After walking the E3 2011 show floor aimlessly trying to look for the Atlus booth, I finally managed to find where it was hiding. One of the games I really wanted to try out was Catherine, and it made me more interested to play it because the badge holders for this year's E3 featured Catherine. Lucky me there wasn't much of a wait so I gave it a go.
Being a fan of puzzle based games, I found myself scratching my head but managed to figure out some of the puzzles that the demo had to offer. It was quite fun and I wanted to try more. Basically you'll be taking control of Vincent, a man who is torn between two women. His long time girlfriend, Katherine, who pressures him to fully commit to her and get married, and then there is Catherine, a seductive and beautiful woman who it turns out Vincent has a lot in common with.
Yet after stumbling upon this mysterious new Catherine, Vincent has been suffering from quite unusual nightmares each night. This is where Catherine's gameplay comes into the scene. In the demo, I played a nightmare sequence that involves Vincent solving a staircase-like puzzle, all while trying to reach the top of the structure, avoiding obstacles, spikes, and falling blocks. There was even a guy in a sheep suit trying to race me to the top of the stairs, but I smacked him out of the way with Vincent's pillow. What you have to do is pull out, or push in blocks in order to climb them like stairs to reach the top to finish a level. Along the way there were items such as pillows, for extra lives, and extra blocks, so you can place a block in an area that may need one or to correct a mistake. The trick of the game is to make sure Vincent makes it through the nightmare sequences alive, because if he dies in the nightmare, he also dies in reality.
After my demo I spoke with one of the crew members with Atlus, apart from the gameplay I asked whether choices mattered in the game. I figured I'd ask given that Vincent has two women to ultimately choose from, Katherine or Catherine. It turns out your choices will matter, something that is related to the daytime and nightmare sequences when Vincent is forced to think over the relationship he has with both women. He didn't go too in-depth, so as to save for spoilers. I had a great time with it though, and I wanted more. It's good to know that Catherine is just around the corner and will be yours to own on July 26, 2011. 8bitfix will have the review for Catherine when the time comes closer for its release. The video shown below features gameplay from Catherine at the Atlus booth at E3 2011.
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