Catherine - The Cult Classic
Catherine is a mixup of a puzzle- and a social simulation-game, developed by Atlus in 2011.
The development team, among others, consisted of Katsura Hashino and Shigenori Soejima, who also worked on Atlus‘ videogame series Persona. Originally released for Playstation 3, Xbox 360 & PC, the game got praised for its interesting mix of completly different genres. The plot tackles controversial adult themes.
The game follows the story of Vincent Brooks, who workes as a systems engineer. Vincent has been in a relationship with his girlfriend Katherine for 5 years. Annoyed by Vincent’s indecisiveness, Katherine decides it is time for an ultimatum, thus asking him to marry her. Vincent is still unsure whether to marry or not, demanding more time to make his choice. Conflicted about his feelings, he goes to his favorite bar, the „Stray Sheep“.
After meeting up with his friends and getting drunk, Vincent meets the 22-year old Catherine. Overwhelmed by her good looks and playful nature, the two go home and spend the night together. The following day, upset with his actions, Vincents psyche goes from bad to worse. Because of the fateful night with Catherine, he’s tormented by nightmares, in which he is pursued by horrible monsters. Now Vincent is determined to find the source of said nightmares and end the love triangle.
In terms of gameplay, the game is devided into two different phases, a day phase and a night phase. During the day, the player controls Vincent in the environment of the „Stray Sheep“. The player is able to talk to the different characters, most importantly Vicents Friends and the staff of the bar, in order to gather information for decision-making. At night, the player helps Vincent navigate through his nightmares by climbing towers of boxes and fleeing from the monster that lurks below.
10 years after its initial release, Catherine is considered a cult classic out of Atlus‘ videogame catalogue. The art style, anime cutscenes, as well as voice acting, in both in English and Japanese, are still cherished by players worldwide. With Catherine: Full Body a remake game you have the chance to go through love/hell again.
