“So after a rough couple of months, I finally found an assistant. His name is Edwin. He runs this farm here on Azedo. Okay, he’s less of an assistant and more of a guy letting me use his spare barn and giving me some food and shelter. In exchange, I promised to help him with some of the machinery around here. He even said anything unfixable I can just have. He’s pretty nice, but he just seems so lonely out here. Told me he used to have a family and a friend, but the family passed away I think, and the friend left on some adventure.” – Wolfe’s Logs, Entry #256

In the story of The Chaser’s Voyage, Edwin Drage is your childhood friend who grew up besides you on your remote home planet, Azedo. A simple farmer who has never left his own little world, both figuratively and literally. Everything changed when you reappeared after surviving a deadly pirate attack and being stranded on a desert planet. He helps you recover and witnesses you getting your ultimatum to deliver one million units to Lady Styx in one hundred days. It’s because of Edwin that you meet Wolfe, who appoints you as the pilot and captain of her ship, the Chaser. When it comes time to take off on your voyage, Edwin is quickly appointed the Chaser’s shield system’s operator, despite the fact that he has never wanted to go to space, and reluctantly becomes your fourth and final crew member.

Edwin is best characterized by his constant worry and inexperience. He seems to be the only one on your crew concerned that any moment could be your last as you weave through dangerous asteroid fields and shake off pirate pursuers. This deep concern for everyone’s safety, particularly his own and yours, makes him the perfect person to operate your shield systems. He will always be the first to remind you that you can never put enough power into your shields to absorb the damage you take during the course of your journey. Edwin is also a fish-out-of-water who knows barely anything about the larger galaxy. For players starting up their first voyage, you too might have a lot of the same questions regarding the UGS, the Empire, the war, the ceasefire, the bounty hunter’s guild, the pirate lords, and other galactic topics. Luckily, your crew, through various conversations and your ever expanding crew journal, is more than happy to explain everything to him.

Despite his, sometimes, overwhelming anxiety, you’ll learn that Edwin is more than just a simple farmer who has no place amongst the stars. Edwin is very attentive to his job (often stressing out about whether or not he’s doing good enough), he displays an actual concern for the clients you pick up, he’s your crew’s best chef, and, at times, you might even see his worry slip away as he takes in the amazement of going off on a real adventure.

Edwin’s real defining trait though is his undying loyalty, which you’ll see grow and evolve as your voyage becomes more and more like the nightmareish experience Edwin always thought it was going to be.

Edwin’s design remained fairly consistent throughout most of our development. Character designer and concept artist, Nate Donahue, at first presented a design of a more lanky male character in a jumpsuit to be the “childhood friend who hates space travel” type character. Eventually, Azedo was fleshed out more to become a kind of small, farming planet and Edwin became a farmer. We didn’t want to change his design to be something more “farmer-esque” and so we decided that his farm was mostly automated by robots that he would be in charge of repairing and maintaining. In reality, the most change we made to Edwin was his jump suit color, which was originally tan. We decided it should be blue to match the color motifs for shields, making it easier to remember his role.

One element we were excited to keep was his purple eyes, which in the universe of The Chaser’s Voyage, has a special significance. We’re not going to say what that significance is yet, so you’ll have to keep following us to find out. When it came time to get the final art down, Zachary Noah (Link is NSFW and 18+ ONLY) thought it would be good to add something small, like a necklace.

Personality wise, Edwin was always meant to be the most inexperienced of the crew, with an absolute fear of anything space travel related. This led to a lot of good opportunities for him to play off the personalities of the others. Since your character doesn’t talk, Edwin was also perfect for serving as a point of view proxy, asking any questions the player might have about the universe they were now in. Edwin’s voice is provided by our lead programmer and other Bright at Midnight Game Designer, Cameron S. Chapman.

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“By 4-1521, Emperor Basal agreed to permit any world that wished to be free of Imperial control to peacefully secede. While Basal did this to prevent a civil war, it also gave way to a period of decline, where the Empire’s influence would rapidly shrivel. During this time, the sense of Imperial patriotism possessed by loyalists morphed from enthusiastic to zealous, with those not conforming often facing shunning or exile.” – Excerpt from “History of the Grand Xaltiam Empire, Chapter XXIII”

The next crew member we’re showcasing is arguably one of the most important: auxiliary systems operator, Nila Bhattacharya. Described to you at first as a former Imperial science officer by Wolfe, Nila’s responsibilities involve managing a plethora of sub-systems meant to keep the Chaser up and running. In the background, she acts as your crew’s navigator, plotting out each jump point as you go from planet to planet. To you, the captain, her more important roles will be managing your repair drones, life support, and communication systems. She takes her job very seriously and is always ready to support the crew.

Nila is a serious, by-the-books type of operator. While your other crew mates might be described as more instinctive and impulsive, Nila’s approach to obstacles is more procedural and analytical. She’s the type of person who will use the Chaser’s onboard instruments to scan a ship to determine if it’s a pirate or bounty hunter’s ship, rather than eyeball it like your other crew mates. This attitude sometimes causes Nila to miss the obvious, but you’ll find her just as reliable as the next person. She’s always letting you know when communications are possible to request repairs from nearby space ports and fleets or even when you need to call for aid in the middle of a large battle. You’ll also find that Nila is the most formal of your crew. She respects your rank of captain enough to solely refer to you as Captain. She’ll write reports on her analysis of the Chaser for you (even though it’s highly unnecessary), she’ll often provide you with information on how to handle a situation, and she’ll otherwise be the voice of reason amongst your ragtag crew.

Despite all that, Nila can be described as “odd” and as someone who never quite “fit in”. As you travel on your voyage and learn more about the galaxy, you’ll also learn about Nila’s past: serving the Xaltiam Empire as a sage (the Empire’s term for science and engineering related military positions), how she protested against the war by resigning and how that forced her to leave her home and venture out into Sector 99 where she would eventually end up on the Chaser. You’ll learn that despite her somewhat sterile attitude, she is someone who clearly cares about the ideals she thought the so-called “Empire of Peace” was built on and why, despite everything, she still considers herself a loyal Imperial citizen (even if she sometimes has to carry out missions against the Empire as part of her job.)

Nila was designed by our concept artist, Nate Donahue, and the final art was done by our character artist Zachary Noah. (Link is NSFW and 18+ ONLY). Personality wise, she was intended to be the Spock to your Kirk, and a foil to your other crew mates. With characters like Tai, who was always eager for a fight, and Wolfe, who wore her emotions on her sleeve, having a character like Nila balance them out made for some fun character interactions. Her backstory also allowed us to give some perspective on the Empire, which we imagined players would have some biases against as soon as they heard the word “empire.” Her backstory and personality really acted as a springboard for this whole imperial culture that we aimed to make as different from the more “federation” type of government the UGS was shaping up into becoming. Character design wise, she went through several hair styles until we decided to settle on something that seemed more practical than wild. The glasses also helped make her face stand out amongst the other crew mates. Her color scheme was finalized to be based on the color choices we had already made regarding the Xaltiam Empire, with the emblem on her jacket being added after the “Imperial Shadow Legion” insignia was designed. Her coat was imagined as some kind of casual wear but reminiscent of a lab coat, to reflect her background as a scientist and engineer.

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“I’ve been seeing reports of a ship of an unknown class making trouble for everyone in the 99th Sector. I may not have proof, but I’ve seen enough of your handiwork to recognize it when I see it.” – Wolfe’s Mom.

Our next crew member highlight is focused on the chief engineer of the Chaser, the young and brash Wolfe. When you first meet her, your friend Edwin warns you that she is a bit “much”. She isn’t impressed by you, but figures you’ll do as a pilot. Which is good because she and her ship are the only way you’ll be able to make your one million units in time to pay back Pirate Lady Styx. While you’re taking the role of captain of her ship, she’ll be in the back, monitoring and updating you on changes to the engine and space jump systems.

As you are on your voyage, you’ll learn that she is very proud and protective of the Chaser, which she sometimes calls her baby. To her, ship building is as much as an art as painting or making video games are. Don’t be surprised when she criticizes the craftsmanship of pursing pirates or bounty hunters before actually warning anyone that you are being pursued by said pirates or bounty hunter. Her attachment to her ship means she gets very annoyed when you damage it, so do try and be careful. Wolfe’s demeanor often comes across as overly critical and bratty, but over time you’ll find that this attitude comes from her principles and youthful confidence in her abilities (even if it takes her a few tries to get things right). You’ll also find that she has a deep respect for her crew mates, which she expresses in her own way. To her, Edwin is a loyal friend, Tai is someone who shares her passion for mechanical things, and Nila is a reliable ally who Wolfe can always count on for sage advice (even if she doesn’t want to hear it).

Wolfe’s origin however is shrouded in mystery. Throughout your travels you will unlock “Wolfe’s Logs”, a series of writings from Wolfe’s adventurous life before the start of the game, detailing her inner thoughts as a teenage runaway and the tribulations she endured while trying to build the Chaser. You’ll learn how she first met Tai, Nila, and Edwin and to just what extent the Chaser is a ship that pull off miracles.

Wolfe, like the other main characters, was designed by Nate Donahue, with the final art in the game being done by Zachary Noah (Link is NSFW and 18+ ONLY). She was always envisioned as having a young skater/artist vibe but Zachary had the brilliant idea of adding in some mechanic’s elements, such as her thick gloves. Because the Chaser is her ship, her color palette was also how we decided on the default colors of the Chaser. Don’t worry if black, orange, and yellow aren’t your style, the Chaser’s colors are customizable! Her voice is provided by the amazing Alex D. Smith.

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“Can’t confirm anything yet, but select hunters are being told that an escape craft was missing from the Tyrant’s Demise after the battle, maybe meaning that not everybody who survived the battle was questioned by the UGS. Officially, there is no bounty for this person. Unofficially, someone high up in the UGS is offering money for proof of this missing crew member’s silence. I think it’s clear to say that someone wants the truth about what happened at Yeppa to stay hidden. ”  – Miguel Dins, Commander of the Stars of Freedom Rangers

In our first crew member highlight, we’re talking about the Chaser’s weapons system’s operator, Tai Chew. When he is first introduced in the opening cutscene, he is described by Wolfe as an ex-UGS who has experience working on UGS ships the size of the Chaser and bigger. Through the course of your voyage, you’ll also learn that Tai has plenty of war stories from his time serving in the UGS military, isn’t afraid to share those stories, and is always itching for a fight.

Whether you’re fighting bounty hunters or pirates, he’ll always be more than happy to return fire and take them down. Even when up against the Empire, or his old allies, the UGS, he’ll take his job as one of the ship’s main methods of defense very seriously. At first, this could come off as him being a trigger-happy soldier always eager to blow something up. As you learn more about him though, you’ll find that his gung ho attitude comes from a fierce loyalty to his friends. He acts as a mentor to Edwin, an friendly/annoying older brother to Wolfe, and a respected colleague to Nila, who years before the start of the story, would have been his enemy.

Where does Tai’s loyalty come from? As you dive deeper into the lore of the The Chaser’s Voyage universe via the Crew Journal, you’ll learn more about his past, detailing his enlistment and life as a member of the UGS. Particularly his time serving as a member of an elite group of UGS Pirate Hunters onboard the UGS battleship “Tyrant’s Demise”. In fact, you’ll even be able to read about some of his greatest exploits, such as the Battle of Hydriis. You’ll also learn that Sector 99, the sector of the galaxy where your adventure takes place in, was where Tai mainly operated. You might casually hear him mention planets he’s been to before.

Dig further into Tai’s past and you’ll learn more about his involvement with the Battle of Yeppa, a devastating conflict that ended the Galactic Ceasefire and restarted the war between the UGS and the Empire, as well as why Tai is no longer fighting on the front lines for the UGS.

Like all of the main characters, Tai was designed by Nate Donahue with the final art in the game being done by Zachary Noah (Link is NSFW and 18+ ONLY). Throughout his design process, his distinctive spiky white hair, eyepatch, and robotic prosthetic arm were a constant (although his arm went through several iterations). He is voiced by the talented Shaun Richardson.

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