I wrapped up Shattered Space a little while ago. To me it follows the same trend as the base game in that if you just straight line the main quest, it's too quick and not worth it. Similarly, there are parts in the quest line that are bland and inconsequential such as
when you get to Dazra and have to go through the cave to join House Varuun. The only consequence is kneeling in the corrosive pool for like 10 seconds. That's just pointless. But then you have side quests such as
Ueda, his granddaughter, and the music box. Like I said I had to run that one back because it felt like I was making a big mistake otherwise. Or even giving legitimate consideration to
taking both of the Vortex things from the dam. You only need one, but you don't know that in the moment (maybe they should have made that a catch 22). I didn't want to screw the farmers . But I did feel like putting those people down for good.
Outside of the quests I enjoyed walking around Dazra and its surrounding areas. Even though not every POI is impactful, the density is what helps keep you lost on Varuun Kai for the duration of the DLC. I only left once to offload some excess stuff, then immediately got lost in Dazra again. They did good and this is what the should have done for the major settlements you visit in the base game, people would have complained slightly less (since MS owns Bethesda now, they won't be able to make people happy anymore). If only they would have added in a way to
rebuild Dazra after you finish the main quest.
The added weapons are cool but underwhelming compared to the ones we already have. Other than the Varuun variant of the Equinox, which makes a good EM weapon when converted, I never felt the compelled to change from my Varuun rifle. The space suit variety is virtually non-existent. Most of the outfits are recolors of existing ones. All of these ares are pretty disappointing.
Overall I like the further elaboration on Starfield lore. It's a new IP with infinite universes so they can do literally anything. I'm looking forward to more. As a total package it's ok. It doesn't seek to revolutionize the gameplay, so if you're deluding yourself into thinking it will, if won't. It gives you a taste of more Starfield. If that's what you want then this DLC is for you. If you wanted something different out of Starfield, go play a different game. Catch it on sale to get it at proper value.