GotY 2011 right here, people.
This article is about the Japanese Playstation 3 version. Thanks go to Famitsu for the pictures!
I bought Catherine because I love Persona Team’s games.
I had no idea what I was getting myself into.
Luckily, I got one of the best games released in recent years.
The game is really good looking which is no surprise considering Persona Team’s previous work. And as a fan of the Persona 3 and 4 soundtracks I found Catherine’s equally as pleasing. From a technical standpoint the game was nailed with a quality hammer from all angles.
I particularly enjoyed the character designs and especially how the cast isn’t a group of teenagers for once (Or, again, really as I believe Persona 2′s cast is not all kids). But what really got me is how the game exceeded my expectation for handling relationships in a pretty darn mature manner.
Marriage, pregnancy and cheating are just the tip of the topics touched in Catherine. And if dealing with one man’s relationship woes isn’t enough, there are even several characters with problems of their own for you to fix. To hear more of these tales all that needs to be done is a bit of chatting at the Stray Sheep, the bar which hosts the majority of the game’s story segments.
The game also features breasts.
Interacting with these NPCs are considered side quests but dealing with them is so natural, I found, that I didn’t even realize that I was doing a side quest until the game was over and I was awarded a Playstation Network Trophy™ for completing one of them.
I’m not sure how many could be completed in one play through, though. I’d imagine it would take some serious juggling, much like keeping friends and girlfriend(s) happy in Persona 3 and 4.
But just like how in Persona 3 and 4 the heroes battle evil at night, there is more to Catherine than just exploring interpersonal relationships in a bar. Every night our hero Vincent must climb up a tower, battling the evils within himself so he doesn’t fall down and wake up dead the next morning.
And it’s not a pretty death.
I think it’s hard to discuss the story too deeply without spoiling anything but I was extremely impressed by it. If the English translation is given to a solid team, people are really going to enjoy this story.
With relationships in most games either being unabashedly cliched, or based on how many cakes have been given to the lover-to-be, there is a realness to the relationships in Catherine’s plot that comes as a huge surprise. That’s not to say there aren’t cliches, however the relationships feel real as opposed to from a fairytale.
Anyone who has been in a relationship will find things to relate to in the story. I wouldn’t even be surprised if there are people who take a lesson or two from the tale. To go completely metaphysical, I even think the nightly puzzle gameplay itself is a lesson for gamers. Perhaps not intended, but there nonetheless.
I believe too often do we jump into games assuming our superiority over them. They are but mere games and we are the players. “Of course I can do hard mode, how dare you make me wait until I beat normal to unlock it.” Catherine delivers a quick slap to the faces of gamers who take this attitude, however.
Many players I talked to said they begrudgingly set their difficulty to Easy after repeat problems on Normal mode. I started on Easy, however, and I believe this had a significant impact on my enjoyment of the game. Starting out on Easy in Catherine should not be viewed as “chickening out” but rather the player starting the game as a complete novice, what they really are.
The gameplay is definitely unique. I got vibes of Tetris, Q*Bert, Ice Climber and many others. The term action puzzle is as close as one might get when trying to typify it.
There is a tower of blocks and it must be climbed. Take to long and Vincent falls to his death. There are also a variety of blocks. Some cannot be moved, some crumble after being stepped on too many times, some are slippery and some can kill Vincent.
Ouchies.
Working with the various types of blocks during the climb presents a decent challenge that many gamers will have to attempt again and again. I know I did.
Thankfully, Easy comes with an Undo option, giving the ability to retrace a certain number of steps. This speeds up the gameplay and allows for faster trial and error. The lack of the Undo function was my biggest hurdle in trying to make the jump to Normal mode. The game is unsurprisingly much more tense without the ability to undo mistakes.
For players having trouble there is a 80s arcade styled mini game included called Rapunzel. Rapnuzel is available to play during the bar segments and it follows the same rules of the nightly tower climbing. The main difference is that the amount of moves are limited instead of time.
While the game recommends players using this mini game to hone their skills for the main climbing segments, I personally found Rapunzel much more of a challenge. There are 64 stages and I could barely make it past the fifth. It is much less stressful, and did allow me to get a better handle on the controls, which have one sticking point.
Just hanging around. If you were behind this block, however, you'd be confused as to what is left or what is right.
This issue, and my biggest complaint with the game, is how the controls stick with Vincent’s point of view as you go behind blocks. Even with practice I still wasn’t completely comfortable with them and would find myself wasting time flopping around behind blocks when I desperately needed to be on the move.
This wasn’t a deal breaker, however, and I was able to complete Easy without too much frustration. I died frequently and in terrible fashion, but I always felt like I was getting better at the game.
Now that I am playing on the Normal difficulty, I am still having difficulties but I feel the fundamental skills I got from playing on Easy have reduced the frustration that I may have had if I began on Normal.
I highly suggest anyone interested in the game start out on Easy and go for another romp on Normal if left wanting more. With several endings to be found, I know I was.
GotY 2011 right here, people.
This article is about the Japanese Playstation 3 version. Thanks go to Famitsu for the pictures!
I bought Catherine because I love Persona Team’s games.
I had no idea what I was getting myself into.
Luckily, I got one of the best games released in recent years.
The game is really good looking which is no surprise considering Persona Team’s previous work. And as a fan of the Persona 3 and 4 soundtracks I found Catherine’s equally as pleasing. From a technical standpoint the game was nailed with a quality hammer from all angles.
I particularly enjoyed the character designs and especially how the cast isn’t a group of teenagers for once (Or, again, really as I believe Persona 2′s cast is not all kids). But what really got me is how the game exceeded my expectation for handling relationships in a pretty darn mature manner.
Marriage, pregnancy and cheating are just the tip of the topics touched in Catherine. And if dealing with one man’s relationship woes isn’t enough, there are even several characters with problems of their own for you to fix. To hear more of these tales all that needs to be done is a bit of chatting at the Stray Sheep, the bar which hosts the majority of the game’s story segments.
The game also features breasts.
Interacting with these NPCs are considered side quests but dealing with them is so natural, I found, that I didn’t even realize that I was doing a side quest until the game was over and I was awarded a Playstation Network Trophy™ for completing one of them.
I’m not sure how many could be completed in one play through, though. I’d imagine it would take some serious juggling, much like keeping friends and girlfriend(s) happy in Persona 3 and 4.
But just like how in Persona 3 and 4 the heroes battle evil at night, there is more to Catherine than just exploring interpersonal relationships in a bar. Every night our hero Vincent must climb up a tower, battling the evils within himself so he doesn’t fall down and wake up dead the next morning.
And it’s not a pretty death.
I think it’s hard to discuss the story too deeply without spoiling anything but I was extremely impressed by it. If the English translation is given to a solid team, people are really going to enjoy this story.
With relationships in most games either being unabashedly cliched, or based on how many cakes have been given to the lover-to-be, there is a realness to the relationships in Catherine’s plot that comes as a huge surprise. That’s not to say there aren’t cliches, however the relationships feel real as opposed to from a fairytale.
Anyone who has been in a relationship will find things to relate to in the story. I wouldn’t even be surprised if there are people who take a lesson or two from the tale. To go completely metaphysical, I even think the nightly puzzle gameplay itself is a lesson for gamers. Perhaps not intended, but there nonetheless.
I believe too often do we jump into games assuming our superiority over them. They are but mere games and we are the players. “Of course I can do hard mode, how dare you make me wait until I beat normal to unlock it.” Catherine delivers a quick slap to the faces of gamers who take this attitude, however.
Many players I talked to said they begrudgingly set their difficulty to Easy after repeat problems on Normal mode. I started on Easy, however, and I believe this had a significant impact on my enjoyment of the game. Starting out on Easy in Catherine should not be viewed as “chickening out” but rather the player starting the game as a complete novice, what they really are.
The gameplay is definitely unique. I got vibes of Tetris, Q*Bert, Ice Climber and many others. The term action puzzle is as close as one might get when trying to typify it.
There is a tower of blocks and it must be climbed. Take to long and Vincent falls to his death. There are also a variety of blocks. Some cannot be moved, some crumble after being stepped on too many times, some are slippery and some can kill Vincent.
Ouchies.
Working with the various types of blocks during the climb presents a decent challenge that many gamers will have to attempt again and again. I know I did.
Thankfully, Easy comes with an Undo option, giving the ability to retrace a certain number of steps. This speeds up the gameplay and allows for faster trial and error. The lack of the Undo function was my biggest hurdle in trying to make the jump to Normal mode. The game is unsurprisingly much more tense without the ability to undo mistakes.
For players having trouble there is a 80s arcade styled mini game included called Rapunzel. Rapnuzel is available to play during the bar segments and it follows the same rules of the nightly tower climbing. The main difference is that the amount of moves are limited instead of time.
While the game recommends players using this mini game to hone their skills for the main climbing segments, I personally found Rapunzel much more of a challenge. There are 64 stages and I could barely make it past the fifth. It is much less stressful, and did allow me to get a better handle on the controls, which have one sticking point.
Just hanging around. If you were behind this block, however, you'd be confused as to what is left or what is right.
This issue, and my biggest complaint with the game, is how the controls stick with Vincent’s point of view as you go behind blocks. Even with practice I still wasn’t completely comfortable with them and would find myself wasting time flopping around behind blocks when I desperately needed to be on the move.
This wasn’t a deal breaker, however, and I was able to complete Easy without too much frustration. I died frequently and in terrible fashion, but I always felt like I was getting better at the game.
Now that I am playing on the Normal difficulty, I am still having difficulties but I feel the fundamental skills I got from playing on Easy have reduced the frustration that I may have had if I began on Normal.
I highly suggest anyone interested in the game start out on Easy and go for another romp on Normal if left wanting more. With several endings to be found, I know I was.
GotY 2011 right here, people.
This article is about the Japanese Playstation 3 version. Thanks go to Famitsu for the pictures!
I bought Catherine because I love Persona Team’s games.
I had no idea what I was getting myself into.
Luckily, I got one of the best games released in recent years.
The game is really good looking which is no surprise considering Persona Team’s previous work. And as a fan of the Persona 3 and 4 soundtracks I found Catherine’s equally as pleasing. From a technical standpoint the game was nailed with a quality hammer from all angles.
I particularly enjoyed the character designs and especially how the cast isn’t a group of teenagers for once (Or, again, really as I believe Persona 2′s cast is not all kids). But what really got me is how the game exceeded my expectation for handling relationships in a pretty darn mature manner.
Marriage, pregnancy and cheating are just the tip of the topics touched in Catherine. And if dealing with one man’s relationship woes isn’t enough, there are even several characters with problems of their own for you to fix. To hear more of these tales all that needs to be done is a bit of chatting at the Stray Sheep, the bar which hosts the majority of the game’s story segments.
The game also features breasts.
Interacting with these NPCs are considered side quests but dealing with them is so natural, I found, that I didn’t even realize that I was doing a side quest until the game was over and I was awarded a Playstation Network Trophy™ for completing one of them.
I’m not sure how many could be completed in one play through, though. I’d imagine it would take some serious juggling, much like keeping friends and girlfriend(s) happy in Persona 3 and 4.
But just like how in Persona 3 and 4 the heroes battle evil at night, there is more to Catherine than just exploring interpersonal relationships in a bar. Every night our hero Vincent must climb up a tower, battling the evils within himself so he doesn’t fall down and wake up dead the next morning.
And it’s not a pretty death.
I think it’s hard to discuss the story too deeply without spoiling anything but I was extremely impressed by it. If the English translation is given to a solid team, people are really going to enjoy this story.
With relationships in most games either being unabashedly cliched, or based on how many cakes have been given to the lover-to-be, there is a realness to the relationships in Catherine’s plot that comes as a huge surprise. That’s not to say there aren’t cliches, however the relationships feel real as opposed to from a fairytale.
Anyone who has been in a relationship will find things to relate to in the story. I wouldn’t even be surprised if there are people who take a lesson or two from the tale. To go completely metaphysical, I even think the nightly puzzle gameplay itself is a lesson for gamers. Perhaps not intended, but there nonetheless.
I believe too often do we jump into games assuming our superiority over them. They are but mere games and we are the players. “Of course I can do hard mode, how dare you make me wait until I beat normal to unlock it.” Catherine delivers a quick slap to the faces of gamers who take this attitude, however.
Many players I talked to said they begrudgingly set their difficulty to Easy after repeat problems on Normal mode. I started on Easy, however, and I believe this had a significant impact on my enjoyment of the game. Starting out on Easy in Catherine should not be viewed as “chickening out” but rather the player starting the game as a complete novice, what they really are.
The gameplay is definitely unique. I got vibes of Tetris, Q*Bert, Ice Climber and many others. The term action puzzle is as close as one might get when trying to typify it.
There is a tower of blocks and it must be climbed. Take to long and Vincent falls to his death. There are also a variety of blocks. Some cannot be moved, some crumble after being stepped on too many times, some are slippery and some can kill Vincent.