Announcement

**abigsmurf** · 02-09-2011, 14:22

A 5 for Catherine? What was the justification for that?

**Johnny** · 02-09-2011, 14:38

Anyone not received their subscription copies yet? Mine usually arrives the Saturday before it's out but still no sign of it.

**abigsmurf** · 04-09-2011, 09:04

Apparently the five for Catherine was because of the difficulty.

They should've just played it on easy, it's one of the few games that doesn't penalise you in any way for doing so.

**Guts** · 04-09-2011, 09:26

Quite laughable for a video game magazine to mark a game down for being too difficult, if there's an "EASY" option available.

Maybe the easy mode was still too hard for them?

**Daragon** · 04-09-2011, 10:03

What exactly is Catherine? A date rape sim? Sure looks like it based on the box art!

I think maybe part of the score was a result of the game only appealing to a niche market, but that's just how I'd call it.

**crocky-chocky** · 04-09-2011, 10:37

S'dumb giving it a five based on difficulty. The puzzles would lose their nightmarish qualities without being nails hard, and the game clearly explains what to expect from each difficulty setting before you even start it!

**Ico** · 04-09-2011, 13:31

wow, even a super mainstream site like ign didn’t mark Catherine down for its difficulty and gave the game a 9. I wasn’t aware GamesTM hired 12 year olds who can't enjoy a moderate challenge as writers these days.

Would also have liked to see Deus Ex 3 scoring higher and El Shaddai a lot lower too.

**Malavon** · 04-09-2011, 13:41

It wasn't specifiaclly for the difficulty, it was more because of a number of design decisions they thought were awful (which did partly lead to the difficulty). The two things I remember them slating were the camera and not being able to see blocks that would kill you until you've already died to them, though I'm sure other examples were given.

Edit:I'll check the review and sum it up:
-not being able to see your character/illogical controls
-down to luck, trial and error, and the whim of a cheating ai
-unncessary shackles, absurd design mechanics
-doesn't do what good puzzle games do, instead relies on trial and error thanks to a poor camera, unpredictable gimmicks, unpleasant degree of unavoidable spontaneous death.
-can change to easy but a feeble solution to what are inherently badly designed levels, devoid of any enjoyment.

The introduction to the review actually praises the game for its niche appeal, and an excellent story/localisation.

"By all accounts, Catherine should represent a triumphant step in the right direction for an ailing Japanese industry - and it would, except for the fact that the puzzle sections are an utterly joyless exercise in tedium and frustration."

**Sketcz** · 04-09-2011, 15:36

They put it online at NowGamer (at least I assume it's the GTM one, it's the only one scoring 5/10).

GamesRadar+

http://www.nowgamer.com/xbox-360/xbox360-reviews/1009701/catherine.html

GamesRadar+ takes you closer to the games, movies and TV you love.

They mainly complain about the randomisation of the AI which leads to dying and the need to unlock the 2 player modes, which I suppose is valid, if you're keen to try multiplayer.

**egparadigm** · 04-09-2011, 15:52

Yeah, that is the review. Remember NTSC-UK scored the game a 6.

**Flabio** · 04-09-2011, 16:53

It was always going to be divisive. Nothing wrong with a game that some people love and others don't get at all.

I so rarely go by a single review these days anyway, in the age of aggregation I can check out several.

After all, we're not the type to complain when a game we think should be a 9 gets an 8.8 are we?

**Neon Ignition** · 04-09-2011, 19:14

Not tried Catherine beyond the demo so don't know about that one but broadly they seem not too bad this month. Deus Ex is spot on

**abigsmurf** · 04-09-2011, 20:41

Not entirely sure I agree with most of their points.

The AI doesn't really, most of them rely on you taking too long, staying in the same place too long or not allowing yourself manoeuvring room. Most of the bosses can be gamed (although you can still get unlucky).

The rest of the issues largely come down to a refusal to play the game on easy.

Colosseum gets unlocked completing the game on any difficulty so that bits wrong. Babel requires golds on normal stages but given they're tough challenge stages, that's kinda to be expected.

The only stage that requires you to go around the back of blocks to progress is the one with the diamond of fixed blocks. I admit that the controls when hanging are a pain until you get used to them and accidentally going around the back of the towers can be a death sentence.

Easy mode gives you undos with minimal penalties (helping with the trial and error solving), is more forgiving and generally makes it a much more pleasant experience whilst still remaining a challenge (the fact the Very Easy mode had to be patched in tells you that). I actually enjoyed the puzzle sections and block pushing puzzles are something I usually loathe (almost as much as those sliding panel picture puzzles developers like to put in games to ensure I'm stuck for over an hour).

But anyhow, the reviewer let his pride get in the way of enjoying the game. Had easy been renamed to normal (and the rest of the difficulties shifted up) I'd wager the review had been much better.

**egparadigm** · 04-09-2011, 21:13

Hooray! Someone else who can't do sliding panel picture puzzles!

Announcement

GamesTM Issue 113

GamesTM Issue 113

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment