Lol, someone just clued me in that it's "CATHERIIINE!" that Vincent screams at the title screen. I thought it was just random Japanese I didn't know. Think I'd be use to the fact the Japanese don't pronounce English names the same way as us.
I'm definitely considering picking this up at launch… but I'm not sure I wanna spend $60 on it. It looks like a finely put together game, but to me it still kinda feels budgety. I'll gladly spend $40 on it.
It definitely feels like the kind of game that once you've played it once…that's it. I can't see myself having any interest in more Q-bert shit once I've seen the story.
Bingo. That's exactly it.
I just finished the demo, and am kind of interested in where the story is going. I was confused that both women were named (K)Catherine. I thought Katherine in the cell phone was a game mistake at first.
I'm intrigued about the text messages and "morality meter. It would be great if the text messages I send have game changing ramifications that make the game completely (at least mostly) different on each subsequent play though. I don't really think it will pan out that way though. I guess that I really can't judge that aspect until playing the actual game.
As far as gameplay is concerned, I really like it. It reminds me of the Playstation One game "Intelligent Qube", only you play vertically instead of horizontally. The big problem I see is in Catherine's replay-ability, because once you've solved the puzzle you'd be done with it forever, unless your text messages do change the story and puzzle outcomes.
I'm not really sure I can justify throwing $100 dollars at this game. I think I'll wait for some reviews to come in before I put anymore thought into it. I'd be pretty pissed off if I did end up buying it and the game can be completely beaten in under five hours…
http://www.siliconera.com/2011/02/15/catherine-lets-players-peek-into-the-minds-of-other-players/
So, how the game determines how the story unfolds is by having you answer a questionnaire… but then slaps a chart on the game that shows you what answer everyone else made, which, rather you think it will or not, WILL influence your (emphasis on the "your") decision. Boy, I hope there's an option that lets you turn that off.
The game's officially out in Japan and the reviews are incoming.
The game is hard… really hard. Apparently even on easy. I can't say I'm surprised cause if each world is a single puzzle, then they were gonna need to do something to make the game longer. Seems that is by having you repeatedly die, die, and oh, die.
Or maybe these early reviewers just aren't good at games? But I can easily believe it, I died a few times on the second puzzle in the demo and that was only the, as mentioned, second puzzle.
As in my previous post, since the games release people have been bitching about the games difficulty. Atlus has now addressed this saying it was intentional, and that they did it to convoy a feeling of dread in the nightmare sequences… but they've decided not to stand by their decision. They're now working on a patch that will make the game easier.
But instead of solving the problem now even MORE people are bitching, accusing Atlus of spoon-feeding the casual gamers.
You can please some of the people some of the time...
Wait people are actually complaining about Atlus putting out a difficult game?
I was under the impression that doing that was the norm or maybe I'm just generalizing it to much do to what I've heard about Demon Souls & some of the Persona games.
I think the main complaint was even the Easy difficulty setting was hard. And now people are thinking they're making all difficulty settings easier, instead of just tweaking the Easy setting.
Eh. It woulda been better if they kept it all hard. Atlus is known for making challenging games
I don't believe that was the demographic they were targeting with Catherine.
My copy of this should be coming within the week. I'm excited to sit down with it finally.
My copy arrived within the week.
Catherine time fuck Katherine
…. Fuck Catherine?
Awwwyeah?
No seriously I'm on this so hard. I'm excited.
@Holy:
Catherine time
fuck Katherine
…. Fuck Catherine?
Awwwyeah?
No seriously I'm on this so hard.
I'm exited.
:blink: So many ways to interpret this.
http://m.kotaku.com/5768538/japan-falls-in-love-with-its-harsh-mistress-catherine
Catherine outsold Marvel vs. Capcom 3! I'm shocked… Hopefully that seals it for localization.
http://m.kotaku.com/5768538/japan-falls-in-love-with-its-harsh-mistress-catherine
Catherine outsold Marvel vs. Capcom 3! I'm shocked… Hopefully that seals it for localization.
Haven't Atlus(or megami tensei) games always been extremely popular in Japan though? Of course, I don't know how popular the Marvel vs Capcom series is over there.
I'm really liking Vincent (not the kind of character everybody figured he'd be when initial trailers were released), I'm really enjoying the script (just think Persona 3 +4 but with older people, exact same quality, different style and perspective obviously though, more sexual) and I'm just all around loving this.
I haven't hit the point where things are supposed to get really hard yet.
Actually I take back the adult implications.
It's not really very raunchy at all, or anything. Tame stuff, other than the sort of (subdued) sexual overtones.
I do not mean to imply that "adult" has to mean hardcore porn, but I was expecting more of an overt sexual theme. The storyline is still definitely sexual in a sense, but it's very much more relationships and its thematics seem to be about that. Subtle difference, I suppose, or maybe it's more of a subset.
So Catherine is actually classy? Boy, those trailers were misleading. I guess the games Cero rating makes much more sense.
So I'm 3/4ths of the way through. I don't think multiple playthroughs sound very good right now (or even very overall different?) and I'm just going for True Catherine ending.
I'm not sure if I'm disappointed, or not, in this. I think it's good. But I also think I set it up too high for myself.
I'll give detailed thoughts once I'm finished.
Aaaaaand I am kind of surprised that I don't really have much to say.
So I beat it with Catherine's True ending. I really liked the direction at times and found most of the game honestly enthralling. Its storyline never really went anywhere crazy and it was kind of really simple and straightforward in most of the way (it was kind of unique, though, and it feels right at home in SMT) and the reveal of the main villain was kind of hilariously subdued and "whatever" (I liked that), but I felt like I genuinely cared about and liked the characters, though the characterization wasn't as strong as like P4 or anything. I hate comparing constantly to Persona 3/4, but the vibes were there.
The soundtrack work was amazing as per Meguro's track record and the puzzle gameplay was still frenatic and action-packed and fun. Sometimes frustrating. The dream world was pretty fantastic. I liked how it started drawing from obscure mythology near the end.
But overall I can't help but feel a little disappointed. In a lot of ways, it really did feel like it was more of a tech demo and an experiment.
It was a nice diversion and I think it'd be cool if Atlus did stuff like this more often.
ome things (like who catherine was) were also insanely obvious like right from the first trailer.
Obvious or not, that's still kinda a spoiler.
Obvious or not, that's still kinda a spoiler.
I guess. It probably sounds more important to you than it honestly is (it's not) as an "establishing possible information I was not aware of" thing.
Sorry. But don't worry too much over it. I would agree that it's not something I really want to include anyways, so I got rid of it and I guess you could cut it out of your post and then everybody is happy.
P.S.
! The actual ~implicit spoiler~ in my post is the information that there is an actual villain in the game.
Damn. I wanted it too:
"No plans" does not mean anything at all. It seriously is a straight up neutral stance, or one stated when they are still deciding, or waiting.
I wish people would realize that.
"We have no plans" is not a statement saying "we are not going to bring it over."
It was from Atlus US apparently.
Which means the rest of the world could get it XD Nothing said about no plans for there XD
Here let me just say this from a different direction:
In response to that new story, an Atlus USA staff member posted this:
If this doesn't implicitly say something, I don't know what does.
So just be patient people.
@Holy:
My copy arrived within the week.
Catherine time fuck Katherine
…. Fuck Catherine?
Awwwyeah?
No seriously I'm on this so hard. I'm excited.
It's that good, eh?
http://m.kotaku.com/5768538/japan-falls-in-love-$with-its-harsh-mistress-catherine
Catherine outsold Marvel vs. Capcom 3! I'm shocked… Hopefully that seals it for localization.
Yahahahahaha!! That's fucking hilarious! (Although, MvC is a western game) I have to get this game now.
Ughhhh I guess this game won't come out here for a long time. I hope I don't get spoiled.
Atlus US just sent out an email to newsletter subscribers which consists of a single image. A pink background with the sentence "Do you still like us?" typed on it. Cause of the pink everyone is freaking the fuck out and going "CATHERINE IS COMING TO THE USSSSS!!!"
Yeah… saying that over a color and the fact they just said today that their was no plans... okay, knock yourselves out. Maybe Atlus is just trolling.
@FarmboyinJapan:
Catherine selling THAT much just goes to how you how bad the Japanese scene is getting. This game didn't officially unveil its actual gameplay mechanics until weeks before the game's release, and what the game turned out to be in the end was an HD block stacking game with anime cut scenes. But no matter…its got BOOBS in it. Contrast that with what Last Story did a couple weeks ago. Here is this brand new game from the creator of one of the world's biggest franchises, with very fresh RPG mechanics, and Nintendo's hype machine behind it....and it still fell short of Japan's newest, most powerful gaming mechanic....boobs.
This is emblematic of the direction Japan is moving. Actual gameplay is taking a back seat to boob/panty pandering. Atlus fully embraced this when marketing this game....instead of saying from day one "its a block stacking game"....they kept it under wraps, and instead decided to give the otaku what they wanted first...boobs. I mean, since November of last year, there have been posters pandering to otaku all over Akiba hyping up this game, with not WORD ONE come from the devs as to what type of GAME this video GAME is.
And I for the life of me still can't figure out why people on the American side of things keep talking about this game. I've messed around with it a little bit...trust me folks...strip out the anime cutscenes and voice acting...and you've got a $70 iphone games on your hands people.
Sorry, but I strongly agree with this.
Atlus US just sent out an email to newsletter subscribers which consists of a single image. A pink background with the sentence "Do you still like us?" typed on it. Cause of the pink everyone is freaking the fuck out and going "CATHERINE IS COMING TO THE USSSSS!!!"
Yeah… saying that over a color and the fact they just said today that their was no plans... okay, knock yourselves out. Maybe Atlus is just trolling.
At this point, it'll come. It's just a matter of when.
_Catherine selling THAT much just goes to how you how bad the Japanese scene is getting. This game didn't officially unveil its actual gameplay mechanics until weeks before the game's release, and what the game turned out to be in the end was an HD block stacking game with anime cut scenes. But no matter…its got BOOBS in it. Contrast that with what Last Story did a couple weeks ago. Here is this brand new game from the creator of one of the world's biggest franchises, with very fresh RPG mechanics, and Nintendo's hype machine behind it....and it still fell short of Japan's newest, most powerful gaming mechanic....boobs.
This is emblematic of the direction Japan is moving. Actual gameplay is taking a back seat to boob/panty pandering. Atlus fully embraced this when marketing this game....instead of saying from day one "its a block stacking game"....they kept it under wraps, and instead decided to give the otaku what they wanted first...boobs. I mean, since November of last year, there have been posters pandering to otaku all over Akiba hyping up this game, with not WORD ONE come from the devs as to what type of GAME this video GAME is.
And I for the life of me still can't figure out why people on the American side of things keep talking about this game. I've messed around with it a little bit...trust me folks...strip out the anime cutscenes and voice acting...and you've got a $70 iphone games on your hands people.
:blink:_ I didn't even know Last Story came out. Wikipedia says it got extremely good ratings. Is it that good cause I was admittedly looking forward to that?
@HiroVoid:
:blink: I didn't even know Last Story came out. Wikipedia says it got extremely good ratings. Is it that good cause I was admittedly looking forward to that?
Came out at the end of January.
Haven't gotten around to playing it yet, but most people say that it's one of the top wii games (although people like Xenoblade more).
From Famitsu:
• The battle system looks complicated, but it's very easy to pick up and play, so even light users should enjoy it. It has a lot of variety and strategic depth.
• The way the characters are always speaking really gives the sense that you are adventuring with your friends.
• The video tutorials make everything easy to understand.
• The ability to change accessories and the color of your equipment allows you to customize your character in fun ways.
• The story is very orthodox, but the dramatic event scenes do leave you eager to see what happens next.
• There are lots of places where you can move the camera around to look for things in dungeon and town areas, which is fun.
• The music that plays at key moments in the game is impressive.
10,10,9,9 - 38/40
I got Last Story when it came out. You can play it on an American Wii using the homebrew channel. Gecko OS lets you load any region even though the system is region locked. And I know Japanese. But games like this do help build vocabulary. (Also, someone should make a separate thread for that.)
From what I've seen, Catharine seems like a good game, too. But I'm not interested enough in a puzzle game to buy it. Importing costs a lot and I've got a few games still that I haven't beaten.
Found the story interesting and the creepy atmosphere was well done. But the whole puzzle/dating sim like mechanic drove me off. I was expecting something like a murder mystery not Intelligent Qube with monsters.
The only thing that is sort of disingenuous about his argument is the idea that Japan's gaming industry is down in the dump because sex sells. Atlus has an incredibly robust following in Japan: Persona 4 sold like 30% more copies than Catherine did in its first week. Also, Atlus hyped THE SHIT OUT OF THIS GAME. If the internet is any indication, I saw at least twice as many ads for Catherine on Japanese gaming sites than the Last Story. On top of that, there's a novelty factor at work: while Last Story has a tagline of Sakaguchi doing a new RPG, Catherine has its own gimmick of being touted as Atlus' first foray onto the PS3, with a (supposedly) adult romance angle that you really never see in Japanese games. If, as Holy Hell suggests, the story ultimately isn't that racy or interesting, sales will probably drop off pretty quick as word gets out. But I think attempting to paint this as some sort of sky-is-falling "BOOBS ARE RUINING THE GAMEZZZ" scenario is pretty retarded.
The only thing that is sort of disingenuous about his argument is the idea that Japan's gaming industry is down in the dump because sex sells. Atlus has an incredibly robust following in Japan: Persona 4 sold like 30% more copies than Catherine did in its first week.
This basically personifies why I'm interested in a game. Atlus is a company I've learned to trust after releasing quality games, so every time they announce a new game, I'm interested in what it is.
Also, Atlus hyped THE SHIT OUT OF THIS GAME. If the internet is any indication, I saw at least twice as many ads for Catherine on Japanese gaming sites than the Last Story. On top of that, there's a novelty factor at work: while Last Story has a tagline of Sakaguchi doing a new RPG, Catherine has its own gimmick of being touted as Atlus' first foray onto the PS3, with a (supposedly) adult romance angle that you really never see in Japanese games.
I was hyped up for Last Story, and I didn't even realize it was released until I heard about it on here. 
If, as Holy Hell suggests, the story ultimately isn't that racy or interesting, sales will probably drop off pretty quick as word gets out. But I think attempting to paint this as some sort of sky-is-falling "BOOBS ARE RUINING THE GAMEZZZ" scenario is pretty retarded.
Like I said in a previous post, Atlus games are supposed to have a huge following in Japan ever since Shin Megami Tensei if I remember right. If some no name company was selling this game instead, it wouldn't have nearly as many sales.
GameStop put up a page for Catherine on the PS3 earlier today before quickly taking it back down. These GameStop "leaks" are generally reliable, but it's strange that if it's true that it comes mere days after Atlus says they had no plans. Maybe they really were trolling and just wanted to see if people even cared about the game coming stateside?
Either way, the release date GameStop gave was July 26, 2011.
There are contracts and business negotiations and like, actual logistical calculations that go into these game development/release cycles. It's pretty easy to imagine how the full timeline works out:
(in the near future)
_- Atlus USA hits some proximity threshold to their expected release date
Atlus has been sending emails with a image saying "You still like us?" with a pink background.
Oh yeah
Confirmed! 
http://catherinethegame.com/ i cant wait.
Confirmed! http://i.imgur.com/xqhVT.jpg
http://catherinethegame.com/ i cant wait.
Wow. That didn't take long.
Huzzah!
Now do I get it on release. Or do I get it a few months later when it's inevitibly died due to it being too different for the west to want to play?
Stephen's prediction so spot on Atlus feels better off just giving up their playful attitude and outright saying.
I hope you guys feel silly over thinking this was never coming out~
So… besides the block shit... the story (or the entire game) sucks?
Then again, I don't know about you guys, but besides fighters, RPGs and adventure games, I freakin' love puzzles.
@Holy:
Stephen's prediction so spot on Atlus feels better off just giving up their playful attitude and outright saying.
I hope you guys feel silly over thinking this was never coming out~
Well. It still hasn't been announced for release in the UK/Europe/Aus. Does that not count for anything? XD
Then again, I don't know about you guys, but besides fighters, RPGs and adventure games, I freakin' love puzzles.
The controls aren't as 100% precise as they could have been, but the puzzles is still fantastic and it really is challenge.
Well. It still hasn't been announced for release in the UK/Europe/Aus. Does that not count for anything? XD
Well of course not!
I never doubted we would get it, but sure didn't expect it THIS soon.
@Holy:
The controls aren't as 100% precise as they could have been, but the puzzles is still fantastic and it really is challenge.
Sweet.
Good deal.
I don't care too much about the stories and the "tee hee cleavage," but I guess it would be nice to have while taking a puzzling break. lol
On the whole it's executed with as much precision as the Shin Megami Tensei games always get (I know it's not officially one at all). It's just kind of… miniature, you know?
After derping on how to really sum up how I feel, I realized the best way to describe Catherine would be an SMT/Persona/whatever Gaiden. Not bad at all, just… gaiden-y.
When Stephen earlier wondered if the puzzles wouldn't be great enough to come back to after beating the game, that's basically how I feel. The whole path on your playthrough makes for a good experience on the whole, I'd just never come back to it I don't think.
So after fully digesting Catherine, I decided it wasn't as disappointing as I initially thought. I definitely liked it less than some people though.
The End.
(Predicted average western critic scores: 7.5 out of 10 for people who dug it.)
