Starfield: Review of its Landing on PlayStation 5

Starfield arrives on PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 5 Pro almost three years after its original debut on PC and Xbox Series, in a version that Bethesda has presented as the most complete ever, including all major updates published over time and accompanied by the large free update Free Lanes and the new narrative DLC Terran Armada, in addition to the already known Shattered Space expansion. The result is a work that, at least in intention, aims to represent the culmination of Bethesda's sci-fi universe on Sony consoles, but in practice immediately highlights the technical limitations of an ambitious and complex port.

From a porting perspective, Starfield on PS5 clearly shows the adaptation work of a title born for a different hardware ecosystem. The integration of DualSense features is well done: adaptive triggers differentiated for weapons and starships, marked haptic feedback during firefights and dogfights, use of the touchpad for quick access to scanner and map. These are features that increase immersion and are never intrusive, but they remain a refined outline around a technical core that struggles to find full stability. The port does not distort the original experience, but inherits all its structural compromises, amplifying them in some cases.

The Sheen of the Ship

The graphical rendering varies significantly between the base PS5 and PS5 Pro. On the standard PlayStation 5, we find the classic Quality and Performance modes, with the former anchored at 30 frames per second in dynamic resolution close to 4K, and the latter aimed at 60 fps with significant compromises on visual distance, shadow quality, and vegetation density. On PS5 Pro, an advanced visual mode comes into play that utilizes PSSR upscaling, ensuring a cleaner look and greater definition in spatial and urban contexts. However, even in the best configuration, Starfield never manages to shake off a certain rigidity typical of the Creation Engine 2, with fluctuating facial animations, discontinuous global illumination, and a management of interiors and exteriors that remains less impressive compared to more modern open-world productions.

Fluidity represents one of the most critical aspects, especially when compared to the PC version. On well-configured computers, Starfield can now offer high framerates and greater control over every graphic parameter, while on consoles the experience is tied to presets that do not always manage to mask drops in denser areas, such as New Atlantis or Akila City. On PS5 Pro, the situation only partially improves: the framerate can increase, but it tends to fluctuate irregularly, making stutters and micro-stutters perceptible, breaking the continuity of exploration. Compared to Xbox Series X, the PlayStation version appears less stable at present, a paradox considering the optimization matured over time on the Microsoft platform.

In direct comparison with PC, limitations related to mod and Creations management also emerge. Support on PS5 is present but more restrictive, with a smaller selection and stricter constraints compared to the freedom offered on Steam and the Microsoft Store. This affects longevity and the possibility of customizing the experience, especially for those players who on PC have transformed Starfield into something profoundly different over the months.

On the content front, however, the PS5 version is extremely rich. Shattered Space adds a more focused and darker campaign, set on Va’ruun’kai, with a more guided structure and a more pronounced artistic direction compared to the base game, while Terran Armada expands the experience with a galactic-scale narrative arc, new repeatable incursions, unprecedented technologies, and an additional companion. All of this is accompanied by the Free Lanes update, which heavily intervenes on gameplay by introducing free travel within star systems, new space events, additional terrestrial vehicles, and substantial improvements to New Game+. From the point of view of the offering, Starfield on PS5 is truly the most content-dense version ever released.

"Houston, We Have a Problem"

However, the current problems deserve a separate discussion. At the time of launch on PlayStation 5 and PS5 Pro, Starfield suffers from frequent crashes, sudden freezes and, in the worst cases, complete system blocks that force a console restart, with reports of corrupted saves and accentuated instability especially in longer sessions and during planetary exploration phases. Technical analyses have highlighted problems related to PSSR upscaling on PS5 Pro and an unpredictable management of system resources, so much so that some users have requested refunds on the PlayStation Store. Bethesda has publicly acknowledged the situation and promised hotfixes in the short term (perhaps in the same week you read these lines), but at present the experience remains irregular, making Starfield on PS5 a fascinating, rich and ambitious product, but still far from being truly refined and reliable as one would expect from a title of this magnitude.

Ultimately, it is a product to buy and in its most complete form. The quantity of content, hours of gameplay, stories and worlds, as well as things to do... problems aside, all surmountable, let yourself be involved!