Love, Lust and nightmares!!! This weeks special thursday edition carnage report is about Catherine!!!!

What would you do if after years of a committed relationship you awoke next to a very attractive girl who is not your girlfriend? How would you react? That is the main plotline in the game Catherine. You play Vincent, a man in his 30’s who still is struggling to make the transition into an adult and is dealing with life’s problems. Vincent is in a relationship with Katherine, a high school sweetheart who he has been dating for the past few years. One night while drinking at a local bar Vincent meets Catherine with a C and after one to many drinks wakes up in bed with her, the following night Vincent begins having horrific nightmares of constantly climbing a huge tower where if he or any of the men there die they die in real life as well.

Catherine is a story driven puzzle game the likes of which gamers have never seen, for eight days Vincent must tackle towers of blocks that vary from heavy blocks, ice blocks, blocks that explode and many other obstacles in order to make it to the top of the tower and the next night. There is no inherent right or wrong way to climb the tower, just like there is no right or wrong way to play the game with the multiple answers and choices throughout the story. The game strikes a really great tempo between the panic and chaos of the nightmares that rush you forward at a life threatening pace and the slow, calm atmosphere of the stray sheep where Vincent relaxes with friends and throws down shots. Aside from the nightmares the game takes place at the stray sheep where Vincent has drinks with friends, sends text messages and plays tunes from the games awesome soundtrack. Vincent also has the option to speak with other men at the bar having similar woman troubles, and play rapunzel, an arcade game in the stray sheep that can help prepare you for the nightmares, also downing drinks at the bar will increase your speed during the nightmares as well as give you interesting facts about the different types of liquor.

This kind of attention to detail is what really makes this game shine. Atlus clearly put a lot of time and effort into this game and it shows from the dialog, to the gameplay and main message of the game. Vincent’s nightmares and new crisis in his relationship aren’t just coincidence and they all have a much deeper meaning which echoes throughout the entire game, the things you say to both love interests will affect the game and lead you closer towards one of eight endings. Atlus is to be commended for striking outside of norm and creating a game that is truly original by tackling story elements that have always been seen as taboo by developers. Relationship problems, the journey to adulthood and infidelity towards a loved one are the main struggles Vincent has to cope with in Catherine and they are all themes you never see in games, which really is a shame because they provoke interesting questions and cause reflective thinking the likes of which most games never even attempt.

Catherine is a very different but very good game, but due to its oddities main stream gamers will probably pass but if you aren’t thrown off by its different gameplay style and presentation then you will really enjoy the game