So almost immediately after I spend lauding it, Atlus USA (the tease) goes and releases the demo for Catherine on the PSN. I'd glee at any opportunity to get more information on it, of course, but it's also gives me a great opportunity to explain a game that probably deserves a little more context and background than a three-or-four paragraph summary. When I first introduced this game on the blog, it never occurred to me that there may be some of you out there who see men seduced by women with hair shaped like a couple of chandeliers grafted to their heads, gets steer horns and runs around in big boy undies and a pillow, and climbs blocks that unapologeticly eviscerate the laws of physics while running away from a fifty-foot zombie chick with an afro, and respond with a gentle "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS PORNO DRUGGIE BULLCRAP".
So for you people that have only relied on my gut instincts and some really strange trailers, fear not! I now have more solid material to give you a better overview/introduction to the proud first entry of the up-and-coming "erotic horror puzzle platformer" genre. Maybe it's because I've had little other experience in the EHPP niche, but this game is definitely not like anything I've played before (in a good way), and is already on its way to exceeding it's already high bar. Don't believe me? Let's take a closer look.
For those of you who missed the previous FPPS, here's the post-it note summary of Catherine: everloser geekboy senior with a pink shirt cheats on his girlfriend, a seasonal gypsy curse rolls through town, and freaky stuff happens. Sounds like a typical day at the movies right? Ah ha ha, WRONG, because our hero starts dreaming that he needs to climb a huge tower made of magic storage bins that he has to shove around to make a stairway, climbing to safety before the blocks below him give out and he falls to his doom. Typical overly symbolic puzzle game right? Oh ho ho, WRONG, because this was made in Japan, so there's something weird that's chasing him all the way up, one of them being a psychotic representation of his pissed off girlfriend wielding a white 'fro and a huge fork she uses to pop him like a balloon with little pink rubbery bits in the middle.
Yeah. It's a huge post-it note.
What originally got me hooked on the game was the reputable team behind (Atlus's Persona 4 team, FYI), the theme monogamy versus non-commitment, oft not explored in games, and the game's unspoken promise of not being quite like anything you've played before. And it meets those expectations really well (for the hour or so I've played anyway). But other things I was banking on, like a distinctly edgy presentation and a battle system meant to break the Atlus fanboy brain rather than delight and amuse, were actually revered entirely. Unsurprisingly, it's for the absolute better.
The biggest thing that surprised me is the gamemplay is a blast. It basically works like this: you're given a huge wall of blocks stacked in a peculiar way, and it's your job to move the blocks to create a stairway to climb up to the top. Sounds simple and kind of tedious, right? But for reasons I'm having a hard time putting my thumb on, it's seriously and surprisingly enjoyable. First off, the controls are extremely simple, and tightened to a needlepoint. 3-D and platforming have always been on uneasy terms, but this is definitely one of the better designs. The controls are done on the d-pad as opposed to the joystick, so it makes for much more accurate, almost 2-D movements on a 3-D plane. It's easy to pick up, and one wrong twitch isn't going to throw you into oblivion. (Unless your an idiot like me and somehow manage to get BEHIND the wall and think it's a good idea to press the x-button to let go. FOR SOME REASON).
But what I think what makes this game so fun, and makes it stand out from puzzle games. is that it feels like one of the few that actually wants you to win. The field is brightly lit, there isn't a lot of things that are just going to jump at you and kill you, there are check points mid-puzzle, and the premise is so simple that it's easy to pick yourself up and dive in again. Even the game's little interface details feel more like positive reinforcement than the game getting a boner every time you can't beat it. Your sheep buddies actually cheer when you manage to score some coins, the game-over screen isn't mocking or grim, just has Vincent chipperly declaring "now's not the time to be dead!" when you choose to restart, and even the frustrating-by-design ranking system at the end is surprisingly kind. No Bayonetta style, "oh, so you only died once and used one item? Then here's a bronze trophy of a CANDY-ASS LITTLE GIRL you dick". All the trophies are the exact same shape, and regardless of what score you get, the game non-sarcastically congratulates you for surviving.
And they give you Utena-style gong bells when you get close to the entrance. Like, CHURCH BELLS are ringing the closer you get to beating the stage. Freaking awesome.
Sadly, you don't have an infinite number of retries, making for some frustration in hearkening back to the long ago days of having "lives" you need to keep track of. But on a huge plus side, Atlus listened to the fandom's plea for an easy mode, and instead of offering it as a patch like they did for the JP version, Easy Mode is now included in an in-game difficulty setting. But take caution--I played the demo twice, and even though I moon-walked through the first puzzle no problem, the later ones get sticky no matter how many times you play them, even on easy mode. Even though she's worth your attention, if you'd rather have a fun time than sitting down and committing to the old girl, you'll have your chance.
The presentation of the game, as expected, is excellent. Atlus managed to sew the nightmare world and the real world surprisingly well, but not quite by the way I thought. The real unifying factor turned out not a transition between gritreal and surreal, but rather an interesting balance of both for each of the worlds. The scenery in the bar that Vincent hangs out, the cafe where you see Catherine, and the nightmare world are all beautifully rendered, but they all have something over-the-top and just a little strange. For instance, and there seems to be an aesthetic balance between a well-lit foreground and an almost shadowy background, without sacrificing any colors in either. It's an aesthetic choice I really liked in Bioshock, but since Bioshock was trying to be ALL OUT GRITREAL, it seems a lot more natural with the tone of the story here. More on that later.
In addition to the choice of lighting, there are a lot of small details that are exaggerated. Like the huge pillows in the cafe, the TV-screens that flash solid light and color instead of direct images (all of which seem a little reminiscent of P4), and the wide, sweeping angles the in-game animations like to take, even looking a little distorted, like they're being shot through a fish-eye. As I've said, it's noticeable, but not distracting, and combined with the previous, as well as the unique but appropriate choice of using pink as an omnipresent color motif, the whole game has a really, really nice aesthetic. I can't wait to see what they do with it as the game progresses.
Also, I'm happy to report that the localization is fantastic. Translation teams have really gotten good at, you know, actually translating Japanese to English instead of some sort of 19th Century Romanticism Fairy Language. I mean, in only about 45 minutes of gameplay, the main character drops two f-bombs while still managing to sound like an adult while still sounding like a fanboy loser, just by how the dialog's structured. That's good, man. And the English VA team takes the mannerisms need for the characters and runs with them. Vincent would be a completely unlikable ball of bland if it wasn't for Troy Baker's wonderful performance, reminding us all that, uh yeah actually, it is pretty intimidating when your girlfriend pops the question for the first time. The same dialogue and good voice acting save the rest of the cast from falling into similar spheres, while the obligatory three-drinking-buddy greek chorus of youth vs. commitment vs. having a good time all become legitimate characters instead of prop cliches to pat the audience's head and assure them they aren't stupid.
I mean hell, they even made the obligatory love interest a legitimate character, instead of just some hot but prudish nag. Her full name is Katherine McBride for cripes sake, and you can still like her for it. Michelle Ruff's vocal talent deserves no small thanks, but there's just something about the way she behaves that's already fascinating to me. She isn't some passive-aggressive waif. She's got the career, the ambitions, and the proactive attitude to actually see whether or not her boyfriend is going to be an unambitious fanboy loser for life. Also, there's this lovely exchange:
Vincent: Have you ever had a dream where you...died?
Katherine: Like, when you're in danger?
Vincent: No, no, where you actually die. You're being killed, or something.
Katherine: No. (smile) I usually do the killing in my dreams.
But what really makes the game to me is that it's fun. And I don't mean that it has enjoyable gameplay and a good story, I mean that the game's entire point is just to be seriously freaking fun. It's treating its audience with respect and like intelligent human beings, certainly, but there's also a general air of whackyness that really keeps everything together. It's everywhere from the makes-no-sense-but-it-looks-seriously-cool opening animation, to the really bouncy soundtrack, to Vincent's truly epic open-jawed face faults, to the almost darkly humorous options menu. Once you get over seeing a sheep man falling down and exploding on the game logo like a jelly-filled zit, it's actually kind of funny to see one after the other falling in the background of the title scream, bleating in horror all the way down. Despite the solemn subject matter and the inevitable nightmare fuel to come, the game goes out of its way to make sure you're smiling through every second of it. Thank goodness for trippy Japanese games. The world would be a bleaker place without them.
Catherine hits the stores on July 26th, and I still got no dough to take her out. But if you want her, dude, I will totally be your wingman.
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