It’s not often that a console game confronts adult issues head-on but that’s precisely what the upcoming PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 title Catherine does.
Infidelity, deceit, mid-life crises, fear of marriage and having children, and tough ‘grown-up’ decisions are at the heart of Catherine’s narrative, which is certainly a change of pace from Atlus’ teen-focused Persona series.
If you want to sample this intriguing game before it ships on July 26th in North America you’ll be pleased to know a demo of Catherine is coming out on the U.S. versions of PlayStation Network and Xbox LIVE next Tuesday. Reports suggest the demo will allow you to play the opening hour or so of the game, which replicates the Japanese demo I previewed earlier this year.
It’s going to be very interesting to finally understand what the colourful cast of Catherine are saying, and see how the game’s English voice acting fares. Hopefully the final release will allow you to change the language of the voice acting on the fly so you can turn up the game’s anime flavour by having Japanese actors enact the script.
Look out for more Catherine coverage in the coming weeks as its release date draws near.
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Comments:
I've read a lot of things about Catherine's "adult" themes, but pretty much nothing about what you do in the game. Is it just a basic block-pushing puzzle game with a bunch of anime-styled cutscenes attached to it?
the gameplay basically consists of different variations of block-pushing/pulling puzzles and walking around a bar where you can interact with a couple of people and objects. another big part of the game is the decisions you get to make at key points of the narrative. this will influence the story and determine what ending you get. definitely try out the demo to get an idea of what you can expect. atlus have certainly never done anything like this before!
I'll definitely give the demo a try, because my current impression is that this is something like an H-game, basic gameplay with the promise of something risque if you slog through it.
actually, some of the most risque bits take place right at the beginning of the game when you encounter catherine for the first time. unfortunately atlus have marketed the game a bit like one of those pseudo hentai games you find popping up on the japanese playstation store from time to time. there seem to be a lot of them coming out for psp. the gameplay should be challenging and rewarding for puzzle fans, and the storyline will be much more complex than other risque japanese games from what i've read. the same guy who did persona 3 and 4 is behind catherine, so expect lots of depth to the characters, although the game does seem a lot more tongue-in-cheek than the persona series.