A large part of Catherine’s gameplay involves moving blocks around so you can climb to the top of a tower before it collapses. Each tower’s apex is your ticket to a safe exit from the central character Vincent’s nightmares.

It seems certain sections of these block puzzles caused many Japanese gamers a great deal of frustration. An Atlus representative speaking to Gamespot has confirmed that the gameplay in the North American version of Catherine has been tweaked or “rebalanced” to make life a little easier for U.S. players.

The Japanese version of Catherine was patched to include a Very Easy mode, and elements of the more difficult levels were changed. The North American release will include these additions as well as further tweaks to make the block-puzzle gameplay even more refined.

We’ll get to see if these changes lead to less punishing gameplay when Catherine releases on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in the U.S. on 26 July.

Have a look at these new localised screenshots for the game, and Gamespot’s preview is also well worth watching if you’re itching to hear what the English voice overs sound like, or would just like to see more of this fascinating, artistic title in action.

Catherine – Preview Video