Honestly I don't think the engine is the big problem here. There are some issues that are engine related but from a technical perspective the engine is not why Starfield failed. Making the most boring perk choices is not an engine problem. Putting the quests on rails with the illusion of choice is not an engine problem. Replacing the entire space travel aspect with menus wasn't an engine problem because the star systems were to scale. The core issue is the game design. It's simply that the game is plain boring. The perks are boring. The starpowers are boring. The way to get starpowers is boring. The quests are boring. The enemies are boring. Every other weapon besides kinetic weapons is boring. How do you decide to make space game without actual space travel still boggles my mind.

I think if Bethesda had taken the time to get the design aspect of the game in a good place people would've given them a pass on the loading screens or needing to jump ship to get to the next cell on the planet or even the poor performance. When the best part of your game is the ship builder, that offers minimal gameplay experience, you've fucked up the design. I don't know if it's Todd calling the bad shots or the lack of new blood, but Bethesda is in need of a shakeup.