Summary
Starfield: Shattered Spacestarts with our Starborn adventurer answering a distress call from The Oracle, which eventually leads them to the secluded planet of Va’ruun’kai.
Cut off from the rest of the Settled Systems after several failed attempts at peace, you’d expect House Va’ruun to be a little wary of outsiders, but you’re quickly welcomed into their ranks as another in a long line of Chosen Ones.
“Within moments of arriving in Dazra, you, a complete stranger, are hailed as the coming saviour of Va’ruun society, being granted special privileges, and an audience with what is, effectively, their government,” writes one Reddit user, complaining about the cliché to over 1,000 upvotes. “It profoundly limits roleplaying possibilities, eats away at believability, [and] patronises the player, presenting the world as a theme park rather than a lived in place”.
Dragonborns, Dragonborns Everywhere
The Chosen One has been a common trope among Bethesda games for decades now. Way back in 2002,Morrowindput us into the shoes of the reincarnated Nerevar, while in 2011,Skyrimmade you the Dragonborn, the only one capable of truly slaying Alduin.
Not long after,Fallout 4opened by giving you a suit of power armour, positioning you as the only one who can revive the Minutemen, whileThe Elder Scrolls Onlinesaw you escape prison as a nobody to immediately be welcomed into the Five Companions in their fight against an entire pantheon of Daedric Princes.
Regardless of where you land on the trope (I’d argue it fits TES given the prophecies of its titular scrolls), it’s incredibly prevelant. In Shattered Space’s case, you are the only one who can hear the phantom of Anasako — a lot like the Listener in Skyrim’s Dark Brotherhood quest — which is why House Va’ruun is so quick to accept you.
It’s worth noting that people will be hesitant to sell goods to you when you first arrive at Dazra, so there is some hostility until you earn their trust and rise up the ranks.
When Shattered Space launched earlier this week,it immediately dropped to “Mixed” reviews on Steam, and many of the comments likewise complained about the trope. A big criticism among many reviews was that it makes it much harder to roleplay. In an RPG game, that’s not exactly ideal.
But it’s not a trope limited to Bethesda —a lot of games position the player as the Chosen One. SeveralFinal Fantasygames,The Legend of Zelda,Doom, and the firstBaldur’s Gateall fit the bill, with the player often fulfilling a prophecy. Hell, whenThe Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivionwas the new kid on the block, TES fans were actually upset that Martin Septim took on the mantle of Chosen One and not the player, as they wanted to be the most important person in the game’s world. It’s interesting how the perspective has flipped all these years later.
Starfield: Shattered Space
Shattered Space is the first DLC for Bethedsa’s space RPG Starfield. It expands the core story, adding a horror-like twist as players head to the homeworld of House Va’ruun.
