@Gordo789: That's the reason why there are many reviewers and different web sites who review games for the very reason that they have different tastes and interests in certain genres. If Jeff would give this game a higher score just because he is conscious of the Giant Bomb community who watched the ER and loved Persona 4 because of it (I'm just using that as an example) and thought Catherine wasn't that good at all, then how could we trust his review in the first place? It would be wrong for him to give a game higher score if he himself thought he never really had a good time with the game, regardless of production value (i.e. the game being polished, etc.). I remember Patrick (Klepek) in one of the Bombcasts saying that he really liked the game more than Jeff did but he also said that all the points mentioned by Jeff were very valid.

If the review would always be targeted or framed in such a way for an intended audience, why call it a review in the first place? Wouldn't you rather just straight up call that a recommendation?

Well, obviously you do like the game a lot from the looks of your avatar but I hope you or anyone reading this for that matter understands the point I'm trying to make here.

I found it pretty hard to believe Vincent was 32. He seemed more like 22.

I 100% agree with you Jeff. In the end game what it comes down to is that your spending 60$ on a puzzle game. You could be spending that on something that'll give you more time and fun, but your kind of wasting it on this. You play a douche character, that doesn't deserve either of those girls, and the gameplay is just lacking. The game play is repetitive and honestly there's not much of a learning curve here.  And if you feel like there is a learning curve, going through the level faster doesn't count, or on a hard difficulty.

I just started playing the game and I'm looking forward to it. I like anime and I'm a big puzzle game fan so I'm sure it's right down my alley.

I love the game but I also think this review is fine. Jeff wasn't really digging a lot of it and I was. Difference of opinion.

This is the only real negative review I've seen for Catherine. I'll look at some user reviews to see how the GB community likes it. 

Making my way through Catherine and I'm surprised at how much I agree with Jeff's review. I thought he was being harsh but the story and dialogue in this game reminds me of a shit anime. I'm not sure yet if it's 2 star quality but right now I'm feeling a solid 3 stars.

Love that Jeff never loiters in the M.O.R. - your shit is either on the dope-side or the joke-side. Never boring, thanks Jeff

Completely spot-on review.   I'm glad I bought and experienced the game overall, but I'm also glad that someone out there is calling it out for it's bad points.
 
At the beginning of the game, I loved it and bought into the story, puzzles, etc.  The middle was euphoric.  Toward the end of playing it, though, I experienced every criticism Jeff had for it.  Characters that seemed interesting at first, disappointingly fell into shallow anime tropes by the end.  I also was under the impression that character choices influenced the story; nope, only the very very last cutscene.  If I read this review before buying it, I'd probably have waited until its price was cut in half, since I only enjoyed the first half anyway.  It's comparable to a high-production value DS Layton-esque type game.

im at chapter 4 right now and so far i disagree with everything jeff has said in this review.. i get the impression that he just didnt get the gameplay and got stuck and frustrated..

This is a serious critique of the game and most people playing won't notice a lot of the problems this person stated. I played the game and had a lot of fun and enjoyed the story immensely; and I think there are a lot of people who will fall in love with this game if they just play it.
P.S PLAY THE DEMO!

Finished it today. Absolutely fantastic game and the game was longer than I expected it to be.
 
Top notch voice acting, especially for Vincent. 
 
My favourite part was Vincent ranting. "What is with those FUCKING shades. You are indoors."
 

@Giantstalker

Thanks for saving me the money Jeff, block puzzles in 2011...

@VinVoltage

I 100% agree with you Jeff. In the end game what it comes down to is that your spending 60$ on a puzzle game. You could be spending that on something that'll give you more time and fun, but your kind of wasting it on this. You play a douche character, that doesn't deserve either of those girls, and the gameplay is just lacking. The game play is repetitive and honestly there's not much of a learning curve here.  And if you feel like there is a learning curve, going through the level faster doesn't count, or on a hard difficulty.

@vCOOKIE_MONSTAv

the only reason this game got the attention it did is because it's about sex. you can use other adjectives to describe the sex, or justify the sex. but, when it comes down to it, the game got the attention it did because of sex. and sex sells... or at least appeals.

Sad that the score didn't grab Jeff like it has a lot of people. Just like Persona 4, one of the best things about this game is Shoji Meguro's amazing score.

Jeff seems to be the only reviewer not liking Catherine. Perhaps it's his also not so eager opinions of Anime (what with it being for jerks and all?)

About 20 minutes into the game, I was looking for a button to let me watch it, instead of play it. After not finding that button, I just gave up and played Deus Ex again.

I just got the Stray Sheep Edition. now this is a cool special edition, especially with an extra artbook&soundtrack. I hope the game will be cool. I guess i'll play it in multiple shorter sessions, might get a better experience that way :)

@Sooty said:

@zameer said:

:( Was kinda expecting a 3 star review given what you said on the podcast. Guess I'll wait for this to go on sale then.

Interestingly, KVO gave an 8.5 for this game so I'm pretty sure it should appeal to some people.

The game's great and getting damn good scores everywhere else including user reviews. I'll just ignore this review as I do most these days.

I've seen many bad ones too :(

lol

I agree with Jeff 95% of the time and Catherine is the other 5%. I had an absolutely amazing time with it from beginning to end, I just never wanted to put down the controller until my body forced me to go to bed.

Seeing as how Jeff liked Persona 4 so much, I don't recognize why he doesn't seem to be into Catherine. They both have a similar appeal - if you like well-written stories in games and making tough decisions that result in multiple endings, this game is for you.

You can find this game now for 20 or so dollars - so there's little excuse to deprive yourself of Catherine. Don't like block puzzles? Well, Catherine's puzzle design is pretty unique and challenging. Catherine starts off quite simple, gets much harder, but eases off later in the game. If you're still intimidated, you can always play it on Easy or even find the secret Very Easy mode to basically skip the puzzle elements.

At its core, I enjoyed Catherine because of the characters, storyline, music, atmosphere, dialogue, and art/style. Although its the subject of much complaint, the puzzle difficulty is justified in the game through story sequences (other characters have a hard time solving them too and fall to their deaths). The game's biggest fault is in its repetitive nature, you go to the same bar and keep seeing the same set pieces again and again.

But as you progress, the animated cutscenes make the challenge well worth it.