With the sudden announcement of a dual Kickstarter for the spiritual successor to Shadow Hearts and Wild Arms, I’be been utterly beside myself, trying to compose my thoughts and emotions. Thankfully, we’ve got some interesting interviews to share with fans in the meantime!

Here’s an interview conducted by Dengeki with Machida Matsuzo:

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We’re very pleased to present a special interview with the developer of the new Penny Blood RPG, a new title that’s part of a dual Kickstarter campaign.

Working under Studio Wildrose, production on Penny Blood is led by game designer and scenario writer who developed the Shadow Hearts series, Machida Matsuzo; Kato Miyako, character designer who illustrates unique characters, and Hirota Yoshitaka, a legendary composer.

The dual Kickstarter for Penny Blood and Armed Fantasia is currently in progress (actually, it reached its minimum goal within the first 19 hours of the campaign!).

We were able to conduct a mail-based interview with Machida-san to share with you! We asked about various highlights and features of this game, so definitely keep reading!

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A challenging world view for JRPGs!

ーThank you very much for your time today.

Before we get started, I am very happy to have the opportunity for an interview with Dengeki again. You were very helpful when I was working on the Shadow Hearts series back in the day. Even now, I’m extremely grateful for how you act as a welcoming bridge between developers and fans. I’d like to talk as much as I can about Penny Blood, so I really appreciate this opportunity.

ーWhen did you get the idea for this title?

Actually, the concept of Penny Blood has been around for quite a while. It’s been maybe a year since we actually wrote up the plan and started working on it.　

ーWhat set you on this endeavor?

Well, the biggest trigger was meeting Kaneko from Armed Fantasia, who we’re actually working with on this dual Kickstarter. As one of the best game creators in the whole world, I have massive respect for him. The mere thought of tackling such a huge project with him ignited my adventurous spirit, and that’s how I made that decision.

ーThe other two characters besides the main character that we’ve seen, are they playable?

Yes, they are. Emilia is a brave and strong female character. I wanted to express how difficult it is for women in society today and how hard they work every day. Emilia had half of her body turned into cyborg, so she’s able to use a variety of battle techniques.

On the other hand, Suseri is a girl from an organization that protects the imperial capital in Japan. She’s a pro with magic-based attacks and support skills.

When the girls meet Matthew, they’re influenced by each other, and strive for a better way of life.

ーWho’s the main baddie in Penny Blood? Will we see historical figures appear as enemies?

Yes, you will. I tend to write in famous historical figures. You’ll see both strong allies and enemies to despise.

You can say that they all share historical accurate depictions of people’s determination and hopes from that era. I don’t intentionally drop famous people in for the name recognition alone.

ーWhat are somethings you changed from the previous titles, or maybe somethings that remained the same?

We made this entirely for adults this time. What hasn’t changed is that it’s an RPG that has love, tears, and comedy.

It’s really difficult to tell a story that evolves within a world of dark horror in a JRPG. As far as staging goes, I want to use images of the grotesque, much stronger depictions of bizarre and elements of the occult than before.

ーHow many characters can we have in the party?

You can have up to four characters in battle. Since we have a total of eight playable characters you can control, it’s possible to make two parties. You may need to make two separate parties depending on the area.

ーCould you tell us more about the Psycho Sigil mechanic in battle?

The Psycho Sigil is a system that judges success or failure by accurately timed button presses. The design of the sigil (crest) has a different motif for each character, varying the number of light points that determine the timing for each button press.

Battles in Penny Blood are turn-based. You select a command and then perform that action, but the input is seamless within the action. Depending on the situation, your action might trigger a special move or combo attack. Combos have special effects in which allies won’t act in order but rather in sync.

ーHumorous aspects such as the Han festival, torture events, and strange creatures were quite popular with fans of the Shadow Hearts series. Will we see more of this in Penny Blood as well?

Yes. (grin) Penny Blood is a completely new game that has nothing to do with the Shadow Hearts series, so I think it will have many more powered up sequences.

ーAnd, what about the vampire clan…?

They won’t appear since they’re already included as a special class within the main cast of characters. But I think it would be interesting feature a similar clan. Let me know if you have any cool ideas; we can keep it between just the two of us.

ーDid you talk with art director Kato Miyako and sound director Hirota Yoshitaka about what they wanted to do in this new title?

Kato is both the character designer and art director for Penny Blood. It’s impossible to create a photorealistic model and world like other blockbuster RPGs, so I worried about how to create art that conveys the concept of Penny Blood.

After mulling it over a lot, I decided on a more American comic style. It was difficult to reproduce it with semi-cel shading, but I think Watanabe, the visual director, did a great job. The world of Penny Blood was decided quickly thereafter, so I’m really grateful to both of them.

Conversely, we knew what we wanted for the music and sound effects from the start, so I only asked Hirota to create the atmosphere of the whole story and special sound effects that would be vital to the story.

I especially liked the main theme song that I named “Fhathast beò” in Gaelic. It basically translates to, “and yet I live.” I think it sums up the core theme of Penny Blood precisely.

ーWhen might we be able to listen to these favorite songs of yours?

I would bet pretty soon. They’re all musical masterpieces that illustrate the world of Penny Blood before your eyes, so I hope you give them a listen. I’ve listened to them, like, 100 times already.

ーAnd finally, one last question… Will we be getting two endings, a good and bad one as usual?

Yup. (grin)

―Thanks for your time.