Catherine

Catherine – One Hour Demo Impressions

Catherine is a action puzzle game centered around 32 year old Vincent Brooks. Vincent is just your typical guy with major conflictions and who has commitment issues with his longtime girlfriend Katherine Mcbride. Catherine gets weird fast due to Vincent’s nightmares. Not just normal nightmares. These nightmares can kill Vincent in real-life. The killer also happens to be his girlfriend, Katherine. I was able to snag the one hour demo of Catherine from PSN+ last week. Sometimes PSN+ members get exclusive one hour demos of full games to try out. Catherine released last week on PSN+ but i’m just now getting around to play through it.  Catherine was developed and published by Atlus Co for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. It originally released  July 28, 2011.

Catherine starts off as a TV show called Golden Playhouse hosted by a sultry vixen named Trisha. She tells the tale of Vincent. Soon after your in-game at the first gameplay Stage 1: Nightmare which is a tutorial of sorts. The opening puzzle of Catherine teaches you the basic fundamentals of climbing towers. In a nut shell that is what Catherine is, its a puzzle game of manipulating blocks to reach the top. You have an initial set number of lives and continues. There are alos many layers and many strategies involved when climbing towers. You can push and pull certain blocks. Some blocks can “edge” which means they float when connected to a block and can support your weight as long as they are “edge”.

There are also blocks that can crack and chip away if you step on them. There are blocks you cannot move. That isn’t a problem as there is always a way to reach the top of a stage. You can use the Left Stick on the Duel Shock 3 to look around the tower (within reason). You can hang around blocks and climb around. Playing on easy mode will let you redo a “move” by pressing the Select button. Keep in mind each block you move it stays in that position. There are power-ups you can snag around the block puzzle towers such as Mystic Pillows which gives Vincent extra continues. You can also collect coins that give you points. To make Vincent climb and move  i used the D-pad and LS. To push and pull blocks i used the X button (hold down).

When you make it to Landing sections of the nightmarish puzzle levels you can talk to other sheep. Vincent has sheep horns when he plays puzzle levels in Catherine. He is marred as a sheep being led to the slaughter (is my guess). Talking to other sheep are important. You can learn new techniques for climbing the puzzle towers like the “Pyramid” or “Slider”. You can also discover your own moves. The basic premise of Catherine’s gameplay is to create stairs to climb up using the blocks. The gameplay screen during puzzle sequences looks 2D but is really 3D. You can push blocks forward and pull them back towards you. The camera has a semi fixed position but can be moved with LS to see whats around you for strategy. There are checkpoints mid-way up some puzzle towers/stages.

Asides from the nightmarish puzzle scenes that have the floor dropping below you and an evil Katherine trying to murder Vincent, you also have real-life sequences as well. In between gameplay sequences you usually see Vincent in his day to day life. He’s usually hanging out with his buds Toby and Chief at the Stray Sheep bar. You also meet up with Katherine and talk. Each cutscene and in-game cutscene  was really impressive visually showcasing great anime art. The voice acting and sound design was solid as well. The cutscenes and in-game cutscenes are a welcomed break from the game’s puzzle sequences.

Vincent’s phone is an important gameplay element when not trying to survive his nightmares. You can read and answer Kathrine’s texts. Answering questions in Catherine dictates gameplay and how characters perceive you throughout. You can save using your phone anytime. You can also access your diary and Awards at anytime. There is a underlying story of young men that died in their sleep.  Vincent and his friends knew the most recent, Paul. They discussed it at the Stray Sheep. Sheep, there goes that word again. I did get to meet the “other” woman” in Catherine. She sat down at Vincent’s table uninvited ready to stir up trouble. Vincent is a weak man. I can see him getting in trouble. I wished i had more than an hour with this game its pretty damn good.

As far as presentation goes Catherine is a good game. No glitches or bugs in the version i played. The story seems fun and interesting. The visuals are very good featuring great anime cutscenes and in-game graphics. The music was impressive as well. The package is quirky and unusual in design but i really like Catherine’s style. I can see myself picking this game up eventually. Its a challenging puzzle game with a quirky thick atmosphere. If your a PSN+ member i say check it out. Thanks for reading.