When charged with creating a game adaptation of Paizo's iconic TTRPG setting, Starfinder: Afterlight developer Epictellers Entertainment knew that the characters had to come first. The heart of a good tabletop gaming session is its players and the characters they create. When tabletop games are adapted to video game format, recruitable companions fill the role of one's fellow players. Inspired by titles such as Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous and Baldur's Gate 3, the team behind Starfinder: Afterlightworked to create a memorable cast of characters for players to adventure with.
Leading up to the launch of Starfinder: Afterlight's highly successful Kickstarter, the team showed off reveal trailers for several of the game's companions. Four companions were revealed in this manner: Kole Stryker, Tycho, Lu-323, and Sterling. In addition, the daring spacefarer Captain Khali (Carolina Ravassa) was shown off to celebrate the Kickstarter's debut. Epictellers Entertainment co-founder Ricard Pillosu spoke to Game Rant about the process of creating each companion, the inspiration behind them, and the themes focused on in their story.
Kole And Lu Were Inspired By Film And Manga
Pillosu revealed that Kole (Fred Tatasciore) and Lu (Melissa Medina) were some of the earliest characters created for the game. Kole was developed by writer Isabel Perez, who was inspired to give him an aspiring action star personality after watching the film American Ninja. Perez approached him, saying, "This is so cheesy. I love it. We need to put it into Starfinder." The result was Kole, a Vesk soldier with dreams of being a 1980s action star. Fans have already compared the character to Guardians of the Galaxy, which, Pillosu admits, wasn't what the team was initially going for, but they were thrilled to hear.
Epictellers Entertainment's other writer, Felix Rios, was inspired to create the android Lu-323 by the manga Battle Angel Alita. Lu is a character, Pillosu explained, whose story centers around the theme of free willingness — she constantly questions how much of her personality and actions are truly herself, and how much is her programming.
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This article originally appeared on GameRant and is republished here with permission.
