Cresata: Ben Starr and Aleks Le Join a 2027 Indie Platformer

Cresata is targeting a 2027 release on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam. The 2.5D side-scrolling action platformer, formerly developed under the working title Revenant’s Reach, comes from publisher Rocket Panda Games, developer Shatter Flask Games, and localizer acttil, inc. The project was announced on June 23, 2026, with voice talent Ben Starr and Aleks Le attached to the cast.

The pairing of Starr and Le, both with major recent credits in high-profile RPGs and anime dubs, isn’t typical of a Kickstarter-bound indie title. The publisher has opened a wishlist page for the upcoming platformer and a crowdfunding preview page for the project. Formal crowdfunding is set to begin in late 2026.

How the Crescent Claw Replaces a Jump Button

Cresata is built around a single mechanical commitment. The game ditches the conventional jump button in favor of grappling-hook traversal, with the protagonist’s Crescent Claw serving as both weapon and primary way to move. The studio cites Strider and Castlevania as primary inspirations, with modern retro platformers like Celeste also in the mix.

For movement, the Crescent Claw strikes in any direction and doubles as a traversal tool, letting players tether through pixel-crushed environments across uniquely themed biomes. Movement is built on swing momentum, in place of jump arcs, in a design lineage that traces back to Capcom’s 1987 arcade game Bionic Commando, the first platformer to fully replace jumping with a grappling arm as the sole locomotion method. Combat layers on top through the Cresata Arts system, where players chain dashes, deflections, and retaliatory strikes into fluid combos, with a dedicated Slingstrike move designed to close distance on enemies mid-swing. A competitive Ghost Races mode rounds out the package, letting players race the recorded times of other players through completed levels.

On screen, the approach matches the mechanical one. Cresata is built as a 2.5D title, with 2D pixel art characters set against fully rotating three-dimensional environments, according to the studio’s own description of the game’s mechanics. Each stage is a complete 3D environment wrapped in a planar movement spline, which restricts player movement to a two-dimensional path while letting the camera rotate freely around the rendered world. The result puts Cresata closer to Klonoa on PlayStation or Square Enix’s HD-2D style in Octopath Traveler than to a flat 2D side-scroller.

Phaedon of Arsica, a man betrayed, imprisoned, and left for dead after a rebellion against the warlord Leo Vennghast, drives the story. Phaedon and his research partner Lasila refused to push their Ouranite reactor research beyond safe limits, a refusal that split the noble houses and ignited a civil war between Vennghast’s Reclaimers and Phaedon’s House Ourasonis. As the conflict turned, Lasila piloted the floating city of New Arsica to Satelles Peak, the highest point on Vaelos, to keep it out of Vennghast’s reach, then physically merged with living Ouranite ore to maintain the city’s gravity field. Vennghast claimed victory, took the title of Prime Reclaimer, and had Phaedon imprisoned for his knowledge of the reactor design. The game begins with Phaedon’s escape and his hunt for those who betrayed him, a revenge structure the developers reinforce through boss encounters tied to the specific antagonists who wronged him.

Aleks Le and Ben Starr Anchor the Cast

Cresata’s voice cast is anchored by Aleks Le, who voices protagonist Phaedon and, unusually for an indie platformer at this stage, also serves as co-producer and casting director on the project. Le is known for voicing Sung Jin-woo in Solo Leveling, Luke in Street Fighter 6, and Zenitsu Agatsuma in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, and he won the 2025 Crunchyroll Anime Award for Best Voice Artist Performance for the Solo Leveling role.

Le’s casting-director role gives him direct creative authority over the entire voice roster. The most visible result is the attachment of Ben Starr, the voice of Clive Rosfield in Final Fantasy XVI and Verso in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, as the Prime Reclaimer, the game’s primary antagonist. According to the partnership announcement for the indie platformer, Le personally selected Starr for the role, beginning with the Prime Reclaimer as the first announced antagonist. Between them, the two performers have carried lead or major roles in some of the highest-profile RPG and anime releases of the past three years.

Both actors have award recognition to point to. Starr earned the Golden Joystick Award for Best Lead Performer for his work in Final Fantasy XVI and Best Supporting Performer for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Le took the 2025 Crunchyroll Anime Award for Best Voice Artist Performance for his lead turn in Solo Leveling.

Le’s reach extends past his voice work. According to his public profile, Le holds more than 747,000 YouTube subscribers and 921,000 TikTok followers, an audience that gives the Cresata campaign an organic promotion channel beyond the standard press circuit. That audience matters for a Kickstarter title competing for attention against a packed 2027 indie slate. The two actors’ combined fan bases, drawn from Final Fantasy, Solo Leveling, Demon Slayer, and Street Fighter 6, cover most of the action-RPG and anime-dub demographics a side-scrolling platformer could hope to reach. For a publisher that markets itself as being in the business of fun, having a built-in audience of that size is a structural advantage before the campaign even opens.

Ben Starr voices the Prime Reclaimer, the game’s primary antagonist. Aleks Le voices Phaedon, the protagonist on a revenge quest, and also serves as co-producer and casting director.

The Three-Way Partnership Behind Cresata

Cresata is being built by a three-way partnership: Rocket Panda Games as publisher, Shatter Flask Games as developer, and acttil, inc. for localization and publishing support. Publisher Rocket Panda Games, a Los Angeles-based outfit, is the public-facing company behind the announcement. The setup is typical of mid-sized indie releases that want the marketing weight of an established publisher without absorbing the full risk of a first-party development cycle. The partnership was described in industry press as one of indie gaming’s more ambitious 2027 announcements, with the three-way structure cited as a sign of production scale.

Each partner brings a different role to the production, and the press release sketches the division of labor cleanly. Shatter Flask Games, the studio making the game, was formed specifically to make the games the team always wanted to play. acttil, inc., founded in Los Angeles in May 2013, operates as a videogame publisher and a curious entity that takes on projects its members find interesting and valuable to audiences.

Kickstarter Page Is Live, Campaign Starts Late 2026

The official Kickstarter page for Cresata is live for early followers, though formal crowdfunding is not yet underway. The press release says the campaign will formally begin funding in late 2026, with rewards and stretch goals shaped directly by feedback from the Cresata community.

Alongside the campaign preview, fans can already wishlist Cresata on Steam. The publisher’s announcement went out on June 23, 2026, with a teaser trailer and Steam link posted the same day via the studio’s official channels. For a project set for a 2027 release, fans have about a year to track development before launch.

A look at the broader Kickstarter context for video games sets the bar. According to Kickstarter data cited by industry press, video game projects raised $26 million on the platform in 2024, the highest annual total since 2015, with 441 successful campaigns, the most in the platform’s history. Analysis from game industry consultant Thomas Bidaux found that 2025 was the second-highest year on record for successfully funded video game campaigns on Kickstarter, with the strongest top-end fundraising performance in a decade for projects that cleared $500,000. Campaigns that reach their funding targets have tended to arrive with a playable demo, a pre-built community, and clear stretch goals, elements Rocket Panda Games says will be part of Cresata’s campaign structure. The exact funding target for Cresata has not been disclosed.

What the teaser trailer and Steam page reveal:

• 2.5D side-scrolling action platformer with grappling-hook traversal
• Crescent Claw weapon that strikes in any direction and doubles as a traversal tool
• Cresata Arts combat system: dash, deflect, retaliate, and Slingstrike
• Ghost Races mode for racing recorded times on a leaderboard
• Story of Phaedon of Arsica’s revenge across the world of Vaelos

A Crowded 2027 Retro-Platformer Field

Cresata is arriving into a competitive retro-platformer slate. The 2.5D grappling-hook platformer has a specific design heritage, with Bionic Commando, originally released in arcades in 1987, being the first game to fully replace jumping with a grappling arm as the sole locomotion method. That design lineage is short, and few modern entries have committed to a no-jump-button vocabulary the way Cresata appears to.

Cresata’s commercial pitch rests on the recognizability of its voice cast among fans of Final Fantasy XVI, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Solo Leveling, and Street Fighter 6, and on the mechanical distinctiveness of a full grappler-traversal system. Most retro platformers that cite Castlevania as an influence retain conventional jumping and add a grapple hook as a secondary ability, while Cresata’s Crescent Claw is the primary locomotion and combat tool. Le’s involvement as both lead performer and production lead is unusual for an indie game at this stage, with his audience reach across social platforms giving the campaign an organic promotion channel beyond the standard press circuit. The timing puts the title in a market where voice-led indie platformers have become a viable commercial pitch.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Cresata?

Cresata is a 2.5D side-scrolling action platformer developed by Shatter Flask Games, published by Rocket Panda Games with localization from acttil, inc. It targets a 2027 release on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam, and was previously developed under the working title Revenant’s Reach.

Who voices the lead characters in Cresata?

Aleks Le voices protagonist Phaedon of Arsica and also serves as co-producer and casting director on the project. Ben Starr voices the Prime Reclaimer, the game’s primary antagonist, a role Le personally selected him for.

When does the Cresata Kickstarter launch and when does the game release?

The Kickstarter page is live for early followers, with formal crowdfunding scheduled to begin in late 2026. The full game targets a 2027 release on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

What makes Cresata’s movement different from other Castlevania-inspired platformers?

Most retro platformers that cite Castlevania as an influence keep conventional jumping and add a grapple hook as a secondary ability. Cresata’s Crescent Claw is the primary locomotion and combat tool, with swing momentum replacing jump arcs in a mechanic more directly comparable to Bionic Commando (1987).

What platforms is Cresata coming to?

Cresata is targeting PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam. The studio’s own page also lists Epic Games alongside Steam, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.