Welcome to the Penny Blood: Hellbound pre-order store! You can pre-order Penny Blood: Hellbound as well as some premium rewards here. Everyone who pre-orders or purchases via the Backerkit store receives the limited edition Closed Beta Backer Emblem. If you have purchased something from the Armed Fantasia and Penny Blood Kickstarter or Backerkit Pre-order store you are eligible for a discount so please choose the “Backer Discount” version. If this is your first time purchasing anything related to Armed Fantasia or Penny Blood, please choose the “New backer” option or you can visit the original Double Kickstarter Backerkit Pre-order store here.
https://double-kickstarter.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders
If you back a game there you are eligible for the Pre-exisitng Backer discount. Please visit the Closed Beta Google Form in-game to provide feedback and help us make the best game possible.
Penny Blood: Hellbound features:
・Play as the Hellhounders - the rival group of baddies that try to thwart Matthew and friends at their every turn in Penny Blood.
・Roguelike gameplay where each run provides a plethora of unlocks, power-ups, and new skills as you march forward towards the final confrontation.
・The Malice System where the more blood you spill, the more currency you earn for unlocks
・Blood spilt also allows for better mobility via "bloodsurfing" where you can unleash stronger momentum-based attacks and skill-based upgrades
・Strategize your run well by choosing the best pair of Hellhounders out of a total 6 selectable characters that you can swap between in real-time
・Music by Yoshitaka Hirota with guest composer Noriyuki Iwadare of Lunar and Grandia fame
...
ようこそ、「PENNY BLOOD: HELLBOUND」予約ストアへ！ここでは、「PENNY BLOOD: HELLBOUND」と、プレミアムリワードの予約ができます。バッカーキットから予約、または購入された皆様には、バッカー向けベータ版の限定エンブレムをプレゼントいたします。また、すでに「ARMED FANTASIA」と「PENNY BLOOD」のダブルキックスターターやバッカーキット予約ストアにて購入済みのものがある方には、割引特典が適用されますので、予約時に「Backer Discount」版の選択をお願いいたします。今回が「ARMED FANTASIA」または「PENNY BLOOD」関連で初めてのお買い物の皆様は、「New backer」を選んでいただきますようお願いいたします。また、ダブルキックスターターのバッカーキット予約ストアでどちらかのタイトルをご購入されましたら、割引が適用されます。是非、限定ベータ版Google Formにてフィードバックをご提供いただき、ベストなゲームを作れるよう力を貸していただけると幸いです。
ダブルキックスターターバッカーキットストア：https://double-kickstarter.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders
PENNY BLOOD: HELLBOUNDの要素
・『PENNY BLOOD』でマシューとその仲間たちの行く手を阻もうとする敵の悪党集団、ヘルハウンダーズとしてプレイ。
・最終決戦に向けて前進するたびに、解放要素、パワーアップ、新しいスキルの数々が手に入るローグライクゲーム。
・血を流せば流すほど、アンロックのための通貨が増える「マリスシステム」。
・勢いをつけた強力な攻撃やスキルのアップグレードを可能にする「ブラッドサーフィン」で機動性のアップも、血を流すことで可能。
・リアルタイムで入れ替え可能な6人のヘルハウンダーズから、最適なペアを選択し、お好きな戦略で出陣。
・作曲は弘田佳孝、ゲストコンポーザーとして『LUNAR ザ・シルバースター』や『グランディア』で有名な岩垂徳行も参加。
Latest Updates from Our Project:
May 2024 Update!
7 days ago
– Fri, May 10, 2024 at 02:01:22 AM
Hello RPG Fans,
Golden Week is finally over and we have come back fresh! Thank you for a chance to recharge our batteries.
Development Update
ARMED FANTASIA
The first day of summer has passed, and according to the calendar, we have entered the summer season. Just when we thought it’d gotten hot, things suddenly got chilly again…the weather has been keeping us on our toes day after day. Please take good care of yourselves.
This month's report comes to you from Ishii.
Armed Fantasia May 2024 Project Report
Chief director Ishii here.
May has come. We also just finished Golden Week, one of the longer vacation periods in Japan. How have you all been spending your days? Now, it’s time for us to snap back into focus mode and work hard at our school and work activities. (what a perfect student would say)
Our theme this month is gadgets. However, I don't want to give out too much information ahead of time and take away from the fun of actually playing the game, so I’m going to keep the details of each gadget confidential.
Instead, I’ll be explaining how we implement each gadget into Armed Fantasia.
Step 1
The first things we had to consider were: How many gadgets will we have from a framework perspective? Will that number be excessive or insufficient for a spiritual successor? Will each character have an equal number of gadgets? Then there’s the “mature” topic of how many man-hours we’ll need to do the work. (Which is actually the most important part…)
We considered all the different angles and discussed things among ourselves. Since it was already decided that there would be six party characters in this game, we decided to make each character have an equal number of gadgets, thus increasing the number of gadgets to six.
Step 2
Once the total number was determined, the next step was to consider how the gadgets would work. At this stage, we stopped thinking about the total number of gadgets and piled up as many interesting ideas as we could, while trying to connect them with all the objects that could be placed on the field.
Based on the rule that gadgets would not interfere with each other, we prepared three or more ways to use a single gadget: normal use, applied use, and clever use.
The “gadgets don’t interfere with each other” rule means that using one gadget on another will have no effect. For example, if you throw a “Slow Knife” at a “Set Bomb,” the knife will just pass through it.
If we allowed gadgets to interfere with each other, we could do much more, but it would also make solving puzzles more complicated and require fast reflexes in terms of controls, which would make things feel more like an action game than an RPG. But we set that rule in place because we’re prioritizing the fact that this is an RPG and a spiritual successor above all else.
In this step, we came up with as many ideas as we could to create gadget elements filled with surprise and fun that will directly connect to puzzle-solving while also giving players some fun action to enjoy at the same time.
Step 3
Once a sufficient number of ideas have been gathered, we compare and consider the content of the gameplay and fit it into the framework described above.
The truth is, before we launched the Kickstarter campaign, we were only planning to implement one gadget per character. But thanks to the support of our backers, we reached a stretch goal that let us implement three gadgets per character as we had originally imagined. We would like to thank you again for your support.
If you have ever done this kind of idea-sharing work, you may know what I’m talking about here.
If you try to put them together in a stoic manner, the ideas often overlap with each other and are not enough to fill the framework. It forces you to set aside more time for coming up with and considering ideas even though you’re already exhausted from coming up with ideas in the first place. This is where planners really need to work hard.
It is interesting to note that every now and then, a miraculous idea will pop out during a “dried-up” period. Speaking of interesting ideas, some staff members who had worked on Wild Arms in the past assumed that gadgets would only be usable in dungeons and towns…but then someone from bee tribe suggested making it so that they can be used on the world map as well, and their eyes went wide, like they had finally seen the light.
So in Armed Fantasia, gadgets will be usable on the world map as well. One of the great things about this project is how these unexpected chemical reactions keep happening.
Step 4
Now that we’ve accumulated the number of gadgets we originally planned for, the next step is to decide which character will use each gadget. The gadgets will be allocated according to the character's image and the story progression, how they’re used on objects in dungeons, (new ideas may be introduced here), and so on. All of this will help us nail down the image of each gadget in even more detail.
Step 5
To visualize the actual behavior, we temporarily implement white models. We make the size of the gadget as close as possible, but we’re basically using temporary assets here in order to try and get an idea for the atmosphere without thinking too hard about the actual shape.
Since it allows us to actually touch and understand the movements of the character and the gadgets, we can use this to analyze how they actually feel, then make recommendations such as speeding up the process of setting a “Set Bomb” or making “Slow Knives” fly faster.
Step 6
In this step, we move back to the design work for each gadget.
Since we usually have a shape in mind when we think of the gameplay, this doesn’t usually become a bottleneck. Once we’ve decided on the shape, we send the necessary text documents to the art team along with the design order. Then, the team creates a wonderful design image like you see below.
This is the Aqua Rod, one of Euclid’s gadgets. It can send orbs of water into the air and make them explode, store water in a container, and wash the surrounding area clean. Seems like it would be a convenient gadget for use in the bathtub or for washing your car.
Step 7
In this step, we use the design image to create the actual 3D model. We also create the character animations and the sound effects for when they use the gadget in this stage. Once all the resources are in place, we finally assemble and implement them.
Step 8
In this step, we perform the final adjustments. We adjust the behavior that was created in the white model stage so that it matches the graphics, adjust the timing at which the gadget’s effect activates, and make it feel even better to use. We continue this step until the very end, for as long as the schedule permits.
That concludes this rough overview of how we implement gadgets.
And that’s it for this month’s update.
See you next month!
PENNY BLOOD
Good evening, everyone.
Golden Week 2024 has passed, and the turning point for this year is now in front of our eyes. Despite wishing I didn’t have to see it just yet, I can't turn my eyes away, and continue to solemnly work hard every day.
Now for this month's Penny Blood project update.
As I announced last time, in this month's update, I'd like to dive deeper into the development environment of Penny Blood: Hellbound. Hellbound is an action game with a lot of replayability that becomes more fun the more you play. It also features a roguelike system, and the story is deeply connected to the story of Penny Blood itself. The development cycle is now reaching its climax, and all the development staff members are charging into a death zone filled with agonizing death cries, covered in their own blood, sweat and tears. Okay, maybe that was a little exaggerated, but I think it's mostly accurate. Today, I'd like to introduce three men who have been fighting hard within that death zone.
To start us off, we have Furukawa-san, the development director - the one who's been keeping the PBH flag held high as he leads on the rest of the development team. Aside from being brave enough to take command, he also possesses a deep respect not just for Penny Blood but the Shadow Hearts series as well, and has been racking his brains day and night about how to give everyone who plays the game - including fans - the most enjoyable experience possible. If we were to talk about him in DQ3 terms, he would be the Hero.
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Good evening, everyone! Furukawa, development director of Penny Blood: Hellbound here. It's hard to believe that already two months have passed since we began Early Access, and I'm extremely grateful that so many people have given the game a try! We've been building the game in a way that will allow players to enjoy the world of Penny Blood to their hearts' contents, so I hope you're excited for what's yet to come! We're planning to add a lot of new features in future updates, but I'd like to introduce one of them here. The image you see below showcases a new weapon for Saltykova: the Serrated Fans.
–
Next up we have Kihara-san, the main programmer. In terms of game development, programmers are powerful individuals who support others from the shadows, but they are also 'mages' who can shrewdly decipher specification documents filled with unreasonable requests and make the impossible possible. They fulfill the most important role in terms of increasing the overall quality of the game from the ground up, including everything from spectacular special effects to making sure the gameplay gives players as little stress as possible.
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Thank you for the introduction! I'm Kihara, the main programmer. I'm grateful that I got the chance to work on developing Penny Blood: Hellbound, but the truth is…this is actually the first time this 'mage' has ever developed an action game...so I've had a lot to learn, and I've been fighting very hard every day while making sure I don't cause any trouble for my party members.
I'll continue to work very hard to make sure everyone who plays Penny Blood: Hellbound has a good time, so I hope you'll keep cheering us on! *The screenshot you see below is just something I made for fun, and has nothing to do with the game.
–
Last but not least, we have our producer, Suzuki-san, AKA "Our Suzuki P." His job is to tend to the wounded soldiers among the development staff who are fighting hard within the death zone mentioned above, as well as manage the schedule and even deliver beef rice bowls in the middle of the night...which makes him the 'priest' of the party, the one who takes care of every last problem, no matter how big or small it may be. When I (Machida) played Dragon Quest 3, the priest (the one who could use Kazing, the guaranteed revive spell) would often die first, causing me to experience many tragedies, but thankfully our Suzuki P is a tough one and boasts as much HP as our Hero!
–
I'm Suzuki, the one in charge of buffing and healing the dev staff!! With this game, action gameplay where you cover the floor in a ton of blood and then ornately surf across it was born from Machida-san's super crazy (I'm complimenting him here) image of "cute X covered in blood." Based on that, our super crazy (literally this time) development team elevated it into an ecstasy action game that retains its fun no matter how many times you play it. We've still got a couple game-changing updates left to reveal, so we hope you're excited!!
–
…Well, what did you think of the comments from the passionate men who’ve been working on Penny Blood: Hellbound? Reading through them while you listen to Miyuki Nakajima’s Project X theme songs in the background or other theme songs meant to represent how professionals get the job done may help to boost your immersion.
That concludes this month’s update. We’ll be sharing more voices from Hellbound’s development staff with you next month, so I hope you’re looking forward to it.
See you all next month.
Matsuzo Machida
Message from Hirota-san
Good evening, everyone. For a while we were getting sun like it was early summer, but there have also been some cold days as well. Every day it’s really hard to decide what to wear. Please take good care of yourselves!
The development of Penny Blood: Hellbound is reaching its climax, and I’m working hard every day as well. Currently with the sound development, I’m in the phase where I’m just creating everything that the game still requires. I’m also desperately working on composing the remaining songs that are required.
Our guest composer, Iwadare-san, is also composing some amazing music for us. He event wrote some comments for everyone:
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Fans of Penny Blood, it’s very nice to meet you all. I’m Noriyuki Iwadare. I’ve been participating in this project as a composer.
I started working on this project after Hirota-kun asked me this wild question: “It’s dark, and there’s lot of blood in it… You sure you’re okay with this, Iwadare-san?” But I felt that this would be an opportunity to pull out a new side of myself, so my heart has been pumping with excitement as I continue to enjoy the atmosphere. Hirota-kun’s songs are really addicting – they’re cool, of course, but they are also filled with new elements you can discover the more and more you listen to them! So I’m doing my best to add my own elements to the world of Penny Blood: Hellbound in equal measure. I hope you’re all excited for the remaining tracks!
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Please be sure to send Iwadare-san your own passionate cheers as well. The entire staff is working as hard as they can to deliver you the best sound possible in all areas – the music, the sound effects, the voice lines… We hope you’re looking forward to the finished product.
Penny Blood: Hellbound is really serving as a great place to experiment on things in preparation for Penny Blood itself.
For example, having the music change when your Malice Gauge gets maxed out is an experiment that will connect to Penny Blood’s Madness system. I’ve been able to perform a lot of trial and error and discover things here, such as the fact that we’ll need sound effects in addition to the music to send the information to the players.
The quality of the tracks and sound materials is important, but this was a good reminder on how important specifications can also be. I truly feel that completing Penny Blood: Hellbound has given me the ability to make the sound for Penny Blood even better, so I hope you’re all looking forward to seeing the final version of Penny Blood: Hellbound as well.
Lastly, I’d like to talk about a concert I’m planning to do in September, which is also the month I was born in.
I’m planning on performing songs from Penny Blood: Hellbound, Penny Blood, and Shadow Hearts as well, if possible. The music will be performed on piano, violin, and the cello (which I’ll be playing). I’m thinking of scheduling it on a day between 9/15 and 9/18 in Tokyo or maybe Kyoto. I hope you can all make it. I’ll let you know the details later…so keep your calendars open!
Penny Blood Publishing
We saw the comments on the last update so we want to inform you on where we are. We are still pitching different publishers in hopes of finding a partner. As we stated during the campaign, the next phase will require a publisher since RPGs are quite costly to develop. That phase is still on-going and we will update you if anything changes.
As mentioned in a previous update, Penny Blood: Hellbound isn't using any backer funds for development. It’s something we can focus on while we continue the search for a publisher. Although the game currently has a great review score on Steam, we understand not everyone loves roguelikes. This last 18 months has been challenging for the video game industry, but we are not giving up. Despite the speedbumps, we hope that you will continue to stick with us and cheer on all these talented developers so that publishers may finally realize just how special and worthwhile this IP truly is.
Penny Blood: Hellbound at the Endless Replayability Fest
We've released a new demo for Penny Blood: Hellbound on Steam with Online Multiplayer. It's still very much in its early stages but if you are curious about the game or if you want to play it with other fans, give it a try and tell us what you think! As always, it's still a work in progress so please provide any constructive criticism for the online gameplay. It really helps us make the best game possible. Speaking of which…
We are fixing a lot of bugs in preparation for the Early Access 2 build to give you a more stable experience. Here is a selection of some of the biggest adjustments that will be coming:
Ranged characters can now also perform bloodsurfing attacks.
-Dr. Eugene
-Saltykova
Your buddy (the AI-controlled character) will now use Weapon Skills.
The Druid's AoE (where trees sprout out of the ground) has been adjusted so that the camera will zoom out and let you see the entire screen during the attack.
The mouse cursor will now be invisible when playing with a gamepad.
! marks now appear when all enemies attack.
Fixed a bug where the New mark (orange mark) would keep appearing even after accepting rewards in Purgatory.
Scapegoat will now create a scapegoat that looks like the character using it instead of always looking like Clara.
Fixed the gameplay so that Ecstasy Skills now hit certain enemies even while they're in the middle of an invincibility frame action.
April 2024 Update
about 1 month ago
– Fri, Apr 05, 2024 at 04:07:07 AM
※日本語のアップデートは下の方にあります
Hello JRPG Fans!
Spring is finally here. Great weather, beautiful cherry blossoms, and some awesome JRPGs being released as well.
Campaign Updates
Discord Roles
As mentioned in previous updates, we are working through any customer service requests that come in to [email protected] and providing roles for mismatched survey responses or capitalization issues. You should be seeing more and more people with these roles and soon we'll be creating a specific channel for both backers and premium backers to communicate in.
Penny Blood: Hellbound Review
If you are new to Penny Blood: Hellbound and purchased it via Early Access, we would love to see your review! Good or bad, this helps other gamers read whether it's the right type of game for them or not. So far 100% of reviewers liked the game but there is still a long way to go and more content to add. As always, any feedback in the discord channel is helpful as well!
Discord Photo Contest Winners
Congratulations once again to the latest winner of last month’s Discord photo contest, The #EcstasyRush Challenge, @Yojimbo, who received a special #EcstaticEveryday Discord role and Icon as a prize!
Next Upcoming Discord Game
A ton of creative ideas were raised back in December when we asked Discord fans what kind of activities they’d like to see, which helped pave the way for our monthly photo contests. This month however, we’ll be switching things up with another request from the fans–a puzzle-based game to unlock some special art from the game! More information to come later on this month.
Development Updates
ARMED FANTASIA
April is here! This month’s update is brought to you by Sekiya.
ARMED FANTASIA April 2024 Project News
Hello. I’m Sekiya, the director of Armed Fantasia. We’re past the Spring Equinox, and it’s still cold, but suddenly the cherry blossom trees nearby have started blooming, and now it feels almost hot. The temperature differences have been really crazy lately.
Speaking of crazy temperature differences, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire was released. Since the Japanese subtitle is “Frozen Summer,” a senseless thought crossed my mind: “Since it’s set in summer, why don’t they just release it in summer?” I also thought that a movie where the Ghostbusters run around seems to fit New York better than Oklahoma.
If there’s something strange in your neighborhood, who you gonna call? In Londenium, you would call not the Ghostbusters, but the Order of the Sacred Key.
Therefore, in this month’s update, I’d like to reveal a little bit more about the Order of the Sacred Key, since it has very deep ties to the story and worldbuilding of Armed Fantasia.
Overview of the Order of the Sacred Key
In the ever-spreading wilderness of Londenium, all communities that were once called nations have disappeared. Instead, people huddle together in villages and do their best to live day by day while facing the threats of the harsh environment, the Anomalies disasters that frequent it, and the incurable disease known as wilderness syndrome.
In a world where lawlessness prevails and people can devolve into beasts at the drop of a hat, the Order of the Sacred Key exists as a governing body that strives to bring order, infrastructure, and daily security to the world.
The Order was supposedly established nearly 1000 years ago, and worships as its symbol the "and it worships as its symbol the Holy Maiden of the Blade who is said to have saved mankind from the threat of the "white darkness." Although the Order is technically a church, it contains next to no religious elements, and the people of Londenium don't particularly consider it an object of worship. The Order simply exists to teach people the skills and knowledge they need to survive in the wilderness.
As the words engraved on its emblem suggest, they believe humanity is the key to the future of mankind. Thus, they have not flinched from donning iron and shedding blood in order to raise the flag of their ideals, embodying love, courage, and hope as they remain focused on their practices.
Currently, the Order has become such an integral part of the people's lives that they would not be able to make a living without its help. This is why the Order is sometimes referred to as the "World Management Organization."
Structure of the Order of the Sacred Key
The Order dispatches necessary personnel from its home base, the Sacred Citadel, and maintains administration and security in districts that have been divided up based on existing settlements.
In some districts, the Order is fully in charge of all operations, while others have their own leaders who govern themselves with assistance from the church, such as one that contains an arena where spectators delight in watching bloody duels.
The former case is the norm for comparatively new settlements that were formed from groups of drifters, such as Lostave, Ingram's hometown.
The head of each district is named the "district sage" and receives special consideration from members of the Order.
The highest authority in the Order who leads the gurus is the “Pope”...but this seat has currently been vacant for a long time, and actual commands are instead issued by the “cardinals”.
Agnija Hagentaph, the leader of the Order staff and church knights, is in charge of the future development of Londenium. He is an "average person", but also a man of action with the ability to make decisions, and never shirks from leading the knights when the unexpected occurs.
The Order’s Roles: Anomalies Disaster Relief
The most important mission of the Order is to provide relief for Anomalies disasters. The Order maintains a large army of knights and dispatches combat-trained church knights to each district.
These church knights patrol the areas they're assigned to and take the initiative in protecting people in the event of a Anomalies appearance.
In addition, Pathfinder Guilds and ARM Shops sponsored by the Order and run by their employees have been set up in each district. These facilities support Pathfinders in a variety of ways, such as providing intel on kaiju and selling/providing ARMs to those who have been approved by the Order, and also paying out rewards to those who exterminate Anomalies.
The Order’s Roles: ARM R&D
As the years go by, Anomalies mate, adapt to their environments, and become more powerful. To counter these threats, the Order also aims to strengthen the ARMs used by church knights and Pathfinders.
The ARM development bureau of the church continually develops additional modules and new versions based on the battle data they collect in order to keep evolving ARMs and discovering more effective ways to exterminate Anomalies.
The Order’s Roles: Ruins Exploration and Management
As ruins from prehistoric civilization are scattered throughout Londenium, every now and then someone may unexpectedly come across over-technology that has been lost in modern times or dangerous ancient alchemy that is beyond human control.
One of the duties of Order employees is to discover these dangerous ruins in cooperation with Pathfinders. When particularly dangerous relics are found, the relevant sites are sealed off with a designated Order seal. Managing such things so that they do not fall into the hands of unknowing people is yet another important role of the Order.
In addition, the Order has proactively gathered talented experts from around the world to form a research team that researches technology obtained from the ruins and feeds it back into infrastructure and ARMs. The restoration and further development of civilization is always on their mind.
Types of Order Employees
To facilitate the administration in each district, the Order maintains a large number of employees, including clerks and technicians, who support people's lives with their respective skills.
In addition, there are different ranks and types of church knights with differing missions who represent the Order's military presence. The "Knight Commander" leads the church knights. Alicia's father once held this position, but has since retired. "Standard knights" are the most common, and are dispatched to various districts under commands to carry out specific duties. After passing a promotion examination, a standard knight can become an "elite knight" and earn the right to act alone and command a platoon, enabling them to carry out their duties in a more spontaneous manner. "Special duty knights" wear red surcoats and are assigned special missions removed from the general chain of command.
A male Order employee, characterized by his long robes. In addition to managing facilities related to the Order, he uses his expertise to protect the Order knights on the homefront during operations.
A female elite knight. They have a wide range of knowledge and leadership skills as unit leaders. It’s difficult to become an elite knight unless you’re skilled at using a particular type of ARM.
A special duty male knight. Since they rarely participate in operational activities with ordinary Order knights, the nature of their work is shrouded in mystery.
That concludes this month’s update. Next month’s update will be released during Japan’s Golden Week holiday.
PENNY BLOOD
◆2024.04.06
Penny Blood Project Diary
Good evening, everyone.
One month has passed since the March update, and it has been a very eventful month for me. Unfortunately, most of those events were very sad. In March, we lost several well-respected creators and artists, beginning with Akira Toriyama and Mutsumi Inomata, two of the world's leading creative standard-bearers who represent Japan. We also said farewell to Minori Terada, the talented voice actor who played Muska in Castle in the Sky, and TARAKO, who charmed families around the nation by playing the main character of the Chibi Maruko-chan TV show.
I was greatly influenced by them from an early age. I always looked up to them, and they assisted me in my drive to want to become a creator myself in the future. There are also many other members involved in the Penny Blood project who have had their sensibilities stimulated by these figures, so I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere condolences. I would also like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude for the many accomplishments they have left behind.
I hope you will understand that I have specifically chosen to use this space to express my feelings instead of my SNS account in order to convey my feelings to people who love creative works not only in Japan but also around the world.
Regarding the progress of the Penny Blood project, I would like to talk about Penny Blood: Hellbound again this month. The game has evolved from closed beta to early access, and more and more content is being added to the game. Recently, the production side of the game has also been undergoing a lot of polishing, and I’ve been supervising storyboards among other things.
The storyboards are really interesting, so I suddenly got an idea. “Hey, we should feature these in the updates!” But then I realized, “Oh, there’s one particular scene in the ending that spoils a lot,” and sort of wrestled with myself. I’ll try to pick out what’s okay to show you all and feature it in the next update, so please hold on for a bit. Also, as a continuation of last week, we’ll be revealing the rest of the trihedral figures for the Hellhounders along with the Ivory Warlock, one of the bosses they face.
…That concludes this month’s update. See you all next month!
Matsuzo Machida
Message from Hirota-san
Good evening, everyone.
A bright, cheerful spring has already arrived in the town where I live, and some days feel like it’s already summer, which makes me wish I could experience a bit more of the change from season to season. As an example, I just went outside in light clothes, but today I feel cold. The temperature difference is really extreme, so please take care of yourselves.
Now for Penny Blood: Hellbound sound update. In March, we completed our second voice recording session. All the voice talent’s performances went far beyond the expectations of myself as well as the development team’s, and there were several lines that were so well done that it became quite hard for us to choose an “OK” take. On top of that, some of the VAs even decided to do a few more takes on top of those, which were all also amazing in their own ways. Overall, it was a truly exquisite recording session.
Witnessing the moments when characters are brought to life is a truly mystical experience filled with surprises. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the voice talent agency for their amazing casting and to the voice talent who read through the material, dove into their roles, and did thorough preparation for the performance.
After the session, I made various adjustments to the voice recordings in order to prepare them for implementation.
When the VAs speak, sometimes sounds such as "pa" or "chi" create lip noise, and their throats can also make sounds that sound a bit like "koh" when they pronounce things in certain ways. These are all minute noises that are created naturally due to the way the human body works, and it's the engineer's job to check for these sorts of noises throughout the performances. If necessary, they'll edit the files and erase the noises, or ask the VAs to do another take if it's impossible to remove the noises.
The VAs all do their best to make sure these noises don't appear, but as long as the noises don't get in the way of the acting, or when they actually end up contributing to the human or monster-like atmosphere that we're going for, I accept the files as-is.
I check the file IDs one by one to make sure they're correct, cut out any unnecessary blank spaces, then unify the overall volume and quality. Finally, I consult with the planner and add special effects that are necessary for specific characters until the files are finally polished like jewels and ready for implementation.
Once the files are all in the right spots, as designated by when the characters are supposed to say certain lines, I deliver the files and implementation is completed. After that, a final stage of adjustment is done on the overall balance of music, sound effects, and voice tracks, and then the voice work is complete. The road to 'completion' in this part of the job is a very long and harrowing journey.
I hope you’ll enjoy the lively voices of all the characters once our work is done!
Late Feb/Early March 2024 Update!
3 months ago
– Fri, Mar 01, 2024 at 02:03:16 AM
Campaign Update
Our Sincerest Condolences
Many of you may have seen the news but we lost a true JRPG hero earlier in the month. Yoshitaka Murayama of the Genso Suikoden and Eiyuden Chronicle series has passed away. We were so fortunate to have him on the closing stream. He was a big personality with great stories to tell. We will miss him and send our deepest condolences to the team at Rabbit and Bear.
Penny Blood Hellbound Early Access
Penny Blood Hellbound will officially enter Early Access on March 7th at 6PM JPN time. It has a host of new content, art, music, added stability, bug fixes, and more. If you purchased it via the Closed Beta Backer discount you'll be able to play right away. If you are new to the game, the Early Access version is priced at $20 USD but that price will increase once we get to the full release. As always, any feedback is greatly appreciated via the official Discord.
Penny Blood Hellbound Early Access Save System
In order to ensure the highest save stability we needed to rebuild the save architecture for future improvements. This unfortunately means that save data from the closed beta will be unusable in the Early Access version but this should be the only time we need to do a save data wipe for any future version. We know losing save progress can be frustrating but hopefully with all the new changes to the core game loop it will still feel like a fresh experience.
Roles
You have probably seen a lot more people on Discord with their various roles. If you have not received yours, please send us a message at [email protected]. There is a good chance that how the survey was answered is causing the bot not to assign your role properly so we can do this manually on our end. Please send us your Backer number and discord ID and we'll get you sorted.
Quick Call-out
An indie RPG called Bestiario has been doing quite well on Kickstarter. It's reached its last days so we wanted to give it a quick shout-out. The creators are huge fans of JRPGs so let’s support their passion!
It’s March. The weather is gradually getting warmer, but people’s hay fever is also getting more intense as well. We’re currently in a season where you kind of want to go outside but also kind of don’t. How are you all faring? Today’s report is coming to you courtesy of our chief director Ishii.
Armed Fantasia March 2024 Project Report
Hello, Ishii here to bring you all this month’s report. As Sekiya described in last month’s update, we’ll be deciding on a theme and bringing you content focused around that each month going forward. This month’s theme is: sound effects! I’m not part of the team that creates the sound effects, but I’ll be talking about what goes into ordering them.
How Sound Effects are Created
Usually, we start creating sound effects for games once the visual assets such as art and motions are well along in production. I think the overall process may differ a bit depending on the studio, but it generally goes like this: the person making the order describes their requests, then the composers create the sound effects while looking at the art and animations. After that, the sound effects are implemented, a check is done to see if they match with the overall image, then fixes are made if necessary.
Describing the requests is a pretty difficult step. No matter how accurately you think you’ve described the sound effect in text, that alone will not be enough to net you the sound effect you’re imagining. Therefore, we also send over existing sounds for the composer to use as a reference, or translate the text into common language that will help the person making the order and the composer share a unified vision.
Kaneko is the one making the orders for sound effects for Armed Fantasia, and when we first asked him what sort of direction he’d prefer for the sounds this time around, he replied: “buppigan”. But the other person didn’t really understand, so he laughed while talking about how hard it was to explain what he meant. It’s true that it may only make sense to a certain generation.
On the other hand, if you manage to get your image across, the composer will usually be able to think up a sound effect that matches what you were imagining to a surprising degree. And even if the sound effects don’t end up matching what he imagined 100%, as long as it doesn’t sound unpleasant, Kaneko enjoys hearing the composer’s own interpretation as a sort of chemical reaction that happens throughout the process. “It’s easy to find someone who agrees with what you think doesn’t taste good, but everyone has a different idea of what tastes good, and those sorts of opinions can end up broadening your horizons.”
Sound Effect for this Gun ARM’s normal attack
The sound effect for this gun ARM normal attack has been completed, so we’ll introduce it here.
It may sound pretty different from the normal sort of “bang!” sound you’d expect a gun to make, but the gun ARMs that appear in Armed Fantasia actually don’t fire out magic. Instead, the Lacrima Drives that serve as the engines for each ARM cover actual bullets with converted ether energy, then fire them out using gunpowder and a firing mechanism that’s no different from an actual gun. As you can hear, the sound effect combines the mechanical noise of brandishing the gun along with the energy-laced bullet being fired.
Menu-related Sound Effects
Aside from the battle-related sound effects like the one we just showed you, sound effects for cutscenes and menu screens are also being worked on. There are a lot of scenes in which the sound effects serve very important roles, and you can especially see each composer’s unique characteristics shine when it comes to cursor noises and confirm/cancel noises where there aren’t any actual tools or action being shown on the screen.
And so, a lot of hard work is going into the sound effects for the menu screens in Armed Fantasia, with the goal of creating sounds that make the menus feel good to use. Of course, as we just explained, sharing a unified vision of what “feels good to use” means is a pretty difficult step.
Kaneko-san and Environmental Sounds
Changing topics a bit, the environmental sounds such as wind blowing and rivers running are also treated as sound effects. Kaneko is very particular about music-related direction, and this includes environmental sounds and other sound effects as well, so there are a lot of things he does on purpose in order to make the story more dramatic.
For example, with a previous game he worked on where you ride dragons, there was a scene where a new character appears at the end of a dungeon. And so, instead of randomly connecting the dungeon music to the event scene music (which had a completely different melody) where the new character would appear, he had the dungeon music fade out, then created a pause where environmental sounds of wind blowing through the mountain could be heard. This gave the event scene music and the appearance of the new character much more impact, making the scene much more exciting.
As you can see, environmental sounds can end up being much more useful than simply adding sounds to the environment, so they’re worth putting care into.
In Conclusion
Sound effects production always ends up falling into the lower half of production, and is prone to various schedule conflicts. Thanks to the composers fighting bravely within the limited timeframes they’re given, the world of the game can end up becoming two or three times more appealing than it would have otherwise been.
At a previous job I once heard that there used to be some really harsh schedules where the director would spend a week lodging together with the composer in order to create all the sounds. Of course, this is something that happened decades ago, so the statute of limitations has run out.
Sound effects end up being more memorable than you may imagine, and I’m sure there are some sound effects in anime and TV shows where just hearing them will make you think “Ah, I know where that’s from!”
We’re working hard to create memorable sound effects like those for Armed Fantasia as well.
That concludes this month’s update. See you next month!
PENNY BLOOD
◆2024.03.02
PENNY BLOOD Project Diary
Good evening, everyone. Just the other day it felt pretty warm, but the cold is back again. The weather continues to be very unstable, but I’m starting to feel like Spring is truly on its way now. Despite what I just wrote, however, it’s still extremely cold up here in Bandai, Niigata, so I’ve bought a bunch of snacks and holed myself up in my home.
Now, let’s begin this month’s Penny Blood project update.
We’re continuing talks with publishers for the main game, but there haven’t been any reports yet, so this month I’d like to talk about the early access version of Penny Blood Hellbound that was released on February 26.
It’s been powered up quite a bit since the beta version. According to Furukawa, the director, they’ve taken care to make a lot of detailed gameplay adjustments, and are working hard to increase the quality of design-related elements as well. While they weren’t able to implement 100% of the feedback they received, they are taking everyone’s opinions seriously as they work hard to refine the game, and I for one find them to be highly dependable. The Early Access version is out now, so please give it a try if you’re interested.
That concludes our progress report, but when I asked Kato-san if she had any art to share this month, she suggested revealing the trihedral figures she created for Clara, the main character of Hellbound, as well as Axeman, and Dr. Eugene. Unlike the characters of Penny Blood, the ones in Hellbound are squished ‘chibi’ style characters, but Axeman still emits a dark, outlaw aura, while Dr. Eugene still feels like a psychotic mad scientist. Personally, I love characters that are this size.
…That’s it for this month’s update! I’ve been writing this text while eating some oden and drinking sake, and I have to say, nothing feels better than drinking some Shimeharitsuru sake while thinking about Spring in the northern lands.
See you all next month.
Matsuzo Machida
Message from Hirota-san
Good evening, everyone.
Whenever I get close to a deadline, I tend to remain shut up in my office, so I've been going on walks in the morning and evening in order to revitalize my brain. Lately, perhaps because Spring is near, really strong winds coming from the South have almost knocked me over.
For a while, I was working exclusively on things for the Early Access version of Penny Blood: Hellbound. We've added a lot more sound effects compared to the Beta, but there are still a lot of things missing or still in temporary states, so I want to keep adding a lot of new sounds.
I've been composing a lot of music and new songs as well. The combat is the main focus of this game, so I've worked hard on the battle music while considering where the battles are happening, the situations, the enemy characters, etc. Of course, I also keep in mind what sort of melody the battle music in the previous area had in order to select the right 'playlist' like a DJ while keeping in mind the feelings of the players and overall flow of the game.
The music featured in the new area added in Early Access has already gotten pretty intense, so I'm sort of worried as to whether I'll be able to compose an even more intense song for the next area, or whether some sort of 'intensity inflation' will occur. Still, instead of holding back and composing a song similar to what I did for the initial stage, I think it'll be better if I just charge forward and try to develop a new frontier of intensity for the sake of the main game as well.
There are still some instruments I want to add to the songs that were revealed this time around, so I intend to update them in the future. I hope you can still enjoy those tracks as they are now, knowing that you'll only be able to hear them for a limited time.
In March, we'll be doing our second round of voice recordings. I hope you're all excited to hear the new characters' voices.
I'm going to do my best to keep charging forward and deliver to you the best sounds possible, so please keep cheering me on!
February 2024 Update!
3 months ago
– Fri, Feb 02, 2024 at 05:02:31 AM
Hey, JRPG Fans!
Hopefully only one last month of cold before we can get ready for our favorite season - cherry blossoms in late March.
Campaign Information
Discord roles finally rolling out!
You may have seen some individuals getting their discord roles. We apologize this took so long but security was important. If you input your discord name incorrectly or are still using the old naming system, the bot won't be able to correctly identify you. We'll be running the bot script once a week so if you need support on getting your role assigned, send us an E-mail at [email protected] with your backer number and discord name and we'll get you set up.
Preparing for Hellbound early access
We've mentioned this on the various social media accounts but we have now ended the Closed Beta for Hellbound. We have a ton of useful feedback and are parsing through all the data received via the Googleforms and Discord comments. The goal will be to fix any major bugs, adjust some of the core gameplay and metaloop and add in a couple of new systems we've been thinking about. The goal is to release early access during the last week of February. It will feature the following:
・Area 3 added with new enemies, a new boss, and new music from Yoshitaka Hirota
・Axeman as a playable character
・New Dungeon NPCs that battle with you during your run
・2 new systems: emblems and organ grinding
・50 achievements
・1 new shops and upgraded versions of old shops
・Voices no longer linked to your text language (play the English version with Japanese voices and vice versa)
・Updated tutorials and tool tips
・Metaloop and timing adjustments based on Closed Beta Feedback
・Bug Fixes
As mentioned before, those who purchased the game during the Closed Beta period will be able to play the Early Access build once it's available on February 26th.
Fastest Run and Giveaway Contest Results
Congratulations to Mattremy and ArctheLadder who won the giveaway and fastest run contest respectively. We'll be reaching out to both of you in the new future to confirm your shipping information for the signature boards!
Development Updates
ARMED FANTASIA
Today’s report is coming to you from Sekiya. Starting this year, the timing of these reports has shifted a bit, and we’ll be surprising you at the beginning of each month from now on.
Today (or after today, on the 3rd) is the “setsubun” event in Japan. It’s a traditional event that has existed since long ago where people spread beans around to cast out evil and invite in good fortune, but I’m not sure how many people actually still practice it to this day. For me, it’s just become a day where I buy beans at the convenience store and eat a number equal to my current age. We might be in trouble if the demons decide to get serious.
Oh yeah, and is the 14th Valentine’s Day? I forgot that was a thing. If you aren’t careful with how you celebrate, the murderer Harry Warden will come back, right? And beans don’t work against that demon…
Armed Fantasia February 2024 Project News
Due to effects from the end of the year holiday, we don’t have any outstanding reports to make in any section this month. The content of our project updates is starting to look very similar as a result, so from this point on when we don’t have any big topic to emphasize, we’re going to pick some sort of theme to focus on instead.
And so, since we just got balance models turned in from the modeling team for Soleil and her pet (?) Strisch, we’d like to introduce them this time around. We’re also going to reveal information on Soleil that’s safe to reveal at this stage.
Soleil Balance Model
▲Soleil’s setting art
▲Soleil’s balance models, coat version and inner clothing version
The first step in creating a 3D character that can be mobile in-game is creating balance models based on the character design. It may seem simple, since details such as eyes haven’t been added yet, but we use this stage to check and examine the overall balance, the form of the parts, and the consistency when the model actually moves.
As textures and shaders are applied, we modify and brush up the model, so the finished product ends up looking completely different.
Due to Soleil's long hair and bulky, complicated jacket, several of the parts interfered with each other when she was turned into a model, so the design apparently became rather challenging.
Since player characters can change ARMs in ARMED FANTASIA, their models are being created under more delicate constraints than you may be imagining.
Strisch’s Balance Model
▲Strisch’s setting art Image text translation: He’s wearing a jacket, and the bottom right shows the size difference between the two.
▲Strisch’s balance models
These are the balance models for Strisch, who is always with Soleil. As mentioned earlier, Strisch is also Soleil’s first gadget, but Strisch also assists her in battle as well.
Strisch will be just as active as the player characters themselves when it comes to the event scenes, field exploration, and battles in the game, so Strisch also requires just as much attention as Soleil, albeit in a different way.
About Soleil
We’ve released some fragmentary information on her so far, but Soleil is a character with a ninja motif. However, this is solely a motif. In ARMED FANTASIA, Soleil comes from a clan of kaiju extermination specialists known as ‘tomashi.’
The need for kaiju exterminators has declined due to the spread of ARMs across Londenium, so they’ve become obsolete. Midst this, Soleil continues to travel as a Pathfinder and meets up with Ingram and his gang, but we’ll keep the details of their story secret for now.
Her initial ARM is a fist-type, and she excels in close combat and physical skills, but can also use tomashi-specific skills as well. At 14 years old, Soleil is the youngest and shortest in the party, but should be quite useful in battle.
She isn’t very talkative, and may come off as introverted, but is actually pretty tough.
When she finds it difficult to describe something, she often uses Strisch like a ventriloquist's puppet to speak for her, and can be pretty harsh at times…especially toward Euclid.
She carries sweets with her as rations, and has a pretty big appetite as she’s still growing.
About Strisch
Strisch is a small animal (least weasel, or Mustela nivalis) that Soleil keeps with her. Strisch is a rare breed of animal for Londenium, and cannot communicate with humans like a certain wind mouse can, but Strisch is still pretty intelligent. Strisch can also dexterously use tools and pull off combo attacks with Soleil in battle.
Strisch’s fluffy, cute appearance earns curious glances from Euclid, an animal lover, but apparently Strisch isn’t very fond of Euclid.
Incidentally, when Soleil translates what Strisch is saying, she uses “Ore” in Japanese, a traditionally male pronoun. In other words, Strisch is a boy!
That concludes this month’s report. It’s still cold out there, so please take care of yourselves.
PENNY BLOOD
◆2024.02.03
PENNY BLOOD Project Diary
Everyone, be sure to keep the oni out and let the good fortune in!
It felt like New Year’s was only yesterday, yet setsubun is already here. This year, I’d like to put on some sort of demon (oni) mask and run around my house. February also has Valentine’s Day, so it’s truly a season in which we can all experience youthful romance. (staring off into the distance)
Now, for this month’s Penny Blood project report.
Thanks to everyone’s support, Penny Blood: Hellbound’s closed beta test ended on 1/31. We’re really grateful to everyone who took the time to play the game. We’ve been going through all the feedback you sent to us, and the development team is working hard to power up the content of the game. All of that along with brand new content will be released in the Early Access version, so we hope you’re looking forward to it.
This month, I’m also proud to release some new art from the main game.
First, we have the Twoheaded Pig (temporary name). While the closed beta test for the companion game Penny Blood: Hellbound was running, and I was working long and hard on the structure for the main game, I wanted a normal monster that’d be easy to use in various places, so I had Hanya-san design this monster. It’s been designed in a way that’ll make it easy to recolor it and modify its model a bit. The story behind this monster is that it was a livestock pig artificially modified due to the food shortages that ensued after the end of World War I. Among the other gross, horror-style monsters in the game, I want to make it a cute-grotesque monster that goes ‘oiiiink, oiiiink’ and does charming motions.
The other image is the Altar of Kalingsum. Out of all the dungeons that Matthew visits in Penny Blood, this will be the most important and most dangerous one. When Watanabe-san was drawing this, I had him include special elements such as the gravestones, otherworldly sky, and the large mirror floating in the air.
Depending on what angle you look at the mirrors from, they will depict truth and lies, Matthew himself and his enemies, the past and the present, hope and despair…there will be much to see in all of them. Up until now, I have always depicted my main characters’ mental struggles alongside the stories in my games, and the same will be true for Penny Blood. I’m going to work hard from here on out to make them as dramatic as possible.
…That concludes this month’s update. This is the coldest season out of the year, so please take care of yourselves and stay in good health.
See you all next month.
Matsuzo Machida
Message from Hirota-san
Good evening, everyone. I feel like January 1st was just yesterday, but it’s already February now, isn’t it?
I want to thank everyone who participated in the Penny Blood: Hellbound closed beta test. There were a lot of sound-related things that I wasn’t able to finish or implement in time, but I’m working my hardest to get things prepared for the Early Access release.
For a while now, I’ve been working on the boss themes for the different areas. I’m planning on playing a lot of different instruments for the recordings. Original stringed instruments, basses, guitars, cellos, flutes, percussion instruments, etc.
Bass is an instrument that I especially love and have played a lot throughout my life, so it’s the most helpful in terms of breathing vitality into my music. During recordings, I always play it with the same amount of energy that I release during my live performances.
Penny Blood: Hellbound doesn’t have as much dramatic sound direction as RPGs do, so I feel like that means we need to put a lot of dramatic elements into the battle music. With the battle theme for the first area, I focused on using it as a way to draw people into the world of Penny Blood: Hellbound, putting emphasis on the initial coloring and the image that I wanted people to first get into their heads. The songs for further areas will have a lot of transitions within them and are currently turning into even more interesting pieces.
Up to this point, I had to do a lot of managerial things and ‘top-down’ work such as sound direction, but from this point on, I’ll be able to lose myself simply in composing for a while. I feel like after looking at the entire thing from a telescope and sketching, I’ve switched over to a magnifying glass now.
In any case, I’m now at the point where I can truly shine as a composer, so I’m going to do my best to keep creating great songs.
I’m looking forward to talking with you all whenever I do another composing broadcast. Please stay warm and make sure you don’t catch a cold.
Penny Blood Hellbound Interim Update
4 months ago
– Wed, Jan 10, 2024 at 01:02:16 AM
Hello! Just a quick interim update!
Backerkit Order Locking and Charges
If you are a new backer or have purchased additional add-ons via the Backerkit store you have probably received an E-mail asking you to finalize your order. In enabling Paypal to be used for the main campaign Backerkit page, we wanted to use the time to lock orders and charge cards for the current orders we have on hand. This pertains to both the Double Kickstarter and Hellbound titles. Any charge will be listed as Red Art since their payment account is attached to the project.
New orders are still possible but we’ll be handling any survey changes to previous orders manually so just send us an E-mail at [email protected] so that we can update your order. Manual changes can still happen up until 3 months before shipping so there is still plenty of time.
Penny Blood Hellbound January 10th Interim Build
We mentioned some of the high-level changes to Penny Blood Hellbound but here is a specific list of the updated content. The goal will be to use the remaining Closed Beta time to fine tune the metaloop/store costs/damage amounts as we move towards Early Access in February. You can purchase the game from the backerkit link below:
Also, please note that when Early Access releases the price will increase from 20 Dollars to 25 Dollars with a new level and multiplayer modes dropping shortly so if you want to purchase it at the cheaper price you'll have until February to do so. As stated in an earlier update, Beta access will allow you to play the game throughout Early Access.
Change List: -Voices added for player characters, bosses, and NPCs. -Area 2 Normal battle music added. -Shop BGMs added to shops in the hideout. -Sudden mission timer now freezes during Ecstasy Skill activation. -Fixed a bug where music stops when Steamdecks go into sleep mode. -Fixed a bug where active skill icons disappear when skills are switched in the inventory screen. Skills can also no longer be switched in the inventory screen during battle. -The Ecstasy Gauge can no longer be increased by bloodsurfing after clearing a stage. -Recovery panel amounts and costs have been adjusted. Free recovery: 7-9% Paid recovery: 20-25% Cost: x10 pennies -Spike traps now do more damage. -Fixed the bug where active skills can no longer be used when a character is resurrected by a skill. -Currency now displays on the lower right corner of the screen if you stand still in the hideout for 1.5 seconds. -Alchemical costs have been lowered by 100 malystals. -Dr. Eugene’s mod lab costs have been lowered by 50 malystals. -Damage has been reduced for the following skills: Sentinel Orbs, Malice Grinder. -Various text and input bugs have also been fixed.
Natsume Atari Code!?!
Natsume Atari is a developer with a long history in games and rightfully so has their own "secret code". I wonder if this unlocks something on the title screen???
Xbox Controller：X, X, X, X, Y, Y, Y, Y, X, Y, X, Y, X, Y, X, Y
