Winterwolves is one of the -very- few publishers I (almost) always auto-buy stuff from (others being Bioware , Bethesda, Obsidian, inXile and ...Choice of Games of all things) , Vera Blanc was not an exception, I bought that as well.
For me I -think- what turned me off was ....the gameplay / minigame thingies. Why? I didn't -quite- know what to do, how to play it (nor did I take the time to -try- to learn how to beat the minigames).
As a player you -could- call me lazy (and you'd be right to) in that I seek out and enjoy -familiar- games from ones I already like, and know.
When I've played new versions / sequels of games like Street Fighter (latest being SF4) or Soul Calibur V I ...tend to pick characters I already know (even if there are awesome new ones). This has become more and more true over time, as I used to spend -hours- and weeks figuring out games back when I started playing (at around age 10). I struggle with new types of games I'm not familiar with, and always prefer ones that I consider "easy to learn, hard to master".
Had Vera Blanc had a "VN Mode" or even a more familiar RPG fight system (or even a system like in the Undead Lily tech demo) I`m convinced I would've finished it.
Vera Blanc? I never hated the game, it just didn't interest me long enough to -want- to learn how to beat it. (where I spent hours lots and lots of hours trying to beat a certain "hidden" boss in Seasons of the Wolf .....Chalassa was that -one- companion who was worth it

)