[E3 2011] The Difference Between C and K
Catherine's cleverly teasing puzzle game is well on its way to the States. We go hands-on.
Published: June 16, 2011
The HD era has been a difficult transition for a lot of smaller Japanese developers. Studios like Nippon Ichi Software and Atlus boomed late in the PS2 era, when standard-definition bottlenecks let the artists' creativity shine without requiring massive teams, an investment in new technology or seemingly bazillions of dollars and man hours to get a game made.
Not surprisingly, this has meant a bit of trepidation for groups like Atlus, who are only now taking their first steps into the HD era, but if Catherine's sumptuous visuals are any indication, the wait will have been well worth it. Putting aside the rather lecherous connotations that a word like "sumptuous" might have given the rather... "adult" nature of some of the game's trailers and box art, this really is an absolutely gorgeous game -- and not just because our brief E3 experience showcased an impressive number of cleverly-blocked body parts.
In truth, Catherine isn't nearly as naughty as the trailers might have suggested. Yes, there's a fair bit of skin, but the "adult" descriptor is far more apt in how Director Katsura Hashino (of Persona 3 and 4 fame, as are Composer Shoji Meguro and Character Designer Shigenori Soejima) is attempting to convey feelings of infidelity, guilt and fear. Catherine might feature a lascivious doppelganger for leading man Vincent's girlfriend -- also named Katherine -- but the meat of the game is split between puzzle solving and information recovery.
But we're getting a little ahead of ourselves here. Let's start at the beginning. Vincent has cold feet. His girlfriend, Katherine, wants to do the whole isle-walking... thing and ol' V just can't seem to commit. This makes the sudden appearance of Catherine, a girl that's a dead ringer for his girlfriend with far more flirty hair and a penchant for dragging Vincent into the sack, especially confusing. But does Vincent give in to his base desires? Oh yes. And now he has to pay the price.
For starters, he'll have to find a way to try to patch things up with Katherine, which won't be easy once she finds out -- and she will find out. To make matters worse, Vincent is plagued nightly by visions of men turned into sheep and a giant malevolent version of his love(s) manifesting as various body parts that seek to pull him down into an abyss. What happens, then, is something of a mad dash up a tower of boxes that can be pulled, pushed and shoved around to allow Vincent to climb higher and hopefully reach the top. Along the way, hazards like falling rain or giant taloned hands might try to pull Vincent off the tower. If he runs out of pillows (the game's version of lives), that's it.
But even when he wakes, things aren't any easier. There have been a rash of murders lately, and while he'll have to scour the Stray Sheep bar's regular denizens to put it all together, it sure seems like the sudden appearance of Catherine is to blame. Though we didn't see much of this exploration aspect, we did note that at least some of the chapters seem to begin with an interesting question, the answer to which isn't necessarily a right/wrong response (stuff like "Can love exist without pain?" with "Of course!/No way, man" responses).
It was tough to get a grasp of the overall story, but what we saw of the game's visuals was, frankly, stunning. The 2D animation was actually handled by Studio 4°C (the folks behind, among other things, Tekkonkinkreet, so expect plenty of wildly inventive camera angles and reality-bending moments), but everything else is all Atlus, and when you see the real-time engine at work, delivering a properly 3D version of all that 2D art, the delay in jumping into HD makes just a bit more sense.
We may sound like we're raving a bit too much here, but in an era of normal mapped, ultra-bumpy walls and overly-chunky shader-powered seas, there's a kind of awe-inspiring elegance about the clean-yet-complex visuals of Catherine. It really is one of the best looking games we've seen running on the PS3, and that's saying plenty given the first-party might Sony's packing this generation.
Needless to say, we're more than eager to get our hands on the final retail product, and thankfully it's only a little over a month away. Rest assured, we'll be sussing out exactly what the differences between Catherine and Katherine are in just a few weeks. Check back soon!
Not surprisingly, this has meant a bit of trepidation for groups like Atlus, who are only now taking their first steps into the HD era, but if Catherine's sumptuous visuals are any indication, the wait will have been well worth it. Putting aside the rather lecherous connotations that a word like "sumptuous" might have given the rather... "adult" nature of some of the game's trailers and box art, this really is an absolutely gorgeous game -- and not just because our brief E3 experience showcased an impressive number of cleverly-blocked body parts.
In truth, Catherine isn't nearly as naughty as the trailers might have suggested. Yes, there's a fair bit of skin, but the "adult" descriptor is far more apt in how Director Katsura Hashino (of Persona 3 and 4 fame, as are Composer Shoji Meguro and Character Designer Shigenori Soejima) is attempting to convey feelings of infidelity, guilt and fear. Catherine might feature a lascivious doppelganger for leading man Vincent's girlfriend -- also named Katherine -- but the meat of the game is split between puzzle solving and information recovery.
But we're getting a little ahead of ourselves here. Let's start at the beginning. Vincent has cold feet. His girlfriend, Katherine, wants to do the whole isle-walking... thing and ol' V just can't seem to commit. This makes the sudden appearance of Catherine, a girl that's a dead ringer for his girlfriend with far more flirty hair and a penchant for dragging Vincent into the sack, especially confusing. But does Vincent give in to his base desires? Oh yes. And now he has to pay the price.
For starters, he'll have to find a way to try to patch things up with Katherine, which won't be easy once she finds out -- and she will find out. To make matters worse, Vincent is plagued nightly by visions of men turned into sheep and a giant malevolent version of his love(s) manifesting as various body parts that seek to pull him down into an abyss. What happens, then, is something of a mad dash up a tower of boxes that can be pulled, pushed and shoved around to allow Vincent to climb higher and hopefully reach the top. Along the way, hazards like falling rain or giant taloned hands might try to pull Vincent off the tower. If he runs out of pillows (the game's version of lives), that's it.
But even when he wakes, things aren't any easier. There have been a rash of murders lately, and while he'll have to scour the Stray Sheep bar's regular denizens to put it all together, it sure seems like the sudden appearance of Catherine is to blame. Though we didn't see much of this exploration aspect, we did note that at least some of the chapters seem to begin with an interesting question, the answer to which isn't necessarily a right/wrong response (stuff like "Can love exist without pain?" with "Of course!/No way, man" responses).
It was tough to get a grasp of the overall story, but what we saw of the game's visuals was, frankly, stunning. The 2D animation was actually handled by Studio 4°C (the folks behind, among other things, Tekkonkinkreet, so expect plenty of wildly inventive camera angles and reality-bending moments), but everything else is all Atlus, and when you see the real-time engine at work, delivering a properly 3D version of all that 2D art, the delay in jumping into HD makes just a bit more sense.
We may sound like we're raving a bit too much here, but in an era of normal mapped, ultra-bumpy walls and overly-chunky shader-powered seas, there's a kind of awe-inspiring elegance about the clean-yet-complex visuals of Catherine. It really is one of the best looking games we've seen running on the PS3, and that's saying plenty given the first-party might Sony's packing this generation.
Needless to say, we're more than eager to get our hands on the final retail product, and thankfully it's only a little over a month away. Rest assured, we'll be sussing out exactly what the differences between Catherine and Katherine are in just a few weeks. Check back soon!
