Catherine an awesome dream, reality and nightmare

So at first I didn't know anything about Catherine, my brother told me about it and it seemed kinda cool. But my heart truly became set when I played the demo.  Now I have one full play through under my belt, and another 1/3rd run as well. So here is my take on the game, I will try to be as spoiler free as possible..

This game was made by a group of guys called the "Persona Team", they worked on 3, 3 FES, 4, and the remake of 2. As you play you can see their influence on the art, music and play style

You are Vincent a slacker guy dating a girl named Katherine, but you like things how they are zen like..peaceful and still. Katherine wants to move things to the next level by getting married. This of cource freaks you out..so you spend time at the Stray Sheep with your drinking buddies. Untill Catherine sits down next to you at the bar and talks you up. Next thing you know you wake up next to a naked Catherine..

 This is you..Vincent..the "hero" of our story.

This is Katherine your current girlfriend.

This is Catherine, the girl you wake up naked next to.











Now this game basically happens in two stages. What happens at the Stray Sheep. Where you can intertact with people in the game to help them solve their problems, send and receive texts to Katherine/Catherine..save your game. Play Raptuzenil which is a arcade version of this game. Listen to music from other Atlus games. And drink, yes drink because the more drunk you are the quick you are in the "Night Mare stages".

The main hunk of the game take place in your Night Mares, and trust me these will cause some nightmares. Basic all you need to do is use blocks to climb to the top of the stage before the bottom falls out. Now these block puzzle are like the ones from Zelda bu on steroids and vicious.  I am not much of  logical thinker or just good at block puzzles.  I got to the 4th stage on Normal setting and I had to restart on Easy mode.  IF you read some articles even the Japanese had issues with block puzzles.

Now after each puzzle you reach a landing where you can interact with other people stuck in the nightmares with you, and your actions will effect them in the real world. You can buy items to help you, and save your game. Once your ready to proceede you go into a confessional, answer a question and move onto the next puzzle. After the puzzles you have to race against a boss monster, which gets you to a door and your nigthmare ends for that night. Trust me these kick my ass..I had to go to youtube to look at how people did it as I got towards the end of the game.


Now these puzzles are scored on a point/coin system, now how do you get them. By climb as fast as you can to get a "step chain" and by collecting coins as you progress. Also you get a bonus when you beat each puzzle called a "safety bonus" time s a multiplexer by what your level difficulty is. You lose coins by buying items at the landings, most of the time you wil just need what you find as your going along.

Now you will die..a lot..that's why when you see a pillow grab it, it allow you to retry when you die..or fall..On Easy and Normal you can undo a block move to try a different way to climb.








The other big mechanic at play is a moral choice system that change based on your interaction with people in the bar and your answers in the confessional. Not going to tell what each side means, you will find that as your play through the game, but where the bar is plays a huge role in cut scenes. Also I have heard the line of dialogue change but since I have only beaten one side of the game I am not sure on this.

Catherine is a fantastic game..the music..the art..and the story pull you in such a way to addict you and wonder what is going to happen next. It' so hard to describe how the blends romance, anime, and horror all at the same time.  All I can really say is that you should go play this game, and if you don't like block puzzles, drop the setting to easy and have you tube opened near by, don't let the puzzle deter you from this game. Go try the demo and look at some vids.