You may have seen that Alice Bee has started a "land on every planet" run of Bethesda's Starfield. By total coincidence - I promise you it's accidental, I was so pleased - I've been working on a "land on no planets" run of Starfield. The reasoning for this is as follows: people say that outer space is the worst part of the game, because it's just an irritating interval between the maps where the majority of quests, loot, intrigues, etc are found. It's a fast travel loading screen you can fly about in. But what if you double-down on the space stuff?
What if you never descend from orbit, not even to repair, modify or upgrade your ship and offload inventory? What if, rather than buying new ships or building them, you progress exclusively by boarding other captains and making off with ship and cargo? How well does Starfield scrub up as a thoroughbred space sim that leans towards bloodthirsty piracy? Here to answer these questions is Mary Read, my custom character and budding astral freebooter. She's named for her distant ancestor, the legendary 18th century English buccaneer Mary Read. She's had a crack at life on shore, setting foot most recently on Earth's Moon, but from this point on, her fate and fortune lies amid the stars. Arrr!