Review: Catherine

A Remarkable Story Undermined By Frustrating Gameplay

           
        Catherine isn't the kind of game the box art leads you to believe. It may look like a sorry excuse to make a game with some "T & A", but it's far from that. It is a game about relationships and the choices that are made when they hit a turning point. But despite whatever innovation is made in terms of video game storytelling, Catherine is ultimately held back by the constantly irritating gameplay.

        In Catherine, the player plays as Vincent, a slacker that has just become comfortable with his life and his relationship with his long-time girlfriend, Katherine. However, Katherine begins to talk about their future together and wonder how serious Vincent is about their relationship. This starts to stress Vincent who, in a moment of clouded judgement, finds himself in bed one morning with some other girl named Catherine who is the type that doesn't believe in being tied down. To make matters worse, Vincent begins to have nightmares that will kill him in the real world if he doesn't survive.

        These nightmares are what make up the majority of the game. Inside these nightmares, Vincent must move blocks around in order to create a path to the top while moving fast enough to avoid the collapsing floor beneath him. Unfortunately these block puzzles are what bring down an otherwise enjoyable game. Each level is far too difficult for its own good, and after dozens of deaths the player will usually end up relying on trial and error and dumb luck rather than critical thinking and logic.

        After the playing through most of the game, I was only playing to progress the story, which is significantly more engaging than the actual gameplay. The story itself is a perfect blend of romance, mystery, drama, and comedy. It explores many different themes such as death, love, and the handling of relationships. The story also changes depending on the choices made throughout the game, although the choices themselves don't offer any depth behind them and just revolve around answering questions with one answer over the other.

        The art style is also noteworthy, as it presents the game with wonderfully striking images using both in-game and anime cutscenes. The designs for the boss designs are grotesque as they are creative and represent the bizarre tone of the game. The music also fits the strange vibe of the game by mixing pleasant classical arrangements with heavy metal guitars.

        Catherine is also a game that boasts about its large replay value, offering up plenty of extra modes and side puzzles, but these extra pieces of gameplay serve no purpose to the entertaining story and are just as frustrating to play. I would not be as reluctant to replay Catherine to see all of the eight or nine different endings had the largest part of the game been any fun to play. It's disappointing to see this happen because eventually, the frustration ruins the excitement of anticipating what is going to happen next, much like an actual relationship.  

         
Final Verdict: 7/10