When Starfield launched in 2023, it was hailed as one of the most ambitious RPGs in the modern era, but its very ambition was also the reason why the game failed to deliver an enjoyable playing experience for everyone. Bethesda created an amazing science-fiction sandbox where players could explore an immense number of planets, spend time in unique ships, and make different decisions leading the game down various story paths. However, a game this sprawling had some issues finding an audience.
Now, in 2026, PlayStation users are finally able to join the intergalactic adventure and see for themselves what all the hype was about.
Starfield will be available on the PlayStation 5 platform on April 7th, 2026, with the Free Lanes update and the Terran Armada story expansion, vastly improving upon the original 2023 release.
So, after years of waiting, dozens of complaints about the game’s sluggish pace from the press, and an immense amount of content added to the game, is Starfield worth playing on the PlayStation 5?
The short answer is yes — but it depends heavily on what you want from a space RPG.
What Is Starfield?
Starfield is Bethesda Game Studios’ first ever truly new universe in over a quarter of a century. It is, in short, not another iteration of The Elder Scrolls , the medieval-fantasy series that defined much of Bethesda’s early work, nor another post-apocalyptic survival horror series like Fallout . Instead, Starfield is set in sci-fi-meets-western-meets-quest-for-ancient-artifacts environment called the Settled Systems .
But you are not here to listen to a synopsis. You are here to create your own character and insert yourself into the crew of intrepid explorers known as the Constellation , who have uncovered cryptic traces of ancient civilizations and humanity’s connection to them.
From there, the game is yours to control. And, despite what many “sandbox” games promise, Starfield ’s freedom really is astounding. You can pursue the main story and the mystery of the First Ones, join one of the various factions that want to kill or recruit you, go bounty hunting, customize and upgrade your ship, upgrade and customize your base, modify guns and missiles, explore planets, do side quests, and even just randomly wander until something interesting occurs.
In short, Starfield is an impressive new chapter in the long history of Bethesda Game Studios, and an excellent follow-up to their previous works.
Starfield PS5 Review: Gameplay
Starfield review: A Bethesda RPG at its core
It’s very much an RPG from Bethesda. The first-person shooting is much improved on weapons from previous Bethesda games. It feels great, ballistic weapons have variety, enemies are different enough to keep it interesting.
You can specialize in using ballistic, lasers, explosives, and other weaponry and skills to compliment your playstyle. Then there is the space combat.
Dogfights aren’t as deep as those in a dedicated space simulator, but they provide some of the game’s most enjoyable action. Managing shields, weapons and ship systems while trying to outmaneuver an enemy vessel creates a nice change of pace from running around planets.
The real attraction, however, is everything surrounding the combat.
Much like Skyrim or Fallout 4, Starfield constantly gives you reasons to stop following the main objective. A random conversation can lead to a quest. A distress signal can become a dangerous encounter. A seemingly ordinary location can contain a story you weren’t expecting.
That feeling of “I’ll just do this one thing first” is classic Bethesda.
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Exploration: The Biggest Strength and Weakness
This is where many Starfield reviews tend to clash.
While the prospect of exploring over a thousand planets sounds amazing on paper, in practice, it means that most of them are forgettable places with randomly generated junk, resources, and story hooks.
Some are interesting, but you can spend hours in a spaceship drifting from one to the other, and not feel like you’ve seen anything worth talking about.
And that’s the fundamental difference between Starfield and Bethesda’s previous open-world games.
Because in Skyrim, for example, the road trip from one quest to the next can lead you to a cave with a unique monster lurking inside, an ancient castle with a ghostly lord, an unusual side quest, or even a complete mystery that has nothing to do with your main goal.
Starfield often feels more segmented because of its galaxy map, landing systems and loading transitions.
That doesn’t make exploration bad. It simply makes it different.
The best moments happen when you discover carefully designed locations, settlements and questlines. The weaker moments are the stretches where a beautiful planet feels like little more than a place to collect resources.
Even former Bethesda developers have recently questioned whether the game’s enormous scale came at the expense of more handcrafted exploration.
Story and Quests
The main storyline is surprisingly thoughtful.
Without spoiling the major twists, Starfield eventually moves beyond being a straightforward space adventure and starts asking larger questions about humanity, identity, exploration and what it means to discover something genuinely unknown.
However, the main story isn’t necessarily the best reason to play.
Some of the game’s faction questlines are arguably more interesting than the central campaign. The United Colonies, Freestar Collective, Ryujin Industries and Crimson Fleet provide different perspectives on the Settled Systems, and several of these questlines introduce memorable characters and situations.
The game also gives you plenty of freedom in how you approach certain missions.
You can negotiate, sneak, fight, persuade or occasionally find a completely unexpected solution. That flexibility is classic Bethesda design and remains one of the reasons Starfield can easily consume dozens of hours.
Graphics and Visuals on PS5
On PS5, Starfield is an attractive game, particularly when you’re standing on a planet and looking toward a massive alien landscape or futuristic city.
The game’s lighting, character models, environments and spacecraft have all benefited from years of updates and refinement. Major locations such as New Atlantis, Neon and Akila City can feel impressive when you’re seeing them for the first time.
The scale is also part of the visual appeal.
Seeing your customized ship sitting on an alien world before taking off into orbit is the kind of sci-fi fantasy that Starfield does exceptionally well.
It isn’t always the most technically impressive-looking PS5 game, though. Some character animations and facial expressions can still feel dated compared with newer AAA releases.
But visually, Starfield succeeds more through atmosphere and scale than technical perfection.
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PS5 Performance and Features
The PS5 version benefits from hardware-specific features designed to make Starfield feel more natural on Sony’s console.
The DualSense controller is particularly welcome. Adaptive triggers respond differently depending on your weapons and ship loadout, while the touchpad provides convenient access to maps, scanning and perspective changes.
The game is also PS5 Pro Enhanced, giving players with Sony’s upgraded console additional visual and performance benefits.
Bethesda has also continued patching the game after its PlayStation release. The June 2026 update, for example, addressed crashes, freezes, traversal problems, UI issues and several gameplay bugs across platforms.
That doesn’t mean every technical problem has disappeared. Bethesda’s enormous RPG remains a complicated game with plenty of systems interacting behind the scenes.
Still, the 2026 version is a much more mature product than the original release.
Starfield DLC in 2026
One of the biggest advantages of playing Starfield now is the amount of additional content available.
The Shattered Space expansion adds a darker, more focused story centered around House Va’Ruun and the mysterious Va’Ruun’kai. It feels more contained than the enormous base game, which can be refreshing if you prefer handcrafted storytelling.
Then there’s Terran Armada, which adds another story-driven adventure involving a faction of military deserters and their robotic army. It launched alongside the PS5 version and the Free Lanes update in April 2026.
The Free Lanes update also expanded the broader experience with improvements to exploration, customization and combat.
For someone discovering Starfield for the first time in 2026, this means you’re not playing the same version that Xbox and PC players experienced at launch.
Is Starfield Worth Playing in 2026?
This is where the answer becomes simple.
If you enjoy Bethesda RPGs, science fiction and games that let you create your own adventure, Starfield is absolutely worth trying on PS5.
It isn’t perfect.
The exploration can become repetitive. Loading screens interrupt the feeling of seamless space travel. Some planets feel empty, and the sheer size of the universe occasionally makes the game feel less personal than Skyrim.
But those weaknesses are balanced by an enormous amount of content.
There are ships to build, weapons to modify, skills to unlock, factions to join, planets to visit and stories to discover. You can spend 20 hours following the main plot or 100 hours doing almost anything except the main plot.
That’s the appeal.
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Starfield PS5: Pros and Cons
Pros
- Huge amount of content and freedom
- Excellent faction and side quests
- Fun space combat
- Deep character and weapon customization
- Ship building is highly addictive
- Strong sci-fi atmosphere
- DualSense PS5 support
- PS5 Pro Enhanced
- Substantial post-launch content
- Free updates have improved the experience
Cons
- Planetary exploration can become repetitive
- Frequent loading transitions
- Some locations feel empty
- Character animations can look dated
- The huge scale isn’t always matched by meaningful content
- The main story takes time to build momentum
Final Verdict: Should You Play Starfield on PS5?
After much anticipation, Starfield has come a long way.
Not only was it redeveloped from the ambitious RPG Bethesda released last year, but the PS5 version has had years of content, upgrades, and improvements to offer.
Nevertheless, the fact that Bethesda continues to develop the game is not without its faults
So, if you were hoping to find a game that would provide you with an easy-to-pilot space simulator or an open-world where every planet has been created to give you a unique, explorable experience, then Starfield might not be the game for you.
On the other hand, if you were hoping to find a true Bethesda RPG where you can create your ideal character, construct your dream starship, engage in multiple factions, amass millions of different collectibles, and get lost in the wonderful side content, then you might just find yourself recommending Starfield
to your friends
Finally, the PS5 version makes Starfield more available for a new crowd of players who either didn’t have access to the game on other systems or didn’t feel like purchasing another console.
All things considered, Starfield has earned an 8 out of 10.
While it may not have lived up to the hype of some players’ expectations before its release, Starfield has proven itself to be a much more compelling experience in 2026. For PS5 owners who like to get lost in an RPG and engage with an expansive universe, Starfield is well worth your time and effort.