Flying around in space is cool, but the game goes out of its way to make sure that you know that “space” is not a vast openness but little boxes in front of the planet sprite.

I'm one of the few people for which this is a "strength" of the game. I have severe thalassophobia and games like No Mans Sky where I'm allowed to free-roam in space actually make me feel super anxious and nauseous. I get the same feeling when swimming in large bodies of water, or in big underwater levels in video games.

So like, a real space sim like NMS is so hard for me to face without feeling ill, but somehow, these fake little boxes in Starfield make it so I don't feel that way enough that I can actually play it. I still get twinges of anxiety, but it's nowhere near as bad.