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First Impressions: Catherine Reviewed
http://www.rarityguide.com/articles/articles/756/1/First-Impressions-Catherine-Reviewed/Page1.html
By Douglas Shepard (Editor in Chief, RarityGuide.com)
Published on 07/15/2011
 
An article taking a look the new Atlus game, Catherine. Done by the same team as the famed Shin Megami Tensei series.

First Impressions: Catherine

This is the first next generation game by the team behind the Shin Megami Tensei series. This is a timed puzzle game, to put it mildly, at its core. You need to climb a tower of mobile blocks to escape falling to your death. You are simply thrust into the world with little explanation of what is going on outside of the basic controls. A disembodied voice will help you along as you learn how to get around this tower. It explains about the nature of the tower, its state of collapse, and the need to hurry. It will explain things as they happen, sometimes only telling you about something after it happens. While the game is on easy mode, allowing you to undo recent moves, it can still prove very challenging. Expect to die a number of times as you learn how to climb the tower and how to use the controls of the game.

This story of the game is somewhat simple. You play as Vincent a computer programmer who has recently gotten a new job. He has for a long time been dating Kathrine. One night at the Stray Sheep he meets another girl, Catherine, whom he ends up sleeping with. The next day he learns a bit more about a string of mysterious deaths than he ever bargained for. You will be faced with a number of choices in various forms to shape the story. This determines the course of events as well that will occur around Vincent. The final game will have a large number of endings, all based on choices made throughout the game.

While this is fairly different from many of the games this team has made, it certainly does not lack their charm. The game has a somewhat dark twist to it with odd bits of humor bit in tastefully. It has a very deep story and one that will be worth playing multiple times just to see how it all can go. We have some time yet before the game itself comes out but the variety of ways one can solve the puzzles presented is enough to keep those interested well entertained.