I have over 430 hours in Starfield, and honestly, I can’t recommend it anymore.

At first, the game has that classic Bethesda Game Studios charm — exploration, freedom, and the feeling that you’re part of a massive universe. That’s what kept me playing for hundreds of hours. But the longer you stay, the more the cracks start to show.

Nearly two years after release, there is still a shocking lack of meaningful free content. Instead of supporting the player base with updates that expand the experience, Bethesda has focused almost entirely on paid DLC.

If you bought the standard edition like I did, be prepared: you’re expected to keep paying just to stay relevant. Upgrade to Premium? Pay more. Expansion? Pay more. New DLCs? Pay again. In the end, you’re looking at almost doubling the original price for what amounts to a handful of extra missions.

And then there’s the mods — something Bethesda games have always been famous for. What used to be a thriving, community-driven ecosystem is now increasingly monetized. Paying for mods completely undermines what made these games special in the first place.

It feels like the base game purchase is no longer respected. Instead of rewarding loyal players, the game is being turned into a continuous spending cycle.

After 430 hours, I’m done. I won’t be returning to Starfield, and I’ll be thinking twice before buying another title from Bethesda Game Studios.