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Giant Bomb Review

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Catherine Review

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  • PS3

You won't find another game on the market that's quite like Catherine, but it fumbles too frequently to work.

The alignment meter pops up to let you know that the story is considering your decisions.
The alignment meter pops up to let you know that the story is considering your decisions.

There aren't a lot of games out there like Catherine, and even fewer of them exist in English-speaking territories. That's probably one of the best things going for Atlus' boys-to-men tale about a love triangle with a supernatural twist. It seems that unfaithful men are dying in their sleep, and you'll quickly find yourself caught among their ranks as you figure out what to do with the two girls in your life by day and climbing a seemingly endless supply of block towers in your sleep. You'll need to be adept at both if you want things to end your way, but Catherine's limited character interaction, shallow characters, and monotonous puzzles combine to form a unique experience that feels frustratingly limited in every respect.

In the game you'll play as Vincent, a weak, wishy-washy sort of guy who's always getting admonished or outright bossed around by his longtime girlfriend, Katherine. Just as he's lamenting that he's not sure he's ready to commit further in this relationship, a younger woman named Catherine stumbles into his life, and before long, he's cheating on his girlfriend with Catherine, who, by comparison, seems completely carefree and indifferent about, well, everything. Being faced with a choice between carefree youth and the increasing responsibilities of adulthood only intensifies as the story proceeds. Before long, things get decidedly supernatural as rumors start of nightmares that are killing traitorous men in their sleep and, sure enough, cheating Vincent finds himself in a nightly fight for survival against endless block-filled towers and his own worst fears.

The interactive parts of Catherine are broken into two separate chunks. When awake, you'll watch a lot of cutscenes and hear a lot of dialogue, but you'll eventually find yourself turned loose in a bar, where your friends gather at the end of every night. In the bar you can walk around and talk to the various patrons, many of whom are also enduring the same nightly ordeals that you are, but no one can really remember their dreams all that clearly. Most of the dialogue has you sitting and listening to their stories, but you'll occasionally get to make a dialogue choice that might just give them the encouragement they need to survive the night's trials. You'll also receive text messages from the two ladies in your life, and how you respond to them--or, in fact, if you respond to them--helps determine how the story unfolds by swinging an alignment meter one way or the other. Generally speaking, it'll shift to the blue side if you're choosing the responsible options that Katherine might agree with or red if your decisions are more in line with something that free-wheeling Catherine might do. The interactions feel incredibly limited, and there isn't that much to do in the bar before heading home and starting the next action stage unless you're interested in playing a retro-styled arcade version of the block puzzles that make up the rest to the game or working over the jukebox, which slowly gives you access to Catherine's soundtrack, as well as select cuts from Persona 4 and other Atlus releases.

Catherine's just kind of annoying.
Catherine's just kind of annoying.

At night, the action begins, as Vincent finds himself surrounded by sheep at the foot of a large tower of blocks. You can push or pull the blocks around, and the goal is to quickly climb the tower. The game starts out slowly to show you the basic logic behind the blocks' properties. For example, blocks will attach at diagonal edges, so you don't always need to have a block directly underneath another block for support. Once you've got the basics, later levels start introducing special blocks, like ones that crumble when you step on them, or trampoline-style blocks that let you jump up and grab onto ledges you wouldn't be able to reach otherwise, or ice blocks that cause you (and the blocks you're pushing) to slip and keep moving. Once you get the logic behind how the blocks move and start to see solutions in the puzzles instead of just a mountain of blocks, it isn't impossibly difficult. Unfortunately, that moment didn't happen for me until I was most of the way through the game. But the difficulty of the individual puzzles isn't what brings Catherine down. It's their repetitive nature. It feels like there are tons of levels in the game, and they're all roughly the same. The special blocks change things up a bit, and you'll have to climb towers while running away from a large boss-style monster during the last puzzle of every night, but the act of pulling and pushing blocks around to form staircases and create paths doesn't hold up for the entire game, and by night three or four (which is a little before the game's halfway point), I found myself not wanting to play anymore.

The big issues with Catherine are that the gameplay of block puzzles gets old fast and the way the characters develop in the story isn't engaging enough to pick up the slack. Despite being able to make choices that sway the alignment meter and alter the outcome of the story, Vincent's behavior usually doesn't line up with the choices you've made. Even if you're very clearly steering him in one direction, the story beats essentially force him to remain mostly indecisive right up until the final set of challenges. In my case, this resulted in a Vincent who was constantly saying that he was looking to remain true to Katherine, yet kept having nervous breakdowns about Catherine and her feelings. Considering how pushy and psycho Catherine acts, it's hard to imagine anyone feeling the need to "let her down gently." With the characters written that way, it's hard to care about the story very much, especially when you consider that most of your choices are made in-between action stages, where a confessional booth acts as some sort of personality test, asking this-or-that questions about how you'd act in specific situations and so on. It feels like the decisions you're making are almost completely detached from the story itself.

Big bosses will try to trip you up as you climb the tower.
Big bosses will try to trip you up as you climb the tower.

That said, the story sequences themselves are pretty well-made. There are a handful of fully animated sequences, but even the in-engine stuff is sharp, colorful, and full of personality. Some of the characters you'll meet around the bar have interesting side stories that are told both in and out of the dream world, and the voice cast is solid enough to make those stories work. It's a shame that most of the game's strongest points are practically crammed into the margins to make room for more block pushing.

It's certainly not awful, but too many aspects of Catherine felt like they were actively trying to push me away. More variety in the gameplay would have helped, as would more meaningful interactions with the game's cast. As it stands, the coolest thing about Catherine is that there really isn't anything else out there like it. If that's enough for you, you'll probably have a better time with the game than I did.

Jeff Gerstmann on Google+

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Nekroskop

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@Mystyr_E said:

Kind of makes me nervous for the fall, I mean....what if Jeff reviews Dark Souls? :P I'd fear for my life and every poster on here if the score was low

Hahaha 1 Star.

I think they'll give that job to Vinny since he's the only person in the crew to actually complete Demon's Souls.

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Kinda sad he didn't like it after those 99hours and 59 minutes of Persona 4. Still, it's his opinion and Catherine is not Persona 5 nor is it an RPG by typical standards. 
 
Still enjoying the game though. A lot of great ideas that I hope we'll see expanded on in the future. 2 stars seems quite harsh, even for a low opinion for it.

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@i77ogical said:

It's not that Jeff doesn't like a game, it's the WAY he doesn't like it. He is broodingly negative, eviscerating what is really just an entertainment. It's not like he's saving us from driving faulty cars that are going to explode on the freeway.  Jeff Gerstmann is a certified buzzkill more often than not these days. Did you hear Ryan ask him on this week's podcast, "Did  you play anything you LIKED this week?" Then, when Ryan turned it over to Brad, to try to lighten the mood, Jeff was a downer about Starfox 64 as well.   I'd buy a yearly sub to Giantbomb if only Jeff could lighten up. Maybe he's aged out of reviewing video games. He only seems to get excited when it's a game that reminds him of the past, like fighting games. He's a talented guy. He should do something he's passionate about, not cranky and surly.

I don't blame him. For a story-driven game--and this game is all about the story--the plot sucks. If you don't enjoy Q-bert-from-hell puzzles, or have the desire to make sweet love to your CE anime pillow case, then Catherine's dipshit story is going to leave you 2 star disappointed.  I'm a big fan of Persona. I've come to expect SMT to explain all the flaws in their games away with demons and "the devil made me do it" but in the end, Catherine is just plain silly. If it's fap-worthiness makes it entertaining, sobeit, but it's not even as sexy as it should or could have been. Taken as a game or even an experiment, it's a middle of the road title.
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Catolf

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@Braumeister said:
@i77ogical said:
It's not that Jeff doesn't like a game, it's the WAY he doesn't like it. He is broodingly negative, eviscerating what is really just an entertainment. It's not like he's saving us from driving faulty cars that are going to explode on the freeway.  Jeff Gerstmann is a certified buzzkill more often than not these days. Did you hear Ryan ask him on this week's podcast, "Did  you play anything you LIKED this week?" Then, when Ryan turned it over to Brad, to try to lighten the mood, Jeff was a downer about Starfox 64 as well.   I'd buy a yearly sub to Giantbomb if only Jeff could lighten up. Maybe he's aged out of reviewing video games. He only seems to get excited when it's a game that reminds him of the past, like fighting games. He's a talented guy. He should do something he's passionate about, not cranky and surly.
I don't blame him. For a story-driven game--and this game is all about the story--the plot sucks. If you don't enjoy Q-bert-from-hell puzzles, or have the desire make sweet love to your CE anime pillow case, then Catherine's dipshit story is going to leave you 2 star disappointed with Catherine.  I'm a big fan of Persona. I've come to expect SMT to explain all the flaws in their games away with demons and "the devil made me do it" but in the end, Catherine is just plain silly. If it's fap-worthiness makes it entertaining, sobeit, but it's not even as sexy as it should or could have been. Taken as a game or even an experiment, it's a middle of the road title.
very, VERY hard to take your opinion seriously when all you can say is that "If your not in it to fap then it's not worth it" pretty much. *rolls eyes*
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@Catolf said:

very, VERY hard to take your opinion seriously when all you can say is that "If your not in it to fap then it's not worth it" pretty much. *rolls eyes*

Which I clearly did NOT say or imply.
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Endurance Run: Catherine Review Comments

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RoyCampbell

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@Braumeister said:
@Catolf said:
very, VERY hard to take your opinion seriously when all you can say is that "If your not in it to fap then it's not worth it" pretty much. *rolls eyes*
Which I clearly did NOT say or infer.
It's generally a bad idea to try and have any sort of argument with someone that has an avatar of the game in question. They're right and you're wrong; especially when you make a decent argument. Then it's time to get nit-picky and at that point, the argument will never end.
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i77ogical

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@Braumeister said:
@i77ogical said:

It's not that Jeff doesn't like a game, it's the WAY he doesn't like it. He is broodingly negative, eviscerating what is really just an entertainment. It's not like he's saving us from driving faulty cars that are going to explode on the freeway.  Jeff Gerstmann is a certified buzzkill more often than not these days. Did you hear Ryan ask him on this week's podcast, "Did  you play anything you LIKED this week?" Then, when Ryan turned it over to Brad, to try to lighten the mood, Jeff was a downer about Starfox 64 as well.   I'd buy a yearly sub to Giantbomb if only Jeff could lighten up. Maybe he's aged out of reviewing video games. He only seems to get excited when it's a game that reminds him of the past, like fighting games. He's a talented guy. He should do something he's passionate about, not cranky and surly.

I don't blame him. For a story-driven game--and this game is all about the story--the plot sucks. If you don't enjoy Q-bert-from-hell puzzles, or have the desire to make sweet love to your CE anime pillow case, then Catherine's dipshit story is going to leave you 2 star disappointed.  I'm a big fan of Persona. I've come to expect SMT to explain all the flaws in their games away with demons and "the devil made me do it" but in the end, Catherine is just plain silly. If it's fap-worthiness makes it entertaining, sobeit, but it's not even as sexy as it should or could have been. Taken as a game or even an experiment, it's a middle of the road title.
I totally agree that you and Jeff have every right not to like the game. I haven't played it. I did hear Jeff's comments on the podcast this week, though, and they rubbed me the wrong way because they are so reluctantly spoken, and joyless.  
 
Sometimes it's fun to read a negative review, when you can a) tell the reviewer really loves what he does, and b) tell the reviewer really loves video games. This Catherine review aside, I don't get the sense from Jeff that he actually likes what he does anymore. And he brings down the house with him.
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TearsInRain

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This is the first and only unimpressed review of the game I have seen.

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@Braumeister said:
@Catolf said:

very, VERY hard to take your opinion seriously when all you can say is that "If your not in it to fap then it's not worth it" pretty much. *rolls eyes*

Which I clearly did NOT say or imply.
You didn't say this?
 

 If you don't enjoy Q-bert-from-hell puzzles, or have the desire make sweet love to your CE anime pillow case, then Catherine's dipshit story is going to leave you 2 star disappointed with Catherine.

More or less fapping man.
 
@RoyCampbell said:
@Braumeister said:
@Catolf said:
very, VERY hard to take your opinion seriously when all you can say is that "If your not in it to fap then it's not worth it" pretty much. *rolls eyes*
Which I clearly did NOT say or infer.
It's generally a bad idea to try and have any sort of argument with someone that has an avatar of the game in question. They're right and you're wrong; especially when you make a decent argument. Then it's time to get nit-picky and at that point, the argument will never end.

Also to you. I'm a bit baffled that because of my avatar I can't say that i can't take him seriously when he said what I just quoted, or did you not just read his post and decide to jump in adding 2cents?

Good lord I'm going to change my avatar because that crap get's old.
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So... Catherine lovers...

It's not that YOU don't like the game that you're ticked about, it's the fact SOMEONE ELSE didn't like it? Is your self esteem so tied into what someone else thinks of a game you like that it somehow diminishes your sense of self worth? If only I was going for a Psych PhD... I'd have a a field day with this.

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RoyCampbell

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@Catolf said:
@Braumeister said:
@Catolf said:

very, VERY hard to take your opinion seriously when all you can say is that "If your not in it to fap then it's not worth it" pretty much. *rolls eyes*

Which I clearly did NOT say or imply.
You didn't say this?
 

 If you don't enjoy Q-bert-from-hell puzzles, or have the desire make sweet love to your CE anime pillow case, then Catherine's dipshit story is going to leave you 2 star disappointed with Catherine.

More or less fapping man.
 
@RoyCampbell said:
@Braumeister said:
@Catolf said:
very, VERY hard to take your opinion seriously when all you can say is that "If your not in it to fap then it's not worth it" pretty much. *rolls eyes*
Which I clearly did NOT say or infer.
It's generally a bad idea to try and have any sort of argument with someone that has an avatar of the game in question. They're right and you're wrong; especially when you make a decent argument. Then it's time to get nit-picky and at that point, the argument will never end.
Also to you. I'm a bit baffled that because of my avatar I can't say that i can't take him seriously when he said what I just quoted, or did you not just read his post and decide to jump in adding 2cents?Good lord I'm going to change my avatar because that crap get's old.
Oh no, I'm trying to silence your freedom by pointing out that you had an avatar of Catherine.
 
Come on now. While what I said wasn't just picking on you and it was more of a general statement, it's still hard to take what someone has to say seriously when, like right now, there's a negative review for a game and we see the likes of you and such, rebutting comments.
 
I was going to append what I said by noting that it was more of a general statement but I didn't feel like it. It didn't mean I was agreeing with him.
 
I laughed at the little "Good lord I'm changing my avatar this crap gets old" breakdown, though.
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@Braumeister: I wasn't really satisfied with the "plot twist" either, but did you expect anything different from the ending of this game? You claim that characters aren't believable due to that fact, but you are a Persona fan? In Persona 3 they shot themselves in the head to bring out their inner persona, which isn't exactly believable or relate able. Yet when Vincent has a real life issue of not wanting to move on or commit you can't relate? You'll accept that Atlus explains away everything in SMT with demons, but it's not okay for the plot to get weird in Catherine?

It seems that your real complaint is that it wasn't as sexy as it could or should have been, when it wasn't supposed to be that at all. They may have advertised it that way, but that was just misleading marketing.

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@Binman88 said: 
You're going to have to point out those parts of the review to me, because I didn't find anything particularly snotty or unreasonable in Jim's review of Bastion, nor do I see any reason to think there was an agenda behind his opinion of that game (an opinion and score which was still quite favourable). What it boils down to is a vocal group of people getting in a huff when they see a single slightly less glowing review of the game they love. Instead of accepting that their favourite game isn't loved by everyone, they find it easier to accuse the reviewer of trolling and proceed to tell everyone how awful that reviewer is. As I see it, the people that are quick to disparage Destructoid every time they post a review are simply jumping on the bandwagon. The idea that some of those same people would come to Jeff's defence here would ultimately prove that fact.  At the end of the day, the only way to approach reviews is to get to know the reviewer that's writing them and making up your own mind. Personally, I don't place much trust in Jeff's reviews, or Ryan's for that matter, but I don't need to start a thread telling people to stop reading them. For some people, Jeff and Ryan's reviews will be extremely relevant. Same goes for Jim. Same goes for every reviewer out there. Throwing insults at reviewers because their opinions don't line up with yours is extremely childish. 
I think the difference here is that Jim Sterling is pretty much known for pulling shit like that. I can think of a few off the top of my head immediately, and they're always wildly different from other reviews, quite unlike Jeff. You only have to listen to Sterling talk a few times to see how far up his own ass he is and how serious he takes it up there. 
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@drac96@drac96 said:

@Braumeister: I wasn't really satisfied with the "plot twist" either, but did you expect anything different from the ending of this game? You claim that characters aren't believable due to that fact, but you are a Persona fan? In Persona 3 they shot themselves in the head to bring out their inner persona, which isn't exactly believable or relate able. Yet when Vincent has a real life issue of not wanting to move on or commit you can't relate? You'll accept that Atlus explains away everything in SMT with demons, but it's not okay for the plot to get weird in Catherine?

It seems that your real complaint is that it wasn't as sexy as it could or should have been, when it wasn't supposed to be that at all. They may have advertised it that way, but that was just misleading marketing.

You know I can hardly even reference the turning point in this game without massive spoilers, so it's difficult to explain my main source of irritation with the game. Except to say that they truly blew the psychodrama. It was a visceral reaction.  At least with P3, P4, and all the SMT's you accept the craziness going in and the game gets better as you go.  Catherine is different somehow. Expectations? I don't know.
 
Anyway, It's not sexy time or lack thereof that bothers me about Catherine, it's characterization. Although, I suppose with better characters, the game probably would have been a lot sexier. In the end, the only female in the game I really grew to appreciate in any meaningful way was Erica. That's kinda pathetic for a game with a spread-eagled blonde on the cover who is supposed to drive you back into the arms of your true love. Blah blah.
  
My other complaint is the puzzle game, which is fun at first, but extremely challenging bordering on tedious. Is it sophisticated enough to merit its own game? I'm not so sure. Look at Rapunzel. Almost the same thing stripped down to Flash-game like simplicity.

If I'm in the minority on this one, that's okay. I can accept that. This is how I rate Catherine in categories that are important to me: 
  
Gameplay (mechanics, controls, etc):  C+ 
Graphics: A+ 
Music: C
Story: D
Characters: C- 
Challenge: A+ 
Fun: C+ 
Overall: C
  
Your mileage may vary.
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Catolf

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@RoyCampbell said:
@Catolf said:
Also to you. I'm a bit baffled that because of my avatar I can't say that i can't take him seriously when he said what I just quoted, or did you not just read his post and decide to jump in adding 2cents?Good lord I'm going to change my avatar because that crap get's old.
Oh no, I'm trying to silence your freedom by pointing out that you had an avatar of Catherine.   Come on now. While what I said wasn't just picking on you and it was more of a general statement, it's still hard to take what someone has to say seriously when, like right now, there's a negative review for a game and we see the likes of you and such, rebutting comments.  I was going to append what I said by noting that it was more of a general statement but I didn't feel like it. It didn't mean I was agreeing with him.  I laughed at the little "Good lord I'm changing my avatar this crap gets old" breakdown, though.
But I don't have anything negative to say about the review, I've clearly stated at least ten times here even to other people who came out guns blazing that what Jeff feels about the game is his opinion and his right. He didn't like it, that's fine, I'm glad he gave it a shot to be honest, even more so that he was brave enough to give a review knowing full well what a mess it could turn into.
 
Wasn't a breakdown but it was the third time someone pointed to anime/game in question was referenced towards me and thus would make my opinion invalid because of avatar. So I changed it, might change it again, logo's are tacky. But the shit got old really quickly.
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Bourbon_Warrior

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Dumb game is dumb. Only people with anime avatars seem to disagree, good on ya Jeff for speaking ur mind, when so many game sites are blinded by the pretty cutscenes.

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Sorry Jeff. I guess you finally realize you suck at games.

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I really like this game but it really depends on what things you are into.I love anime and I love puzzle games. I thought the story was really good. So far me I would give it a 5/5. But if my brother played it , he would give it a 1/5. This is a really hard game to review.

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@EddyNZ said:

I was interested in this game after seeing a few of the story related videos but as soon as I saw the block puzzles I wasn't too keen. Maybe if each night was represented by a completely different puzzle I would give it a shot.

*This* would have potentially made Catherine much better, had the puzzles been more directly linked to the nightmare at hand and used some tried and true formulas. Instead it was locked into an ever spiraling arms race of puzzles that went from mundane to mind-melting by the end of the game.

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RsistncE

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@oysteinBrenne: lol u mad bro?
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@ahaisthisourchance said:

@Mystyr_E said:

Kind of makes me nervous for the fall, I mean....what if Jeff reviews Dark Souls? :P I'd fear for my life and every poster on here if the score was low

Hahaha 1 Star.

I think they'll give that job to Vinny since he's the only person in the crew to actually complete Demon's Souls.

I'll agree with you on the Dark Souls review probably heading to Vinny, but I'd laugh if it was Jeff's and it consisted of three words.

"Fuck this game."

Even more interesting question: Would Atlus fans rage at that considering the game is being handled by Namco Bandai?

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I know it's been said, but many of you don't quite get that a review is an opinion, and not something you should take as hard unchangeable fact.  Its what Jeff thinks, not what all of us will think.  
 
I know people who dislike the game due to it's block puzzle core, and because of it's subject matter. And I know people who loved the game all the way through. 
 
Like Persona, this is a game you really can't pass judgement on without trying it first, however. Persona 3/4 would get 2/5 from someone who is uninterested in JRPG combat, or anime storytelling, for example.   
 
Atlus and Catherine deserve points for doing something most of the big publishers wont - something different, a new IP, instead of just churning out sequels to everything.  And Atlus does it a lot more than someone like Activision or EA.
 
We all need to stop getting bogged down in the rating, and get some second opinions. The person who raged and linked the video review from IGN? The rage is foolish, but the video is a good idea - if you're using reviews as a way to make purchasing decisions, bandwidth is cheap, read more than one review.  

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I really respect that Jeff has the balls to give a review as he sees it rather than just following the tide of IGN/Gamespot reviews like most publications.
 
Having said that, I'm still very interested in this game and will probably buy it anyway.

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@Bourbon_Warrior said:
Dumb game is dumb. Only people with anime avatars seem to disagree, good on ya Jeff for speaking ur mind, when so many game sites are blinded by the pretty cutscenes.
Ugh. Ignorance. I hate anime and I love this game, your point is worthless.
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Like OMG this is THE WORST review eva! Now I'm going to have to cry myself to sleep while hugging a copy of the game and the special edition pillow case. 
 
 
In all seriousness though, just as jeff has every right to criticize the game since it is his own opinion, haters can hate on it for all they want. He's been doing this long enough to know the types of reactions he'll get with a "controversial" score like this one. Reading all these scathing comments probably just makes him laugh.
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carlthenimrod

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Edited By carlthenimrod

I always love it when people lose it over a review.

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musubi

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@Bourbon_Warrior: Yeah bro! Like real gamers drink budwiser and fist bump while we play call of duty! Cause were manly men with testosterone and shit! /sarcasam
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musubi

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I respect Jeff and his honestly in giving his opinion of the game regardless of its otherwise stellar review scores.   The only thing that kinda has me scratching my head is why Jeff was the one to review this game.    He seems to have a very  apparent bias to anime "stuff" in general which is fine but  this games characters behave like well... anime characters albeit well written ones but even so some anime tropes do work there way into  the game which I could see easily being a turnoff to someone who isn't "into" that scene. 
 
The review is what it is and God knows it didn't stop me from buying two copies of the game already and won't stop me from liking it  but  I kinda almost feel oddly enough vinny would have been a better choice for this game.  I could be wrong there too but... hey. 

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AnEternalEnigma

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Over 530 comments for a review?! I understand the irony of posting this at 4:50am on a Saturday morning, but some of you people really need a fuckin life.
 
What's sad is we went through this back in 2006 with the Twilight Princess debacle. Seemingly no lessons learned.
 
8.8. Never forget. 
 
It's a fucking review. If you like a game but someone else doesn't, who cares?

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Nettacki

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@Milkman said:

Everyone is saying that people are bitching in the comments but I really only see like one guy. Reading through the comments, most people seem to be pretty level-headed about this. I'm actually fairly impressed.

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CaLe

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Edited By CaLe

Reading some of the reviews on Amazon.co.jp for this game and many point out the same things Jeff does.. He's not bias, he tells it as he sees it. The story is a let down it seems.

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Thejugglingbum

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I am really enjoying this game. It's fantastic and deep and interesting. It's definitely a high 8 or 9. But since I know Jeff's personality I know why he didn't enjoy it, but I know I will.

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wisdumcube

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@i77ogical said:

@JacDG said:

@oysteinBrenne said:

WOW this review is fucking terrible sorry jeffs this is the worst review you have ever done


Here go watch a better Review

Why is it the worst review he's ever done? I think he explains what he likes, and do not like, pretty clearly. I'm guessing you are saying this just because you disagree, not a reason to call it a terrible review.

It's not that Jeff doesn't like a game, it's the WAY he doesn't like it. He is broodingly negative, eviscerating what is really just an entertainment. It's not like he's saving us from driving faulty cars that are going to explode on the freeway.  Jeff Gerstmann is a certified buzzkill more often than not these days. Did you hear Ryan ask him on this week's podcast, "Did  you play anything you LIKED this week?" Then, when Ryan turned it over to Brad, to try to lighten the mood, Jeff was a downer about Starfox 64 as well.   I'd buy a yearly sub to Giantbomb if only Jeff could lighten up. Maybe he's aged out of reviewing video games. He only seems to get excited when it's a game that reminds him of the past, like fighting games. He's a talented guy. He should do something he's passionate about, not cranky and surly.


I agree. Jeff seems to have become extremely jaded about games in general these days, especially over the last year or so. He never sounds happy, and is always looking for that trip that will trigger some nostalgia.  But more than anything I think he's starting to realize that the industry is moving further and further away from his ideal. Both genre-wise and in business-wise.  He's becoming the old cynic of the industry who is feeling the disconnect between what he wants video games to be and what they are for the majority: simple entertainment created by for-profit monolithic entities. If it doesn't fit his niche he has trouble appreciating it. Normally, you don't see this attitude come through so strongly but normally he avoids reviewing games he doesn't like. On one hand, I totally understand where he's coming from, but on the other hand, he sets the bar too high for no good reason and it just makes himself needlessly miserable. 
 
I think he needs a break.
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BraveFart

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Edited By BraveFart

Although i love Puzzle Agent i find it funny that Puzzle Agent 2 got 3 stars while Catherine got 2 stars...........
 
Someone else should of reviewed this game. Like Brad or Ryan. Jeff seems like he can't be happy until he get's Battlefield 3 and MW3.

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ventilaator

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@YungLukeSkywalker: Dude is serious. 
 
 What.
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deactivated-5c7ea8553cb72

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Oh, the internet. Pointless drama over practically nothing.
 
 
Never stop.

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FluxWaveZ

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@YungLukeSkywalker: So you joined this site just so you could troll?
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shodan2020

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@AnEternalEnigma said:

It's a fucking review. If you like a game but someone else doesn't, who cares?

I know, right? I love this game and I'm glad Jeff spoke his mind and wasn't afraid to rate it how he felt it.

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Lelcar

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Hahaha, judging by the comments this has to be one of the most controversial reviews Giantbomb has ever written. As for Catherine, I think it's great. I love the puzzle component, and that's really what it boils down to. I also enjoy the craziness that ensues in Vincent's life. It has some problems, like the controls are dicey and some of the writing can be very Japanese-y, but it's a sweet game.

Go buy it.

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tim_the_corsair

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Edited By tim_the_corsair

This game looks absolutely terrible to me, but whatever. The review was well written and It obviously will have less impact on those people who love the genre or simply have different tastes and/or levels of tolerance.

I had an amazing amount of fun reading the comments though, that was comedy gold. Keep up the good work Giant Bomb.

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Vrikk

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People actually still read IGN...?

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Supermarius

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@Lucidlife

@DaBuddaDa said:

I was going to buy this game, but now after reading Jeff's review, I am no longer going to make the purchase.

I find that incredibly sad. It's clear something about the game appealed to you. The same things may not appeal to Jeff which, in a nutshell, is why the very concept of reviewing games is just bad. No two people are the same and I quickly found that listening to these jaded reviewers was causing me to miss out on some great games. So now I just read the reviews for entertainment and never to sway my purchasing decisions.

I find your take on reviews incredibly sad. People don't have infinite money to try every game themselves. Reviews serve a valuable purpose in steering people away from games that they would likely regret purchasing. Jeff probably saved dabuddada 60 bucks. You aren't noble or smarter if you buy everything based on pre release info and your guess that it will be good. You're either a sucker or have too much spare cash.
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Supermarius

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@Lucidlife

Why did Jeff review this game? It's clear this isn't his "type" of game. I'm not sure what "type" of game he enjoys anymore because he is so damn negative towards pretty much every game released that isn't Street Fighter or MK. So I have to question why they would want the most jaded reviewer on the site to review a game that clearly wouldn't appeal to him from the start. It's unfair to those people who are stupid enough to base their purchases off what reviewers have to say and it's also unfair to the developers of the game.

Sooooo, in your perfect world would every game be reviewed by someone who already likes that genre in a personal non-objective way? In that case every half-competent game would get 4 or 5 stars and reviews would become useless in making purchase choices. That would in no way be an improvement.
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phonics

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@YungLukeSkywalker said:
The reason Giant Bomb played through Persona 4 was because it was BAD and they were riffing on it!   Why else would they sit through an inane bunch of dribble.  The people who bought this wannabe puzzle game wannabe because it's not even as good as Picross or even Tetris are Otaku of the worst kind.  This game deserves lower scores than 82 on Metacritic for tricking people into buying this with a green rating.  Jeff was subjected to this BULLSHIT masquerading as a game for far longer than any sane person would allow their systems power button to be turned on.  Save your money the only people hyping this are Atlus fanboys who think Persona is good they probably think Pokemon is still relevant.  The low sales of this will hopefully cancel out Persona 5.  Microsoft and Sony should be ashamed this anime soap opera was released on their kick ass Video game systems.  Save your money for GEARS OF WAR 3.    I'm not evangelizing Jeff but there is a special place in Hell for Catherine.   Zelda is DEAD to me after 8.8!!!   No more childish cartoons like TWILIGHT PRINCESS and CATHERINE.  There are enough better games to play to forget this one.  But if you're a weeaboo Japanophile who is sitting in his CE polka-dotted boxers having a hentai fantasy have fun with that.  The game doesn't even live up to PERSONA 4.  This game is a fail, a flop, and a sloppily told fan-service romance.  Even DUKE NUKEM FOREVER is superior, there aren't even any guns in this POS.  2/5 is too kind assholes.  Atlus and Persona Team you suck.  Anime sucks.  And you otaku out there who worship this like a religion you're a cult as bad as Scientology.  Thumbs down to Catherine.  PS To Prove Giant Bomb isn't Anti-Japan they just posted the DEAD OR ALIVE QL.  Don't change the score to Catherine like Shenmue was 6.8 raised to 7.8 just to pander to those fawning over Catherine.
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metalsnakezero

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@YungLukeSkywalker: So you just made a account just to say that. Sad. 
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Nasar7

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@Supermarius said:
or have too much spare cash.
No such thing dude, C.R.E.A.M.
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fjordson

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Not surprised at this review score. 
 
Come on Atlus, where's Persona 5?

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I adore the Persona team, but this review seems fair IMO.  The block puzzle stuff is just anti-fun to me. 
 
Hoping to hear about P5 real soon (TGS maybe?)

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