Catherine - ATLUS - 360 & PS3

[MrKirov]

From what I've read, yes, yes and yes

Hoping my copy is on my doorstep now!

[jimtendo]

... Does the full game expand the gameplay in any way, or is it just a puzzle game at heart wrapped up in a beautiful anime? I understand there's a morality meter and your choices influence that, so are there multiple endings based on said meter?

Throughout the game, you can view new techniques from various NPCs (though all techniques are available to use from stage #1) it's just if you don't know how, you won't know how to do. If you can understand what I'm saying. Also, different 'Nightmare sections' have different bosses which kind of alter the surrounding blocks enviromental hazards around you. As well as that, you have to be on your toes as you're on a time limit as such.

Without wanting to spoil to much about the multiple endings. The meter determines one facet of how you will get which ending. The other things you have to do to are right at the very end of the game.

Unless you're Jeff Gerstmann, and you're in the frame of mind of:

gameplay of block puzzles gets old fast

Then I'd steer clear if you think Catherine would be something other than social sim (albeit not quite as extensive as the Persona series) puzzler.
It's a nice story, however it's not as free in terms of story branching as I thought it would be. Even when choosing different answers.

[Nocturne]

Having a great time with the game so far, but there is one thing I don't understand. When I decided to give up on a section I chose "Return to title" and the save icon showed just as the game over screen did - any ideas why? I went back and did it again and my save still seems intact. It seems the save icon also shows after climbs, but it doesn't actually save.

[toythatkills]

Is it not saving how many retries you wasted?

[Nocturne]

Oh damn I hope not, haha. If it is I'm glad you told me whilst I'm still early in the game!

[fuse]

This is making me realise that puzzle games are perhaps not quite my forte. I started this tonight and am about to retry the chapter 5 boss for about the 20th time

[fuse]

My projector decided to work today so thought I'd keep it on and play this through to the finish before it clapped out again. Got the

->Open Spoiler<-

'true lover' ending

I'm still not sure what I think of this. The gameplay is frustrating more than it's not, but the story elements are great fun. I'm weighing up additional playthroughs but I'm not sure if I'll dislike it the second time around.

[jimtendo]

As for multiple playthroughs:

->Open Spoiler<-

I've done 7 out of 8 possible endings, and working my way through a 3rd playthrough (aiming for neutral freedom/ law meter to get the last ending) and really, there wasn't that much difference to the storyline when I went through it a second time on full freedom meter. All that changes is that Vincent says slightly different things in pinch situations, which to be honest doesn't mean much, or changes anything in that given scene. It's slightly disappointing that the main story arc pushes itself too much towards Katherine.

I admire what Atlus has done. I like the aesthetics of the title, and kudos for them for daring to be brave in a medium obsessed with 1st/ 3rd person shooters. But in the end, the main story feels like a one-and-done type affair.

[Atticus]

Just started the US version and wow, the block towers soon get pretty intense. I can see me struggling with some of these but I really like the puzzle element actually want to get good/better at it. The intensity of the nightmare zones is juxtoposed nicely with days in the 'real world' where you can chill out a bit, manage your relationships and have a scoop with your mates. On paper it's a hotch-potch of ideas that shouldn't really work but as a whole it just does. Really likiing it so far and looking forward to my next sesh.

[abigsmurf]

Just done the first boss...

Is that typical of the difficulty? I was doing fine up until her then I died about 20 times in a row (thankfully pillows persist when you die). This game may be a bit much for me on normal, I was getting dangerously close to "chucking the controller across the room" levels of frustration. The fact you can't stop and think and the fact that some sections seem designed to only be done in a certain way means I kept dying on the same bits over and over.

Can anyone confirm that putting it on easy has no impact on the story?

Loving the story so far, it's pretty unique in having such a mature story. The current trend for 'mature' storylines in games is just to put in a sex scene whereas this properly does into relationships and realistic 'buddy' talk.

[jimtendo]

Aye, it can be quite frantic on Normal. You haven't seen anything yet. Just wait until you hit stage

->Open Spoiler<-

6-3

and a few of the later ones.

I started off on Easy so I could see the storyline without too much trouble, and indeed on Easy (or Very Easy) mode you can see the whole sordid affair as difficulty doesn't have no bearing on the story. Though if you're intent on repeat plays, then you have to get Gold trophies on Normal difficulty for that stage (so you can skip the stage and continue with the story) but that's another issue entirely.

[abigsmurf]

Think I'll switch to easy then, switching back if it becomes so trivial it's boring. It's just that bit too unforgiving in a way that gets me incredibly stressed, sounds like the puzzles are enjoyable on easy.

[jimtendo]

Though a word of warning when changing difficulty. You can only do it during your time at the bar, and not during the Nightmare.

Also some techniques you learn quite early on with get you through quite a lot. There's a couple that are quite invaluable such as 'Inazuma' and its variant. But you learn that at around the 6th night I think.

[abigsmurf]

I've used that free floating one a lot, that's probably the most vital of the ones I've seen so far. The one where you go down a staircase and move everything over by one would be useful but you've no chance of doing it during a boss.

[abigsmurf]

Been playing this solidly over the weekend, enjoying it a lot.

Been stuck a few times on the later stages. The

->Open Spoiler<-

Clock Tower

had a bit with a diamond shape of fixed blocks that took me ages to figure out and I got stuck on 2 parts of stage 7. On the final, really short stage it took me a long time to even figure out how to create a proper foothold and on the stage before that, I had to actually resort to watching a video

->Open Spoiler<-

it's on a section where you have to quickly climb up a block before a couple of others fall

.

On the final night now. Ending up staying up till half 1 playing it last night because of a cutscene that lasted a solid 45 minutes with no chance to save.