Catherine Review
As a smaller developer and publisher (at least in North America) Atlus has been known first and foremost for their Japanese-influenced RPGs, namely their trademark Shin Megami Tensei franchise. The Persona series, a spin-off of that franchise, took its parent's RPG roots and in the latest entries added a unique dating simulation element to the mix that changed some events based on the player's actions. The Persona team's latest creation, Catherine, takes those simulation elements and wraps them around a seemingly commonplace genre: block puzzles. It certainly sounds unique but the question remains: does it come together into an enjoyable experience or is this an eccentric mash-up that's better left ignored?
In regards to the that previous question, Catherine's puzzle element is surprisingly good. You play as Vincent and the backdrop behind the nightmare dungeons is that in the world he lives in, men have ended up dead due to mysterious causes with seemingly no explanation. It turns out that men who have been unfaithful or have other emotional problems end up in a nightmarish dungeon where they have to climb to survive otherwise they'll fall off and die in their own nightmares, causing them to die in reality too. To make things worse they'll return here each and every night after their first visit and you will even have to compete against other men who have no qualms about pushing you off the tower.
Thus, Vincent is forced to scale up the floors that make up the giant tower dungeon that he's found himself in. How can he do this, you might ask? Similar to the old-school arcade classic Q*bert, Vincent can scale the floors by climbing up the various blocks that make up the tower. Most all of the blocks, except a few immovable ones, can be pushed in any direction as long as Vincent has room to move in that direction. Like other puzzle games, however, you don't have infinite time to make your moves, which in Catherine's case has the floor beneath you falling apart as time progresses. To make things harder, there are also different types of blocks. Some take longer to move due to their weight, there are also ice blocks that can cause Vincent to glide across and trap blocks that impale Vincent if he stands on them for too long.
These hazards get upped even further in the various boss stages that occur at the end of each night. Here, Vincent climbs for his life while trying to stay away from the various monstrosities that are seemingly crafted from his inner feelings. Speaking of most of them would be a spoiler but it's safe to say that Vincent has some serious drama in his life. What makes these bosses harder than the regular stages is that they have their own unique block destroying and modification abilities ranging from turning rows of blocks into heavy blocks to attacking and killing Vincent instantly.
What makes Catherine's puzzles entertaining is that the floors aren't limited to a single solution as there's multiple routes for improvisation and lateral thinking. That isn't to say Catherine is a cakewalk as it's an infamously difficult game. Atlus even had to tone down the North American release to make it feel less punishing on some of the stages. But even at it's most devilish levels Catherine is extremely addictive and is fairly generous with handing out retry opportunities. All great puzzle games have that "one more try" feel to them and Catherine doesn't disappoint here in the slightest.