Catherine Review

Platform(s): Playstation 3, X-Box 360
Developer(s): Atlus Persona Team
Publisher(s): Atlus
Genre: Puzzle-platformer/Survival-Horror/ Adult-Adventure
Rating: M for Mature
Price: $59.99

A man told me once that there are three things that are certain in life: death, drama and taxes. The first will happen regardless, the last whenever money is involved, and the second – drama – will happen at any given moment. And Catherine, the survival-horror puzzle game developed by Atlus is chock-full of drama from the moment you turn the game on. But does the drama – and the insanely challenging puzzles – breathe life into this game or condemns it to an early death?

The Story

Vincent Brooks (age 32) is trapped in a nightmare, facing a choice of marrying his longtime girlfriend Katherine or moving on to the incredible blonde he just woke up next to – named Catherine. The worst part is, if he makes the wrong choice, he could end up dead.

The Pros

So…I’m gonna try to be unbiased with this game. First of all, the graphics of this game are nice. A mix between crisp 2D and 3D Japanese-style animation, the presentation of the game is good. It makes the game seem like you’re playing through an anime storyline, which caught my eye at first.

Secondly, the puzzles are a personal pro to me. The goal of the puzzles is for you to reach the top of the tower by rearranging blocks for you to climb. It’s challenging and slightly mind-boggling, requiring you to think on your feet a bit because spending too long on one area will have the ground fall out from underneath your feet. Thankfully, if you find yourself stuck, you can undo a move with the push of a button.

Finally, the story was a personal pro in my opinion. Although the pacing of the story was a bit…expected at times (like the repetitive drinking Vincent does at his favorite bar only to find himself waking up with the other girl), it doesn’t get too overloaded with drama to make it seem like a bad Jerry Springer episode.

The Cons

Okay…so what’s exactly bad about this game, you ask? Well, for starters, the price of Catherine is the first con that hit me when getting this game. Honestly, as good as I think the game is, it’s not worth the $60 that you have to put out for it. $40, yes, even $50 would be somewhat acceptable, but not $60.

Secondly, the difficulty of the puzzles is something that can be listed as a con as well. Now I wrote it as a pro because I enjoy some challenging puzzle games but there are points in the game where you wonder why they made the puzzles that difficult. In fact, the difficulty of the puzzles was something that the developers of Catherine had to create a patch for due to people’s reaction. Of course, that was the Japanese version of the game, however if even the Japanese have an issue with it, then you know that the game isn’t going to be a breeze.



Finally, the game’s overall presentation was something that fell into a bit of a con. When you first look at the game, either through advertisements or first glance, you get the feeling that it’s like Heavy Rain, only with puzzles to add a bit of variety in it. And unless you’ve followed the game like a few friends I know, you find yourself disappointed with the fact that you spent $60 on a drama-filled puzzle game that probably let down your expectations.

Overall

If you’re a fan of mind-boggling puzzle games with a somewhat interactive storyline, then I suggest you get this game. If you’re an anime fan, then you may want to pick this game up and add it to your collection. The storyline, puzzles, and the overall feel of the game will have you either addicted or enjoying yourself.

Outside of that…I suggest that you not get the game. Catherine screams of a cult-favorite, simply for its puzzles and nothing more. Honestly, it’s a hit-or-miss like most games but I have the feeling that it would be a miss for the average video game player.

Final Score: 3/5

Upcoming games for 2011

So it’s the beginning of the new year and with it comes a slew of new games to anticipate. Sequels, prequels, and brand new titles will be dropping this year and The Reset Button will give you a small list of games to check out for the next 365 days.

- Portal 2
Cake anyone? It seems that Valve Corporation, the people who made Left 4 Dead, Half-Life, and the original Portal, will be giving us a sequel for this game. This time, you return as Chell, having been in stasis for several hundred years while GLaDOS and the rest of the Aperture Science facility has fallen into disrepair. Chell is awakened by one of GLaDOS's personality cores, and inadvertently wakes GlaDOS who begins testing her again through numerous chambers as she rebuilds the dilapidated facility. With more challenging puzzles and two player cooperation, Portal 2 will be another game to check out! This game drops on April 18th, 2011 for the PS3, 360, Windows and Mac.



- Twisted Metal
Twisted Metal, the popular vehicle combat series for Playstation is making a return. Not much is known on the actual storyline of the game, however it looks like the game takes place in a post-apocalyptic Earth. As far as game play is concerned, you can still expect the wild destruction that the series is known for. Keep an eye out for this game when it drops, which will be later on in 2011 on PS3!!!



- Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception
Fans of the Uncharted series will have something to look forward to this year. Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception will be taking place in the Middle East, this time. Nathan Drake will be traveling the world with his mentor Victor Sullivan to find the legendary city “The Iram of the Pillars”. And from what I’ve seen of this game, it looks awesome. This game comes out on November 1, 2011 for the PS3 only.



- Marvel vs. Capcom 3
It’s been a decade-long wait for this title, but Capcom fans are finally getting what they asked for. Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds is promising to be one of the greatest fighting games of this year. And from all the footage that’s been released of it, it seems to be living up to its claims. Insane 3-on-3 fighting action, an ever-expanding roster of legends from Marvel Comics and Capcom, plus crisp graphics makes this game a must-have for fighting game fans. This game drops on February 15, 2011 on PS3 and 360!



- Batman: Arkham City
The Dark Knight returns to the gaming world once again and this time, he has to take down an entire city. Arkham City takes place a year after Arkham Asylum, where the new mayor of Gotham, Quincy Sharp (former warden of Arkham Asylum), has bought out a section of the city’s slums to contain the former inmates of Arkham and Blackgate Prison. Batman keeps a close eye on Arkham City, but when Two Face devises a plan to publicly execute Catwoman, the Dark Knight steps into the lion’s den once more for the sake of Gotham and Catwoman. There is a lot of crazy things happening in this game and if you were a fan of Arkham Asylum, you’ll definitely fall for its sequel. This game drops in the summer of 2011 for PS3, 360, and Windows.



- Mortal Kombat
And just when you thought that this series had fallen into the deepest pits of the Nether Realms, the people at NetherRealm Studios decided to revive this game for the new era. Mortal Kombat is back and better – or gorier – than ever. Taking place right after Armageddon, Raiden sends a mental message to his past self to prevent the current events from taking place. This game takes it back to the classic Mortal Kombat games (1 – 3) and looks lovely…in a gruesome, bloody manner. Mortal Kombat hits the PS3 and 360 on April 19, 2011



So that’s all that I have for now. But there’s plenty more to come so stay tuned to The Reset Button for more!!!

Hoggy reminds you of the good ol' days! REVIEW!!!!

HOGGY

Developers: Raptisoft

Platform: iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad (requires iPhone OS 3.0 or later)

Genre: Puzzle Platformer

1 Player

Rating: E for Everyone

Available: Now (FREE via iTunes Store)

Story:

You are a pink slime mold by the name of Hoggy, your girlfriend gets kidnapped and it's up to you to get her back by eating fruit out of 45 jar-world puzzles.

As it says on their site Hoggy is a side-scrolling puzzler that is inspired by Super Mario Bros and other Nintendo hits.

Pros:

Well from the jump if you are a fan of the classic NES and SNES games this will be an instant win for you. The jars that you enter and keys that you get after eating all the fruit in the level are straight out of Super Mario Bros 2, as well as the grass platform areas that you walk on. The sound has the 16-bit pop to it, pleasantly enhanced with very old school-pleasant-to-listen-to soundtrack. Watching Hoggy devour everything in sight and the fact that he's pink, makes you think of Kirby. Overall the controls are quite responsive, you tilt the iPhone (or iTouch) from left to right in order to move in said direction. Jumping... well that's a different animal. You see he can't jump, but he CAN stick to the floor or ceiling if you tap the screen, and with a little extra tilt to your weird gravitational jump you can go up and diagonal... sort of. It takes a little time getting used to it because in some levels you need to be PRECISE! The levels (when it comes to the design) are colorful, fun and easy on the eyes. I mean seriously, it really is the love-child of Super Mario 2 and Kirby. The game's difficulty can vary from very simple to downright confusing if you are not the puzzle conquering type when it comes to video games.

Cons

The controls (at first) are VERY VERY frustrating! You sometimes move too fast because you tilted the iPhone (or iTouch) too far OR you don't move fast enough because you aren't tilting it far enough. So some rooms (jars) where you need to be very close to a baddie without touching him you will occasionally slip up and tap him (death) because you can never really tell how much is needed on the tilt.

Nothing to go crazy over because after a solid half an hour on the game you will figure out how to position your hands. The only thing that would be considered a "con" is the varying difficulties. You never really know what you're getting into when you go in certain jars. Some of them (like I said earlier) are embarrassingly easy, while others are so hard that you end up looking for a cheat sheet/walkthrough. It's not gradual. Some hard ones are in the beginning, which when you think about it is no that bad. The one thing you'll realize is that there is NO REPLAY VALUE once you beat it, unless you don't play it for a while.

Overall

A fantastic game, and you can't beat free! Worth trying and hard to put down.

Rating

3.5 out of 5