Starfield's Shattered Space DLC might fix the biggest issue with the base game's combat. Due for release on September 30, 2024, Shattered Space will be the first DLC for Starfield. It's expected to address many of the game's biggest flaws, including the lack of handcrafted environments and the unsolved mysteries of House Va'ruun. However, these could all be minor tweaks in comparison to Starfield's biggest combat change.
According to Bethesda Softworks' recently released Shattered Space Deep Dive, melee combat could be getting a total revamp in the upcoming Starfield DLC. The Deep Dive consists of a ten-minute YouTube video in which lead creative producer Tim Lamb and other devs narrate footage of the DLC, explaining some of the new creatures, game mechanics, and story elements to be introduced in Shattered Space. It's easily missed, but during a portion of the video focused on combat, the phrase, "In the base game, there was a lot of focus around ranged gun combat...In Shattered Space, we're closing that distance."
This phrase is accompanied by footage of a character lunging forward with a sword in hand - but the video quickly cuts to a segment regarding Shattered Space's horror elements before anyone can...