Happy Fall! I hope you’ve all had a good month. We’ve been busy here at Critical Bliss, and this month will be more of a quick update. You’ll understand why in a paragraph or so.

TL;DR

We’re still working on it. October is going to be a busy month for us as we work on upgrading the art assets, tidy up the writing and get it to editing and internal QA. We don’t want to release crap, and we’re working hard ensuring that the final result is fantastic. We made a Discord where you can talk to us directly and get additional sneak peeks we can’t post here. Link below.

Updates

So, we’re moving right along. One of our stretch goals was additional content on the CG front, and we weren’t kidding about that. We have revamped virtually all of our BGs (thanks to our new BG artists—more on them in a future episode!), and our CGs are as beautiful as ever. Once we finish that process, we have a couple writing things that need to be wrapped up, and then we will move on to the editing and QA phase. I, personally, will be heading up that part of the process, and I have been involved in a number of QA tests in the past for both MangaGamer and Sekai Project. It will be a smooth process, and we will hopefully find any problems before they get to you!

We have a very simple outlook on releases: We don’t want to release a crappy product. If it’s not up to our standards, we will not release it. We will polish it, and when we’re happy, we bet that you’ll be happy as you read it~. Or, y’know, “read” it ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°). As a reminder, our “end of January” full release date has not changed.

Now, let’s talk communication. For those who simply can’t wait for our end of the month update posts, we have created a Discord. CLICK HERE TO JOIN. This Discord serves a few purposes:

• It creates a direct channel between you guys and the leads. We are all on there, and if you would like to talk to us, just send us a message! 
• It allows us to show certain things that we can’t elsewhere. So if you are interested in such a thing, you may want to check it out.
• It allows us to post smaller updates/single things. We will not be posting everything on there (People have told us on many occasions that they do not wish to be spoiled), but you'll get a lot more than what we can give here!

We want to be as transparent as possible, but that can be tricky with what we're doing. Discord takes that trickiness out of the picture entirely, and we can do a lot more on that front. So be sure to check it out!

Other than that, we’re working hard, and that’s all I have for now! Be sure to check out our Twitter and our Patreon, and be sure to join our Discord for even more stuff!

Questions, comments, concerns, love? Let us know, and we will do our best to address them!

See ya~  

~The Critical Bliss Team  

General Stuff

The updated storyboard is complete, and we are producing scripts based on that updated storyboard. Everything's going well on that end, and we're chugging right along.

Did you know that one of our artists, MegaSweet, periodically streams on Picarto? He streams a few days a week, and has been doing some scene work for W!?MNAD!!? from time to time that you might find interesting! He created the header image for this post on that stream! Be sure to check him out!

Also, really quick. There are still a handful of backers who have not answered their surveys on Backerkit! You MUST fill out the survey in order to get all of the things you backed for! We sent out a reminder e-mail a few days ago, so if you haven't seen it, be sure to check your Spam/Junk Mail folder, just in case! And if all else fails, you can click this link, put in the e-mail that you used on Kickstarter, and access the survey from there! Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter!

As a reminder, we will be closing BackerKit in September! We don't have the exact date yet, but I imagine it'll be somewhere near the middle of September, so we have enough time to get our Wallscroll order in!

Release Schedule

All right, let's talk releases. We've said before that we are going to do a multi-tiered released, and there was a little confusion about what that actually entailed. But do not fret! Here's our current plan.

Please note that things may cause this to change slightly, but we will let you know if anything like that happens!

Chapter 1 (Release Date: Late August, 2017)

Chapter 1 of What!? My Neighbors Are Demons!!? will be released on Nutaku sometime toward the end of August. We do not have a exact date set, just in case there are logistics involved in the release we are not aware of. Because Nutaku does not do game keys, we will provide a direct download link to all of our Backers via BackerKit, as well as a couple off-site mirrors.

What is Chapter 1? If you're familiar with the Metal Gear Solid series, this is the "Ground Zeroes" to "The Phantom Pain." For those who have no idea what the hell I'm talking about, Chapter 1 will be an updated and heavily expanded version of the demo that can be played as a standalone title. It will consist of 7 H-Scenes, some of which will be determined by specific choices made in the game. Around the same time, we will also update the demo to reflect the updated UI, as well as a little bit of additional content that you'll also find in Chapter 1.

We'll get the opportunity to learn a bit more about Selene, including her romantic past, as well as about how she managed to get herself into the situation she's in! Additionally, you'll get your first taste of how we handle bonus content! I'll let you in on a little secret: During the Virtual Reality scene, if you find and click a specific trigger, you'll get a bonus scene to get a glimpse of what Selene is... ahem, enjoying.

Speaking of that, we are also working on a side project for W!?MNAD!!?, codename: Village Sacrifice, and this is important because we'd like to introduce a new artist to the team: Shiory! Shiory will be helping us with bonus content, and we will be working with him to create a short, 3-scene title that will fit right in to the W!?MNAD!!? universe. This will be released as a completely free title, but we will of course give backers first dibs on it! We don't have a release date for this just yet, but when we know, you will, too! This will also be in the Director's Cut version of W!?MNAD!!?, assuming all goes well!  

Shiory is an excellent artist based in Thailand. Here's his Tumblr, with samples of his artwork! We like his stuff, and this little side project will help determine whether he's a good fit for Critical Bliss. We hope you'll enjoy his work as much as we do!

Now, that all said, we would still recommend that you hold off on playing this title if you want the full story. The Director's Cut will have even more expanded material than what Chapter 1 has; however, if you just can't wait to get your fill of delicious demon goodness, I bet you'll enjoy what we're putting together~

The full Director's Cut is still set to release in January. That hasn't changed. We plan on working with MangaGamer's awesome betatesting crew to make sure everything is as good as it can possibly be prior to release! We are working hard to make sure everything is going to be ready by that time, and we appreciate everybody's patience and understanding for the delay.

New Music Track

Seakul continues to amaze us with his fantastic music. Here's a new track that we are currently calling "Sexy as F&%$" (title not finalized). Be sure to check it out!

Extra Stuff

Like what we're doing and want to support us even more? Considering supporting us on our Patreon!

Also, if you have any friends who might be interested in checking out what we have to offer, be sure to show them our demo on Newgrounds, as well as our BackerKit store page! These prices will only be available as long as the store page is up, and after that, they'll be moving to their retail prices!

Also, be sure to follow us on Twitter!

Okay, that's it for now! At minimum, we plan on doing one update a post a month, with more coming as we near releases. If you have any questions, comments, concerns, or love for us, be sure to leave them here!

See ya~  

~The Critical Bliss Team

June has been an excellent month for us. Following the end of the Kickstarter, we have been working on logistics, marketing, and making sure that everything is set up well in advance of our first release! We are also making progress on the game, and are still on schedule thus far! Now, let's get into the updates!

We are Live on Steam!

Our Steam Page is now up and running! Be sure to check it out, tell your friends, and if you have any feedback regarding our Steam Landing Page, be sure to let us know! Also, be sure to follow us (and add us to your Wishlist!) so that you can keep up to date with any Steam-related announcements we will make closer to release! (And don't worry, we'll post them here, too!).

As a reminder, everybody who backed us during the Kickstarter or purchased additional keys via BackerKit will receive Steam Keys as part of their pledge, as well as a direct download for those who do not wish to use Steam.

BackerKit Surveys!