Penny Blood

**Penny Blood** is an upcoming role-playing video game co-developed by Yukikaze, Shade and Studio Wildrose, and planned for release in 2025 on Windows, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.

A spiritual successor to the *Shadow Hearts* 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 monster during combat.

Many *Shadow Hearts* staff returned to develop *Penny Blood*, including series creator Matsuzo Machida, character artist Miyako Kato, and Yoshitaka Hirota 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" alongside *Wild Arms* creator Akifumi Kaneko's project *Armed Fantasia*. The project was successfully funded within a day of the campaign going live.

By the end of the campaign it raised a total of ¥379,328,385 from 17920 backers, and reached all its stretch goals.

## Premise and Gameplay

*Penny Blood* is an upcoming role-playing video game set in an alternate version of the 1920s infused with elements of Gothic horror. 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 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, 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.

## Planning and Development

*Penny Blood* was created by Matsuzo Machida as a spiritual successor to *Shadow Hearts*, a series developed by Sacnoth 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 of *Penny Blood* was a reference to the Penny dreadful, a popular style of serial literature during the 19th Century, while the logo included a reference to coins 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 Yoshitaka Hirota returned as lead composer, with Akira Kaida also contributing music.

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 *Wild Arms* 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 Kickstarter in 2020, it was decided to both fund and gauge interest in the projects through crowdfunding.

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 Windows; 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 PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S were funded the following day. Machida plans for *Penny Blood* to release during 2025.

## Cast

### Main Characters

* Matthew Farrell - An Irish-American detective with the power of Fusion.
* Emilia Dawson - A British secret agent cyborg, powered by alchemy.
* Suseri Otsuki - A Japanese member of a monster-slaying force.
* Luca - A Ukranian werewolf with the powers of an Inheritor.
* Vito Andolini - An on-the-run con-artist who masquerades as a magician, with the power of illusions.
* Candy Nation - A precocious girl with a burning sense of justice.
* Goliath - An android created by Victor Frankenstein, possessed of strong fists, and a gentle heart.
* Roxane Archambeau - A dhampir Jazz singer who uses her powers to defend against monsters.

### Allies

* Roger Bacon - An alchemist from the 1200s, impossibly still alive in the current age.
* Baby Cthulhu - A creature not of this dimension, who, nonetheless, has bonded with Matthew.

### Antagonists

* Sariel - Taciturn leader of the Hellhounders who acts with mysterious purpose.
* Dr. Franz Eugene - A horrifying scientist who is devoted to the research on Malice.
* Darya Nikolayevna Saltykova - A once dead murderess, reborn through the power of Malice.
* Joseph Momfre - The Axeman of New Orleans, a strong, yet simple-minded man.

## External Links

* Kickstarter Campaign Page
* Penny Blood Japanese Website
* Penny Blood English Website
* Official Twitter
* Official Youtube Account
* Official Facebook Page
* Official Reddit Account
* Discord Server
* Official Instagram