Catherine

[Dante]

- PS3/360

- Horror/adult action adventure

- From Persona team

- Producer Katsura Hashino

- Character design Shigenori Soejima

- Composer Shoji Meguro

 

Andriasang.com

Game Jouhou has posted a bunch of additional details on Catherine, Atlus's new PS3 and Xbox 360 action adventure game.

 

As detailed below, Catherine is the first HD game from Atlus. It's being made with key members of the Persona staff. Included in the staff list are Katsura Hashino as producer and director, Shigenori Soejima as character designer, and Shouji Meguro as sound composer.

 

While the game's name is Catherine, the main character is actually a 32-year-old salaryman named Vincent (voiced by Koichi Yamadera). Catherine (voiced by Miyuki Sawashiro) is a stylish 22-year-old girl who apparently has the charms of a young girl.

 

The game begins when Vincent, a vegetarian who has no ambition in work or love (I'm not sure if he's literally a "vegetarian," or if the term "vegetarian" is some sort of metaphor for his personality) runs into the mysterious Catherine one day. At night, he has nightmares.

 

The nightmares serve as an action component for the game. Set in a world with an unending stairway, Vincent has to make it to the top of the stairs, or he will not be able to awaken.

 

Based off Game Jouhou's summary, it's a bit unclear how the game will progress. However, it does seem that even during the nightmare action parts, you'll end up working through the story and encountering events.

 

During a staff interview, Hashino said that as their first HD game, rather than trying out a true RPG, the team was excited about trying out something new. It looks like Catherine will be just that, as Hashino said it will be more adult oriented than past titles from the team. It's not all style, though. Hashino promised a deep play experience with plenty of gameplay for players to sink their teeth into.

 

Soejima said that there are some shockingly adult scenes in the game. When you play these scenes, they'll be even more stimulating, although in a difference sense.

 

Meguro confirmed the adult leanings of the title, saying that the keywords for the game's music are "classic," "adult oriented" and "erotic." He also promised 5.1ch sound.

 

Meguro also made a comment that has Persona fans excited. He said that due to Catherine, he believes for the time being the staff won't be asked about their next title. However, at some point next year, perhaps he'll be able to respond "Regarding the RPG, Hashino and I are..."

 

A hint at Persona 5?

 

Scans:

Advert:

Edited August 18, 2010 by Dante

[Aimless]

- From Persona team

That's all I needed to know. Which is just as well given the sparsity of information.

[Dante]

That's all I needed to know. Which is just as well given the sparsity of information.

 

I am worried about the word "erotic" theme for this game and the bright scan image isnt doing any favorites.

[Mundi]

Has this been confirmed outside of Japan?

If not, I think we can chalk it up as one of them weird games we never see

[Dante]

Has this been confirmed outside of Japan?

If not, I think we can chalk it up as one of them weird games we never see

 

It was just been announced and it might be part of Persona universe because the main character looks like MDA from P3P.

 

Some snippets about his NPC in P3P:

- Talks about rumors that you die in real life if you die in your dreams before "hitting bottom"

- His back story is that his relationship is on the rocks after cheating on his girlfriend, but after hearing that he knocked her up, decides to get back together.

- Is only referred to as "Man drinking alone" in game, but has several character portraits after you talk to him enough times.

- Data mining the UMD revealed his portraits to be labeled "Vincent"

- In the final scene, he promises to tell you more about his story, but that it has nothing to do with you, with that line highlighted in Plot Relevant Red.

 

More Catherine info:

 

Uhh... yeah, it definitely has an erotic taste to the art. The main visual on the first page of Famitsu's reveal shows a nearly naked girl spreading her legs apart. The only thing blocking us from seeing too much is the head of some dude with balling eyes.

 

Catch copy in the Famitsu article says somethign to the effect of: "The man who continues to rise every night in his dreams."

 

Atlus has key Persona staffers working on the game. Katsura Hashino is the game's producer and director, Naruki Fukushima is character designer, and Masahi Meguro is sound composer.

Edited August 18, 2010 by Dante
Automerged Doublepost

[Aimless]

It's not really any more overtly sexual than the promotional art for No More Heroes, is it? It certainly won't be a porn game, anyway, as if that were the case you wouldn't see it on 360 and PS3.

 

It has my interest for now, anyway. The scan gives off more of a Killer 7 vibe than that of a self-loathing infused girlfriend simulator, even if the latter would fit the "horror" tag just as well in a different sense.

[Dante]

Wait for the scans.

 

Voice actors: Vincent - Koichi Yamadera, Catherine - Miyuki Sawashiro

 

Katsura Hashino (Persona 3,4, SMT:N, SMT DS2) is working on game that will be announced next year.

[Dan_Dare]

Huh. I dunno about this. It's been a very long time since I've really dug anything Japanese- Apart from Bayonetta which kind of spoofed the whole Japanese culture so I enjoyed that i suppose. The whole anime led design and story aspect of Japanese games really turns me off these days I think. I Loathe MGS and FF now and they're kind of emblematic of everything from out East that i don't like.

[Shorty]

Don't semi-h-games like this come out all year round in Japan? We never have threads about them because they don't come out over here/we don't care. What's the difference with this one?

Edited August 18, 2010 by Shorty

[Aimless]

It's made by people that actually put out games rather than thinly veiled sexual abuse simulators.

[Dante]

Full details:

It's hard to believe, but now four years after PlayStation 3's release, Atlus has yet to release an HD game. That's going to be changing shortly. In this week's Famitsu, the Persona publisher provides first details on its first HD project, Catherine.

 

In development as a multiplatform PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 release, Catherine comes our way from key members of the Persona team. Key staffers include Katsura Hashino as producer and game director, Shigenori Soejima as character designer, and Shouji Meguro as sound composer. Skip down below or some commentary from the three.

 

The main character in Catherine is Vincent (voiced by Koichi Yamadera), a 32-year-old single salarayman at that point in life between independence from one's parents and marriage. Vincent has no ambitions in terms of love and romance.

 

(This week's "Flying Get" column referred to Vincent as a "vegetarian." This terms is actually used figuratively to describe the character. He may or may not be a meat eater.)

 

Vincent's life changes when he meets the 22-year-old Catherine (voiced by Miyuki Sawashiro). Catherine has a charming face and a "well proportioned" body that makes anyone turn and take notice. She happens to be Vincent's type.

 

After meeting Catherine, Vincent ends up having nightmares. These serve as a central part of the game. In the nightmares, Vincent finds himself in a world of unending stairs. Unless he can climb to the top of the of the stairs, he will not be able to wake up.

 

Screenshots of the nightmare component do look nightmarish. In one shot, we see Vincent, stripped down to his polka dot briefs, leaning against a step of a giant flight of stairs. Another screen shows Vincent, again wearing only his briefs, being followed from behind by bipedal lambs. Another screen shows the subtitle of a "mysterious voice" saying to Vincent, "You lambs have been selected. You will soon die."

 

There may be more to the lamb connection than just a single dream passage. The magazine states that Vincent is not alone in his dream. In his dreams, he'll end up meeting a large number of lambs. The lambs, and apparently Vincent as well, are being chased by a pair of giant hands. In one screen, we see one of the hands holding a blood-covered fork. In another screen, a red-eyed lamb says, presumably to Vincent, that those who do not want to die have to climb the stairs.

 

It looks like you'll be entering and exiting Vincent's nightmare world repeatedly throughout the course of the game. One batch of screens shows Vincent safely waking up from his nightmare. Catherine is beside him, making the magazine speculate that perhaps the two spent the night together. A girl walks in on the two and appears to get angry at Vincent.

 

Incidentally, you may be thinking that Vincent is some sort of loser who's obsessed with Catherine. This may not be the case. Based strictly off the screenshots, it's actually difficult to say what exactly is the relationship between the two characters. Outside of the shot showing the two in bed, screens show them having drinks at a restaurant, Vincent's arm casually around Catherine as he smokes a cigarette. One shot shows Catherine appearing to seduce Vincent.

 

Famitsu speculates that there may be some connections between Vincent's nightmare world and the real world. Another set of screens show a sequence from the real world where a young man's gruesome death is reported on the news. There's a rumor going around that when you see a dream about falling, if you don't open your eyes you'll truly die.

 

So what exactly do you do in Catherine? That's the big mystery at this point. Famitsu lists the game as a single player action adventure. It also hints that the "action" part of the game may play out in the nightmare world. What those action components are is unclear at present.

 

Famitsu got some commentary from the three key staffers. Here's a summary of what they had to say.

 

Katsura Hashino (producer and game director)

 

Atlus's first HD game is a completely original title, Hashino noted. Before releasing a true RPG, they began the Catherine project with the desire to make something new. However, joked Hashino, they ended up making something very strange.

 

"Different from usual,"it's very adult-oriented," said Hashino. He joked that the team will probably be asked who exactly they're targeting with the game.

 

The team has placed an emphasis on creating a deep experience with lots of gameplay for players to sink their teeth into, said Hashino. He hopes that many players will enjoy it. "We'd like to offer a new and interesting experience."

 

Shigenori Soejima (character designer)

 

Soejima said that in addition to Catherine being the team's first HD game, it will also be "more adult oriented" than past titles. They're trying out things they'd never try (or perhaps were never allowed to try).

 

The reason for going with this new approach, said Soejima, is that the team is also simultaneously continuing their work on "the game where boys and girls fight" (I think he's trying to say Persona here without actually saying Persona).

 

Getting into his character design work (he also describes himself as art director), Soejima says that he made many mistakes while trying to portray serious and comical characters on actual hardware. He's worked particularly hard on the area of showing emotional expression in "a story about a love affair." He suggested that we be on the lookout for "daring" or "audacious" visualizations that one would expect of manga-like visuals.

With a laugh, he added, "While there are adult-oriented scenes that will shock you, when you actually play it on the system you will be stimulated even more, although in a different sense."

 

Soejima believes that Catherine will become a game that one would expect of the team.

 

Shouji Meguro (sound composer)

 

Meguro recalled how in all his recent interviews, when asked about his next title he would always respond, "I'm working with Hashino on the thing that's not an RPG." That game ended up being Catherine.

 

Hashino is apparently taking particular care with Catherine, and has been giving very precise orders regarding the game's music. This has caused Meguro some difficulty, but he believes that because of this they'll be able to deliver a good product to players.

 

The keywords for the game's music is "classic," "adult oriented" and "erotic." Said Meguro, "It's not the usual RPG, so you can expect content that challenges some very new things."

 

Meguro closed off with what appears to be a Persona 5 tease. "Perhaps some time next year I'll be able to answer 'I'm now working with Hashino on the RPG.'"

 

He also added, "Finally, one word: 5.1ch!!"

 

While Famitsu's reveal article is lacking specifics, Catherine appears to be pretty far along. The game is 80% complete and is due for Winter release. An official site will be opening up shortly at http://cathy.atlus.co.jp.

 

Screenshots

 

 

 

Teddy toy in the background in the first screenshot.

[Dante]

 

Someone theory about the game:

Let me guess, those "sheep" are actually other young "vegetarians" like him who are stuck in the dream world. And if you stay in the dream world too long you actually begin to turn into a sheep which is why the MC has horns and why one sheep still has a tie.

 

You probably die in reality if you die in this "dream world" which explains why the lonely dead man on the news, and by the same way you died in the dream which explains why he was burned to a crisp.

 

As a sheep, the person is probably more susceptible to being killed by demons and the like.

I guess there is a time limit during each "trip" where you must reach the top of the stairs before you become a sheep. If you become a sheep you can probably still beat the stage but you'd have to be much more careful.

 

Catherine's First Trailer

The footage begins with main character Vincent asking someone if they've seen a dream where you die -- that is, a dream where you are killed. The person he's talking to responds, "No. But I have seen a dream where I kill someone." This seems to creep Vincent out.

 

After our first lamb goes splat, we hear a news report about a gruesome death of a young man. Famitsu had screens of this. The magazine said that there could be a relation with Vincent's dreams, as there's apparently a rumor that if you fall in your dream and don't wake up, you'll end up dying in real life.

 

Catherine, described in the trailer as a "Mysterious Woman," makes her appearance midway through the trailer and asks Vincent if he likes what he sees. During a bed scene, we hear her telling Vincent to do with her as he pleases.

 

And then the Japanese hip hop starts...

 

The chick at the end, incidentally, is the girl who, in Famitsu's screenshots, appears to walk in on Catherine and Vincent while the two are in bed together. She seems to be a bit upset...

 

There's a whole lot of madness in the trailer, but here's one funny moment:

It says "The first HD game from the Persona team." However, the "D" is a bit hard to see, so it almost looks like "The first H game from the Persona team." "H" can usually mean erotic or perverted. Of course, the text above the H actually specifies that it stands for "Hi-Vision."

[Wesley]

This looks terrible.

 

But let me guess it will sell well due to the whole "sex" thing.

 

This kind of shit sits next to "Carnival Games" and over shovelware in my opinion.

[drahkon]

But let me guess it will sell well due to the whole "sex" thing.

 

If there was no "sex thing" in it, I'd buy it.

[Wesley]

...alright.

 

You don't have to agree with me, I wasn't trying to have a go or anything.

[drahkon]

I didn't mean to sound offensive. Just wanted to say what I think about it, sorry if it came out wrong.

 

I do agree with you that the game will sell loads. Especially in Japan.

 

We probably won't see it released here anyway.

[Dante]

Catherine: Meet Katherine

Remember that girl from the first Catherine promotional video who seemed to be shouting at main character Vincent? She looks like this, in case you've forgotten:

It turns out that her name is... Katherine. That's just like Catherine, but with a K.

 

Katherine (with a K) is a 32-year old mid management level employee at an apparel maker. She and Vincent are from the same town and are old childhood friends. She's voiced by Kotono Mitsuishi.

If you suspected that Katherine (with a K -- yes, I'm going to keep writing it like this out of concern for people using reading software) was Vincent's girlfriend given how she seemed to be nagging him just like a girlfriend will often do, you were right. The two had a reencounter five years back during a school reunion, and began seeing one another.

Katherine and Vincent are quite close. So close, in fact, that Katherine knows how many sugar cubes to put into Vincent's coffee (do people still use sugar cubes?).

 

Screenshots show Katherine and Vincent having a serious conversation at the coffee shop. Katherine indicates that she might be... pregnant!

Here's a screenshot showing how it might have happened:

Even though Vincent has a girlfriend named Katherine, he ends up having a one-night stand with Catherine (with a C), whom he meets out of nowhere one day. Based off the screenshot subtitles, it looks like Catherine (with a C) doesn't know that Vincent has a girlfriend, as she seems to say that she won't allow him to cheat on her.

It's after his night with Catherine © that Vincent begins seeing his strange dreams -- you know the ones where he's surrounded by bipedal sheep and is being chased up a flight of stairs by giant hands wielding a fork and knife. There's actually been some rumors around town that when people see a dream where they fall, and they don't immediately wake up, they really die. Is Vincent experiencing this dream?

At some point in his dream escapades, Vincent will encounter a mysterious character -- a humanish monster of some form who wears a wedding dress and carries a knife. This creature, who looks somewhat familiar to Vincent, will attack Vincent.

 

So what will happen between Vincent, Catherine (with a C) and Katherine (with a K)? It actually depends on your actions. Catherine (that's the name of the game -- with a C) will have multiple endings.

 

Visit Famitsu.com for more screens.

 

Are you a bit confused by the two girls in Catherine being Catherine © and Katherine (K)? Just imagine how your Japanese reading friends feel. In Japanese, the two names are written with the exact same characters: キャサリン and キャサリン (with a Kya... err...).

 

O__o

Edited September 11, 2010 by Dante

[Goafer]

I like the style of animation/CG. Just a shame that the game itself will probably be wank.

 

See what I did there?

[Dan_Dare]

Pretty sure nobody cares either way

[Dante]

Catherine In Final Tuning Stages

 

Catherine development blog. Character designer Shigenori Soejima revealed today that the game is currently in its final tuning phases!

 

This little revelation about the game's development progress was just one of a number of interesting points Soejima made in his first post at the game's blog.

 

You might recall that initial Famitsu advertisement which showed Catherine eating a slice of pizza. Soejima admitted that as he made that illustration, he was worried that it might be too much for an advertisement.

 

Soejima considers Catherine a challenge for him in many respects. It's his and his team's first HD development effort. It's in a new game genre that's not an RPG. It's also aimed towards adults, although he noted here that this is just in terms of story and it's not the case that young players won't be able to play the game.

 

Wrote Soejima, "As I play again the resulting work (it's presently undergoing final tuning!), I feel that it's not just a challenging title for us, but that it's quite the ambitious work."

He also discussed a bit about his work on the art side of the game. "You can probably tell this just by looking at it, but it's a bit... actually, it's quite erotic. It's very much different from the pure (?) Persona. But this is a necessity. It's an element that cannot be done away with if you want to realistically portray adult love. If you omit it because it's a consumer game, it's unnatural. So, we are challenging the limits. ... There, my excuse has come to an end. (laughs.)"

 

During the character creation process for Catherine, Soejima has been placing his attention on "reality." He says that all the characters, even those outside of Catherine and Vincent, have personal qualities, and there will be some characters who will make you think that there are similar types of people in the real world.

 

"Rather than the 'it would be nice if you could have this' type of ideal that you see in love games, this game will let you sample the sweet and rough areas of male and female relationships through a horror taste."

[Goafer]

Pretty sure nobody cares either way

 

Was that aimed at me? I have literally no idea what you're on about if it is.

[Dante]

[Dan_Dare]

Was that aimed at me? I have literally no idea what you're on about if it is.

 

No, I was just pointing out that Dante seems to be alone in any kind of interest for this game.

[Aimless]

I'm interested. Persona 3 and 4 are great games, and unlike a lot of people in this thread I'm not going to write Catherine off just because it's got breasts in it.

[Happenstance]

No, I was just pointing out that Dante seems to be alone in any kind of interest for this game.

 

Lol, the post did come across as you being a bit of an arse towards Goafer