Being in Japanese, this first gameplay clip of Atlus' adultery-balancing, psyche-breaking Catherine doesn't help much -- the erratic themes are indecipherable enough without a language we don't speak laid over it! Regardless, you'd be a fool to miss it. It does feature talking sheep men, after all.
#clis
Beneath the distorted screams, surreal visuals, and sexy cutscenes of Atlus' Catherine lies some intriguing puzzle-platforming gameplay, along with plenty of exploding sheep. More »
You may not know much about Catherine, the action-adventure game from Atlus that's been teased with some strange trailers, but don't worry -- all will be revealed, says the game's director, with a demo coming early in 2011. Katsura Hashino says that though people have been intrigued by the weird media released so far, many have been confused about what the game actually is, and the demo is apparently designed to reveal exactly that.
No word on when the demo will drop, but the game is due out in Japan on February 17, so presumably it'll be out before then. We look forward to making some sense of all the weirdness so far.
The action stages in Atlus's Catherine involve the nightmares of "hero" Vincent, as he climbs stairs in some kind of dreamworld tower. That much we knew. A feature in this week's Famitsu, translated by Andriasang, offers a bit more detail about these surreal segments.
There's a sort of puzzle element to these action sequences, according to the new article: the "stairway" is made of blocks that Vincent has to shift around to make a path. That path has to be made quickly and efficiently, because there's a time limit. Some of the blocks have spike or bomb traps, which Famitsu suggests can be used as items.
As for those sheep-men that inhabit the dream? They aren't enemies: instead, Vincent can get clues about the mysteries in his waking life by talking to them. "I heard that girl Catherine is BAAAAAd news." Ewe'd do wool to listen to them.
If you're shocked to see the seductive poses on the Japanese box art for Catherine, this is likely your first time hearing about the Persona team's first foray into HD games. The covers feature Catherine (on the PS3 cover), the mysterious woman with whom protagonist Vincent has an affair with, and his current girlfriend Katherine (on the 360 version). The box art is in line with the general marketing of the adult-themed game, which has used lascivious imagery to capture Vincent's insomnia-driven predicament. Look closer -- notice the falling sheep-men?
Catherine arrives in Japan on February 17, and in North America who knows when.
"You've been weird lately." Katherine (with a K) notices that much about protagonist Vincent, at least, in this Catherine trailer (after the break). Whether she understands the context -- that he's being pursued by a mysterious woman (Catherine with a C) and also dreaming of turning into a sheep monster every night -- is unclear.
Afterward, it is revealed that men are dying in their beds, and these men all tended to cheat on their partners in life. Which, again, probably contributes to Vincent's mood. We're really looking forward to the inevitable localization announcement so we can pick out more than every fifth word of this bizarre drama.
If you've been keeping up with the media released for Atlus' super stylish, utterly bizarre mystery-adventure, Catherine, you're probably wondering exactly how one will go about ... interacting with all the craziness. An update to the game's official site (via Siliconera) shed some light on the proceedings. The game will be split into three different gameplay systems, each with its own unique style and method of interaction. Appropriately, these gameplay segments are oddly titled: Nightmare, Drama and Stray Sheep.
"Drama" will be straightforward enough, leading players through beautiful interactive and non-interactive cutscenes, which will develop the tangled web of passion between protagonist Vincent and his two homonymous girlfriends, Catherine and Katherine. "Nightmare" and "Stray Sheep" are still up in the air -- though one of the aforementioned cutscenes recently made it online (and after the jump), showing off Vincent and pals enjoying the night life in a bar named "Stray Sheep." Perhaps this system focuses on Shenmue-style bar games? We'd be just fine with that.
Though it was originally announced as a Winter 2010 release, Catherine, the surreal action-adventure game from Atlus's Persona team, will be released in Japan on February 17. We'd be more concerned about the delay, but Atlus hasn't even announced a Western release for the PS3/Xbox 360 game yet -- so this is just more time for Atlus USA to draft that press release.
It's also more time for us to figure out exactly how the game works. We know protagonist Vincent spends much of his time trapped in a dream-world, attempting to climb a tower as a sheep-man. In his waking life, he appears to be surrounded by women who make him nervous.
#pressplay
Exploring death in dreams. Upcoming role-playing game "Catherine" is the latest title from Persona developer Atlus, and it looks to be anything but typical. More »
Though Catherine's intro movie consists mostly of credits, there's still enough dreamlike, surreal imagery, stylish Japanese hip-hop, and doddering bipedal sheep men for it to be worth your attention. For extra fun, you can look up all the names of the voice actors to determine how impressed to be.
If we had our druthers, every trailer for every game would be structured like the promo for Atlus' Catherine, posted below. There's character introductions, romantic intrigue, and then a metaphorical examination of the nature of OH NO IT'S A DEMON BABY WITH CHAINSAW HANDS.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=VMwktt7RBrM Following up on the game's slighty NSFW debut trailer, Atlus' Catherine continues to flaunt its combination of sex and scares in this new trailer for the upcoming HD role-playing game. More »
Following Atlus's announcement of a merger into its parent company Index Holdings, you may have been concerned about the state of the developer and publisher. "But what of our RPGs about super-stylish high school students?," you may have asked. "Any news about my beloved sci-fi surgery simulators?" "Will I still have dungeons in which to crawl?"
Atlus USA president Shinichi Suzuki issued a statement today to allay our fears. "
We want to assure our fans and affiliates that Atlus remains in operation and will continue, as always, to support our beloved community with the finest quality game experiences possible," Suzuki said. You can read the full statement after the break, then take a sigh of relief and get back to your everyday life of wondering when Atlus USA is going to announce a localization of Catherine.
#persona
Catherine is the upcoming PS3 and Xbox 360 game from Japanese developer Atlus. It is a spin-off of the Persona series of role-playing games. An adult one. More »
im going to improve my japanese and order this one :)
