, and I'm looking forward to seeing more of it in action.