In the view of Bethesda design director Emil Pagliarulo, Starfield, in a lot of ways, is one of best things that the studio’s ever made, even if he acknowledges that it “might not be everyone’s cup of tea”.

Yep, with the much-hyped Shattered DLC having now been unleashed, giving everyone the chance travel to Va’ruun’kai for a proper taste of arguably the game’s most interesting – at least in theory – factions – Pagliarulo’s spoken to GamesRadar about Bethesda’s big space baby, and how he views where it’s at as an IP, as well as a part of what the studio’s accomplished.

After getting in an obligatory joke about making the game having taught him that The Elder Scrolls 6 is a thing that people would quite like, the developer said: “I think in a lot of ways, Starfield is the hardest thing Bethesda has ever done.

“We pushed ourselves to make something totally different. To just jam into an Xbox the biggest, richest space simulation RPG anyone could imagine. That we pulled it off makes Starfield something of a technical marvel. It’s also, in a lot of ways, the best game we’ve ever made. But for us, most importantly, Starfield has its own unique personality, and now sits right next to Fallout and Elder Scrolls.”

“It might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but what is?,” Pagliarulo added, “We created a new IP, from the ground up, and an experience that is absolutely unique on consoles. And I’m not saying Starfield is better or worse than any other game – just different in what we offer. It’s that weird Bethesda blend of immersion, action, and RPG…but also different [to] Bethesda’s other RPGs.”

While it’s nice to see a developer and studio going to bat for taking risks and trying new things, rather than potentiallly just running what’s historically worked into the ground by playing it safe too often, the question of whether Starfield actually stuck the landing enough to sit alongside Bethesda’s big two series is one that you’d get a lot of different answers to if you asked a room full of folks. At least one person would probably also ask you what the hell you were talking about, assuming that room was at a party you’d invited your actual friends to.

My view would probably be similar to that of our Starfield review from last year, which I think does a really good job of dissecting why, in the view of lots of people, it earned the reputation of not being a terrible game, but also one that didn’t live up to its masterpiece billing.

Do you agree with how Pagliarulo’s verdict on Starfield and its impact here? How are you finding the Shattered Space DLC? Let us know below!