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One of the year�s stranger titles, Catherine launched in Japan this February to strong sales and rave reviews, and later this month American gamers will get the chance to experience this bizarre blend of puzzles, RPG elements and relationship issues too. Today the English-language demo for Catherine hit Xbox Live in North America, and we so jumped in, pillow in hand, to check out Atlus� latest...
The experience begins with Catherine�s typically nutty title screen, which naturally consists of Vincent, our chained protagonist, watching sheep falling through an infinite red void, as long-term girlfriend Katherine (with a K) sits a short distance away. After a few quick presses of the start button, though, we�re introduced to the meat and potatoes of Catherine�s gameplay.
The first puzzle stage, a tutorial, shows how to manipulate the level in order to reach the top of the tower. Vincent is trapped in some kind of block-based dreamscape, where a disembodied voice warns him that if he dies in the dream, he�ll die in real life. Fortunately there�s nothing remotely scary to threatening to contend with for the moment, just blocks to connect in order to form a path to the exit. These blocks can stay connected to each other even if only the edges are touching, something which Vincent must exploit to make it out of the tutorial level and back into the waking world. Which is exactly where he goes, after first dodging a pair of angry fork-wielding hands.
The story portion of the demo is delievered through of a sequence half in animated form (courtesy of Studio 4�C), and half in-engine. Vincent and Katherine also get a proper introduction. They�ve been seeing each other for longer than Vince can remember, and she�s hinting with all the subtlety of the game�s Japanese box art that she wants to tie the knot. So a weary Vincent goes to drown his sorrows with some buddies over at the Stray Sheep Bar, where he eventually hooks up with the mysterious floozy Catherine (with a C)...
There are some brief gameplay interjections where you can respond to Katherine�s (whiny, tedious) text messages (or not), but much of the content between the tutorial level and the final boss battle is simply an extended cinematic. This probably shouldn�t be surprising since the demo is taken from the start of the game, where there�s a lot of scene-setting to be done. However, based on what we�ve heard of the game so far, the bar sequences will be a little heavier on interactivity as the game progresses.
Towards the end of the demo you�ll get your first taste of a boss battle, which is actually surprisingly fast-paced and tense. Old Fork-hands from the tutorial level is back, and this time there�s no convenient door through which to flee back to reality. Vincent must rely on his newly-honed block-moving skills to work his way to the top of the tower and make his escape. Forky (or �Fist of Grudge� to its pals) isn�t going to make this easy, though, as it�s slowly demolishing the stage from below, and casting spells which make the blocks more difficult to move. The puzzle mechanics introduced in the tutorial translate really well into a high-pressure boss situation, and we�re looking forward to seeing more of these in the retail version.
The Catherine playable demo isn�t long (you�ll probably be done with it in about 30 minutes), but it gives a good idea of what to expect from the full version when it�s released on July 26. And of course there�s always the utterly madcap English teaser trailer to look forward to after you beat the demo.
Do you plan on picking up Catherine in a couple of weeks� time? Let us know in the comments.
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