On Kickstarter, Studio Wildrose and Wild Bunch Production have shared some information on the setting for Armed Fantasia and Penny Blood. They also reminded backers and people interested in the games that this is the last push before the Kickstarter closes on September 30, 2022.
In Armed Fantasia, non-native organisms that people call Anomalies are roaming the land and causing devastation on the natural ecosystem. They are also very dangerous, so the Order and Pathfinders have to destroy them. Some examples of Anomalies are the Xibalba, Pandagruel, and Vouivreguivre.
There is also an anti-Order group called the Iconocluster who hope to free Londenium from the Order, which they perceive as evil. Their members are Setsuna Carpediem, Arcain Wharen, Knight Gungnir, and Kimquis Mycalmel. It is unclear if they will be fight alongside Ingram and his friends, or against them.
In the field test video for Armed Fantasia, it shows how you explore the map. It seems that you can switch who your avatar is on the fly. Since each character has their own Gadget for exploration, this is perhaps to make it easier to shuffle through Gadgets.
In the Penny Blood update, there is also a brief clip of how the battle works. In the video, you can see Emilia’s Psycho Sigil, and her combo attack where she shoots out a missile from her knee. A separate video shows off the Sigil Slaughter combo attack between Emilia and Matthew. You can also hear a bit of the Penny Blood battle theme. A piano version of Emilia’s theme is on Soundcloud as well.
As for the game’s story, Roger Bacon will make a return in Penny Blood and we will actually get to know more about his background. Bacon appeared in the original Shadow Hearts games as an eccentric, but in Penny Blood, we will see him as a “handsome young friar” who just finished studying at the University of Oxford. The Kickstarter update also includes a picture of the Ryounkaku Superfortress. This is the fortress that the Kamuzumi organization built to facilitate their battle against the aramitama.
For a quick update on stretch goals, Armed Fantasia has cleared the $1,145,000 mark needed to include three additional ARM types. In total, you will be able to get nine ARM types and roles in battle. Penny Blood has also cleared the Pedometer stretch goal. This will allow players to get prizes based on how many steps they take in dungeons.
As well, Kenji Ito (SaGa) and Yasunori Shiono (Lufia) will collaborate on the Penny Blood soundtrack. They are joining Yoshitaka Hirota (Shadow Hearts), Akari Kaida (Breath of Fire 3) and Nobuo Uematsu (Final Fantasy) to compose music.
Armed Fantasia and Penny Blood are in development for the PS5, Xbox Series X, and Windows PC. Penny Blood will come out in Spring 2025.
