Catherine is a rare breed of game, and one that is different from just about anything else that I have played. This first foray by Atlus into the HD era of games combines puzzle gameplay with anime and a dose of Japan that is fitting for the developer of Persona, but Catherine has more issues than one may expect from this developer.

Catherine puts players in the role of Vincent Brooks, a 32 year old guy in a relationship with long term girlfriend Katherine. Vincent is not exactly enthusiastic about taking things to the next level with Katherine, especially with her not so subtle marriage hints, and it is in the middle of his internal committal conflicts that the energetic 22 year old Catherine comes into his life. To add a supernatural twist to matters, unfaithful men are dying in their sleep, and just as Vincent begins a relationship with Catherine he begins to have disturbing nightmares. The story of Catherine focuses on Vincent's struggle to pick between the seductive, carefree yet chaotic Catherine, and the dependable yet domineering and somewhat suffocating Katherine. Vincent is counselled by his trio of friends, Orlando, Jonny and Toby, in a local bar called the Stray Sheep which he frequents each night. It is here that most of the story interactions in the game take place, through dialogue options with Vincent's three close friends as well as Erica, the bar waitress.

There are also other patrons of the Stray Sheep, with their own problems and nightmares. These characters actually have some of the most interesting stories of the game, and Vincent can influence their eventual fate by encouraging them and giving some advice or input. It is a shame that these side chats are so peripheral because the core game narrative and story is not all that interesting in its substance. Katherine and Catherine are both frustrating and shallow characters, not much more than opposite cliche representations of relationships. Vincent himself is an exceptionally weak individual and his fate simply failed to engage or interest me. The saving grace of the story is that the other characters, Vincent's friends, are pretty well represented with their issues, and the style of the setting is excellent. This fails to make up for the lack of player engagement with the story, the deceptive simplicity of the morality choices and the weakness of the twist at the end of the game.

Catherine is blessed with some gorgeous visuals, with a hand drawn anime look to its cutscenes and a lovely almost cell shaded appearance to its in game graphics. The use of colour and lighting also feeds into the style of the settings, specifically the Stray Sheep pub. It strengthens the unique identity of Catherine and brings the sheer "Japaneseness" of the title to the fore. The soundtrack is also well integrated into the experience and is fitting for the tone. Voice acting is nice and varied, with the stand-out performances once again being the characters Vincent meets in the Stray Sheep each evening.

Actually playing Catherine breaks down into two distinct sections: the conversation heavy Stray Sheep and the block puzzle nightmares each night when Vincent goes home to sleep. These block puzzles are the core of the gameplay in Catherine, and I found them to be very challenging. Vincent must climb to the top of the tower each evening on a time limit, overcoming physical obstacles and barricades as he goes. At the end of each night there will be a boss stage, where something from Vincent's worst fears will relentlessly pursue him in a tougher version of the stages before it.

Unfortunately, these block puzzles quickly become boring. There are certainly efforts made to make them more interesting, with the addition of ice blocks, trampolines and power-ups as the game goes on, but the core mechanics get stale within a few hours. This is not helpful when the game runs for around 15 hours and goes on much longer than it should towards the ending. The controls for climbing the block towers are also relatively unresponsive and lack the speed which I felt I needed for Vincent to do what I wanted him to do. For example, you can hang off the side of blocks and shimmy along rows, but on numerous occasions I let go and fell to my death unintentionally. This adds to the extreme difficulty curves of Catherine, and I eventually set things to easy difficulty to just get through the stages and onto the next story segment.

This really is the biggest problem of Catherine; it is just not fun or interesting to play. It is difficult but not particularly smart, with just frustrating level designs. The story is what carries the experience, but the main characters are shallow and the narrative never makes the most of the supernatural angles that it had available to it. From a technical perspective I encountered no problems, with everything running smoothly and load times being short. The game has a great style that makes me really want to at least try a sushi stall or traditional food venue in Japan if I ever go on a holiday there, but this sense sense of identity and attractive style is not enough to carry an entire game. There are some side activities to play in the form of arcade cabinets in the bar, but an arcade version of yet more block puzzles is the last thing that Catherine needed in my view. There is also a limited multiplayer mode where you climb competitively against other players times, and this unlocks after you have finished the singleplayer, but again I do not know why you would want to subject yourself to yet more climbing after completing Catherine.

Catherine is not a bad game, and I am sure that a lot of people have and will enjoy this more than I did, but a story that lacks player engagement and gameplay that becomes a chore is not enough to recommend a game, and it worries me that some may have given this game a pass by virtue of who the developer is. It does tackle themes that most games pretend don't even exist and I applaud it for that, but Catherine is just not an enjoyable experience to playthrough, and that is a real shame.

Pros:

• Beautiful graphic style
• Interesting and mature themes

Cons:

• Dull gameplay that becomes a chore
• Shallow characters and interactions
• Poor pacing

Wtf:

• Erica and Toby

Score:

• 2/5- Poor