Even though Catherine's been out for a while, I've been getting questions about it ever since I finished it. It seems a lot of people are curious about this little Japanese puzzle game, and I'm hoping that reviewing it can answer a lot of those questions!
Catherine is first and foremost a puzzle game. All of the "gameplay" is devoted to climbing vertical puzzles using moveable blocks. The rest of the game consists of cutscenes and dialogue which could be called more of a dating simulator of sorts. Basically, you spend your time at a bar chatting with the regulars and trying (or not trying) to get laid. Catherine is difficult to define, but easy to understand once you're playing it.
You play as Vincent. He's a thirty something year old with a seemingly great girlfriend, good job, and lots of friends. However, you immediately become aware that he is terrified of life changing; whether it's marriage, babies, promotions, etc. He wants his life to stay the same. He begins having nightmares (cue puzzle gameplay) and has to confront all of his fears.
Catherine's gameplay is very repetitive. It's the same puzzle scenario with different lighting over and over again. They also use the exact same music for everything! I had such a headache by the end of the game. As much as I disliked the repetitiveness of the gameplay, it lulled you into a false sense of safety and routine. Because of this, when the game changes one variable of the equation, it makes a huge impact.
Catherine is extremely frustrating to most gamers due to a number of things. First of all, the game is pretty hard. I'd like to say I'm relatively good at puzzle games and I played through on normal. It was challenging, but never too difficult. I can't even imagine trying the game on hard. Catherine also has terrible controls. The same button that moves blocks also releases you from hanging. This was the cause of about 95% of all my deaths.
The majority of the game is cutscenes and most of them are pretty cool. My only problem with the cinematics was the length. I wish they added more interactivety into the cutscenes through dialogue options, etc. to keep players interested.
Catherine's plot was interesting and definitely unique to gaming, however, I felt that they didn't really live up to the "M" rating. I know this probably sounds bad, but a game that is so deeply invested in being mature themed really just scraped the surface of Vincent's problems. I felt it was a little cookie-cutter with regards to the characters, and they totally shyed away from any real sex scenes. I could just be super desensitized to that sort of thing, but I was really looking for more depth.
All in all, I'd give Catherine a 6.5 out of 10. Not all gamers will enjoy it, but the ones who do will absolutely love it.
I hope my review didn't turn off too many hesitant buyers, but I will tell you this: If you think you might enjoy Catherine, get it. It's such a unique game that it deserves some respect.
As Always,
LadySnip3r
PS. Have you played Catherine? What did you think of it?
