Gameitall Before I start I would like to ask you some questions, Do you want to get married? If not, Why? If so, Would you marry the partner your currently with?
These are the questions presented in Catherine, a Surreal Survival Horror game that mixes some of the best elements of games like Mass Effect and Fable, with a unique twist.
Meet Vincent Brooks, a 32 year-old man who has been dating his girlfriend Katherine of 5 years, a relationship that has hit a dead end, Katherine wants them to get married, but the idea of marriage scares him. Durring a late night drink with his friends, he bumps into the hot bombshell Catherine, who quickly seduces Vincent into cheating.
Thus starts the curse of the ‘Woman’s Wrath.’ A dreamlike state where Vincent is forced to climb a tower, or die trying.
This is where the game takes notes from Choice heavy games like Mass Effect, Dragon Age and Fable, unlike those games though, I completely recommend choosing the options that relate to yourself, such as when your talking with fellow sheep trapped in the dream, patrons of the StraySheep Bar, and replying to text messages.
While in the Nightmare Sequences, Catherine becomes one of those games that becomes special. It’s different, it’s difficult and it’s frantic. As mentioned in our review of the demo, Catherine becomes an action puzzle game, Night after night, your forced to climb a tower by moving blocks, but of course there is more to it then that. The bottom of the stage keeps falling, which gives you a sense of a time limit, using certain techniques makes the climb easier for faster.
However, your not alone, other sheep want to get to the top, and some are quite greedy, hoping on spaces that you’ve moved, pushing blocks out of the way, and in some cases, knocking you off the floor you were on.
They’re not the worst of it, Boss battles involve something chasing you up the tower until you reach your door. Boss battles are… well disturbing.
However there is one area of the Nightmare sequence that is safe, these altars, allow you to chat with other sheep in the world (who turn out to be patrons of the Stray Sheep bar.) But a neat feature appears in this part of the game, a community asked question, based off your first playthough of the game (which should be the more reliable one.) Your are asked a question, some of which are just evil, and when you answer it affects your order of chaos or justice, you also get to see how many people voted the same as you.
Little touches like that makes this game great, getting drunk at the bar (and getting pretty awesome alcohol trivia.) Playing Rapunzel (a 8 bit version of the nightmare sequence) and helping fellow Sheep with their issues to help them survive the tower itself.
Speaking of the Tower, Catherine also incorperates a Multiplayer level called Babel, where you and a friend climb the tower, working together to make it to the top. It’s Co-operative play but adds a much more challenging aspect of the game.
Catherine is a difficult game to explain, let alone review, but it’s definitely and can be justified as a must buy for those of you who really enjoy Atlus previous work like the Persona. It’s a original Horror game that really stands out, and in the sea of games that have constant sequels, it’s really great to see one stand out from the crowd.
Generally I dislike rating a game because it is more up to the person who reads the review, and also I generally do not like giving a Perfect rating for a game, but if I had the choice, this would be a perfect 10/10, 5 star, editor’s choice what ever you would want. Catherine is the sleeper hit of the summer.
