3 years later, these JRPGs from genre veterans are stuck in purgatory despite raising nearly $2.6 million in a combined Kickstarter campaign

Screenshot from Penny Blood, showing a third-person view of a black-dressed protagonist staring up at a red moon, darkened sky, and ominous chapel in the night. There's also a mini-map in the top-right corner.
(Image credit: Studio Wildrose)

Two JR🎐PGs from some genre vetera🔴ns still seem to be stuck in purgatory, despite both having led a mega-successful Kickstarter campaign.

First things first, some introductions. In 2022ꦬ, two games from veteran developers joined forces to hold a '.' Wild Arms writer and designer Akifumi Kaneko had announced Westernpunk RPG Armed Fantasia at his new studio, while Matsuzo Machida had done the same with Penny Blood, a gothic spiritual successor to the cult classic game Shadow Hearts that made him a notable name in the genre.

Armed Fantasia - Official Kickstarter 🌊Trailer - YouTube Armed Fantasia - Official Kickstarter Trailer - YouTube

The Double Kickstarter absolutely boomed, raising around 380 million yen (or arouജnd $2.6 million) and rocketing passed several stretch goals that promised to add things🐟 like console ports, prologue chapters, and "thrilling dog races" in the process.

At𓄧 the time, both games were expected to be complete and ready to launch in March, 2025. Alas, that month came and went without the two lovely-looking, almost completely different JRPGs.

Penny Blood - Gameplay Trailer - YouTube Penny Blood - Gameplay Trailer - YouTube

In a Kickstarter campa൩ign in March, the teams announced thaꦦt both projects had been delayed to some indefinite point in the future as they need the extra time to focus on development and, perhaps more crucially, find more partners.

You see, just last year, Machida against former publisher Dangen Entertainment and its former CEO Ben Judd for allegedly unpaid production funds, seemingly in relation to mon✨ey raised from the Double Kickstarter campaign that was then apparently withheld from the developers. The company had previously found itself over royalties, while Judd was accused of 🎃sexual misconduct before supposedly resigning from his role.

Thankfully, both games have been getting a little bit of love online thanks to a certain other J-inspired RPG hit. At least some fans jumped aboard the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 hype to platform both Penny Blood and Armed Fantasia, hopefully giving them a little ๊more bargaining power.

"With the success of Clair Obscur, I want to mention that the Horror JRPG♑ Penny Blood, the spiritual successor of the famed Shadow Hearts series still st꧃ruggles to find a publisher to fund the game despite a successful Kickstarter showing people want more games like this,"

"Great minds think alike," , saying, "I literally just posted this on May 5, to a publisher asking for game IPs to help publish." They share a screenshot of their old post, which says: "Seeing the recent success with Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, turn-based RPGs are making their c✅omeback hopefully. The OG director of the Shadow Hearts series has been struggling to find a publisher for his new project Penny Blood."

If the huge crowdfunding campaign and the fresh 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:succe🎐ss of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has taught us anything, though, it's th𒁏at there's still a massive group of gamers willing to turn out for old-school-styled turn-based adventures. I hope publishers see the same♌ lesson, too.

In the meantime, be sure to check out our roundup of the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best JRPGs you can play now.

Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys w🧸riting about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that's vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he'll soon forget.

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