To be completely honest with all of you, I actually got this game as a gift for Christmas and had already beaten it months ago, but I've started to replay it again and so I really wanted to write about it! x3 Catherine is by far one of the most unique games I've ever played. For those of you that don't know, the story is about a man named Vincent, who has started having some odd nightmares. He is in a relationship with his long-term girlfriend, Katherine, who has pretty much been hinting to him that she wants him to settle down and marry her. Vincent, of course, likes the way things are already between them, and isn't quite ready for that kind of commitment. One night at the bar him and his friends frequent, he encounters Catherine, a young blonde who turns out to be Vincent's idea of a perfect girl. The next morning, he wakes up to find Catherine in his bed! Vincent then starts struggling with guilt, lies, and to top it all off, the nightmares have become increasingly worse. He has to overcome these nightmares, otherwise, they could be the death of him.
What I love about this game the most is how the story captivates you and keeps you guessing. There were tons of times when I was just sitting there as I watched the story unfold and thinking "what in the world is happening?!". There are just so many unexpected twists that are thrown in that really put me on the edge of my seat and made my heart rate shoot up. It definitely made me want to keep on playing through the levels just so I can find out what would happen next. I also like how some of the dialogue and the ending (there are 8 different endings total) is influenced by your answers and choices, making it more interesting to replay the game.
Another thing I think is really cool about this game is that you have the option to save the other characters who also suffer from the nightmares. You can do this by helping them out and selecting the right answers when talking to each of them, I had found out. I was really psyched when I managed to save one person (it was Justin) when I first played, because I had no idea that it was even possible to do that and thought that everyone else was fated to die. My goal is to save everyone this time around!
Other things that I really enjoyed were that when you unlock achievements, you get new songs that you can play on the jukebox in the bar. I thought it was great that they even included some soundtracks from Persona 4! I also kind of like that you could play the mini game, Rapunzel, while at the bar, too. I like that you could play it as much as you want without it taking up time in the game, so you don't have to worry about it becoming too late or not having enough time to talk to the others at the bar. I also found it to be pretty good practice for the puzzles in the nightmare world when I started out, since it's set up the same way, the only difference is that your goal is to reach the tower to save the princess instead of trying to climb your way up in order to survive. It really helped me become more familiar with how to move the blocks and to figure out different ways to climb without the pressure of the blocks falling from below me or about stepping on trap blocks. I also like the quirky graphics. They're really different and I've never actually seen a game with that sort of look to them. The best way I can describe them is that they sort of look like... 3-D anime drawings. They even captured the anime expressions, which you can often see Vincent making while playing.
The only things I have to complain about is how the camera zooms in and out or changes angles on you during boss stages whenever the bosses do their attacks or do something to the blocks. It made it really hard for me to see what I was doing a lot of the time. Also, I don't know if this is just me, but sometimes when playing through the nightmare levels, it almost seemed like the controls were slow to respond, resulting in a delay in Vincent's movements. Sometimes moving around the blocks while hanging off the edges of them proved to be frustrating, as well. Still, it's a great game, and the pros outweigh the cons by a lot.
Catherine has easily become one of my most favorite games! It really brings a lot to the table, and if you decide to purchase it, you won't be disappointed. It's fun, interesting, and it makes you think (as expected from a puzzle game). So if you haven't tried it out yet, you're missing out!
