Sorry everyone, I might have to start doing that Token RPS Starfield Liker thing again. The Shattered Space expansion, out on September 30th, probably won’t refurbish the RPG ’s reputation as an overall miss – but it does ditch the proc-gen planet bloat for a single handcrafted hellhole, a true Bethesda speciality honed by years of Fallouts and Elder Scrollseses. And, if its - sadly hands-off - Gamescom showcase is any indication, it might just double down on Starfield’s own strengths as well.
Mainly, though, I’m interested in leaving the base game’s empty boulder fields and just exploring another big ol’ hunk of densely detailed BethRPG land. It’s Va'ruun'kai: homeworld of House Va’ruun, the serpent-worshipping cult that was supposedly one of the big three factions in Starfield lore (yet was mainly represented in-game by one utterly moderate follower and a pensioner locked in his house). Shattered Space reveals that both they and their planet are in dire straits: multiple sub-factions, each more snake-obsessed than the last, are vying for control, while Va'ruun'kai itself is quite literally falling to bits.
Low tolerance for grey rocks ? Shattered Space might just have you covered: red and purple skies are pierced by vast spikes of planetary shrapnel, many surrounded by smaller debris fields held aloft within gravity anomalies. Not everything is destroyed: at least one major settlement still stands, home to the variously downtrodden House Va’ruun faithful.