The patch had added fear. Real fear. Enemies now surrender, flee, or beg. And when you kill someone, their squadmate doesn’t yell “Must’ve been the wind.” They scream a name .
Not a texture. A window. With rain on it. Starfield Update v1.12.30
I looted a helmet fragment. It had a reflection. A face I didn’t recognize. The patch had added fear
That was the first sign.