comment titles and message bodies are redundant
Excellent atmosphere, definitely. Really liked the 'rage' concept of the gun and washing it away to return to the shield. I felt pretty sad about the flower girl too, I totally forgot she was down there. :( Effective job of making me care about tiny pixel characters, heh.
Difficulty curve felt perfect, IMO. I died only very rarely during most of the playthrough, and while I died more frequently in the final level it was mostly just a matter of using the skills the game teaches you along the way. The challenge in this game was quite welcome; if I can just waltz straight to the end of a game whose primary goal is story and atmosphere, then I may as well just watch a movie. Ending is very rewarding. Controls were a little floaty, but still easy enough to get the platforming down without much trouble.