The Return of B-Tier JRPGs: Armed Fantasia and Penny Blood

[fanboymaster]

Spiritual successors to late 90s/early 00s game franchises Wild ARMs and Shadow Hearts are being Kickstart4ed as we speak, anyone else going in on them?

Currently targeting Windows, PS5 and Xbox Series with potential for a release on a Switch 2 (though they'll investigate Switch if that's all that's available by release time, tentatively 2025). They look like about what I'd want from this kind of revival and I dearly miss the B-tier JRPG, so I'm backing.

Worth noting they've been very clear, this 750k goal is to close deals with publishers to fund the rest. I'd say they're being about as reasonable and transparent as one could hope for.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/doublekickstarter/armed-fantasia-and-penny-blood

 

[YangusKhan]

¥11,000 for the digital combo pledge seems pretty reasonable. Wild ARMs and Shadow Hearts are probably my top 2 choices for B-tier JRPG revivals (well, now that Suikoden already has one), so this is mighty enticing. And I've never backed anything on KS yet.

 

[fanboymaster]

The initial funding goal covering PC versions of both games has been hit.

 

[WildcatJF]

Great! I think I want to wait and potentially buy these once released, but I'm glad it hit its goal within a day. Both sound intriguing, but not quite enough to entice me into doing another Kickstarter.

 

[Sarge]

I jumped in. I think the roughly $110 for physical copies of both was more than reasonable.

 

[ArugulaZ]

The description of Penny Blood made it sound like a spiritual successor to Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha, as much as anything else. Also, is there any reason for the random red letters used in the promotional copy? Is that a stylistic choice or are they dropping subtle hints about the story?

 

[Pajaro Pete]

Catch me purchasing both of these titles in 2026 when they finally release even though I don't like actually playing Shadow Hearts

 

[fanboymaster]

Unsurprisingly, looks like the console versions are the million dollar stretch goal, barring a frankly incredible disaster those look quite achievable.

I went in on both physical versions as well because why not, that's still cheaper than they'll be in 2025/6 when they actually come out.

I don't think I've seen any credible idea of what the red letters mean, when strung together they appear to be nonsense but it's possible there's an anagram or weird lore shit that remains unclear. For now I wouldn't exactly pay it much mind.

 

[fanboymaster]

Crossed 1 mllion, console versions stretch goal has been hit.

 

[Purple]

Japanese horror stuff just loves totally random red letters. I assume it's to avoid that blood keeps dripping all over the text.

Also I'm still not over that video on the kickstarter with the bad Dracula costume and the wheel.

Also the TOTALLY BONKERS HYPE BUILDING COMBAT SYSTEM!?

Team Penny Blood is supporting Matthew in his fight against the Motofuji, but they’ve only been able to achieve one of their five goals. Not to worry, because Team Armed Fantasia have cleared four of their five, helping Ingram obliterate that grim Gwiber!

But as it turns out, both enemies only need two hits to be defeated, so those remaining two actions Team Armed Fantasia earned will transfer over to the Team Penny Blood side, helping them trounce that maleficent Motofuji after all.

The Combo-Meter also makes an appearance here, gradually filling as more teams achieve their goals, subsequently adding major upgrades to the merchandise for both games!

Oh! We should talk about the actions and their types before we go.

Normal attacks count as one point each, Special Moves count as two, and Block/Guard actions reduce the amount of “damage” dealt to the teams by their monster (what, you thought they’d just take it lying down?). They WILL counterattack if they’re caught in a bind, and these will come in the form of extra challenges that’ll need to be completed within 24 hours or teams will lose some of the points they’ve fought so hard to earn.

Another quick example:

The greedy Gwiber goes on the offensive with a counterattack…and on a Saturday no less! (They must know backers won’t be looking at the campaign page that day—clever Gwiber!)

A counterattack could be anything like:

・30 comments on a new Facebook Post that goes up that day

・50 people in the discord channel writing a specific message within 24 hours

・5 pieces of Gwiber fanart (Not only are they clever, but they have a tremendous ego!)

However, if teams have already completed their Block/Guard action then these numbers will be reduced to compensate so don’t forget to strategize.

That's not about either of the games. That's about like, their discord.

 

[Beowulf]

I feel like the hot trend of "make a new game in an old series with the serial numbers filed off" is a mixed bag at best, but I enjoyed both of these series and it's not a huge amount of money, so I'll give it a go.

When does the old Quintet team get back together and Kickstarter Terranigma 2, is my question?

 

[gorha]

These sound great! I don't expect to have a device that can play the games by the time they come out, so I'm not going to back the Kickstarter, but they sound great. I hope to play them someday.

 

[Sarge]

When does the old Quintet team get back together and Kickstarter Terranigma 2, is my question?

This. So much this.

 

[YangusKhan]

I jumped in. I think the roughly $110 for physical copies of both was more than reasonable.

And I just did this too. We don't select the platform we want for these games until much later, I assume?

 

[fanboymaster]

They'll send you a survey when the kickstarter's over asking what platform you want the games on.

 

[gogglebob]

IMPORTANT UPDATE: The Armed Fantasia Kickstarter has cleared approximately $808,000, which means "More Whistling" has been unlocked. I repeat: this Kickstarter has been so successful, it is going to have more whistling.

 

[Paul le Fou]

I have to admit, the fuckin' whistling got me. The Wild ARMS opening cinematic is still the pinnacle of human achievement and the nostalgia, she is strong.

 

[Purple]

I'm a little upset at how lopsided the funding is, both because hey I have a favored horse in the race if I'm honest, but also because I have to figure part of that is "let's give more funding to the one that came in with a lot more of the visual groundwork already laid down.

On the other hand, it's also way more ambitious, and probably needs more money.

On the third hand, this is one of those "we aren't actually raising the money to do the thing, we're just demonstrating to publishers that there's demand" kickstarters. Which... OK this is a mutant hand that has a few side-hands branching off it and that's distressing and I'm just gonna sneak out now.

 

[fanboymaster]

Less than a day left on the KS, currently sitting at just under 2.2 million dollars raised total. Armed Fantasia's most recent unlock is Wild Arms style prologue chapters, Penny Blood has added special encounters with bonus bosses that will occur if you wait around in dungeons for too long and which will seemingly affect its ending, one of the several stretch goals that have hinted at creating additional conditions to reach what the developers describe as a "good" ending.

 

[Purple]

Both of these are things I honestly just kind of assumed would be there by default, honestly.