// PC GAMER — GAMING
Starfinder: Afterlight, a CRPG based on one of my favourite systems that pulled in almost $1 million on Kickstarter, is starting to look ship-shape
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I've been keeping a close eye on Starfinder: Afterlight for a few reasons—firstly, I'm a Pathfinder 2e sicko, and Starfinder 2e works on a ton of the same rules. Secondly, because I love a good CRPG, and thirdly, because this game has a surprising amount of financial and voice acting heft behind it.
After getting a surprising €828,164 (around $960,000) funded out of a humble €75,000 ask on Kickstarter, the game managed to snag Red Dead Redemption's Arthur Morgan for its narration. It also just so happens to be getting voice direction from Neil Newbon, who you might know as Astarion from Baldur's Gate 3—and the man's voicing an interstellar priest bug, which is as charming as it sounds.
Alongside some promising key art, I was curious to see if Epicteller Game's debut game could put another solid CRPG on the market—and after going through the playtest, I was rendered… cautiously optimistic. What I played was very rough around the edges, missing features, customisation, and so on.
I shan't say its official demo, which is now out on Steam, has quelled my apprehension completely. It has, however, left me feeling like Epictellers can pull this thing together with enough polish, given the marked improvement from the playtest I enjoyed in March.
First up, the bad: It still runs terribly, and doesn't have any graphical settings at all yet, animations for combat are a touch clunky, and you can't make a custom character—which is a huge draw of any CRPG, though you can pick from three custom premades.
It's also a fairly linear demo, and while I'd be a fool to expect the breadth of something like Baldur's Gate 3, it'd still be nice to have a little more space to roam, meaningful NPCs to talk to, and a side quest or two. As it stands, the demo's just a series of hallways connected by story, with a few choices to make.
But in comparison to what I played in March? It's clear that the polishing is being done. The demo opens with a gorgeously-animated intro that sets the space-swashbuckling tone well, as your ship is assailed by the dreaded Corpse Fleet. Your captain, Khali, heroically tackles their leader off a ledge and leaves you to defend a set of escape pods carrying your crewmates.
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You crash-land on the backwater of Akiton, and mysteriously, five years have passed—not a terrible setup for an RPG by any means, and much improved by the fact you immediately meet Newbon's effusive and peppy bug priest with a baby strapped to his chest. Don't worry, it's traditional for Shirren, the little guy's fine.