Atlus Confirms Catherine for Summer US Release

After months of anticipation from Western gamers, the erotic puzzle thriller Catherine will be released this Summer in North America by Atlus after blockbuster sales in Japan. Catherine is the first game from the development team involved with the Persona strategy RPG series developed for the PS3 and Xbox 360, with animation work done by acclaimed production house Studio 4C, known for Genius Party, Tekkonkinkreet and the most recent work in First Squad.

Initial impressions of the game are rather uneven however, as many players have complained that the puzzles are too hard, leading to Atlus taking the step of issuing a patch to reduce the difficulty level and therefore making the game more enjoyable. The game is also notable for its heavy use of overt sexuality and themes of temptation as well as the situations arising from the opportunity of infidelity that the protagonist is presented with at the beginning of the game. Retailer Gamestop recently posted a June 26th date for the game before being pulled from its listings, which led to its earlier than expected confirmation at the time of this report.

Plot:

In the neighbourhood Vincent lives in, there have recently been a number of bizarre incidents in which people die in their sleep, with a look of anguish upon their faces. Strangely enough, all of the victims are young men. The story quickly spreads throughout the media, attracting widespread attention and theories as to the cause of death. A strange rumour begins to spread that if a person dreams of falling, if they don’t wake up they will soon become unable to wake at all, and die.

Vincent is at a bar contemplating marriage to Katherine, his lover of five years, who is pressuring him to get married, when he meets a beautiful and mysterious woman named Catherine. Although there are many vacant seats she sits next to Vincent and, well-proportioned and pretty, she is exactly his type. The two end up spending the night together at Vincent’s house.

After meeting the woman, Vincent begins to have nightmares every single night, which he believes may be related to the rumours. In these dreams, he, and several other men who appear to him as sheep, must escape from various horrors trying to kill him, for if he dies in his dream, he will die for real. As dreams and reality begin to blend together, Vincent must not only fight to survive, but he must choose between Katherine and Catherine.