October has come and gone and that means we have another update for Penny Blood. This is one of the spiritual successors that I am looking forward to. In this update, we get a lengthy project diary, a message from Hirota-san, and a couple of cool images. So let’s see what this update has in store for the Shadow Hearts series’ spiritual successor, Penny Blood.
Project Diary
As we kick off the project diary for Penny Blood Matsuzo Machida talks about still negotiating with publishers and a little about the state of gaming. They had this to say:
“Good evening, everyone. We’re finally getting into the real swing of autumn now. The temperatures in Niigata have dropped a lot, and the leaves on the trees of streets nearby are starting to turn red. Now, for this month’s Penny Blood project update. As I write every time, we’re still in the middle of negotiations with publishers. One thing that often comes up in conversations is how the entire game industry around the world is experiencing a slump compared to the past couple of years. We ran the Double Kickstarter campaign itself during the pandemic, where lots of people were stuck at home.
So the state of the industry was much better then. But now, (although it’s a good thing), entertainment that involves travel such as tourism, sports events, and so on has all returned to normal, so the game industry has lost that temporary boost. When you think about it, it may just seem like things have gotten back to normal, but within these circumstances, I’m doing a lot of thinking in regards to the best way to increase the value and show off the charm of the Penny Blood IP. Penny Blood needs to be an attractive product first and foremost to all the fans and backers as well as to publishers.”
Project Diary Part 2
As we continue through the project diary the team talks about the work that Kato-san has put in. Her work with the Halloween illustration as well as other designs she and Hanya-san worked on was shared and this was said:
“Kato-san drew a Halloween illustration for us this month. She has been working hard on creating character designs, drawing trihedral figures, checking lots of different things, drawing illustrations, and designing even more still… Basically she’s as busy as one of those turboprop engines that’s always spinning and making lots of noise. Her hands move so fast atop her tablet that I can’t even keep track of them. Her comment for this month is “I tried drawing the characters so that they look like Halloween-esque monsters!” Apparently her favorite is Luca showing off his cute fangs.
Hanya-san has finished the wind fusion monster and is drawing its trihedral figures now. This month, we’ll be showing you another piece of new art right off the presses: “Ronan, the Mad Tempest Knight.” The concept for this fusion monster is “a half-beast knight who can control the wind,” so I asked him to draw a beautiful boy who uses a lyre as a weapon. Game system-wise, I think Ronan will be more of a support-type fusion monster who sings Bardic music in order to buff party members.”
Project Diary Part 3
In the last part of the project diary, we get some insights into what Watanabe-san has been up to in Penny Blood. This is what they shared with us:
“Watanabe-san, our image board specialist, just finished drawing the indoor race track. I believe that America was the main place where greyhound races were held in 1923, and we’re going to make sure the gambling den run by the gangster Owney Madden in Penny Blood will be ablaze with excitement. Luca will take part in the races in order to train himself, too. Oh, and there won’t just be dogs running in these races. I imagine it’s going to end up being quite a wild place where you’ll get to see a lot of unusual races.
And that concludes this month’s update. We’re right in the middle of autumn now. So I hope you can all cherish the leaves as they start to really change color, eat some good food, and give your stomachs all the nutrients they need. See you next month, everyone.”
Message from Hirota-san
Hirota-san started by talking about the autumn and about having meetings with Kaisa-san. So Hirota-san started by saying this:
“Good evening, everyone. The end of October is near, and our mornings and evenings are starting to grow cold. Compared to how long summer was, it feels like autumn will go by in the blink of an eye. I hope none of you are getting under the weather as we shift seasons. Try to do your best to get enough sleep and eat balanced meals. I’ll do my best as well. Last year around this time, I unveiled to you all the Graveyard song that I composed in collaboration with Kaida-san. I want to have more meetings with Kaida-san and do a bunch more composing with her. Then have you all listen to even more of our work, so I’ve been thinking up a lot of ideas.”
Development Work
As Hirota-san continued to share a message with fans we got into some of the development work for Penny Blood. Regarding their work, Hirota-san had this to say:
“Now, regarding my sound development work, I think that sound lists are very important. Ideally, a sound list will include the names of all sound files, where they’ll be used, the priority of production on each, and how far the production of each has come along. Also whether or not they’ve already been implemented, which ROM version they’ll be implemented in, and additional information that is fully analyzed. This should give you a detailed idea of what the sound situation is for the entire product. This list acts as a bridge between the sound designers, programmers, planners, and other team members, so it’s very important. Thus, I believe creating a good sound list is part of the work involved in order to make good sounds.
Thinking about what sort of list would be best or most convenient for specific projects and developments is also part of the fun. Therefore, I’m doing my best to increase the quality of the sound list daily so that I can keep making good sounds for Penny Blood. I also have an announcement to make. Next Sunday, I will be streaming my “Composition Work for Penny Blood vol.3” next Sunday, on 10/29 from my TTS PRODUCTS Youtube channel. I’ll be working on music that I want to use for the Japan arc of the story, mainly focused on bass recording.” Composition work for Penny Blood vol.3 2023 Oct.29 (Sun.) JST 3 PM-4:30 PM
Wrap-Up
It was interesting finding this Kickstarter considering it was a double one. This game was on the same Kickstarter as Armed Fantasia To The End Of The Wilderness. It was the first double one I have ever seen. One of the big things about it is that support between the two games continues to be consistent. They aren’t trying to outshine one another and support each other. Shadow Hearts is one of my favorite series. So Penny Blood is near the top of my list of games I am super excited about. Everyone will be able to enjoy this when it releases on PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S!
