I dare you not to take a second look

Real Talk by J.Valdez

Catherine is…a little special when it comes to gaming. Most people probably wont give it a second look, but those who have had found to be a pretty good game.

I'm so depressed I'm going to eat you

You play as Vincent, a pretty depressed looking guy torn between commitment and success. While at a bar you meet a different girl with a name phonetically equal to your girlfriend of 5 years. After a few drinks and some Gaussian blurs, you wake up next to the girl who’s name sounds like your gf, but she’s not.

playing the "hard to get cool guy"

Now you’re panicking, some of your friends don’t see the problem, others think you’re an ass, and on top of all of that, you’ve been having these freaky nightmares where you have to climb blocks or die. Normally dying in a dream is ok, you just wake up scared and probably a little wet in your nether regions. However this seems to be affecting other people too, and they are all dying in real life.

Hey kids, hope you like climbing! Just kidding, it's rated M, you can't play.

Turns out that these dreams only affect cheaters, as a big FU from a spell or something, can’t remember too well, that was near the beginning. So now, by night you are climber extraordinaire, and by day, you have to choose between Catherine, or Katherine. Some of your actions will decide your good or bad meter, and ultimately who you end up with.

You usually count sheep to sleep, not talk to them

The nightmares aren’t that hard, but they can be challenging if you’re not paying attention. You’re also competing against other people stuck in your situation, which for some reason all look like sheep. These sheep can be very annoying while you’re trying to climb, they can get in your way, and later on even push you to your death. Of course you can push them too.

Guys, I have a confession...I don't really like this bar...

When not in nightmare mode you’re usually at the bar (where you got so hammered that you cheated on your gf). There you can talk to people (and you might recognize some of the sheep in human form), or learn strategies by playing on a vending machine with a game that eerily resembles your dreams.

Years before hypnotoad

The graphics are pretty cool, the cutscenes can change from anime to a kind of cell shaded 3D. Those graphics are the same for the rest of the game.

That pillow did nothing to break the fall

As fun and new as it may seem, you might get bored of it quick. The levels are basically you climbing the Tetris blocks before they fall from beneath your feet. It gets challenging, but you really have to like puzzle games a lot to enjoy this game. I actually wish it would’ve had a bit more variety in the nightmare levels, still kind of puzzle like, but something other than just climbing on a time limit, or away from the boss’ reach.  I give Catherine MF MF MF M out of 5.

What’s legit?
+Interesting story
+Nice graphics/cutscenes

What’s perpetrating?
-Gets old fast (coming from a guy who likes puzzles)