Todd Howard explains Starfield's opening mission

Bethesda boss Todd Howard visited Gamescom to explains Starfield's opening mission, giving increasingly impatient and hopeful fans a taste of what you do before you even make your character. 

"You start out as a miner and you touch this artifact that affects you in some way, and you see a bit into space-time," Howard begins. "Then you get to create your own character. Our games are about creating and being whoever you want. And then you're off on an adventure." 

"You're joining Constellation, which is the last kind of group of space explorers, like NASA meets Indiana Jones searching for these artifacts. The story goes a lot of places, the game has a lot of surprises that we haven't talked about. I don't want to spoil them here. Really, really happy with how the story turned out and where it goes." 

"Can't wait for you to play the game," Howard concluded.

It's a short summary, and Starfield's brief presentation only carved out a small spot in our Gamescom Opening Night Live blog altogether, but it's a handy and tantalizing primer on the RPG's first hour. It's interesting to hear that you don't actually customize your character until after your introduction to the world and this space-time anomaly. I'm reminded of the mid-execution character creator of Skyrim, but it sounds like Starfield will do a lot more than cart you into a village in its intro. 

With launch fast approaching, Starfield details are still trickling in. Earlier today, Bethesda's publishing head Pete Hines confirmed that you can indeed explore an entire planet after landing on it. 

Weeks ahead of its official launch, Starfield is already being sold in stores, so be wary of spoilers online.