Catherine Review - PS3/XBOX 360 Game of Psychological Horror

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High Priest Mikhal
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Catherine Review - PS3/XBOX 360 Game of Psychological Horror

Post by High Priest Mikhal »

Catherine - PS3/XBOX 360
Puzzle/Psychological Horror - Rating: 2.5/5 Stars

Vincent is a man who has serious trouble committing. His girlfriend, Katherine, has been pushing the issue of marriage more and more lately. Then, after a drunken binge, Vincent wakes up next to a young blonde named Catherine who is everything he ever wanted in a woman. Yet there are disturbing reports of murders where the victims were found dead in a rictus of terror. The only thing they had in common was they were men. Vincent is also suffering from extreme nightmares that are manifestations of his fears of commitment, nightmares that can literally be lethal. Is this Catherine a a literal succubus? A demon who tempts men in their dreams and then steals their souls?

I'm not a big fan of puzzle games, but the big anime' ad and the fact it's by Atlus convinced me to buy it (ani-ota like me can be taken in so easily like that). Its redeeming qualities are that the game is very dynamic in how decisions made outside of nightmares can lead to very real consequences. There are choices to be made and the morality is rarely black-and-white, though some are. Do you stay with Katherine who is pregnant with your child, owning up to your fears of commitment and maturation? Or do you go with the sensual Catherine and live a life of abandon? Other choices can determine the very lives of others. Who must die because of a single decision and who lives? It's impossible to know for certain what the final outcome will be until it happens.

For Ravenloft this is a great way for players and DMs alike to see how one choice can lead to a completely different outcome than another, how morality is rarely so cut-and-dry, and offers an array of psychological surveys during play that shows players their personality based on choices made and questions answered. This is not a complete psychological evaluation, just a general observation.

A final warning: this game is rated "M" for very good reasons! Partial nudity and drug and alcohol use are the mildest reasons. Some of the images can be quite graphic in their violence and horror and the themes are of a mature nature in the sense that they deal with very real situations that we all face at some point. Fidelity, pregnancy, death, the future, all things we must consider and will have a lasting impact. It can become very uncomfortable to play as a result.
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