Full disclosure: Though I have played this game, I have not necessarily played this version of it. I purchased it from JAST after the game was talked about on Extra Creditz, many years back, before EC went off the rails and started believing that *cough* playing cops & robbers would turn you into a robber-sympathizer, so to speak.
To say that "Song of Saya" isn't for everyone is putting it mildly. It's disturbing. It features, among its story elements, murder, rape, and cannibalism. Perhaps more disturbingly, it shows you some of those things (not all!) in a context that makes you understand why the characters doing them would think it was okay. I will note that it isn't *saying* those things are okay, and definitely not encouraging, condoning, or even necessarily forgiving them. But it does offer some insights into why someone who has become deeply alienated from their peers might choose to indulge in a kind of willful ignorance if it seemed to be the only way to re-connect with someone, and perhaps find happiness again.
If you're easily offended, you shouldn't play it. If you don't feel like you have a reasonable amount of cushioning in your mental and emotional reserves, likewise. Also, frankly, if you're looking for titilation, you're probably not going to find it, here. I'm not saying the art is bad, just that it's mostly not in the service of providing the player with what most people would consider erotic.
Mostly, what you will find is a rather sad story about isolation, depression, and alienation. What it costs those who suffer from them. How even those who want to help may find their ability to intervene inadequate. It invites the player to see horror in a love story, and tragedy in the end of a relationship despite its being, quite literally, bad for everyone.
I will conclude by saying that I've never played anything quite like it, and it's stuck with me. It's inventive, thoughtful, and genuinely horrifying.
