“People are kind of messed up sometimes”….to pilfer the ponderings of a certain someone.
And this game, one of my new favorites if you will, features some of the most messed
up people in video games: those with realistic problems.
Love is a moment in life, a dream, and at times, a painful dream.
This is Catherine, on the Xbox 360 from Atlus!
Catherine spins the tale of Vincent Brooks, a 32 year old engineer who’s been dating
the career focused, no-nonsense Katherine for about 5 years.
Vince is pretty happy with the way his life is, and would love for it to stay the same,
but that stuff doesn’t always happen the way you want it, does it, Vince?
After a night of drinking at his favorite bar, Vincent meetings Catherine…with a C,
who is the embodiment of everything Vincent wants in a woman; a free spirit, and a cute
perky…uhh…personality.
After cheating on his girlfriend with this bothersome blonde babe, Vincent begins having
horrifying nightmares where if he dies in the dream, he dies in real life, rumors are
floating around that this is happening to other young men in his community.
The main gameplay takes place in Vincent’s nightmares, 9 stages in all, where Vincent
must push and pull blocks in order to scale a huge tower.
The blocks that make up this tower are constantly collapsing, forcing the sheep, the men who
are also trapped in this nightmare world, to scramble for the top, sometimes pushing
others out of their way in their desperate move to survive.
There’s all sorts of different kinds of blocks that will get in Vincent’s way that
he must overcome in order to reach the pinnacle.
Mastering how to move the blocks and scaling the tower quickly is necessary to grab a high
score, which unlocks bonus stages in the games challenge mode, as well as songs at the bar.
While awake, Vincent’s discuss his own inner conflict with his friends Orlando, Toby, and
Jonathan, who, for no reason what-so-ever, I assure you, is the coolest character in
the game.
Really, no reason!
These characters, I felt, were very well crafted, Vincent especially.
You really do kinda feel sorry for this sap.
Depending on the texts you send to the two lovers in his life, Vincent’s inner monologue
will change throughout the game, resulting in his desire to be with one Catherine or
the other, or to be free of them both.
Others join Vincent in his dreams, namely patrons from the bar.
Appearing as sheep who have been herded from the local watering hole, these sheep trade
block-pushing techniques, and it doesn’t take long to realize your friends are sharing
in the same hell as you are.
Between a woman constantly appearing in his bed who threatens to kill him if he cheats
on her, and learning his girlfriend is pregnant, Vincent’s got problems, and Catherine’s
story is all about owning up to your problems and your mistakes, pursuing what makes you
happy while also being responsible for own actions.
It’s a really well written game that deserves your attention, because if you don’t give
Catherine what it needs, it will toss you into a nightmarish tower and turn you into
a sheep.
It’s the truth!