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16Jan 13

Review: Catherine

Hey all,

Another review -- this time Atlus' odd wonder Catherine going under the scanner of yours truly. Here's the review for a detailed analysis on exactly why Team Persona's charm of combining dissimilar genres works entirely in favour of the game. Also where the gameplay -- however simplistic it might look (in truth, it's far from simple) doesn't come with any intention of playing second-fiddle to its excellent story. It's gameplay is every bit as intense and essential to the puzzle that Catherine paints in front of you.

Catherine Review

Hope you enjoy it -- you can tell from its length that I went into quite detail with it and if for some odd reason you still haven't gotten it despite having the required platforms, then SHAME on you!

In other news, I've been really busy with the new semester and the duties that come with being in the Organizing Committee of handling a million plus budget of a college festival. I've been playing a little of Zone of the Enders HD Collection -- the first game is awful -- repetitive and totally feels like a concept demo. Z.O.E. 2 is much more fun though.

Also got Anarchy Reigns via pre-ordering so I could secure teh "sexy lady" Bayonetta code and also because $30 for a game that looks more than decent (although I might need to play multiplayer to fully enjoy it) isn't a bad deal at all. Haven't played it though.

Surprise at the Golden Globes. Just when I was thinking it might be a stroll for Lincoln, Argo wins two major awards. Of course, Affleck didn't get nominated for Oscars but that's besides the point. I was disappointed to see Moonrise Kingdom lose to Les Miserables. Speaking of Les Miz, it releases in two days here, so I'll be watching it. Not looking forward to the prospect of seeing Russell Crowe sing but oh well.

Homeland sweeping up the drama awards at the Globes wasn't surprising. I approve of it. I don't approve of Girls and Lena Dunham beating Louis C.K though. I might have to grudgingly put aside my prejudices for a show that looks like a New York Hipster Sex and the City.

----

Glad to see DmC getting good reviews. Shows that fans' immature fears were immature. Don't care at the negativity surrounding it. It looks like a worthy entry into the series as far as I'm concerned. Shows that a Western developer can do justice to a genre dominated by Japanese.

My mouth is definitely watering at the mere sight of Ni No Kuni. It always has but the more I hear people talking about how epic it is -- the more it makes me wish I had a PS3. Still I'm glad to see it getting praise. Shows you don't need ultra-realistic CGI and convoluted (read: nonsensical) story to make a good JRPG.

That's all the rambling I've got time for now.

Later.

--Lightwarrior

12 comments
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ShadowLaguna
ShadowLaguna

Hey mate! Good to see another blog from you! Catherine's an excellent title, and is certainly a unique game in it's own way. Definitely one of the better titles i've played over this generation for sure! Not really sure what to say about this new Devil May Cry. It doesn't really look as badass as the other titles, but I may give it a chance later on at some point. Ni No Kuni i'm sure I'll pick up at some point. Love Studio Ghibli material, and the demo was certainly interesting.

lightwarrior179
lightwarrior179

@ShadowLaguna Nice to hear from you,man!

I love Studio Ghibli and if I had a PS3, Ni No Kuni would be a Day One purchase for me. Despite all the excellent games we've gotten from this gen, we still haven't had a satisfying number of quality JRPGs.

Darkman2007
Darkman2007 ranger

never actually played Catherine, seems like a very wacky game judging by the imagery alone.


I agree with you about Z.O.E , I have the original and it bored me very quickly, sadly the 2nd is expensive unless Im willing to get the HD collection

soulless4now
soulless4now like.author.displayName 1 Like

I love Catherine. I beat it twice last summer so I can get at least one ending each for Catherine and Katherine. 

lightwarrior179
lightwarrior179

@soulless4now I did the exact same thing. Beat it in February last year and replayed it during Christmas to get the other ending. As for which ending I got first it's pretty obvious --> K won over C. :D

fend_oblivion
fend_oblivion ranger

iLL gaming? iLL is a name of a Japanese band headlined by Koji Nakamura (of Supercar and LAMA). They even made a music video in India : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-I_o8z2vd70&list=UUiY5tIcwCOK4RXOdyPnxGEg&index=2

Great site btw. Bookmarked!

I'm glad DmC is getting good reviews too. I saw Tameem's twitter blog and felt sorry for the guy. One user asked him how he copes with all the negative comments. He said, "Screaming in the pillow at night helps."

Ni No Kuni looks lascivious. I can't wait to play it some day :)

lightwarrior179
lightwarrior179

@fend_oblivion Glad you liked it. As for the site,it goes under full operation from next week on wards so you'll see a lot of content -- some of it from yours truly -- by next week. 


usagi704
usagi704 like.author.displayName 1 Like

Interesting review! The game doesn't interest me, but I'm glad to see you enjoyed it.

You'll really need to play the online multiplayer of AR, otherwise you'll be missing out on a huge chunk of the game.

lightwarrior179
lightwarrior179

@usagi704 Yeah I intend on getting XBL Gold for a month and playing AR online during that period. Not a big fan of playing multiplayer on consoles these days but AR looks like it's more fun in the crowd control battles online.

SonicHomeboy
SonicHomeboy like.author.displayName 1 Like

Ah Catherine. :) Such a great game!

Legolas_Katarn
Legolas_Katarn like.author.displayName 1 Like

 I really enjoyed Catherine.

Moonrise Kingdom, The Avengers, and Les Miserables might be the only new movies I saw in the last year  Russell Crowe was pretty bad.

Have my copy of Ni No Kuni paid off.

Katzenbalger
Katzenbalger like.author.displayName 1 Like

Great review! I loved Catherine (hence my avatar). The intense gameplay, glorious presentation, choice system and mature story all captivated me. I still can't beat Babel though (i did manage to finish the first stage after many many tries).

DMC continues to be good fun, although the lack of challenge (for a DMC veteran i suppose) is worrisome. Playing on hard i've breezed through what i imagine to be about half the game and I still haven't died. Still like it, and really enjoy the combat.

Moonrise Kingdom definitely deserved it over Les Mis. I adore the former and endured the latter. My issue with Les Mis is, like most stage musicals-turned film, it's so overblown and melodramatic that it comes across as cheesy and silly. And yeah, Crowe ain't the best.

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