Bethesda’s “Starfield Direct” shows off a massive, galactic-scale space RPG

It's been about a year now since we got our first glimpse at Starfield's "No Man's Skyrim" gameplay. Today, ahead of the game's planned Sept. 6 launch, Bethesda's 45-minute Starfield Direct presentation offered a deep dive into the game's galactic scale and many of the systems that will power exploration on and between "over 1,000 planets."

The presentation began with game director Todd Howard talking up Bethesda's first completely new universe in 25 years. Howard said Bethesda wanted to keep the company's trademark "feeling of being who you want to be and exploring a new world," but take it into space.

Art Director Istvan Pely was on hand to talk about how the game's "NASA punk" aesthetic, which he said was intended to evoke "the romance of the golden age of early space flight." That means a sort of retro-analog touch to the ships where everything feels used, worn, and "lived in."