Contrary to popular belief, Catherine is not a sex-game, it was all a Marketing Strategy and it worked as intended. With Catherine, Atlus has also entered the HD gaming scenario.
The story revolves around a man named Vincent who is being pressured by his lover Kathrine into marrying her. One day he meets a strange girl named Catherine, who looks exactly like Katherine but more fun and lively. Vincent ends up spending the night with her. Soon he starts having nightmares inhabited by ‘sheep men’ and himself growing horns where he has to climb up from a collapsing pile of blocks. To make matters worse, news about a number of mysterious deaths in his neighbourhood are reported. The victims are young men who died in their sleep, the mystery being their contorted faces. The deaths are rumored to be caused by Nightmares which Vincent knows the hard way.
The gameplay consists of Q-bert style puzzle solving at night and with some exploring and character interactions during the day. In the nightmares; Vincent has to reach the top of each stage by pulling, pushing, crawling and hanging down ledges as well as avoiding traps as the blocks below him collapse into the void. Also note that as you progress in the game, something follows you up as well. Enemies include creatures trying to kill Vincent as well as Sheep who alter/block Vincent’s path. Powerup items include Pillows, which work as Extra Lives and items that stun Enemies.
Each block you climb gives you points and as you climb faster you gain Score Multipliers, the player is awarded on how fast he clears per level. Vincent also interacts with the ‘sheep’ in the nightmares,where he spends the coins/points gathered during his escape to learn new skills,buy items as well as get hints and tips.
The Nightmare levels are punishingly difficulty, even on easy settings which offers the ability to ‘undo’ a move. Atlus has promised a patch later on that will lower the difficulty.
The other part of the gameplay is Vincent meeting his friends at the bar during the day as well as his relationship with Katherine and Catherine, and the regular choices you have to make in the game that affect the overall story dramatically. Other than the major plot choices, there is the “Morality Bar” which is affected by Vincent’s reaction towards other people, this also affects the game’s ending.
The overall gameplay time is roughly estimated to be 20 hours.
The game also features Co-Op play but only one player can finish the level,which makes it all the more fun. The cel-shaded visuals are eyecandy and the great animation breathes life into the characters.
Catherine is developed by Atlus for PS3 and Xbox 360 to be released in the US on July 26, 2011
