is an upcoming

role-playing video game Role-playing video games, also known as CRPG (computer/console role-playing games), comprise a broad video game genre generally defined by a detailed story and character advancement (often through increasing characters' levels or other skills) ...

co-developed by Yukikaze, Shade, and Studio Wildrose. It is planned for release for

PlayStation 5 The PlayStation 5 (PS5) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was announced as the successor to the PlayStation 4 in April 2019, was launched on November 12, 2020, in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, North ...

Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

, and

Xbox Series X/S The Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S are the fourth generation of consoles in the Xbox series, succeeding the previous generation's Xbox One. Released on November 10, 2020, the higher-end Xbox Series X and lower-end Xbox Series S are part o ...

. As a spiritual successor to the ''

Shadow Hearts ''Shadow Hearts'' is a series of role-playing video games, consisting of a trilogy of titles for the PlayStation 2 (PS2) and their predecessor '' Koudelka'' for the PlayStation. The entire series was developed by Sacnoth (later Nautilus); ''Koude ...

'' series, the game follows magically-gifted detective Matthew Farrell during the 1920s as he investigates supernatural events stretching across America, Europe, and Asia. It carries over several gameplay elements including turn-based battles infused with real-time elements, and lead character Matthew transforming into a powerful "fusion monster" during combat. Many ''Shadow Hearts'' staff returned to develop ''Penny Blood'', including series creator Matsuzo Machida, character designer and illustrator Miyako Kato, and

Yoshitaka Hirota is a Japanese video game music, video game composer and bass guitarist, whose most notable works include the soundtracks to the ''Shadow Hearts'' series. Hirota was previously a sound effects programmer having worked on various Square (video game ...

as lead composer. Machida created ''Penny Blood'' to express similar concepts to those explored in ''Shadow Hearts'', though aimed at an adult audience. The project was revealed as part of a "Double

Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

" alongside ''

Wild Arms , stylized as ''Wild ARMs'', is a media franchise developed by Media.Vision and owned by Sony Computer Entertainment. The franchise consists of several role-playing video games and related media. Since the launch of the original ''Wild Arms'' ...

'' creator Akifumi Kaneko's project '' Armed Fantasia''. The project was successfully funded within a day of the campaign going live.

Premise and gameplay

''Penny Blood'' is an upcoming

set in an alternate version of the 1920s infused with elements of

Gothic horror Gothic fiction, sometimes referred to as Gothic horror (primarily in the 20th century), is a literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. The name of the genre is derived from the Renaissance era use of the word "gothic", as a pejorative to mean m ...

. The lead protagonist is Matthew Farrell, a private detective based in New York; he inherited the power to transform into powerful monster-like beings from his father, and while he hates this ability he uses it in service to the

Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. An agency of the United States Department of Justice, the FBI is a member of ...

to combat supernatural threats born from Malice. Following an outbreak of monsters at an asylum, he ends up on a mission spanning from the Americas to Europe and Asia pursuing a dangerous criminal. He is joined by the half-mechanical Emilia Dawson of the British

Secret Intelligence Service The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 (MI numbers, Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of Human i ...

, and Suseri Otsuki of the fictional Japanese Kamuzumi organization. Gameplay features Matthew travelling between different locations across the world via an overworld map, exploring dungeons around those locations, and fighting enemies. Battles use a turn-based combat system, with actions triggering a real-time button minigame dubbed Psycho Sigil; hitting areas on the titular Sigil with the right timing fulfils the attack. Each character has a limited number of Sanity Points which decrease each turn, with the character gaining a boost in attack when their Sanity is depleted but at the cost of being unable to control them.

Planning and development

''Penny Blood'' was created by Matsuzo Machida as a

spiritual successor A spiritual successor (sometimes called a spiritual sequel) is a product or fictional work that is similar to, or directly inspired by, another previous product or work, but (unlike a traditional prequel or sequel) does not explicitly continue th ...

to ''

'', a series developed by

Sacnoth renamed in 2002, was a Japanese video game developer based in Tokyo. The company was founded in April 1997 by Hiroki Kikuta with funding from SNK; its staff, including Kikuta, were veterans of Square. While their first releases were the '' ...

and released between 2001 and 2005. Following the release of '' Shadow Hearts: From the New World'', the development team left to become independent, with Machida and series artist Miyako Kato founding Studio Wildrose. Machida created the storyline and concepts as an alternate expression of the themes and mechanics he created for ''Shadow Hearts'', though aiming it at an adult audience. His intention was to take the darker themes which had been gradually removed from ''Shadow Hearts'' as far as they could go within a mature game, though some comedic elements will be retained as in '' Shadow Hearts: Covenant''. While some terminology such as Malice and Sanity Points carried over, there was no other connection to ''Shadow Hearts''. The game's title was a reference to the

Penny dreadful Penny dreadfuls were cheap popular Serial (literature), serial literature produced during the 19th century in the United Kingdom. The pejorative term is roughly interchangeable with penny horrible, penny awful, and penny blood. The term typical ...

, a popular style of serial literature during the 19th Century, while the logo included a reference to

coins A coin is a small object, usually round and flat, used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to facilitate trade. They are most often issued by ...

given to the dead. Planning and pre-production for ''Penny Blood'' began in 2021. The game is being co-developed by Studio Wildrose, the newly-founded Yukikaze, and third-party developer Shade. Machida acted as director, lead designer and scenario writer. Kato returned as art director and character designer, with Nobutaka Hanya joining as monster designer and Masato Watanabe as a concept artist. ''Shadow Hearts'' composer

returned as lead composer, with Akira Kaida also contributing music. Guest composers

Nobuo Uematsu is a Japanese composer and keyboardist best known for his contributions to the ''Final Fantasy'' video game series by Square Enix. A self-taught musician, he began playing the piano at the age of twelve, with English singer-songwriter Elton Joh ...

and

Kenji Ito , also known by the nickname , is a Japanese video game composer and musician. He is best known for his work on the ''Mana'' and ''SaGa'' series, though he has worked on over 30 video games throughout his career as well as composed or arranged m ...

were also announced to be a part of the project, creating music for American and Japanese locations respectively. The setting was chosen due to Machida's fascination with the period, which many countries surviving to the present day with changed attitudes and relationships. When creating the Fusion concept for ''Penny Blood'', Machida used the theme of "holy" figures in tales as opposed to the demonic inspiration of ''Shadow Hearts''. Kato's character designs reflected the darker tone with a desaturated color palette and designs drawing from American comic books, with "Obscurity" being the key word for the overall visual designer. Machida and ''

'' creator Akifumi Kaneko met through a mutual friend during early planning for ''Penny Blood'', learning that Kaneko wanted to create a ''Wild Arms'' spiritual successor titled ''Armed Fantasia''. Inspired by the success of '' Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes'' on

in 2020, it was decided to both fund and gauge interest in the projects through

crowdfunding Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and Alternative Finance, alternative finance, to fund projects "withou ...

. As there might be trouble funding each project individually, the two decided to team up for a "Double Kickstarter" which would fund both games. The Kickstarter campaign was announced on August 26, going live two days later on August 29 with a combined budget of $750,000 to fund both projects initially for

; alongside the co-funding, the team also implemented separate funding tiers and stretch goals for the two games. The funding goal was reached in under 20 hours, and the stretch goal for console versions for

and

was funded the following day. When the campaign closed on September 30, it had generated over $2.6 million in funding, clearing all its advertised stretch goals for both games. The stretch goals included a

New Game+ New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

, additional quests and gameplay mechanics, minigames, crossover items with ''Armed Fantasia'', and a sequel novel detailing post-game events. Machida planned for ''Penny Blood'' to release during 2025. A companion title, ''Penny Blood: Hellbound'', was released in

early access Early access, also known as alpha access, alpha founding, paid alpha, or game preview, is a funding model in the video game industry by which consumers can purchase and play a game in the various pre-release Software release life cycle, developm ...

in March 2024. ''Hellbound'' is a

roguelike Roguelike (or rogue-like) is a style of role-playing game traditionally characterized by a dungeon crawl through procedurally generated levels, turn-based gameplay, grid-based movement, and permanent death of the player character. Most ro ...

action game that serves as a prequel to the main game. In May 2024, Machida and Studio Wildrose filed a lawsuit against

Ben Judd Ben Judd (born October 25, 1974) is an American translator, producer, and agent. He is a former Capcom employee. Judd is an American and lives in Japan and became Capcom's first non-Japanese producer. Judd has had several voice acting cameos in ...

and Dangen Entertainment, who managed the double Kickstarter campaign, over breach of contract for failing to disburse production funds earned from the Kickstarter. Since then, the game has been unable to secure a publisher due to these issues.

References

External links

* {{Shadow Hearts series Upcoming video games Alternate history video games Fantasy video games Japanese role-playing video games PlayStation 5 games Role-playing video games Video games about magic Video games about shapeshifting Video games developed in Japan Video games scored by Kenji Ito Video games scored by Nobuo Uematsu Video games scored by Yoshitaka Hirota Video games set in the 1920s Windows games Xbox Series X and Series S games