itch.io

so, not sure who checks this still but i woke up to an email that the game is back on. i've copy + pasted the text for y'all.

"Hi, long time no see!

We've been waiting for the ink to dry on some developments and have some great news to share. Due to the major nature of it, I opted to err on the side of caution until I saw for sure that the timeline proposed to me was actually being fulfilled.

The game is essentially back on and prepared for a FULL GAME late 2024 release! We've been working since last year with a partner company to help finish and fulfill a version of the game.

I have no direct hand in the game besides offering a base outline, most of the original soundtrack, and offering a few suggestions that they were free to consider.

Here's a list of some of the changes:

- The new character artist is TATA, and all the backgrounds have been redrawn as well. 

- The demo includes Japanese voices. Some of the cast includes: Kojyo Rin, Hozuki Kaoru, Uduki Hana and Utamaru.

The script has also been rewritten from the ground up, as well as parts of the overall plot, and the protagonist is completely brand new. (However, I still think she's as charming as Diana! I hope you do too.)

You'll still receive a free steam key to this game, a digital art book, and the new team also currently plans to also provide a voice acting bonus. The soundtrack has already been provided a few kickstarter updates ago.

We reached out to as many special backers as possible regarding their character slots and create-a-dates so that those features could still be fulfillable. While the deadline for those has technically past, if you hadn't received the e-mail or our reminders, please feel free to reach out at swtkickstarter@gmail.com and the new team can help assist you in that regard.

Unfortunately, physical merchandise still isn't feasible after material costs skyrocketing from COVID. Everything from the acrylic for the keychains to the paper of the books means that everything costs substantially more from the manufacturers were were planning to use, making it unfeasible, especially after the growing issues we had encountered during original game development.

It's been a long and surprising road, but as the original creator, I've been impressed at how quickly Studio Everium has progressed, as well as -- even more importantly -- the fact that they're already so close to the finish line. They've given me periodic updates, and while some design choices are different, I believe the core ideas and concept of the game will still be fulfilled.

Right now, the game is also being featured in Otome Jam 2024 [https://itch.io/jam/otome-jam-2024], and you can view the demo below!"

link to the kickstarter update is here (not sure if its locked) 

did not have this on my 2024 bingo!

ty so much for the update!! i'm so invested in this game (its literally my favourite atm) and it just always makes my week whenever i see an update. <3

"Hi everyone, long time no see! I apologize for the delayed update. It seemed that once things settled down, new events to consider have popped up. For example, Vacu used to live in Kiev, but has otherwise currently relocated. I didn’t want to give backers news when I wasn’t sure of the situation myself. Things have mostly settled now, both with Vacu and beyond.

It’s been a long several years, full of wonderful things. However, the game must be canceled.

Is the game really canceled?

Yes.

Where’s the money?

Spent on assets and the redoing of said assets. Programming had to be redone multiple times due to programmers coming and going, some choices made due to some NDA related affairs, the music OST is completely done, the art assets (sprites, CGs, backgrounds) that were completed were paid for, old script that isn’t really usable was still compensated for, etc. There was also a bit of obligatory budget bloat that I tried to pay out of pocket for.

Will I still get my money back, though?

You’ll still be refunded your pledge, it just can’t be accomplished immediately because the money was, again, spent on assets. Since some pledges can’t go through due to the length of time the project has gone on, please instead fill out this google form by June 4th. Refunds won’t be issued by the time the form closes, but it’ll be useful in figuring out the best strategy to get you your money the fastest. It will take a lot of time to get the money accumulated - likely several years, but I'm hoping only 1. In order to help speed this along, I’ll be delaying my school degree and focusing on work.

What happened?

The situation simply became infeasible due to poor leadership. Everyone else was fantastic at their work, both quality and time wise. The cost of the game has also become particularly volatile since merchandise wasn’t planned to be made until the game was finished, and now both production & shipping costs have skyrocketed to the point that the bundles sold at the prices they were are now impractical to a significant degree.

What now?

I continue to work so I can repay backers."

really great job so far! i'm a huge fan of how you've written akechi. really looking forward to the rest of the routes. (:

per their latest kickstarter update, the game is officially canceled. if you're a backer you can view the post here (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/483356923/softly-with-teeth-a-vampire-otome...) it seems life had many challenges for everybody involved (understandable) and it just became too expensive to continue. 

i think i've completed this game 3 or 4 times now, its absolutely my favourite game atm. thank you so so much for creating this wonderful game. i cannot believe how attached i am to every single character!!

tho xyx is my fav <3

oh, interesting if that's the case. i also sided with other people and yet i ended up getting the saorise ending a few times in a row no matter what dialogue options i changed. kind of puts a damper on wanting to replay :\

i got that ending too! it'd be nice to know where exactly i went wrong,! i tried reloading and picking a few different options but i still ended up at the same place. ;_;

i received a response from support:

Hi,

I’m sorry to hear that this has not been a better experience for you and other backers of this project.

Our Community Support and Trust & Safety teams monitor Kickstarter's system and review reports received from backers when reward fulfillment does not go as expected. We take these instances seriously and, if there is sufficient evidence of abuse against our system or trust of others, we revoke or suspend account privileges. This includes the ability to run another campaign on Kickstarter until rewards have been fulfilled or an update has been posted for backers — which we have done in this case.

Ultimately, however, creators are responsible for their own behavior — from communication to fulfillment and refunds — and while we can and do enforce our terms of use, we can’t force anyone to complete their project idea or even issue a refund. In light of this, it is up to each creator to determine whether, when, and how they offer refunds. It is worth keeping in mind that if the creator is in the middle of the production process, it's possible that the funds have already gone towards producing or shipping rewards and that a refund may not be possible at this time.

We will continue to monitor the situation with this project and its creator. I hope this matter is resolved soon for you.

Best,
Ivan

Kickstarter Support Team

tl;dr agashi cannot run another kickstarter until she fulfills her obligations to us, either in the form of the game or a refund (or apparently providing a status update). in terms of getting a refund, we are SOL unless agashi decides to provide that.

i sent in a support ticket asking them what our options are at this point since the project has now been in limbo for over a year. hopefully they are able to assist us since reporting the project has done nothing.

that's really great to hear! like i said, this game has a ton of promise and i don't want to see it held back by a few errors that are easily fixable. thanks for taking the time to reply and best of luck with the rest of the chapters. i will be keeping an eye on this!

the game is not finished. i'm not sure exactly what you mean by "this part" but you can purchase the whole game for $20 which gives you two routes as the devs are MIA and refusing to explain what the situation is in regards to where the rest of the routes are OR you can individually purchase the two routes that are released (hayato and mikio) for $5 a pop.

so no, if you purchase this game you will not get the full story. we have not received an update about the game in well over a year so its up to you if you'd like to spend the money but its looking like this game is abandoned and all we're getting are the two routes.

i really want to like this because its got promise. the art and music are wonderful. but the writing really, really needs improvement. i understand that maybe you do not speak english as a first language which is totally okay but... all the spelling and grammatical errors are really going to turn people off from reading past chapter one. this game would benefit from getting somebody who speaks english as a first language to proofread and edit it. i'm willing to come back and give it a second chance if that does indeed happen, but as it stands, as much as i wish i could i wouldn't recommend it in its current state.

again, that's not to say this is a bad game and i can tell that a lot of love went into it. but if i have to spend several minutes trying to figure out what people are saying or doing in chapter one, i'm not really inclined to read further and hope it gets better.

i sincerely hope things are okay with agashi. it is incredibly worrisome that she has just dropped off the face of the earth especially since there hasn't been any kind of update to indicate anything was wrong. however, it would be nice for some kind of communication from either her or somebody she trusts so that both the kickstarter backers and people here are aware of what's happening. even if it was a message to say that life happened and the game is on hiatus, then at least we'd know.

for me its the whole not knowing that is so frustrating. i do not know if i should be waiting for a finished product or if i should be cutting my losses and assuming we're never getting the game. i'm a kickstarter backer so i've invested a decent amount of money into the game and i would like nothing more than for her to a) be okay and b) complete the game that we're all waiting for.

i purchased this game four years ago.

the fact that it is still incomplete and the developers have seemingly abandoned ship is incredibly disappointing. if they are no longer working on this game, they should at least do the right thing and let us know.

i deeply regret supporting these devs since it seems they cannot even be bothered to communicate with us about potential delays or other issues that come up and impact the release of the rest of the routes.

under no circumstances do i recommend you purchase this game as is. it is likely not going to be finished any time soon (if at all) and your money is better spent elsewhere supporting other indie devs who actually take the time to interact with and keep their supporters/customers updated.