Final Fantasycomposer Nobuo Uematsu is now confirmed to be working on the development team for Kickstarter projectPenny Blood.Penny Blood, along with its partner projectArmed Fantasia, launched its Kickstarter campaign nearly one month ago. The campaign is now coming to a close, with over 15,000 backers pledging over $2.1 million to makePenny Blooda reality. Uematsu’s involvement is now being confirmed in celebration of theKickstarter’s success.
Penny Bloodis a gothic horror JRPG fromShadow Heartswriter andShadow Hearts: Covenantdirector Matsuzo Machida. It’s set in the 1920s and will have players traveling across the USA, Europe, and Asia as nations struggle to recover from the first World War. In the wake of the conflict, unnatural turmoil is growing. A private detective named Matthew Farrell starts the game by investigating a situation in a mental hospital full of strange creatures in New York. The game takes off from there.
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Oddly enough, two composers had already been announced forPenny Blood,Shadow Heart’s Yoshitaka Hirota and Capcom’s Akari Kaida. It seems thatPenny Bloodwill feature the talents of many composers, each of which will focus on different regional music.Uematsu, for instance, is going to be focusing on “authentic Irish music” planned for American locations inPenny Blood. It isn’t actually clear if Uematsu will compose any music himself, as it’s said he’s currently only assisting with “research and insight.”
Another composer has also been announced forPenny Bloodalongside Uematsu. It’s Kenji Ito, composer for theSaGafranchise, who has also worked with Uematsu on multipleFinal Fantasyprojects. Ito will be responsible for creating the “authentic sounds of Japanese locales.”
As for what brings this group of industry veterans together, Hirota, Uematsu, and Ito all have a history of past work together atSquare Enix. Hirota is also a part of Uematsu’s band Earthbound Papas, which plays arrangements ofSaGasongs originally composed by Ito. In other words, these are co-workers, if not friends, who have a long history with one another taking the opportunity to work together on something fun.
Penny Blood’s Kickstarter project will wrap up successfully in less than 24 hours and clearly there are high expectations for it and its partner projectArmed Fantasia. This is just the starting point, however, as there are years yet before the games are planned to launch. Expect to hear much Bloodgoing forward.
Penny Bloodtentatively releases in March 2025 on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S, as well as a potential next-gen Nintendo console.
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