I wanted to write this review since the first time I played Catherine. After I finished it… twice… I also hesitated to write it, because I was afraid words weren’t enough to describe how AWESOME this game is.

Catherine is a game I fell in love with since the first time I watched its gameplay. It was also the only reason I updated my Xbox 360’s firmware. But, really, when I started playing the game I wasn’t expecting it to be THAT good.

We play as Vincent Brooks, a 32 years old who has been in a relationship with his girlfriend, Katherine (yes, with a K), for many years. Now, she wants to get married. Afraid of change, Vincent starts having strange nightmares where he’s forced to climb. One day, he stays late drinking, and wakes up the next morning in his room next to the girl of his dreams, but he doesn’t remember a thing. After that, Vincent continues to have nightmares every night. And there’s also this weird rumor going around that if you fall in your dream and don’t wake up before you hit the ground, you die in real life…

The mysterious girl (source)

Catherine has everything I could ask for in a game: puzzles, horror, bizarre scenarios, a very adult storyline and the possibility to make your own decisions. Seriously, I’m trying my best to be objective, but I feel like someone took everything I love about videogames and put it into a single one.

By controlling Vincent’s actions (some choices and replies to others’ text messages), you also control his feelings and you lead the story to one of eight possible endings.

In most puzzle games, you can just “stay calm and solve the problem.” Well, if you play Catherine you’ll find out it is more like: “Stay calm and F***ING CLIMB!!! THERE IS A F***ING I-DON’T-KNOW-WHAT-THAT-THING-IS LICKING YOUR F***ING TOES!!!” I got used to the game the time I replayed its first levels, but -Gosh!- it was SO difficult and stressful the first time I played it! The voice-over at the beginning of each boss level doesn’t help much either: “The Immoral Beast has appeared. It’s the killer. Do not die.”

Also, once you complete the game, you unlock the Colosseum mode, that is, mutiplayer mode (1 vs. 1). :D And if you think you’ve mastered the game, you should really give the difficult mode a try (it’s freaking impossible!) and then try the Babel mode (1 or 2 players, co-op). Oh! And there’s also another game called Rapunzel you can play when you are at the bar in the story mode. In other words, this game does not only have the highest replay value I’ve ever seen, but also you can spend hours and hours trying to beat new levels (until the word “climbing” gives YOU nightmares!) even after you completed the Golden Playhouse (story mode).

Maybe I wasn’t clear enough before, so I’ll just sum it up for you: this game is amazing. If you own a PS3 or Xbox 360 and love difficult games (and therefore you are not a casual gamer) you can’t miss this title. If you’re going to play Catherine, you must be prepared to sweat and yell at your TV. And to die. A LOT.