Starfield, like all Bethesda games, is a complex web of factions, lore, characters, and mysteries that intertwine and get all tangled up in the best possible ways. A lot ofStarfield’sbest moments come from when it explores its deep and rich lore, such as its fanatical faction, the House Va’ruun, who worship a giant space snake. There’s a lot of depth here, explained in-game via certain key characters, including the ever-lovable Andreja.
While the reveal ofAndreja’s connection to House Va’ruunwas handled poorly inStarfield, it still added considerable depth to her character. Importantly, if the player romances her, she’ll often lament that they won’t be taken by the Great Serpent when it eventually awakes and reclaims all of creation. It’s a tough pill to swallow for most Andreja fans, as they want nothing more than for her to be happy, butfor those who took the Serpent’s Embrace trait at the start of the game, it’s a head-scratching moment.
Andreja’s Reaction Doesn’t Make Sense With Serpent’s Embrace Trait
She Thinks The Player Will Get Left Behind In Starfield
One of thestarting traits players can pick inStarfieldis called Serpent’s Embrace, and it is largely mediocre. It’s one of a handful of religious traits that’s supposed to help flesh out a character’s backstory and allow fans to roleplay a little. The actual effect of the trait is that whenever players Grav jump, they’ll get a temporary boost to their health and oxygen, but if they don’t jump regularly, their health and oxygen will drop.
However, the important part of this trait, and the aspect that clashes so fundamentally with Andreja’s character, is that it states the player “grew up worshiping the Great Serpent.” This would imply that, at some point, the player believed that not only is the Great Serpent real and not a delusion of the religion’s founder but that they, too, would be saved. For fans who wish to roleplay that they are a part of House Va’ruun, or just that they believe in the Great Serpent,this is a great option, so long as they don’t romance Andreja.
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The issue arises when Andreja tells the player she’s worried that they won’t be taken to safety by the Great Serpentwhen it finally awakens. This directly contradicts the trait that clearly mentions how the player grew up believing in the Great Serpent.It robs the player of any feeling that they are a believer, thus breaking the immersion the game tries so hard to maintain, and also prevents them from fully committing to Andreja’s romantic plot, a shame considering that whileStarfieldhas some awful romance options, Andreja is, at least in some player’s eyes, the best.
The Serpent’s Embrace Trait Ruins Romancing Andreja In Starfield
It’s Hard To Look Past This Immersion-Breaking Issue
Of course, there are plenty ofthings that don’t make sense inStarfield, but the inconsistency with the Serpent’s Embrace trait feels less like a lore anomaly and more like a general oversight. What should happen is that Andreja is happy that both she and the player will be taken together, and she doesn’t need to worry that the person she loves will be left behind.
Fans who want to romance Andreja should feel rewarded for picking this optionin the same way that they should feel isolated from anti-House Va’ruun characters.
This also potentially speaks to the validity of traits inStarfieldand how worthwhile they truly are, especially when it comes to impactful and meaningful consequences on the game world and its inhabitants. While some traits feel worthwhile and can give the player a fun distraction or alter how they approach certain features such as companions, they feel largely inconsequential a lot of the time. Serpent’s Embrace is a good example of this, as when it should matter most with Andreja, it doesn’t make a difference.
As the trait doesn’t specifically state that the player currently worships the Great Serpent, it could be argued that at some point, they stopped, hence Andreja’s worries. However, it still remains a glaring issue for fans who want to roleplay that they still believe in the Great Serpent and thus pick this trait, as it is one of the few ways to reflect that.
It’s altogether possible that this will be one of the manyissuesStarfield’s Shattered Spacecan fix, although it seems unlikely and really should be addressed in a free patch. Unfortunately, this inconsistency remains a genuine shame, as Bethesda has proven time and time again to be diligent in making player’s choices an inherent and fundamental part of its games.
Naturally,Starfieldfans can attempt to ignore this problem, especially as it’s just one of many pieces of dialogue Andreja has, but at the end of the day, for many, it will be hard to overlook.
