Two JRPGs from some genre veterans still seem to be stuck in purgatory, despite both having led a mega-successful Kickstarter campaign.
First things first, some introductions. In 2022, two games from veteran developers joined forces to hold a 'Double Kickstarter.' 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.
The Double Kickstarter absolutely boomed, raising around 380 million yen (or around $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.
At 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.
In a Kickstarter campaign update in March, the teams announced that 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 filed a lawsuit against former publisher Dangen Entertainment and its former CEO Ben Judd for allegedly unpaid production funds, seemingly in relation to money raised from the Double Kickstarter campaign that was then apparently withheld from the developers. The company had previously found itself in a dispute 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 on social media jumped aboard the 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 struggles to find a publisher to fund the game despite a successful Kickstarter showing people want more games like this," one writes.
"Great minds think alike," replies another, 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 comeback 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 success of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has taught us anything, though, it's that 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 best JRPGs you can play now.
