Starfield apparently didn’t have some of the more ultraviolent features of older Bethesda titles like Fallout 4 because of technical complications.
Speaking on gaming podcast Kiwi Talkz, former character artist for Bethesda Dennis Mejillones spoke about Starfield, and why it didn’t have dismemberment in its combat.
For context, some of Bethesda’s titles are well known for how gory that can get. Even Skyrim had a fair bit of dismemberment in its combat, especially when the player scored a critical hit on enemies.
The Fallout games have also had plenty of gore and dismemberment. Mejillones talks about how dismemberment was difficult to pull off in Starfield because of how it would interact with the various space suits that players and other characters have to equip in the sci-fi RPG.
Things got especially complicated when the studio had to take the various pipes and tubes that a space suit typically has into account. “There was a lot of implications with the different suits from a technical perspective,” said Mejillones. “There’s a lot that has to go with it.