28 Jul July 2023 Update
Hello JRPG lovers! We have some more great reveals in this month’s update!
New Community Manager on Penny Blood
As the creators continue to focus more on the production, we’ve added in a new community manager to support the amazing community. They will be jumping into the discord on a regular basis and try to not only help answer your burning questions but also geek out with you on some of Machida-san’s previous works. Don’t worry though, they have a direct pipeline to the team and plan to use it to get you some secret intel from time to time. If you get a chance, please say “hi” back and let them know what you’d like to see as far as community interaction goes!
Discord Roles
We are finally done with the bot and want to explain how it will work. Here’s how the download will work, directly from our engineers:
A unique key will be sent to the email address tied to your kickstarter backer account. That key can then be used on your discord account regardless of whether or not it uses the same email address. Next, a bot will appear on a dedicated channel for both the Penny Blood and Armed Fantasia discord servers and post a public message in that channel that contains a button. When you click that button, the bot will send you a private message with a form where you can input your key. You can redeem the key once on each server and receive the roles tied to your backer tier. Then you can show everyone on the servers just how much you love the games!
Note: Your email will not be stored in the bot’s database.
◆2023.07.30 PENNY BLOOD Project Diary
Good evening, everyone. Today was another hot one. Niigata has been over the 30 C mark for several days in a row, so we’re right in the middle of summer. I’m trying to stay really hydrated to keep from getting heatstroke, but perhaps I overdid it a little, because I got a stomach ache.
Now then, allow me to begin this month’s PENNY BLOOD Project update. As I described last month, we’re currently in the process of having publishers take a look at our walkthrough version. Some places have given us their best wishes, while other places have said they’re still in the process of reviewing everything, so it seems like it’ll take a little more time before we’ll get results.
I’m glad to see that everyone enjoyed the character relationship chart that I posted last time, even more than I anticipated. I got a lot of comments from people saying “Vito’s column was a total joke, right?” No, that’s not true, I’m always thinking very seriously about the characters. I’m also extremely excited to see how his love story with Matthew will develop in the main game. Will they become very close and romantic, or will it end with broken hearts? I don’t know how things will go once I start writing. Maybe it’ll even be connected to the true ending?! …No, there’s no way that’ll happen, so don’t worry.
Kato-san has shifted over from the main characters to the villains. The Hellhounders are finally being awakened, and as usual, despite being the one who thought them up, I’m discovering new things about them and thinking “Ohhh, so THIS is the kind of a person you actually are!” It’s a lot of fun. Incidentally, you’ll be able to see the new versions of Candy and Goliath in this update.
From this month, Hanya-san has been working on the earth fusion monster. I can’t touch upon it too deeply, but it has one of “those” lively feelings to it… Going back in time a bit, back when this year first started, I had Hanya-san design several monsters based on those that appear in the Cthulhu mythos. I had him use the characteristics of famous monsters that everyone knows and arrange them with unique PB-esque flair. Today we’ll be showing you the PB version of the “Dark Young.”
Watanabe-san is also working hard on creating image boards. Unfortunately, however, we won’t be able to show you any of his art during this update, because recently I had him draw a “very very important location.” It has a very sad atmosphere to it, and it’s a place I hope that everyone reaches in the game.
…That’s it for this month’s update. We still have a lot more hot days to get through, but for the first time in four years, Niigata is holding a Minyo Nagashi dance during the Niigata festival. Fun events have been returning all over the place recently, so I hope everyone can enjoy summer while taking care of their health.
See you all again next month.
Matsuzo Machida
As a special surprise we have a quick tease of Matthew chatting with Emilia. There’s no voice yet but this should give you an overall idea of what to expect!
Message from Hirota-san
Good evening. Every day it’s so hot I feel like I’m going to melt. Is everyone out there okay?
The other day, I went to Kyoto to attend BitSummit, Japan’s biggest indie game event. There were a lot of cool games there, and it was very stimulating. It was the first time in a while where I spent the entire day playing games instead of debugging them.
In July, I worked on several tracks that are centered around the cello. I also passed over the documents for the music I’m going to have Ito Kenji-san compose. And I’m still researching music from the 1920s, especially Irish and Celtic music.
Speaking of which, recently I was invited to participate in a local jazz session. I’m excited, hoping the performance will influence Penny Blood’s music in a good way. I want to take my 1920s jazz, blues and ragtime songs there and study while we do the session.
I wanted to do a stream of my composing this month, but unfortunately I didn’t have enough time to prepare, so I’m thinking of doing one in August instead.
I’ll keep giving you all updates as I continue to do my best, so please keep cheering me on!