

Exactly, Starfield is like everything I didn’t like about Fallout 4, with almost everything I did like removed.
And I did like some stuff in Fallout 4 (despite me being a New Vegas fanboy), but I always felt that I would have liked it more if it fully broke away from Fallout and established its own lore, so I could stop comparing it to the previous games in the series. Starfield felt like the perfect opportunity for that.
Honestly I played through Starfield at launch once and have no plans to ever come back, so I don’t remember the Federation quest line. I might not have even done it, none of the factions really appealed to me, but I’ll take your word for it.
A game I like, and I’m not sure this fits 100%, but Voices of the Void.
Keeping things as spoiler-lite as possible, you’re a lone radioastronomer at a deep-space listening outpost in Switzerland. It’s a horror game, so there are “things” out there, but whether or not you get involved is kind of up to you.
Thing do happen, but not to you. You are just a witness to events far beyond your comprehension.