This is not your father’s puzzle game Atlus has approached this classic genre with a sexy spin. I am slightly torn on how to approach reviewing Catherine as H34Case stated “Catherine is like a car accident you just can’t avoided checking out”. This could not be a more appropriate description!  The premise is us dirty,dirty men are unable to resist a beautiful young woman always chasing the hot,younger, adventurous tail…  Our protagonist Vincent Brooks is involved in a long term relationship with Katherine a studious successful woman who is looking for a long prosperous future wither current beau. Vincent on the other hand is scared shitless of change wanting to keep their relationship on the level until she drops a “dirty bomb” right on his bollocks. Katherine claims she is “late” one of the most terrifying words a woman can tell a single man! We all know what it means;however are driven to ask the question. Late for what? Knowing what the answer is going to be… I am pregnant…  This news drives Vincent to his local pub aptly named “Stray Sheep”. Vincent, and his mates mull this over with a few spirits, and once they take off for the night buzzed to the gills Vincent hangs about, and runs into his perfect woman Catherine. A young woman ten years his minor absolutely gorgeous,and willing to grant his wildest fantasies…

This all sounds great if it wasn’t for those “Crazy Japanese”.Their inability to reflect western culture makes one wonder why do they even try. As a puzzle game alone Catherine would without a doubt not have garnered the praise it has received from major gaming outlets; however I am beginning to wonder with all these positive reviews did any of them actually complete the game? The story is a hotter mess than the Brittany Spears – K-Fed split up…Vincent has to be the most spineless character I have ever controlled with my duel sticks. He is such a tosser no woman let alone two would ever fall for this guy. When challenged you get the typical Japanese animation sweat rolling down his face, nervous tension forcing him into the closest men’s room from an irritable bowel apparently, and as we know perfuse sweating, and multiple trips to the loo attract the ladies…This lazy character design stretches to Katherine as well who could be described in one word sociopath. The game portrays her as callas,and pushy as if she was Vincent’s evil stepmother rather than his longtime girl, but this falls back onto the storytellers who cannot cram their culture into western characters. Catherine is portrayed as a carefree partier who wants to live life to the fullest while she is young. She is also the most fleshed out character in the game, and possibly the most accurate to what the rest of the world expects from a young American girl… The remainder of the cast if filled by Vincent’s bros who are easily forgettable, and a few key characters to the plot that work at the bar his group frequents.

Catherine’s plot can only receive a light glazing without spoiling the tale. Vincent has received an eight night sentence to roam his sub continence for his immoral ways lying, cheating, and not accepting his responsibilities as a man. This prison turns into a dark game of Jenga where he must repeatedly scale a puzzle of cubes to the beckoning light atop the structure facing him. His guilt manifesting itself as vindictive demons clawing at his feet as he attempts escape. This light/dark story mechanic has become increasingly prevalent in games over the past few years, and again being put to good use in Catherine. If a European or American team had written the dialogue I can see either crafting characters that would be likeable, and tie all of this Japanese nonsense together; however with that not being the case here the story is passable with no seat in reality. Catherine’s story is passable, and thank goodness can be bypassed thanks to Microsoft’s (B) button if not the great puzzles would be hard to wait for.

The well crafted and difficult puzzles in Catherine shine through the mess of a story. Difficulty is well scaled starting with the player just needing to make a few minor corrections to scale the fairly  straightforward puzzle, and gradually becoming an artful masterpiece of moves to progress a few stories of the tower. There seemed to be no right, or wrong way to tackle these puzzles making each attempt gratifying. You receive a great sense of accomplishment at each plateau Vincent reached until you crawl back into reality atop the nightmare. Each section of the game is broken down into 3-4 smaller timed puzzles with a boss stage following. These manifestations all have different environmental effects that they may unleash at anytime making the puzzle solution increasingly difficult to determine, sometimes narrowly reaching your goal before being impaled by your pursuer. The difficultly can become frustrating, but if you are up to the challenge the payoff is worth the wait just don’t expect the payoff to come in the form of (o)(o)….

Catherine has proved to be a success for Atlus becoming their bestselling title to date moving 200,000 copies in its first week on shelves in the US alone far surpassing the company’s loftiest goals. With this being quite a niche title you can only assume that the old moniker holds true “sex sells”. Nothing has been released in regard to a sequel, but with sales of that magnitude we can expect an encore performance from Catherine. Favorable reviews have been surfacing, but I feel the need to be a bit more critical. For a new gaming experience Catherine deserves high praise; however as an overarching game Catherine is lacking in appeal we as gamers have come to expect from blockbuster titles. Lacking interesting locations, and a nonsensical story Catherine is a pass for those not seeking to broaden their gaming horizons;however if you are in the market for a new genre Catherine may be up your alley. Also cheevo whores beware I spent 10 hours with Catherine completing a single play through, and came away with 165 points for my trouble. Catherine will not satisfy all those who are willing to test the waters, but those open-minded enough to give it a try will come away with a stimulating experience.

Verdict: 7/10 Fair for those with an open mind