We are Hiroki Ishii and Matsuzo Machida, Creators of Wild Arms and Shadow Hearts. We are here to talk about our new projects Armed Fantasia and Penny Blood. AMA!

PB: Machida-san, when devising the story plan for Penny Blood- what kinds of lessons from the storyboarding of Shadow Hearts and Covenant did you bring into the process? Can we expect to see a similar mix of dark themes with levity to off-set and bring out the characters, or will we be seeing a more gritty kind of feeling?

AF: Hiroki-san, Wild ARMS has long been a series about the preservation of hope against despair and chasing freedom while discovering yourself- something I've loved very dearly- what kinds of themes are you looking to explore with the setting and characters of Armed Fantasia?

AF: Hiroki-san, Wild ARMS has long been a series about the preservation of hope against despair and chasing freedom while discovering yourself- something I've loved very dearly- what kinds of themes are you looking to explore with the setting and characters of Armed Fantasia?

A big element of the theme is meeting new allies and the bonds you create between those people. The story has them all searching for what's in store for the future of the world they live in.

Will AF have a beef stroganoff song?

The only thing with a beef stroganoff song is Symphogear! (lol)

Everyone, please go watch my anime series called Symphogear! There's already five seasons of it out! (Advertisement)

After the end of the Kickstarter, what future goals do you hope to see with the games down the line?

First, we'd confirm all the specs of the game, then set a schedule for it. That's the most important part. Then... I'd like to take care of myself and work hard on the development while doing my best to stay alive!

For Penny Blood: Will characters and NPCs have elemental affinities?

For Armed Fantasia: Will there be more roles than just the ones each character brings to the party?

For Armed Fantasia: Will there be more roles than just the ones each character brings to the party?

Roles change based on the ARM a character uses. If she equips a katana, Alicia can be like a samurai. If he equips a fist weapon, Sigurd can become like a ninja!

will characters have any skills only they can learn specific too them?

All I can tell you for now is that Force Breaks are unique to each character. Anything else will go into spoiler territory, so it'll have to stay a secret!

Favorite 3 games of all time ?

I love the first three Wizardry titles! I can't really narrow it down to three games. Is that good enough?

We're only going to take a few last questions but will be ending soon!

AF: One of the small things I liked in WA was at the beginning, each character had their own separate prologue before eventually teaming up together. Any idea at this stage if AF would follow a similar format perchance?

Thank you so very much! I love those prologues as well!

However... it takes a lot to develop such a thing. We do have something for that set up in the Stretch Goals, though.

I'd definitely like to put one in Armed Fantasia as well, so everyone please consider supporting the campaign!

Ishii-san, each of the orignal Wild ARMs games was Wild West inspired to varying degrees, with Wild ARMs 3 being considered the most like a Spaghetti Western. In terms of the Wild West tone, which Wild ARMs game would you compare to Armed Fantasia to the most?

In terms of world feel... AF will be closest to WA3, I think. However, the amount of variety might be closer to WA2.

AF + PB:

Hi there!

How many hours is expected to beat the main stories of each game? (I.e. aiming for)

We haven't completed the game so I can't give a precise answer... But I'd like it to be about as long as the first Wild ARMs title. (And we'll need lots of development funds to do so!)

"AF", I was wondering will thier be any romance between characters in armed fantasia?

There might be some romantic elements, but right now the script isn't finished, so it's undecided!

Will there be a CAMEO Crossover BOSS FIGHT like you fight Matthew and his Gang in Arms Fantasia and Ingram and his Gang in Penny Blood for example? cause that would be a Celebration for Both Devs like you completing Both games. :)

Right now we're not thinking about that, but it definitely sounds like something I should consult Machida-san about! (We're good friends, after all.)

But... aren't PB's monsters a bit... too scary? I'm not sure our characters would be able to beat them! (lol)

PB & AF: I know this is way too early to consider at this stage, but if you could, would you ever want to make the game appear in another form of media? (i.e. a light novel, or maybe an anime adaptation)?

I'd definitely like to create some other type of media. I'll leave that to you guys... If I have the chance, I'd definitely like to make it myself!

Do they have birthdays set? Knowing their birthday makes it easier to celebrate, so I'm interested

We do have all of the birthdays for the main characters listed! Please check out the official website!

https://wildbunchproductions.co.jp/

Both: When you create a video game, what aspect of it do you like the most and which one do you dislike?

What I like the best about making games is thinking up battle skill combinations, thinking about the stories and settings behind the monsters. I love monsters. Since I think about the stories behind monsters a lot, it helps keep my particular tastes about RPGs as a genre going.

As far as what I dislike the most? Scheduling and budgeting.

AF: Kaneko-san, your works are known for their more complex and sympathetic villains and I believe I once read you prefer writing them even to the heroes in your stories. What kind of villain is your favorite, and how do you approach writing antagonists?

My favorite villain? I like them all. I love showing their opposing sense of values. And they're fun to write for. So I can't just choose one! (Sorry!)

PD and AF: Any plans for DLC?

We are planning on having DLC, but we're still considering what the content will be!

AF will there be like an Ultimate ARM for each type that we can construct throughout the game?

The strongest ARMs will show up at the end of the game, of course! They won't be legendary weapons, but rather the most recently developed weapons by the Order of the Sacred Key!

AF: (1) Will there be golem-like entities that we can encounter and control like in the original Wild Arms series? (2) How many land and air vehicles can we expect to control? (3) How much flamenco will the soundtrack contain? Really love the samples I'm hearing so far.

Thank you for your time, and good luck to both games!

There won't be any summonable Guardians or anything like that! (Sorry!)

What have been the biggest differences in making Armed Fantasia and Penny Blood today, compared to when you were working on Wild Arms and Shadow Hearts?

The biggest difference would be working to develop the game without a big publisher attached to the title!

PD and AF: I know is waaaaaaay soon to consider, but already thinking about sequels?

We don't have any plans for a sequel yet. Just like I'm sure Machida-san over at Penny Blood is doing, I'm only concentrating on putting my all into the current title!

AF: Will there be other kinds of guns besides pistols and gatling guns? Maybe Remington rifles or shotguns?

I'd definitely like to include more than handguns and Gatling guns. So please, consider pledging to the campaign!

AF will there be horses or some kind of creature we can ride?

This time around, there won't be any creatures you can ride. But we are preparing lots of machine vehicles. We've even got plans for a cool convertible car that shows up in the beginning!

AF: Will Soleil be able to do an Izuna Drop/otoshi?

The good ol' Izuna Drop, huh...? As of now, it's not something we're planning on. But that's be pretty cool, huh? (lol)

I'll have to talk to the staff! We'll consider it!

AF: It has been confirmed that Force Breaks and Combination Breaks are unique to the characters. What is the expected proportion of character-unique capabilities to ARM-specific capabilities, roughly, and would inherent character stats and abilities lead to differing performance of a given ARM across the cast?

Right now, Force Break and Combination Breaks are the same thing. We don't have any plans on making the character's abilities too different from one another, but you can change each character's abilities to your liking by changing what type of ARM they use!

AF: Can Sigurd fire a laser from his lost eye?

He can't fire Cyclops's Optic Blast! (That means "no". LOL)

PD and AF: Both big past titles got popular on PlayStation systems, any comment of the brand itself?, what's your opinion on PS5?

I think the PS5 is great in terms of its hardware and capabilities. But it has a big flaw. The fact that I can't buy one! They're really hard to find in Japan...

The Battle Arena stretch goal was announced for Armed Fantasia today. However, due to the backer tiers, we already knew there was going to be a colosseum in the game to some extent. What purpose will the colosseum serve and how will players interact with it?

The main thing you do is fight powerful monsters and gain rewards. But of course, it's connected to the story as well!

AF any plans for a secret character we could recruit during the game?

As of right now, we're not thinking about including any secret characters. We've already revealed all of the characters in order to try and increase support of the Kickstarter!

AF: What is the bracelet on Soleil's left leg?

It's where she stores secret items! (Joke)

AF would you consider having a town that grows over the course of the game or by completing side quests?also maybe adding lore into what is used to make the ARMS and how they get more powerfull?

We're not currently considering a town that grows. As to why? The world of Armed Fantasia is set in a harsh world where it would be hard for such a town to grow in the first place!

AF any chances of a drinking mini-game?

Do you really think people would drink booze at saloons in the wilderness? Over half of our characters are minors, so we're not considering anything like that at the moment.

Do you guys really want a mini-game like that?

AF will there be more than one ending?

There's only one ending. But since there's only one, we're working hard to make it the best ending we can possibly create!

AF: Wild Arms 5 was a great love letter to the series with fun Easter Eggs with the way the NPCs were familiar faces but not directly named. Will we see similar in AF beyond Tony and some other game mechanics that were introduced already?

To both Machida-san and Ishii-san, thank you for bringing back spiritual successors to two of my favourite series. Both Wild Arms and Shadow Hearts are dear to my heart so I'm very excited to play both!

Armed Fantasia is a completely different game from the Wild ARMs series. So none of your favorite characters will be making any appearances. (My apologies.) However, the love and affection the staff has towards the series hasn't changed and will be carried on to the new game!