Keiji Inafune, the creator of Mega Man and its spiritual successor Mighty No. 9, has launched another crowdfunding campaign for Red Ash, which is an open-world anime title that draws inspiration from the popular 3D spin-off of Mega Man, Mega Man Legends.
Inafune and his studio, comcept USA, are looking to raise $800,000 for Red Ash, the development of which will be helmed by Kazushi Ito as the Art Director and Masahiro Yasuma as Director. Both individuals were key members of the development team which pioneered the open-world game design that was seen in Mega Man Legends.
The $800,000 that Red Ash's Kickstarter page is looking to raise will fund the prologue chapter of the game entitled The KalKanon Incident for the PC, which Inafune describes as a "jumping-on point."
"We hope to use this small, but dense taste of the Red Ash universe as a foundation on which to build future content," wrote comcept on the video game's Kickstarter page.
The studio added that the story of Red Ash will be continued to be told after The KalKanon Incident either through additional funding, gained revenue from the sales of the prologue chapter or with a partnership with a video game publisher.
The development of Red Ash will also be involving the backers of the title, as an exclusive forum will be set up for backers which will contain discussions, surveys and updates. This could help fans recover from the cancellation of the development of Mega Man Legends 3, which was already ongoing at the time with feedback from gamers before the plug on the game was pulled.
In Red Ash, the main hero by the name of Beck was given the task to infiltrate the Mobile Citadel KalKanon and explore the village, castle and hidden dungeons within. Beck will look to stop KalKanon and discover the meaning of rumors that the "Legendary Legacy" is hidden inside it.
The title will feature several elements which will differentiate it from traditional RPGs, such as bargains being made with partners, NPC interactions, a massive sense of freedom and horror-themed dungeons.
Simultaneously with the launch of the Kickstarter page for Red Ash, another page was launched for the animation version of the concept with a $150,000 goal.
The animation will be a fast-paced animated film that will be filled with "gimmicks, riddles, secrets and conspiracies."
The initial goal for this crowdfunding campaign will be for the first five-minute episode of the animation, with each stretch goal being reached adding another stage and minute to the story.
