Yo [Catherine Review]

[It has been one hell of a wait for me when it comes to the game of this review, Catherine. Made by Atlus, and more specifically, the Persona Team, this game was something I knew so much about, most of the standard gameplay was already something I read about. So here it is bitches! Catherine has been beaten, what are my thoughts? Read on!]

[Yo yo, I've been counting the sheep ever since I popped this game in my PS3. Catherine is - and a lot of people are going to say this in reviews - a very unique game. You have a lot of dialogue and cutscenes, then you have your bar level, and then your nightmare levels. In the bar, you may talk to people, drink assorted alcoholic beverages, fuck with a few things, such as an ATM machine that never seems to serve any purpose, do some things in the bathroom [no! not those kinds of things], receive texts and respond to them on your cell, answer calls on your cell [should you get any, and you have the option of not answering them], play a difficult arcade game called Rapunzel, and change the jukebox songs at will. This is all that you can do, and this is your 'free' moments in the game. Each night, after you leave the bar, you will be plummeted into the very unique story, and then proceed to pass a series of levels that require you to climb walls, utilizing block puzzles]

[These puzzles will get more and more difficult, and you will have a boss stage at the end of each night. These bosses will sometimes merely chase you slowly, while others will have very dangerous special attacks that can get you killed as you try to climb. After each successful climb, you will be on a platform with other sheep, whom you can mingle with. Mingling with them often gives you insight into the story a bit, or even shows you new techniques you can use to climb walls in certain scenarios. These techniques will become invaluable to you, and many will HAVE to be utilized, so pay close attention! There are many times when you will be asked questions, these will help determine the ending you receive when you have completed the game, and there are EIGHT endings, so chose wisely! You can also save on these platforms, which is nice]

[You will have three difficulty modes, and even on easy mode, this game WILL challenge you. And even when you are not lost in nightmares, playing Rapunzel will challenge you even more so. Rapunzel is basically a block climbing game using the same rules as the nightmare levels do, only you do not have a time limit - the floor does not slowly fall away. However! You can only move so many blocks before you run out of 'power' and lose a game token. You have 3 per night, so think carefully when making your moves! It can be quite fun, but is EXTREMELY challenging - I got stuck on level 5. There are a bare minimum of 64 levels to Rapunzel]

[Beyond all this, what i can say is that Catherine delivers a unique story, one you will not find easily these days. It also has great music, a good voice cast, great visuals and a lot of challenging, yet rewarding levels. You have a step counter bonus and yen scattered through the nightmare levels. Picking these up and preventing your step counter from running out [it runs out if you stay on one block too long. Each time you ascend a step, it goes up] can yield a gold trophy upon completion of the stage, unlocking cool stuff for you, such as new songs in the jukebox, and even levels on a collessium mode called Babel, so climb! Climb! Climb! Pick up that Yen, son]

[So, what is my final verdict? Catherine is a fun game, but somewhat short. It took me around 12 hours to beat it. However, it was designed to be replayed several times, and with eight endings and different difficulty modes, this helps. I still find the replay value to be somewhat low, though I will probably give it another go on Normal mode here soon. The story is good, but not amazing like Persona 3 or 4. Still, it is quite good. This game is a remarkable adult game, in the way that it pokes at very adult themes. Life choices, relationships, it's all there. Very thought provoking stuff. I recommend this game to anyone that likes puzzles, people that are into games with cool stories, and definitely those fellow Atlus fans out there. Game on guys] -AT9-

Final Score - 7/10

Story - 7
Graphics - 8
Gameplay - 7
Music - 7
Replay Value - 5