After playing Catherine and reflecting on the experience I felt refreshed and wanting to play again. Catherine isn’t about saving the world or accomplishing seemly impossible odds but instead it’s about a regular guy named Vincent who gets in over his head. Vincent is satisfied with his standard carefree life; however his girlfriend Katherine with a “K” wants to marry and solidify their relationship. And then another woman enters his life, Catherine with a “C”. This Catherine is a sexy temptress that Vincent finds himself waking up with her the morning after meeting her at the local bar called the Stray Sheep. This begins a tale more tense then some save the world stories, filled with tense moments. Coming to terms with his feelings and trying to keep these two women apart becomes a frightening nightmare for Vincent that manifest in a series of block puzzles that make-up the core gameplay of Catherine. During these nightmares Vincent will navigate a series of blocks to ascend a tower to live to see tomorrow.

Catherine, from the minds at Atlus Persona Team, is a story about a man in his early 30s named Vincent Brooks. Vincent works in the tech industry during the day and enjoys getting drunk with his friends in the local bar called the Stray Sheep during his evenings. Vincent also has a girlfriend named Katherine with a “K”, whom he’s been with for several years. Katherine is pushing Vincent to solidify their bond but Vincent is unsure what he wants. Vincent decision is essentially made for him when a new girl enters his life named Catherine with a “C”. After meeting with Vincent in a drunken night at the Stray Sheep Vincent awakes next to this blonde knock-out and now his life begins to unravel as Vincent realizes that he is cheating on his girlfriend.

Throughout the game the player will guide Vincent through a series of text messages, nightmares, and difficult puzzles to try and overcome the difficult situation that now plagues Vincent. Dealing with such themes is largely unheard of in games, however Catherine tackles these things head on and the fact these issues lead to nightmares for Vincent is incredible. The combination of great characters, consequential decision making, and nightmare sequences delivers a strong engaging story from start to finish.

Catherine definitely looks great. Catherine is told through a series of wonderfully animated cutscenes. The animated cutscenes do a great job of vivid array of situations ranging from Vincent’s stress to Catherine’s devilish beauty. However Catherine doesn’t do anything that will make you look in amazement.

Catherine’s characters and story is great but its unique gameplay is where the game truly shines. Taking place both at the Stray Sheep and Vincent’s disturbing nightmares each area offers a different type of play style. At the bar Vincent can drink with his friends, answer text messages, and play an arcade game designed to assist those having trouble with Catherine’s hardcore puzzle gameplay.  The most important part of the bar sequences is to learn about what’s going on and make important decisions that affects the story. These decisions are measured using a type of morality meter that Vincent will act accordingly specific situations, based on the meter, and help determine which of the multiple endings you receive.

Vincent can’t help but to fall asleep and succumb to his nightmares. Catherine is largely a puzzle game that centers on moving blocks around to elevate Vincent to the upper level and escape the nightmarish hell. Vincent must reach the top and conquer a boss battle each night in order to wake up and see the next day. Vincent must push, pull, and scale blocks to create a path to ascend further up the tower. It sounds easy but the game becomes increasingly difficult as the game progresses. However each night new blocks and challenges will slow your progress and this is when Catherine separates the truly dedicated and the weak of heart. Even on the easiest difficultly things get hectic and may frustrate a lot of gamers. However making to the end of each puzzle and seeing the outcomes of my decisions drove me to complete each tower, despite the frustration. Conquering each of Vincent’s nightmares and being able to see how your decisions from the previous setting affects Vincent and the people around him is a compelling reason to continue despite the many failures. With gameplay options, online leaderboards, and a cooperative option this game will keep you busying for awhile.

Catherine has a great soundtrack. Each track goes hand in hand with each specific situation and enhances each experience. The voice acting at times feels over-acting at times feels overdone and annoying, but most of the time the people behind the characters do a good job.

Catherine is a unique title that demands a lot from the player but rewards them with a rich and rewarding experience. All the elements of the game come together in a beautiful way that showcase thought provoking themes that include an incredible combination of real-life experiences and the supernatural. While some will find the puzzles vexing while others will find completing these puzzles rewarding.

Adam Siddiqui, NoobFeed
Twitter | YouTube | Facebook