So here we are with a fun little side project! I really do love video games and I know I make a lot of friends that do too!! Now that I've finished Catherine, I've decided to start a review.
Please note that I will try to avoid spoiling anything in this game but If something slips I am sorry. I will NOT tell you anything that led to an ending. This I promise. I hope you enjoy this review...
Now note that when I say "finished" I mean I've finished with the ending that mostly went with the answers I chose.... This was not an ending that I wanted to see first, I chose everything with how I really felt. Remember, it's different for everyone because that's how it's supposed to be!
*ahem*
Ahhh the Catherines.... where do I begin?
You are Vincent. You go through life one baby step at a time.... and no, you don't go any faster than that. You have a job that pays the bills, you go to a bar and hang out with the same friends you always have and you have a lovely girl who accepts you.... Katherine.
Katherine has dreams, she wants to move forward in life and works hard to do it. She wants to get married and start a life with you because she thinks you might be the one... and what do you think?
Woah now. Too fast.
Vincent worries that he might hold the lovely Katherine back and decides to take baby steps once more avoiding the huge stairs of marriage that he thinks he can't climb juuuuuuust yet.
Back to the smelly bar you hold so dear with the friends you know so well. Where you contemplate what to do and you learn about some silly rumor. See, men are dying with no explanation... the only explanation at this point is the guy cheats on his girl and the girl sends him to these hellish nightmares that they wouldn't dare survive.... Silly right? Couldn't possibly happen to a guy like you!!
So you continue knowing you just stopped your girlfriend from thinking about a future... at this point you choose, do you care or is she just being pushy?
Either way here comes some trouble... or maybe some fun.
Catherine comes by and notes that your all by yourself in the bar youre always at. She doesn't look like the type to hang out at a bar filled with simple people. She's just a huge firecracker that can't help but go off in those right moments. She's fun, sexy and wild... and doesn't want anything to do with marriage... some guys would call her the perfect girl. You have a few drinks, a few laughs and you begin to black out. Alright cool. I drank too much and I wont remember what happened.... nothing bad right?
So.... why am I in this strange place with a pillow... in my underwear... and horns...?
Gonna bring you back over here.... too much? Yeah... if you're still following then good.... It goes JUST LIKE THIS in the game. Yeah... I wondered what the heck was going on.
Now in a game this might be a bit too much... but in Catherine, it's something that sucks you in making you wonder, "What could possibly happen now??" Catherine pulled me in and wouldn't let me go. I liked it so much, I finished it within two weeks. During the two weeks I thought after every single stage... What next?!
Back to the strange place. This is obviously a nightmare.... You're obviously dreaming! So who's yelling at you?
Welcome to your first climb. The objective is to climb... That's it... Oh yeah and the tower is falling. So use your head and get those undies outta there!! Once you make it through the door your first thought would probably be... what's with all the crying sheep? Weirdest. Dream. Ever.
You begin to learn that you have been 'cursed' and that you WILL die. Fun.
All these sheep? They're the men that have been dying. Those that fall are found dead in their bed. Question is why? No time to figure that out, You gotta get outta here! The only way out is up. To go up you answer questions in a confessional with a strange boy you can't see. The questions range from, "Is marriage the end of life, or the beginning?" to "If your lover wanted to leave you, would you let her go?"
So you climb some steps and answer some questions... not so bad. Until the nightmares REALLY start. The bosses in this game do everything in their power to kill you... Funny thing is they are all things you can recognize! It is YOUR dream after all. When you beat the baddies, you find the door that leads you back to the world of the living. Thing is, ITS FREAKING HARD.
Choose your difficulty carefully, I chose to go through the story first so I chose easy, and I STILL got stuck and killed. I'd suggest normal. My lovely Sam chose hard and is still on the second level of the tutorial.
So lets say you beat it and move on, awesome freedom!! Your in your nice comfy bed, in your lovely room, with your sexy blonde.....wait.
Why is Catherine here?! OH YEAH you blacked out. Don't try to think it through.
Now this is where the game truly begins... you've cheated on the girl who wants to spend the rest of her life with you. Do you accept this as a bad thing or take it as a sign?
These choices follow you when you answer texts, answer the confessional questions and just play the game. You choose how Vincent will react to these things. Don't get him killed alright?
The game play is fun and exciting, filled with twists and turns that make you say, "I knew it!" and "....What?!"
When your chatting with people, you don't pick what you say, but the way you answer questions can change the way he does. See, there's a meter that shows if your naughty or nice. Its NOT a bad or good scale. I'm going to let you know right now. One of the favorite sayings in the "Tower" is "There is no wrong way to climb the tower." So choose everything honestly! Don't be offended if the scale goes to the red side a bit. Mine did. Play properly and honestly. The ending will really reflect you!
The fun part was when you answered questions, you got to know what other people said online. This was fun for me. I knew some might have been that way because of people wanting another ending, but a lot of it made sense. It was rather enjoyable to see people disagree with me.
The phone is a fun bit too. You construct what you say and can receive sexy pictures from Catherine, or loving texts from Katherine. Fun right?
Game Informer is a great magazine sometimes but I don't agree with the 7 it gave the game. Sure the game made me wanna break my controller at times but I never put it down unless I had work in the morning or I was falling asleep! I give this game an 8.75. It was amazing and I will most likely play it again when I have the chance. ....Probably right now... Time to go for another lovely Catherine! <3
Thanks for reading!
-Alex
