Catherine - the Persona teams new game.

Retr0gamer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VteHd2AoGvw

Don't know what to make of it but the visual style is excellent.

johnny_ultimate

Well that cleared up absolutely nothing.

Stylistically, it reminds me of a Satoshi Kon film - the weird sexuality of Perfect Blue meshed with the dreamy visuals of Paprika.

The team behind it implies greatness, but honestly have no idea what to think yet - there's very little in that trailer that seems to be 'gameplay'. I'm a bit concerned it could be along the lines of a typical Japanese 'erotic' game, but given Atlus I'm sure there'll be more to it than that. Although the trailer does suggest vast amounts of T&A :pac:

K.O.Kiki

johnny_ultimate wrote:

I'm a bit concerned it could be along the lines of a typical Japanese 'erotic' game, but given Atlus I'm sure there'll be more to it than that.

You think eroges are all terrible?

I quite like the Nasuverse stuff. Not deep or anything, but I find his world fun.

Retr0gamer

Always wanted to play Kana Little Sister as well, heard it's worth playing despite being a bit 'Durty'.

K.O.Kiki

A lot of players of Nasuverse (i.e. Tsukihime & Fate/Stay-Night) players skip past the ero, as Nasu's writing for these is very... err.. "fishy"

(I'd link TVTropes but that's just dangerous).

johnny_ultimate

I'll be honest - I've never played an erotic Japanese game, mainly because they freak me out a bit I guess Persona is virtual dating sim and I loved that aspect of the game, but the more hypersexualised side of Japanese anime and manga culture is too degrading for my liking. I've glanced through a proper Japanese hentai comic, and was pretty weirded out by it tbh! Not that I object to it morally or anything, just probably not for me. That said if one was released over here and it was good I'd give it a try. Just nothing I have any particular interest in tracking down :pac:

johnny_ultimate

Well this looks nothing like I was expecting:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvzijjVhfEE

....

....

Yeah, I'm importing the hell out of this one.

Kiith

I'm a bit wary watching that trailer in work, after the last trailer Retr0gamer posted (Gal Gun)

Lab_Mouse

defo needed a NSFW tag.Those type of jap games I always found slightly odd

Retr0gamer

There was me expecting an Atlus RPG but this one looks really strange. Don't know what to make of the gameplay.

johnny_ultimate

Just noticed a demo for this up on PSN Japan. Downloading at a snail's pace, but should be a good indication of whether it's worth importing or not.

Will report back (much) later.

noodler

GP, you should introduce Retr0 to death note.

GothPunk

noodler wrote: »

GP, you should introduce Retr0 to death note.

Lol, perhaps I should. It is awesome after all. Apparently they're making a Hollywood live action film, Zac Efron was rumoured to star - that seems more like Retr0's thing, I know he likes the girly mens.

As for Catherine, I downloaded the demo but have yet to play it. The menu music is pretty good though.

johnny_ultimate

Gave it a whirl there, I'm impressed. The gameplay in the demo is all block pushing, but it's extremely fast-paced, intense block pushing! First is a tutorial stage, while the second has you being chased by a giant hand with giant fork (yup). It's actually fairly tricky in the 2nd stage, especially to get all the bonus cash and a dastardly final pattern.

Graphically, it is just gorgeous: both the HD anime cutscenes and the fantastic in-game engine. The atmosphere - even lost in translation - is spooky and surreal. There are two main cutscenes, and both features characters having conversations - of course entirely Japanese, so the story most definitely won't translate too easily.

But, yeah, gameplay alone is easy to get a grasp on, and surprisingly challenging: a pleasant mix of platforming and puzzling. Missing out on the storyline is a shame, but hey we can hope for an English language release at some point

Sephiroth_dude

Saw a trailer for this before xmas,whens it out in europe?or will it even get released over here?

johnny_ultimate

Sephiroth_dude wrote: »

Saw a trailer for this before xmas,whens it out in europe?or will it even get released over here?

No European or even Western release announced yet. The cult popularity of the Persona series will hopefully help Atlus justify a release, but the weird Japanese sexuality and tone means it probably isn't quite as safe a bet as other biggish profile games. I hope they do though. I'm considering importing, as gameplay wise it seems perfectly manageable without Japanese, but the story is a big part you'd be missing out on.

johnny_ultimate

Just got an email from Atlus saying this is being released in the States during the summer

Glad I held off importing!

Retr0gamer

I ****ing love atlus!

johnny_ultimate

http://www.siliconera.com/2011/04/27/alternate-catherine-cover-art-for-north-america

Hah. Less risque alternative cover art for "certain retailers". Oh America, you so crazy!

AllYourBass

I heard there's some kind of crossover between the Persona games and this. Oh, please let it be so, Persona 3 was, seconded only by FFX, my biggest time sink of the PS2 era.

johnny_ultimate

Ludicrous special edition is ludicrous: http://catherinethegame.com/purchase.html

My pre-orders in. Not everyday you get to own a replica pair of underpants.

Mr Freeze

GothPunk wrote: »

Lol, perhaps I should. It is awesome after all. Apparently they're making a Hollywood live action film, Zac Efron was rumoured to star - that seems more like Retr0's thing, I know he likes the girly mens.

As for Catherine, I downloaded the demo but have yet to play it. The menu music is pretty good though.

No, keep Hollywood and Efron away from death note, thats sounds crazy and would ruin it.

Back to Catherine, no idea what to make of the game, the Anime style looks great, but the gameplay bits look totally bizarre. Hopefully I will get my hands on it sometime after launch, I doubt it will be going cheap anywhere tho.

funky penguin

Looks gorgeous...... but the trailer got me with the use of Bach's contrapunctus, seemed to work well with the atmosphere.

Might just get this!

richymcdermott

you know what **** this , im gonna learn japanesse language so i can just import from there than waiting 6 months or a year later hoping an english version comes along

seraphimvc

yes yes saw that pizzabox-pink boxer pre-order news, very tempting :DD

Retr0gamer

richymcdermott wrote: »

you know what **** this , im gonna learn japanesse language so i can just import from there than waiting 6 months or a year later hoping an english version comes along

Coming to the US from Atlus at the end of Summer.

johnny_ultimate

seraphimvc wrote: »

yes yes saw that pizzabox-pink boxer pre-order news, very tempting :DD

I was disappointed when I could only find it on Amazon which wouldn't ship internationally. Was overjoyed when videogamesplus put it up Plus all pre-orders come with an artbook and soundtrack CD, so there'll be a nice package arriving late July / early August

Let's hope the game holds up over pro-longed session. Couldn't understand the narrative segments in the demo, but I'm hopeful!

honru

This looks real interesting. Hope it comes to Europe. Is it possible the US X360 version will be region-free?

johnny_ultimate

f®eak s©enery wrote: »

This looks real interesting. Hope it comes to Europe. Is it possible the US X360 version will be region-free?

Hard to tell alas. If they're thinking of a European release they probably won't make it region free, but you never know! Hopefully they'll make an announcement about it soon.

AllYourBass

f®eak s©enery wrote: »

This looks real interesting. Hope it comes to Europe. Is it possible the US X360 version will be region-free?

Is that even possible? I thought once the console was region locked , all the software was too?

o1s1n

AllYourBass wrote: »

Is that even possible? I thought once the console was region locked , all the software was too?

Nope, games can be region free.

AllYourBass

Thanks Vib Ribbon! Fingers crossed for this one so, but they were never considering a US release until the requests came in, so hopefully, if it's not region free, it will get a PAL release at least.

o1s1n

AllYourBass wrote: »

Thanks Vib Ribbon! Fingers crossed for this one so, but they were never considering a US release until the requests came in, so hopefully, if it's not region free, it will get a PAL release at least.

No problem Kaneda/Zero Wing hybrid :pac:

It's a shame all niche titles like this aren't given a region free release for the west. I'm sick of Europe being screwed over

Retr0gamer

I read PS3 was the lead console and the videos on the 360 take a big hit in quality so PS3 seems to be the way to go with this one.

johnny_ultimate

At least Sony continue to support region free (if they could support online gaming properly that would be nice too :pac:). Always felt the only people losing out are the minority of gamers who are actually interested in imports - it's not like your average gamer is going to import cheaper Asian copies of Black Ops! It's rare and niche titles like Catherine that Western audiences completely miss, which is a shame.

Still, wouldn't abandon all hope yet. No announcement over region free, and although Atlus aren't the biggest fans of European releases, wouldn't rule out a PAL version at some point. Surely there's a small market for Japanese psychological adult thrillers featuring a protagonist often in his underpants? No?

Sephiroth_dude

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-06-10-us-catherine-release-date

mystic86

for anyone with an american account, the demo for Catherine will be up on the USA store tomorrow night - 12th July.

Can't wait...

johnny_ultimate

I'm guessing it's the same one from the Japanese store months back... Nice to finally understand what they're saying though

Going to wait it out myself for the full release though. Doesn't appear as if Atlus have changed their stance on including original language audio though. Alas!

noodler

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

I'm guessing it's the same one from the Japanese store months back... Nice to finally understand what they're saying though

Going to wait it out myself for the full release though. Doesn't appear as if Atlus have changed their stance on including original language audio though. Alas!

Did you play the demo?

Did you articulate your thoughts on it?

This game looks a bit out there for me.

johnny_ultimate

noodler wrote: »

Did you play the demo?

Did you articulate your thoughts on it?

This game looks a bit out there for me.

Back on the first page: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=70379425&postcount=14

It's definitely not Persona in any way, shape or form, but it seems like a fascinating oddity.

Retr0gamer

Anyone else getting Vincents boxer shorts?

johnny_ultimate

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Anyone else getting Vincents boxer shorts?

It would be rude not to.

I still fear customs when a pizza box arrives from Canada stuffed with boxer shorts and pillow cases.

Azure_sky

This looks like a really good and original game. Even IGN sings it's praises-but it's not getting a release in Europe because Atlus has no distributor here.
Any chance this can be remedied? I'm sick of missing out on Japanese games which get released in the U.S. but not in Europe. FPS games are becoming old hat.

Glico Man

Azure_sky wrote: »

This looks like a really good and original game. Even IGN sings it's praises-but it's not getting a release in Europe because Atlus has no distributor here.
Any chance this can be remedied? I'm sick of missing out on Japanese games which get released in the U.S. but not in Europe. FPS games are becoming old hat.

<video snip>

Import them man!!! You really are missing out by not doing so

Azure_sky

aaronh007 wrote: »

Import them man!!! You really are missing out by not doing so

You can do that for the PS3, but not for the XBOX 360. 360 is region locked.

Glico Man

Azure_sky wrote: »

You can do that for the PS3, but not for the XBOX 360. 360 is region locked.

Ahhh... I feel so sorry for you XBOX players because of that

F1ngers

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Gave it a whirl there, I'm impressed. The gameplay in the demo is all block pushing, but it's extremely fast-paced, intense block pushing! First is a tutorial stage, while the second has you being chased by a giant hand with giant fork (yup). It's actually fairly tricky in the 2nd stage, especially to get all the bonus cash and a dastardly final pattern.

Graphically, it is just gorgeous: both the HD anime cutscenes and the fantastic in-game engine. The atmosphere - even lost in translation - is spooky and surreal. There are two main cutscenes, and both features characters having conversations - of course entirely Japanese, so the story most definitely won't translate too easily.

But, yeah, gameplay alone is easy to get a grasp on, and surprisingly challenging: a pleasant mix of platforming and puzzling. Missing out on the storyline is a shame, but hey we can hope for an English language release at some point

It's on the US PSN now, has piqued my interest.
Reckon I'll import this one.

Grumpypants

IGN Review gave it 9/10

johnny_ultimate

Just to remind everyone all pre-orders in the US come with an artbook and soundtrack CD, plus the Love is Over edition is only going to be produced to demand if you care to spend the extra few euro.

Now, lets hope the more reputable reviewers are as enthusiastic as IGN :P

vex

Just pre ordered the deluxe edition......... Thinks im gonna have sell some blood now or something to get a few more games over the next month :rolleyes:

Will it be on sale anywhere here?, Gamestop are not stocking it