Golf clap for Atlus, seriously. This is easily one of the most enjoyable and addictive games so far this year.
Catherine is completly done in anime. Most of it is done in superb 3D rendering. That easily puts the 2D cut-scenes to shame. Although, there will be some fans out there that appreciate some of the 2D cut-scenes.
The game begins with you playing as Vincent. Stuck in a freakshow of a nightmare with himself being part sheep, as well as being surrouned by sheep. You control Vincent and guide him up a tower made of blocks. Pushing a pulling your way to a door atop the tower. Once through he awakens.
You’ll meet Katherine, his girlfriend the next morning. She’s obviously dead set on taking their relationship to the next level. As much as Vincent loves her, he’s still unsure about their future and would like to avoid the next step as much as possible. Vincent gets together with some friends at the bar that night for a couple drinks. After his friends leave, she walks into his life. Catherine. Vincent makes the mistake of sleeping with Catherine that night. After that, his life goes into a tail spin and his nightmares become worse.
The farther along the story you get, it becomes what Chris Lock would call “bat shit crazy.” What I would call, “Thank you so much Atlas for something completely different. This. Rocks.” This is all I will mention of the story because I would not want to ruin any part of it, for anyone. It’s just too damn entertaining.
During Vincent’s nightmares it is your job to get him to the very top of the towers where a door awaits for him. If he makes it throught the door, he wakes up. Alive. If he falls off the tower to his death or is killed some other way, he will not awaken. Die in your sleep, die in real life.
Each tower has multiple ways of completing it’s puzzle and ascending the tower. You’ll also have the choice of using items you find on the tower as you climb it. Some will let you create a block where you choose others, may grant you the ability to climb more than one block at a time. And thank goodness for these items. Some of the stages are damn hard to complete without them.
Each nightmare is broken up into stages. At the final stage of each section awaits a boss. This bosses range from a crazy woman with a fork, to a baby….with a chainsaw. Each boss is massive and follows Vincent up the tower using different abilites. The puzzles in these stages seemed to be toned down a little as the boss adds that extra level of difficulty.
The nightmare sections of Catherine are brilliant and highly addictive. Also, they can be hard as hell. But I believe that’s half the fun. You’ll coming across a tower section that seems impossible and then with one block move it all becomes clear. Wham! All of a sudden, you’re a genius.
The controls of Catherine in these areas of the game work really well for the most part. Some may think they are a little too sensitive. As sometimes you may push and pull blocks you don’t mean to. But just listen to Vincent’s advice to himself, “Stay calm.”
Vincent will have a number of inner monolagues during the course of Catherine. They are affected by the responses you choose through conversation options, texting back Catherine or Katherine, as well as questions you’ll be asked in between each nightmare stage. Your choices throughout the game will also decide which ending you receive.
Some of these conversation options take place at night in the local bar, The Stray Sheep. Where it’s your job to get trashed. Really, getting trahed before the nightmares give you cetain benefits. Good to know. You may order drinks, talk to the other bar patrons or play a game of Rapunzel. A “Catherine” style puzzle game done in 8-bit.
Aside from story mode you have Babel, which a challenge mode in which you may play solo or co-op and Coliseum, which is an online versus mode.
With an amazing anime style, multiple endings, a fantastically original story, multiple modes and a ton of replayability you could almost say Catherine is a must buy. I hold back from saying it only because some may not enjoy the level of difficulty.
[easyreview title=”Catherine Overall Score 9/10” cat1title=”Gameplay 9/10” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”9/10″ cat2title=”Controls 8/10” cat2detail=”” cat2rating=”8/10″ cat3title=”Story 9/10” cat3detail=”” cat3rating=”9/10″ summary=”ignore“]
