06 Sep Mechanics Monday #1
First, Matsuzo Machida will give us an in-depth look at the Psycho Sigil and how it changes from character to character in Penny Blood!
The Psycho Sigil: Crest of the Soul
The Psycho Sigil is the star of PENNY BLOOD’s exciting battle system – and today, I’m going to tell you all about it!
The original idea came to me when I was trying to come up with a way to depict a character’s soul – an otherwise invisible thing. I didn’t want it to just be another plain-looking circle… I needed a way to graphically display a character’s lineage, personality, and trauma, and also in a way that would allow it to transform as the story progresses. I thought it’d be a great way to depict the unique aspects of each character if I could just come up with the right idea.
In terms of fitting a sigil to each of PENNY BLOOD’s characters, I gave Matthew a knight’s sigil, and Emilia a mechanical-looking heart. Each sigil is supposed to represent each character’s psyche. On paper, it seemed like it’d be a great motif for a new button-pressing system, and so far, it’s been working great.
As for how it works, each sigil contains shining dots that represent spots the player is supposed to hit. The player’s goal is to hit the button when the moving light passes over each spot at the proper timing. The Psycho Sigil will serve as an important tool for succeeding in both battles and events, and will require the player to hone their timing skills. Of course, I don’t want to make it overly hard, but if you want to aim for perfect hits in the center of each spot, you’ll need to train your finger.
As explained above, the design of each sigil will differ by character, and the same goes for the location of the spots you’ll need to hit. Some characters’ sigils might be easier for you to deal with even if they’re not your favorite battle party members. You don’t need to worry, though – as you proceed through the game, you’ll run into an entity named the Sigil Soul. Through speaking with him, you’ll gain items that you can use to boost the hit areas of characters’ sigils
While the battles are centered around the Psycho Sigil system, we’ve still got a lot of other features to show you…and here are two of them!
-One-Hit Kills
Attaining a perfect with a Psycho Sigil input during an attack will allow you to kill a normal enemy in one hit. This system is meant to reward those who manage to perfectly complete extremely difficult inputs as well as show respect for their skills. The one-hit kill animations will not only feel good – they’ll also be pretty grotesque and extreme, so I hope you’ll all try to land a few of them. I’m also thinking about including certain enemies in the game who can only be truly killed in this fashion.
-Combo Attacks
As you might guess, combo attacks allow multiple characters to gang up on an enemy. There were combo attacks in my previous games, but they merely allowed characters to link up attacks one after another rather than attack at the same time. With this game, I’d like to try something different. These ‘gang-up attacks’ won’t just show the characters using their normal attack animations together – they’ll all be given special animations that only activate during combo attacks.
Activating a combo attack will depend on the characters’ affinities and personal conditions, but the most important factor will be ‘coincidence’. For example, when you play a fighting game for the first time and press a bunch of buttons only to coincidentally unleash a powerful attack. I’d like to put a touch of that ‘joy of discovery’ in this game. Of course, once you discover a combo attack, you’ll unlock the ability to perform it again at will. And while certain combo attacks may be more difficult to pull off, I’d like to make it so that players will eventually be able to plan ahead and perform the combo attacks when they’re ready. I hope that discovering the hidden combo attacks of each unique character will be a fun cherry on the top of PENNY BLOOD’s battle system.
Next, we are proud to present to you Penny Blood’s first Thompson Report, an in-depth interview between characters that will shed further light on specific stretch goals. But first, please allow us to introduce you to our reporter, Dorothy Thompson.
Dorothy Celene Thompson (July 9, 1893 – January 30th, 1961) was an American journalist and radio personality. In 1923, she was 30 years old. After contributing to the women’s rights movement in America, she traveled to Europe in 1920 to pursue her journalism career. Finding success abroad, she was later appointed as Vienna correspondent for the Philadelphia Public Ledger. Further on in her career, she became the first American journalist to be expelled from Nazi Germany.
“Matthew… Someday, you’ll find yourself pitted against foes who can only be defeated through transforming into a fusion monster. That’s right – in order to defeat those monsters, you’ll need to become a monster yourself…and I’m going to give you that power right now. Don’t say your old man never gave you anything, alright…?”
★トンプソン・レポート
File No.01 『敵を引き裂くフュージョンモンスターの登場』
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Farrell. Please take a seat over there.”
“So you’re the world-famous Dorothy Thompson, huh? Hard to believe you’d be interested in interviewing some rube masquerading as a gumshoe.”
“Now, now, word on the street is you’ve also become quite famous in your own right. After all, who wouldn’t be dying to hear the story of an expert monster hunter who secretly fights in the shadows of civilized society? I’m especially intrigued by this ‘fusion monster’ I’ve been hearing about – the ‘other face’ of the man I’m sitting here interviewing, so to speak.”
“Sometimes, when you run into creatures that don’t belong in this world, guns and knives aren’t enough to do the trick. And in those situations, making the wrong split-second decision usually means your goose is cooked.”
“You don’t fear death?”
“I did at first… But not anymore. If anything, I’d have to say it’s sort of exciting.”
“Instead of fearing your battles, you enjoy them?”
“In a way. Standing on the brink of life and death can be very stimulating. Then when I’m all riled up, I unleash the darkness deep inside my heart. It takes the shape of a knight and utterly consumes me.”
“And that ‘knight’ is your fusion monster?”
“Bingo.”
“A medieval knight in the 20th century… This is all starting to sound surprisingly romantic.”
“Heh. If you’re into dead knights, I suppose. This isn’t some gallant knight riding on a white horse I’m talking about here – it’s a demon that lets me rip monsters into bloody pieces. And nothing feels better than pulverizing ’em in a single blow.”
“You served in the great war, didn’t you, Matthew?”
“I did. I entered the service in the spring of ’17. Things shifted over to the Western Front shortly after I arrived, but I fought in the Battle of Belleau Wood, and then the war ended while I was three miles out of Sedan.”
“Was the war what awakened you to your power?”
“No. I inherited this from my da’. Children inherit all shades of darkness from their folks, don’t they? My da’ found a way to wield the power of the monster living in the darkness of his heart… And now, I can too.”
“So that power you use to defeat all those monsters was actually a gift from your father.”
“Not a gift – a curse. When I turn into Demna, I’m just another monster to everyone else.”
“Ooh, I must say that gave me the chills! Now I’m even more interested in this ‘Demna’ character. Will I get a chance to meet him someday?”
“I don’t know about that. I mean, I’m flattered, but I can’t say I recommend it. After all, where there’s a fusion monster, you can bet there’ll be blood.”
