Catherine (PS3)

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JustLikeHeaven1
Posts: 2971
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Catherine (PS3)

Postby JustLikeHeaven1 » January 6th, 2015, 12:40 pm

So I've had this game for a while, but never got around to playing it.  I've heard pretty good things and I'm a fan of puzzle games so I torn off the cellophane and booted it up.  

Man...this game is WEIRD.  It's VERY Japanese.  It's obviously inspired by anime and the themes are very dark.  The whole game is about this guy Vincent who is 32 years old and has a girlfriend named Katherine.  She wants to get married and have kids...but ol Vinnie wants to keep things status-quo.  One night he gets wasted and ends up sleeping with this hot blonde chick named Catherine (yes with a C...she's not your girlfriend).  Oh and every night you go to sleep you have these nightmares where you need to climb up these block like levels (this is the primary gameplay).  

The whole thing is like half anime film, half puzzle game with a sprinkling of NPC chatting.  I'm typically not a fan of sitting there watching cut scenes...but this whole thing is so very well done that I'm intrigued.  Throughout the game you have questions to answers about love and relationships as well as other morale dilemmas.  I think how you answer changes the story line and reactions of characters.  Not sure yet.

Again...it's all very odd.  The whole thing has an Avante Garde panache that is rarely seen in most modern games.  I can see lots of people being very uncomfortable with the subject matter of the game.  It seems like they wanted to make things vague and mysterious....but creepy and unsettling as well.  

The actual gameplay is very solid.  If you like puzzles that test your spatial reasoning then you will dig the "Nightmare Sequences" where you're climbing blocks trying to escape.  So far it's pretty easy...but I can see these puzzle levels getting very difficult to solve.

I'm not quite sure what to think of the game at this point...or if I even like it.  Right now I'm curious to see where it is going, so I guess that's good.  At the very least it's exciting to be playing a game with high production values that is just really out of the box.  

Stay tuned for more updates...

Astrosmasher1
Posts: 1107
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Catherine (PS3)

Postby Astrosmasher1 » January 6th, 2015, 4:51 pm

I have it on 360.   It is very weird.  Remember drink a lot in the bar.  Try making all the good choices.

JustLikeHeaven1
Posts: 2971
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Catherine (PS3)

Postby JustLikeHeaven1 » January 8th, 2015, 10:18 am

I've been playing for about 4-5 hours thus far.  The game gets high praise for being incredibly unique.  I can't think of anything remotely like it.  It is actually hard to classify the game.  It's a mystery adventure style game with a mix of puzzle platforming...sorta.  

Anywho, the story is sort of juvenile with it's melodramatic voice acting, reliance on swearing and anime cleavage.  However, if you can get past that there is alot to like.  The whole thing is like an arthouse film where you have to figure out what things are...or what they ACTUALLY mean.  There are tons of metaphors and ideas here...and I really dig that.  Also, I'm really curious to see how the story unfolds.  There are twists and turns at every corner and I really have no clue how things will turn out.

None of this would matter if the puzzle sections were boring.  Thankfully these are brain teasingly good.  The levels where something is chasing you...man those can be brutal!  You have to think fast and react even faster.  Yes...thanks for the tip about getting drunk Astrosmasher!  It certainly helps.

So far this has been an enjoyable experience.  I'm hoping the game doesn't last much longer than 10 hours or so.  That seems like breaking point for something like this.

ActRaiser1
Posts: 2726
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Catherine (PS3)

Postby ActRaiser1 » January 11th, 2015, 12:21 pm

I bought the online version for $5 the other day on the 360.  I'll have to give it a whirl soon.  Thanks for posting the impressions. 

Much appreciated,
Bud

PSX1
Posts: 388
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Catherine (PS3)

Postby PSX1 » January 21st, 2015, 11:48 pm

Thanks for sharing JLH.  I've had Catherine in my Amazon "wish list" for a long time now.  I think your post might be the push I needed to finally buy it.  I like weird one-of-a-kind type games like this.


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