Catherine
“If Atlus can completely change the controller mechanics and the camera angles of this game, it might actually work. It’s a good idea. It’s different, and it has the potential to be an incredibly fun and challenging game.” – by Holly Walker
Supported Platforms:
Playstation3 and Xbox 360
Facts/Features:
Adult adventure/Puzzle-platformer/Horror/Single-player/Competitive and Co-Op Multiplayer
Rated for Blood, Partial Nudity, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Use of Alcohol, and Violence.
Known Performance Issues:
Camera angles and difficulty with controls.
Mechanics
- Flow: 1.5
- Consistency: 2
- Communication: NA
Visuals
- Frame Rate: 4
- Textures: 3.5
- Effects: 3.5
Sound
- Effects: 3
- Interference: 4
Score: 3 out of 5
Review
Mechanics
The mechanics of this game are what break it completely.
- Flow: The gameplay in this title almost lacks any flow. You are constantly having to readjust yourself to move blocks, getting stuck behind the blocks, and wasting too much time trying to get back. The A.I. sometimes block the only path available and you are forced to lose a life in hopes that the A.I. will be more tolerable when you return. The story of the game, and the cinematics, on the other hand, are not as bad. The flow of the story and how well it ties in with gameplay, and adds for a good segue from dream to dream. With that being said, the camera angles are very crucial for this game and do not work nearly as well as they should. Camera angles, along with controller mechanics seem to break this game completely. With that being so important in this game, it makes it almost impossible to complete levels. The camera only gives you limited leeway to look around. A greater field of view would come in very handy to see how moving one specific block was going to affect you in the future. On top of that, your character is able to go to the back side of the tower and the camera cannot follow you. This of course wouldn’t be as bad if the controller mechanics weren’t as broken. In the end, the game is driving you to go faster and faster and it hinders this progression with it’s schizophrenic controls and limited camera angles.
- Consistency: This title is constantly throwing you off. Putting you in situations almost impossible to beat, due to the negative aspects of the game such as controller mechanics and camera angles.
- Communication: There is multiplayer in this title but it has not been reviewed yet.
Visuals
- Frame Rate: Had no issues that were noticed in gameplay or cinematics; though voice acting was off at times.
- Textures: In gameplay, they were not above average. They get the point across that blocks that look different do different things. Textures in cinematics aren’t bad either, though they aren’t over-the-top. Sometimes it is hard to distinguish what is going on until it is mentioned later on in the dialog.
- Visual Effects: Also not a big deal. The only effect that has stood out is when trap boxes spring spikes into you and body parts fly everywhere. There are good effects on distance; like showing other sheep climbing up towers in background.
Sound
- Sound Effects: Are not special in this title. Through gameplay all you hear is the ground falling behind you, and other sheep yelling in the distance. During cinematics there still are no special sound effects; just the dialog which is not bad, though it seems to be off at points. There is also a juke-box that you can open songs for.
- Interference: Is limited. Throughout the gameplay, for the most part, there is nothing to be bothered by. The only distracting aspect is that a tutorial voice is telling you how you can move different blocks, how different blocks do different things, and faster ways to move blocks to climb quickly up the tower.
Our Thoughts
by Holly:
I jumped in to Catherine without knowing anything about it. I didn’t know the story. I didn’t know anything about the gameplay. I didn’t know what to expect, but I judged the game by it’s cover and gave it a chance. Apparently, the saying “Don’t judge a book by its cover” works with video games as well… Needless to say, I was severely disappointed and extremely annoyed. I am certainly glad that I did not actually purchase this game.
The reason I didn’t like this game wasn’t because of the story, dialog, or cinematics; those were actually the only decent parts of the game. No, the reason I didn’t like this game was because it is, without a doubt, broken beyond repair. The controller mechanics are god-awful. When you want to push or pull a block, sometimes your character jumps on top of it, wasting what little precious time you have forcing you to back track and do it again. The most irritating part is that you are actually able to get on the backside of the tower and the camera doesn’t actually follow you so you are left in the dark to find you way back. That, in itself, doesn’t seem that bad. What’s actually terrible about it is the fact that when your character is on the other side the controls are inverted, but not completely. Sometimes you’ll push your thumb stick left and Vincent will go left. Sometimes, he’ll go right. God forbid you get on the edge of a block and are perpendicular to the screen, then you are completely out of luck. You might as well waste a life instead of trying to get back in time.
If Atlus can completely change the controller mechanics and the camera angles of this game, it might actually work. It’s a good idea. It’s different, and it has the potential to be an incredibly fun and challenging game. Instead, it’s just irritating and challenging beyond belief. If you don’t want to listen to me, and plan on getting this game anyway, more power to you. Just remember that you should start the difficulty on easy. Not even kidding. Start it on easy or else you will end up with a shattered TV like I almost did numerous times.
