Summary
The huge open-world galaxy inStarfieldhas a lot of hidden content, including interesting NPCs and random encounters some may never encounter, even with hundreds or thousands of hours in the game.Interesting POIsand unique,vibrantStarfieldplanetscan sometimes be hard to come by, and the randomly generative nature of the game can mean some may never actually encounter some of the coolest things the title has to offer.
Onerare NPC may be a peek into what is possibleor planned for the future of the game. Although details on the actual content contained withinStarfield Shattered Spaceare still slim, examining underlying mechanics for lesser-talked-about characters can provide clues to what’s possible in Creation Engine 2 and things that theStarfielddevelopers have already tinkered with. InStarfield, there’sone missing feature that’s become synonymous with Bethesda’s other popular science-fiction IP.
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Paisley Hopkins Is A Rare Starfield NPC With An Alien Pet
Provides A Glimpse Into A Theoretical Shattered Space Pets DLC
Paisley Hopkins is a randomly-occurring NPCinStarfieldthat some, including usertgunitedon Reddit have randomly found walking around on a planet withher trusty iguana-looking alien pet named Grumble. Captain of a ship called Discovery, Hopkins is a traveling merchant looking to sell her wares across different planets of the Settled Systems. Unlike the overly aggressive Ashta that plague the people of Akila City, Grumble seems cool and docile — the perfectStarfieldspace pet.
Notably,one of the worst crimes committed inStarfieldlorewas thekilling of all dogs and cats. While it is not completely confirmed that all species of pets have been killed off, there is certainly a lack of traditional pets in the game, and it’s impossible to tame certain aliens to raise or breed them in an Outpost, which feels like a severely missed opportunity. That said,the existence of Paisley Hopkins and Grumble proves it’s possible to have an alien pet in the gameand could serve as the foundation for a player-focused pet mechanic in the future.
Grumble’s official name is Groeneveld Hubble Von Houten III.
A Clear Exclusion From Starfield
One of the most memorable companions in Bethesda’s other flagship IP,Fallout, is the indomitable Dogmeat. Part of nearly every game in theFalloutfranchise going back to 1997, Dogmeat was further fleshed out in the recentFalloutseries on Prime Video. Originally named CX404,Dogmeat is a biologically adapted German Shepardthat has been enhanced since birth, giving it unique super-dog powers, which serves as a great explanation for its power in the franchise of games.
This all said,Todd Howard has already confirmed that theStarfieldandFalloutuniverses are not connected, so the extermination of all known pets when civilization decides to leave Earth is an unfortunate intentional narrative beat on the creator’s part. Although Paisley does mention that Grumble stumbles into things on the ship and hits buttons uncontrollably, it would still be nice to have a companion while traveling through space.
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What Happened To Dogs In Starfield?
An Inhumane End To An Astronaut’s Best Friend
Though the existence of pets inStarfieldis still somewhat debated online, there is evidence thatat least one species of dog is officially extinct, according toStarfieldlore. The always friendly and loveable Labrador Retriever apparently no longer exists for certain, as uncovered byCanYouPetTheDogon X. An item calledChocolate Labs explains that the candy is “shaped like an extinct canine called a Labrador Retriever.”
Accompanying the image isStarfieldconcept art of a cat walking alongside aStarfieldastronaut, implying that at least at some point, cats were considered as inclusions on space stations or spaceships. Sadly for cat lovers,this never actually materialized, as the closest thing to a pet inStarfieldis the Adoring Fan companion.
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Paisley Hopkins Is Hopefully Just The Start Of Starfield Pets
There Are Many Mechanics That Could Be Explored
If Bethesda really wants to take a risk, the company should look toward the popularity of the recent indie hit,Palworld, for inspiration. People enjoy engaging with pets, and Paisley Hopkins, being the only person in the entire Settled Systems with one,verges on an immersion-breaking narrative. While other scenes insinuate that certain aliens could be used at least in a farming capacity, as with theAceles aliens during the Terrormorph storyline, it’s hard to believe that no one else in the entire galaxy would want to also have an alien pet.
If Bethesda really wanted to experiment, they’d go thePalworldroute and actually enable people to tame, breed, and raise different aliens. Going even further, it would be amazing if these pets could provide some sort of unique buff or benefit, providing a gameplay reason to experiment with the mechanic outside of the cool factor. Ultimately, it’ll be up to the game developers on whether pets will be part ofStarfieldgameplay, as well as the increased occurrence of unique characters like Paisley Hopkins.
