Steal Princess is both a triumph and a tragedy. It’s wonderful that this game, which many thought would never be released outside of Japan, was picked up by Atlus and brought to the US. However, it’s tragic that it is a limited run game that many people won’t get to experience. It’s one of those rare games that really makes you think if you want to succeed.

Like all games Atlus chooses to publish in the US, Steal Princess features a fantastic localization. The dialogue is funny and witty, and provide an enjoyable break from solving various puzzles. The characters sound authentic, and Anise and Kukri especially end up being very likable…

If you were clambering for some of those forthcoming Atlus games, marking your calendars and placing your preorders, you should probably prepare to wait a little longer. Four forthcoming DS and PSP games from the company are going to be coming out slightly later than originally anticipated.

For example, Tokyo Beat Down for the DS, which was supposed to be out March 10, 2009, will now be out at the end of the month, on March 31. The PSP game Hammerin’ Hero was supposed to be released March 3, but now has been bumped all the way back to April 7, the same day Atlus’ other PSP game, Class of Heroes is supposed to come out.

And don’t check stores for the DS game Steal Princess on March 24, it’s going to be coming out almost a month later – on April 21. The same with Dark Spire, also a DS game…

Rumors of Atlus picking up and prepping Steal Princess, the action/puzzle/RPG, for a US release have been swirling around for quite some time now. An ESRB listing as even found by Siliconera. So it should come as no surprise that Atlus has recently confirmed and officially announced the game for American audiences. The game has been dated for March 24, 2009. It’s going to be a more expensive Atlus DS title, costing $34.99.

As we’ve mentioned before, Steal Princess is an unusual game where you play as Anise, a thief who has been the option to be the hero, save the prince and defeat an evil demon king or be imprisoned. Naturally, she chooses the option that sends her off through 150 puzzling levels to collect treasure, defeat enemies and perform heroic acts…

Siliconera has discovered an interesting tidbit from checking ESRB information. Apparently Atlus is going to be bringing Steal Princess an action-RPG/puzzle game where the goal is to get out of a room in a certain amount of time, to the US. Steal Princess: Touzoku Oujo originally was released in Japan on July 24, 2008, and has already been confirmed for a European release, courtesy of Rising Star Games. It looks like the US won’t get left out after all.

Steal Princess stars Anis, that brown haired girl with the eye-patch on the cover. She’s a master thief who, at the beginning of the game, is trying to steal an evil lord’s treasure. She fails, but word gets around that she actually made it out of the castle alive. The royal family then calls Anis for an audience, tells her that the prince is held captive in the castle she was trying to rob and asks for her assistance. She agrees, and so players spend most of the adventure working through different areas until they are skilled enough to make another attempt at stealing the treasure and rescuing the prince…