Catherine on PS3
Catherine Falling for this girl might be hazardous to your health...As Vincent a man recently succumbed to the irresistible beauty of the game's titular diversion players find themselves swept into a treacherous love triangle. Catherine's core themes those of free will of the delicate nature of relationships and the choices we make within them marry perfectly with the intense terror-filled gameplay that serves to accurately reflect Vincent's growing sense of anxiety. It is an experience wholly unlike any to come before it and is certain to leave gamers talking and thinking about Vincent's tribulations long after the credits have rolled.Features: The Horrors of Love - Vincent's waking fears doubts pressures and growing guilt about commitment and fidelity now gleefully follow him into his dreams manifesting as horribly disfigured monsters and a ticking clock. Between a Rock and a Soft Place - The player must navigate Vincent through heavy moral decisions. As in real life hardly anything is black and white. What is the best memory cards value of honesty? What is the right thing to do? Either way someone's going to get hurt. Worse yet someone could die. The Nightmare of Your Dreams - Famed character artist Shigenori Soejima and master composer Shoji Meguro create sights and sounds unlike anything else. As unforgettable and original as the game's narrative Catherine's visual direction and musical score define and perfectly complement Vincent's terrifying ascent into the dizzying perils of love. Escape With or From a Friend - Local competitive and cooperative multiplayer modes in addition to leaderboards ensure that the many thrills and horrors of racing through twisted stages can be enjoyed by more than one player and add hours of extra gameplay to the overall experience.
I played this tonight after I received the game in the mail. Overall it is very addicting to see the storyline progress and I like the way you can affect the outcomes. There are supposedly 8 endings. I am on the last part of Stage 7 (8 stages total), and I've played for about 9 hours 45 minutes. So the game is pretty short... I did not mess with the arcade game in the bar though. But if you go for the different endings and two different girls, you will obviously have a lot of replay value. Catherine has many funny moments and everyone can relate to the relationship issues in here. The puzzles are CHALLENGING which is what I like. There were times when I was very frustrated screaming at the TV, nba jerseys and a few had me redoing them for over half an hour because I couldn't solve them correctly. People who get frustrated easily will probably not enjoy this game. The stages actually require you to think and use your brain. I wish there were more games like this. If you get stuck, it's better to just restart from the checkpoint or do something differently because there aren't infinite ways to solve each puzzle. You're either doing it right or wrong. Bottom line Catherine is UNIQUE and one of the best PS3 games I've played in a while. I rarely buy a full price game freshly released but this was definitely worth my money.
Hands down, Catherine is one of the most original and visually appealing mature games released this Summer of 2011. The presentation is absolutely gorgeous and the serious theme of morality is a welcome and refreshing change compared to usual violent video games of this generation. Unfortunately, the gameplay is not for everyone and while the story is very entertaining, the overall unbalanced pacing of the game can turn some gamers off.
The main attraction of the game is its puzzles and while they gradually differ as you gain new techniques and fight different bosses, the sad reality is, your first puzzle is not very different from the final puzzle. To balance out the puzzles are what I call "social" parts of the game where casino bonus you can interact with other characters in the bar and further develop the excellent story. In order to further immerse players into the game, a mixture of anime and the unique cel-shaded graphics are used throughout to move the game along.
But is the game fun? For me, not really. I completed the Japanese version when it came out on February 2011 and just finished the US version a short while ago. I appreciate the fact that Atlus and the Persona team continue to evolve and develop such original games but this was not my cup of tea. For everyone else, play it for yourself and hopefully you understand why this is one of the most original and refreshing games to come out in garmin gps a very long time.
