Should You Choose File Not Found Background in Starfield? (2024)

Starfield, the grand space epic developed by Bethesda, has set a new standard for space games, but some of the game's earlier elements can be a bit confounding, especially because it's unclear how they may affect the future of the campaign. One of these core decisions comes right at the start of the game in the character creator. While many may spend a lot of time tweaking the look of their character, others will be more concerned with the various traits and backgrounds available.

Quickly, through the campaign, it'll become apparent that the starting traits are important, as they provide specific bonuses that are listed in their description. However—backgrounds are less straightforward, as it isn't exactly clear what choosing one over the other will result in, leading many to wonder which one they should select. Perhaps of all the backgrounds available, the most mysterious background in Starfield is File Not Found.

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File Not Found Background Changes Dialogue And Determines Skills

Selecting the File Not Found background option in the Starfield character creator will result in minor dialogue changes throughout the campaign and determine the custom character's starting skills. However, it won't have any major narrative implications for the campaign. In fact, in many ways, selecting the File Not Found background in Starfield is seemingly like starting with a clean slate. While other backgrounds like Cyber Runner or Diplomat may provide additional dialogue options in the campaign, the File Not Found background doesn't seem to have much overall impact on most scenarios.

File Not Found Does Not Equate To Memory Loss

According to the game's description, choosing the File Not Found background means there is no information about the created character's past life. However, the direct reason for this is kept a secret. Options range from a simple clerical oversight to deletion from a powerful organization. Starfield, however, makes it a point to mention that "Whatever the reason, your past is known only to you," which means the character is not a person suffering from memory loss, but indeed has a past that they are aware of.

Perhaps the biggest impact of the File Not Found background in Starfield is the character's staring skills. Selecting File Not Found will provide the skills Wellness, Ballistics, and Piloting. Wellness increases maximum health by 10%, Ballistics increases pistol damage by 10%, and piloting enables the character to utilize ship thrusters.

As characters will gain a skill point every time they reach enough XP to level, choosing the File Not Found option is a bit less appealing than others. Mainly because the character will likely quickly level up, enabling skill point allocation to any tree. While certain skills might make an impact on the first one or two missions, starting skills become less important very early on in the game.

File Not Found And Some Trait Combinations Don't Make Sense

One thing that makes the File Not Found background make less sense is when it's coupled with the Kid's Stuff trait. The reason it makes little sense is because, in Starfield, the character can meet their parents, where there is clearly a history and dialogue trees that can be engaged in that gives more background information on the character. In addition, there is never a mention of the character's files being wiped or any mystery behind their background, as the parents go into detail about the character's job in the mines in Vectera.

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Other traits also make little sense, though just from a narrative perspective, including the Hero Worshipped trait, as the character's notoriety would make no sense coupled with the File Not Found background, as well as a few others in the game that point to a known background for the character. Indeed, though it is just one small detail, it's one that Bethesda didn't seem to design to intentionally interact with other aspects of the player-created character, like traits.

The fact that the File Not Found background does not matter as much in the world of Starfield may be a letdown for those who wished to select the trait to be a more mysterious figure or who enjoy roleplaying as a protagonist with memory loss.

Save File Not Found For The Second Playthrough

Ultimately, it may not be worth it to select the File Not Found background option in the first playthrough. For one, it'll be hard to determine the dialogue differences from picking a different background if it's the first time playing. In addition, the main differences in picking the background and the skills may not be the best for the most fulfilling playthrough. While File Not Found is a good background for those who plan to engage in frequent combat, these skills can easily be acquired through playing through the first few hours of the game's campaign.

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As there is no limit to the skills that one can get, it makes the background feel somewhat inconsequential. Other backgrounds, however, that might give the character unique expertise in a specific field, like Persuasion, may be more useful during the early game. That being said, the starting skills of Wellness, Ballistics, and Piloting aren't actually all that terrible, so from a purely combat and gameplay perspective, it is certainly a viable option.

Out of the innumerable things that can be done in Starfield's expansive universe, knowing how everything interacts can be nearly impossible initially. As Starfield is one of the largest open-world games in existence and Bethesda's largest game ever, there's no shortage of things to investigate and discover.

Unfortunately, however, the File Not Found background in Starfield is not an element of the game with a deep mystery or huge narrative repercussions as one might think from the elusive name. Rather, it's more realistically just a mechanism to assign a different set of skills and open up a few alternative dialogue options throughout the game. While the extent of the impact on dialogue for the File Not Found background is still unclear, as there may be small differences between playthroughs, there probably isn't much of a difference overall.