When Starfield launches at the end of this year, it will apparently feature a persuasion minigame that takes “beats” from the one found in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.
Speaking in a new trailer about the interactions players will have with NPCs, Starfield lead 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 of Oblivion‘s. “It was funny, we didn’t start with an evolution of ‘let’s look back at the old Oblivion system’ 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.”
In Oblivion, 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 in Starfield or 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 for Starfield revealed 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’s factions 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. Starfield design 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.
Starfield is set to release on November 11 for Xbox Series X/S and PC. Due to Bethesda’s acquisition by Microsoft, the game will not be released on PlayStation or Nintendo platforms.
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