Although, the article states that a third party publisher will probably pick it up. I was kinda looking forward to the game, having viewed the trailer some months back... but now I'm tempted to play just to see what's up with the "underage eroticism" they're talking about. Not for anything, but I tend to enjoy seeing in-game content graze cultural taboos.

The aforementioned article.

Thumbs down. Weird, slow-paced unconventional survival horror games featuring fifteen year old girls are my favorite! I hope a third party picks up the ball.

The Joystiq article that the above article references states that Atlus is releasing this in the U.S. intact.

Only the 2nd trailer supports why Sony claims to have dropped it.  Two girls with their foreheads touching doesn't count as eroticism.

While there do seem to be some erotic tensions present in the game, they're just a part of the overall unsettling atmosphere it tries to accomplish. It was clearly made for a mature audience, but that is not to say its sexual nuances are exploitive. If anything, they add a certain dark realism to the game (which is paradoxically quite absurd throughout). No clear distinction is made between reality and fantasy, since the game's world is the world of a child. The main field of tension is where innocence and perversion clash in this child's world. It's like watching a child having fun innocently playing with some bugs, only to notice it's pulling their leggs out and squashing them one by one.

The main problem with the game though, is not its erotic aspect, but its tedious gameplay. This game has one of the worst combat engines I've seen in any horror game. You've only got melee weapons at your disposal, and their hit accuracy is frustratingly low. At the same time, enemy characters practically never miss hitting you. Running away from combat is not an option most of the time, as multiple enemy characters will, for instance, block an entire hallway you have to pass in order to proceed. There will also be times when you get caught in some pile of acid goo and take hits while your character finishes her move animation.

It's hard to say whether the frustrating gameplay is remedied by the story or overall experience of the game. In the end I thought this to be the case, although I came close to throwing in the towel a couple of times. Also, don't expect a clearcut ending; this is one of those games that asks more questions than it answers. I happen to really like that sort of thing, but I know many others don't.

. 59, what about the music? Was the music in-game nicely done?

The music works really well in-game. Most of it is subdued piano and strings, with an alternately playfull and melancholic sound to it. The game isn't really scary, more unsettling, and the music reflects this. Some songs are used more than others and the music can be a bit repetitive. I'd also say the main theme is overused a bit. Still, I really like the fact that Yutaka Minobe tried something different from the usual horror game music fare. It kind of reflects the more mature nature of the game.

Despite everything I stated earlier, in overall atmosphere the game has a lot going for it. I think the main problem is that it tries to create a new kind of horror game, but in the end gets dragged down by genre conventions such as the need to have a battle system and an emphasis on fetch quests. The drabness of the environments and constant back-tracking are turnoffs as well. It's like being trapped in the apartment building of Silent Hill 2 for the entire game. The graphics are O.K. in their own right, but the CG video's made me wonder what this game could have looked and played like if handled by the Silent Hill team or if it was developed for a next-gen system.

The presentation of the game is great though. It maintains this twisted fairytale-feel throughout, with every chapter in the game being introduced through a storybook sequence. Everything in the game has its own unique character, from the NPC's you meet to the items you pick up; you can really see a lot of thought went into all of it. It kind of does what Silent Hill 4 tried to accomplish, to create a feeling of uneasiness through absurdity, but really goes all-out and thus succeeds far better in that respect.

With all this said, it comes as no surprise that Atlus has the rights for US distribution. Now, if only Baroque was given the same green light back in the day.

.