Wild Arms and Shadow Hearts Creators Launch A Double Kickstarter For New Spiritual Successors

The creators of cult classic PlayStation RPGs, Wild Arms, and Shadow Hearts are teaming up for the first ever attempt at a ‘double Kickstarter’ which will raise funds to make spiritual successors to both series.

The Kickstarter starts on the 29th of August with options to donate to one game or both of them. There will also be stretch goals that benefit both games.

Wild Arms creator Akifumi Kaneko will be working with veterans of the series to create Armed Fantasia: To The End of The wilderness. The game will be set in a similar ‘westernpunk’ setting to the Wild Arms series combining fantasy RPG gameplay and storytelling with the cowboys and guns of the wild west.

Meanwhile, Matsuzo Machida the creator of Shadow Hearts will be developing a game called Penny Blood which will incorporate the gothic horror aesthetic of the Shadow Hearts series.

In an interview with VGC, Machida and Kaneko said the two games will share a Kickstarter goal of $750,000 with the funding being split based on which games users decide to back.

“We will be splitting the funding based on the amount backed so it won’t be a 50/50 for the initial goal. Still though, if we reach that initial goal, the expectation is that enough people are seeing the campaign and interested in the content that eventually both titles will do well enough to support the bare minimum of content necessary to make a good game.”

“The core connective tissue is both [Wilds Arms and Shadow Hearts] are games that JRPG fans love. It’s hard to say how many people played both but by combining both games into one campaign the goal is to raise awareness for both titles. Neither have been as popular as a Final Fantasy so this is two creators helping each other in an effort for both to achieve success.”

Armed Fantasia

Armed Fantasia tells a dramatic story that unfolds in a world hurtling towards destruction. Players take the role of a group of Pathfinders and, with trusted ARMs in hand, embark on a perilous journey across a sprawling Westernpunk wilderness.

In a far flung corner of this world lies the land of Londenium, where a young man named Ingram loses his grandfather; the final tether binding him to his hometown. With no other reason to stay, and in hopes of reconnecting with his childhood friend, Ingram sets out on a new adventure as a Pathfinder, a branch of adventurers that utilize the powerful ARM (Aether Reaction Maximizer) weaponry to dispose of Anomalies that ravage the land.

Ingram’s journey will lead him to cross destinies with many a new friend and foe, and become embroiled in a monumental battle that’ll strike through Londenium’s past and its future.

Penny Blood

Penny Blood presents a world twisted in gothic horror and nightmarish imagery rarely seen in JRPGs. In Penny Blood, players follow the story of Matthew, an investigator who embarks on a dark international probe through the iconic Roaring Twenties, amassing allies and confronting trauma in a world twisted by cosmic horror, malice and mayhem.

Players will circumnavigate the globe, from the USA to Europe and Asia, and explore nations either recovering or basking in the wake of one of history’s bloodiest conflicts, oblivious to the turmoil that brews beneath the surface.

You can find the Double Kickstarter for Armed Fantasia and Penny Blood here. While the funding is yet to launch, the page currently has 10183 followers.

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