I just finished playing Catherine, a bizarre horror/action/puzzle game. Your character is a 30-some year old guy who, in short, is presented with a deep fear of committing to his long-time girlfriend which leads to him regretfully cheating on her with a bombshell of an anime girl.
C’mon, you’d totally hit it too.
Gameplay varies between three scenarios, experienced every day for one week straight:
- Hanging out at the local bar, making conversation with the bar patrons, reading and sending text messages to your girlfriend and your girl on the side.
- Going to bed and having intense nightmares as a result of your moral dilemma, which requires you to climb a dangerous tower by rearranging blocks. A variety of difficult challenges are presented, including a timer, falling blocks, slippery blocks, enemies, and the occasional boss fight. One of them includes a demonic version of your girlfriend.
Keep climbing, or die. - Waking up the next day with a continuation of the story in a more cinematic manner.
I didn’t mean to, I swear…
Catherine has eight different endings that you’re able to reach by making a series of choices throughout the game, which affects your “morality” meter. The conversations you have and the questions you’re presented with all revolve around relationships, infidelity, and love and how you respond to these themes will result in one of various conclusions.
The confessional.
The marketing surrounding this title makes it easy to assume it’s gratuitously sexual, so I found myself having to defend it – it’s a mature game with adult themes and an intensely intriguing story– there’s much to appreciate here.
After playing through it once, I immediately went to Catherine’s Wikipedia page to read up on all the different endings… you’re in for a treat if you approach this game from both extreme angles – moral and immoral.
Prior to Catherine, I played Heavy Rain