Starfield is Bethesda's first new IP in over two decades. It's been a long wait for the game, and it's not without its flaws, as we've outlined in our Starfield review. From a rather "tame and sterile" outlook on humanity's spacefaring future to inventory management that's "as cumbersome as ever," there are certainly facets that can be improved. That's where Starfield mods could come in.

Although it's not launching with it, official Starfield mod support is on the way and will be available at some point after launch. Modders aren't waiting for that--we've already seen DLSS added, among other things--and the history of Bethesda games like Oblivion, Skyrim, and Fallout 4 suggests an abundance of mods will eventually be released. Naturally, I also hope to see achievement unlockers, which allow players to earn achievements even with the use of mods and console commands.

Mods have the opportunity to not just add interesting new content, but also improve on those aforementioned flaws. Below, we've outlined a number of ways in which mods could eventually improve Starfield.

Please note that this article does contain spoilers.

Literally just an area map

At the top of my list of mods that could make Starfield a better game is an area map. No, I'm not talking about something akin to A Quality World Map and Soltsheim Map for Skyrim or the Satellite World Map for Fallout 4. Those mods are amazing due to their designs and visual flair, but what I'm talking about is a simple area map that shows your current surroundings, as well as buildings and shops.

Currently, Starfield's planet/region map only shows the name of a city, its districts, nearby outposts, and your ship--the existing fast travel points. Sadly, it doesn't tell you where establishments and houses are located and doesn't contain the basic functions of a map like showing the pathways or terrain. You need to run around, retrace your steps, and commit those locations to memory. So, if ever you hear of someone who claims that they spent hours exploring New Atlantis, it might be because they couldn't find the Enhance shop due to a lack of informative tooltips on the map.

More unique companions

You can recruit several companions and crew members in Starfield. Unfortunately, only a select few are what I consider "full-fledged companions," in that they have affinity systems and romance quests. The rest are an assortment of paid recruits and generic NPCs.

Given the above, there is ample opportunity for mods to add unique companions. Skyrim and Fallout 4 already had brilliant characters, such as Inigo, Sofia, Ambriel, Recorder, Heather Casdin, and Ellen the Cartographer. I can't wait to see what creators come up with for Starfield's sci-fi setting.

Animals and alien creatures as companions

Come to think of it, the game could really use animal companions, too. As of the time of this writing, we've yet to actually find a loyal companion akin to Fallout 4's Dogmeat. In fact, we've hardly seen cats and dogs running around.

Meanwhile, alien beasts on planets are either passive or hostile and don't offer anything besides resources. At best, there's a unique power called Alien Reanimation, which can revive a dead beast, but this mechanic is nowhere close to Dogmeat's functionality. The revived creature just follows you around and attacks your foes, and it disappears once you fast travel.

Companion management mods

Since we're on the subject of companions, I'm looking forward to the Starfield version of follower mods, such as Amazing Follower Tweaks and Unlimited Companion Framework. These mods allow you to increase the number of active followers. Not only that, they also let you manage their loadouts, set actions/commands, and track wherever they might be, along with a multitude of useful features.

While you can assign crewmates to ships and outposts, Starfield only allows one active follower at any given time. That's quite a limitation, considering that there are hundreds of planets to explore and all you have is a single buddy to join your adventure. True, there's a workaround that allows certain NPCs to tag along, but it's not quite the mechanic we've seen from the aforementioned mods. As for active companions, you can only manually trade gear and equipment, and you don't have any control over their actions, such as combat aggression/defensiveness or follow distance.

Inventory overhauls

Inventory management has been a long-standing issue in Bethesda's games. From having to browse multiple menus to accidentally taking everything in a container and needing to return all of the items, the process can be a hassle. Starfield does offer a minor quality-of-life improvement, since you can directly sell goods from your ship's hold to vendors.

Be that as it may, if you somehow gave items to another companion, you still need to undergo a tedious process: talk to a companion and ask them to head out (which dismisses your previous companion), open their inventory, grab the items, dismiss them/re-recruit your previous companion, and then do another trade.

Improvement to the user interface and mechanics would surely be helpful. As it stands, your inventory becomes a mish-mash of random assortments even with different categories. For instance, digipicks used to unlock safes and doors are in the miscellaneous items tab (i.e. junk). Similarly, you have to browse your entire cargo hold just to find contraband and stolen items to sell--sorting by value is possible, but that would include expensive gear pieces, too. Likewise, it's not possible to mark items as junk, separate and distinct from more important items, so that they can be sold in bulk.

Religious and corporate factions

You can encounter several factions in Starfield. Unfortunately, you can only join a select few that have their own quest arcs. The rest have a limited presence: they simply have jobs and side quests available in mission boards.

The three religious sects--The Enlightened, Sanctum Universum, and House Va'ruun--have their own traits that you can choose during character creation, and these give you additional dialogue options, an extra chest, and even a boost when you jump around often with your ship. Regrettably, I haven't seen an expansive quest chain pertaining to them. At most, they played a minor role in one late-game mission, and that was it.

Starfield mods that could include narrative arcs for the religious factions, and even new corporate factions (i.e. more counterparts and rivals of Ryujin Industries), would bolster this idea: you live in a wider galaxy, and it's filled with disparate groups vying for control and influence.

Outfits, armors, and attires

Starfield is set in the far future, when humanity has conquered the stars, and yet everyone's fashion sense seems to have remained stuck in the 20th century. Outside of a few examples, like the Mantis Suit, Starborn Suit, and the Neon Dancer Outfit, most gear pieces are a mix of utility clothing, work attire, and bland spacesuits.

I'd like to see works similar to Elianora's Armor Compendium, DeserterX's Courser X-92 and Black Widow, Niero's Courser Strigidae, and Humannature66's Sirius12 Assault Suit. Starfield is a futuristic sci-fi game where your imagination can run wild, and clothing options should take advantage of that.

Immersive Patrols

One of Starfield's major flaws is that most planets feel empty. Outside of a select few metropolises, you're more likely to see a bunch of alien reptiles and bugs, as well as the occasional abandoned base that's controlled by Spacer or Ecliptic mercenaries.

The game is static, rather than dynamic: You land on a planet, go to a facility, kill everyone inside, and grab loot. The rest of the time, you walk around and scan samey-looking flora, fauna and landmarks, which gets tedious as time wears on.

Exploring planets could feature something like Scrabbulor's Immersive Patrols mod for Skyrim, but with Starfield's scale and scope in mind. Apart from mercenaries landing their ships in the distance and captured bases, it'd be far more interesting to see actual squads roaming a planet's surface, perhaps engaging in firefights with other factions.

Land vehicles

Come to think of it, the game definitely needs options for land vehicles. It's flabbergasting to think that the only way to explore planets 300 years into our future is by walking around. Even planets with a burgeoning human civilization and sprawling cities don't have a single vehicle, not even a golf cart. And, no, New Atlantis' tram doesn't count. I had to wonder if humans in the game traveled from one continental outpost to another by flying a ship and picking a different landing site, or if the only fuel available is for jetpacks and spacecraft.

Adding vehicle mods to Starfield allow you to drive around, switching between vehicle controls and your scanner as you survey new lands. Wouldn't that be neat? Similarly, given that this is an Xbox/PC exclusive, perhaps we'll see the Halo series' Warthog down the line. If a racing game like Forza Horizon 5 can have a Warthog, then surely that vehicle also belongs in an open-world sci-fi game like Starfield.

Horde Mode or Settlement Ambush Kit

The last Starfield mod I'd eventually like to see is a sort of horde mode. The game already allows you to build outposts, a system akin to Fallout 4's settlements. Unfortunately, there's hardly any action surrounding the outpost system.

I would like to see a Sim Settlements: Starfield Edition--the original mod creates numerous ways to build upon a settlement's foundation to see it grow over time. At the same time, I'd also prefer one similar to the Settlement Ambush Kit, which simply causes wave after wave of raiders to spawn. Add more defensive options, such as new turrets, robots, and traps, and you can lose hours just making a fortress in the middle of nowhere, swarmed non-stop by Spacers, Va'ruun, Crimson Fleet pirates, Terrormorphs, giant bugs, rampaging dinosaurs, and so on.