Starfield's hopeful exploration of mankind's future among the stars (with a healthy dose of zany sci-fi thrown in too) seemed to convince enough critics when the game launched a little over a year ago, but it also faced harsh criticism from longtime Bethesda fans and players expecting much more advanced game design. Does the Shattered Space expansion fix any of those central issues? The short answer is: no, not really. Bethesda Game Studios seems to be quite proud of Starfield overall , and it makes sense that the studio is sticking to its guns with this new IP after being stuck bouncing between Fallout and The Elder Scrolls for more than two decades.
"It is what it is," I’d say. For all its faults, the game seemingly was a financial success for Bethesda Softworks and its Microsoft overlords, and most of its rough edges (at least the ones that don't affect its philosophical and engine-related foundations) have been ironed out at this point via patches and free content updates. BGS still wants to support Starfield for a long time , and work on a second expansion seems to be underway, but are the Settled Systems worth exploring further? After this first DLC, I'd say yes, but Shattered Space is far from an ideal refresh, at least at this point in time.
The story takes players to the striking Va'ruun'kai, the hidden homeworld of the huge and mysterious House Va'ruun, the cult-like faction that only reared its head in the base game and, for the most part, was the stuff of legend.