Like anything else, procedural generation has to be implemented well. Bethesda can reply to as many negative reviews as they want, but the simple fact of the matter is they’ve never really used procedural generation in interesting ways in any of their RPGs. I mean, they are literally infamous for characters like Preston Garvey, “another settlement needs your help” - possibly the gold standard example of procedural generation done badly in a game. Starfield is just the latest example.
I’m a big fan of procedural generation in games and when it’s done thoughtfully it can be fantastic (think Dwarf Fortress, Rimworld, Noita, Deep Rock Galactic, Don’t Starve, Rogue Legacy, Binding of Isaac, Spelunky, FTL, Nethack, L4D, Vermin/Darktide, Terraria, Valheim, Minecraft, etc.). It can give a game hundreds more hours of entertainment, in some cases.
But when it’s lazily or poorly implemented (think No Man’s Sky, Elite Dangerous, Skyrim’s radiant quests, etc.) it quickly becomes a huge bore and actually becomes more repetitive instead.
Procedural generation isn’t a game mechanic on its own, it’s a tool to help a game be less repetitive and encourage players to explore different solutions. If it’s implemented poorly, like in Starfield, it might as well just not be there. I would much rather have had 5 more fleshed out settlements/planets/space stations in the game, with quests and NPCs and their own ambience and vibe; than the 1000 bland, barren, procedurally generated planets they gave us.
Like anything else, procedural generation has to be implemented well. Bethesda can reply to as many negative reviews as they want, but the simple fact of the matter is they’ve never really used procedural generation in interesting ways in any of their RPGs. I mean, they are literally infamous for characters like Preston Garvey, “another settlement needs your help” - possibly the gold standard example of procedural generation done badly in a game. Starfield is just the latest example.
I’m a big fan of procedural generation in games and when it’s done thoughtfully it can be fantastic (think Dwarf Fortress, Rimworld, Noita, Deep Rock Galactic, Don’t Starve, Rogue Legacy, Binding of Isaac, Spelunky, FTL, Nethack, L4D, Vermin/Darktide, Terraria, Valheim, Minecraft, etc.). It can give a game hundreds more hours of entertainment, in some cases.
But when it’s lazily or poorly implemented (think No Man’s Sky, Elite Dangerous, Skyrim’s radiant quests, etc.) it quickly becomes a huge bore and actually becomes more repetitive instead.
Procedural generation isn’t a game mechanic on its own, it’s a tool to help a game be less repetitive and encourage players to explore different solutions. If it’s implemented poorly, like in Starfield, it might as well just not be there. I would much rather have had 5 more fleshed out settlements/planets/space stations in the game, with quests and NPCs and their own ambience and vibe; than the 1000 bland, barren, procedurally generated planets they gave us.