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  • People are kind of messed up sometimes”….to pilfer the ponderings of a certain someone.

  • And this game, one of my new favorites if you will, features some of the most messed

  • up people in video games: those with realistic problems. Love is a moment in life, a dream,

  • and at times, a painful dream. This is Catherine, on the Xbox 360 from Atlus!

  • Catherine spins the tale of Vincent Brooks, a 32 year old engineer who’s been dating

  • the career focused, no-nonsense Katherine for about 5 years. Vince is pretty happy with

  • the way his life is, and would love for it to stay the same, but that stuff doesn’t

  • always happen the way you want it, does it, Vince? After a night of drinking at his favorite

  • bar, Vincent meetings Catherinewith a C, who is the embodiment of everything Vincent

  • wants in a woman; a free spirit, and a cute perkyuhhpersonality. After cheating

  • on his girlfriend with this bothersome blonde babe, Vincent begins having horrifying nightmares

  • where if he dies in the dream, he dies in real life, rumors are floating around that

  • this is happening to other young men in his community.

  • The main gameplay takes place in Vincent’s nightmares, 9 stages in all, where Vincent

  • must push and pull blocks in order to scale a huge tower. The blocks that make up this

  • tower are constantly collapsing, forcing the sheep, the men who are also trapped in this

  • nightmare world, to scramble for the top, sometimes pushing others out of their way

  • in their desperate move to survive. There’s all sorts of different kinds of blocks that

  • will get in Vincent’s way that he must overcome in order to reach the pinnacle.

  • Mastering how to move the blocks and scaling the tower quickly is necessary to grab a high

  • score, which unlocks bonus stages in the games challenge mode, as well as songs at the bar.

  • While awake, Vincent’s discuss his own inner conflict with his friends Orlando, Toby, and

  • Jonathan, who, for no reason what-so-ever, I assure you, is the coolest character in

  • the game. Really, no reason! These characters, I felt, were very well crafted, Vincent especially.

  • You really do kinda feel sorry for this sap. Depending on the texts you send to the two

  • lovers in his life, Vincent’s inner monologue will change throughout the game, resulting

  • in his desire to be with one Catherine or the other, or to be free of them both.

  • Others join Vincent in his dreams, namely patrons from the bar. Appearing as sheep who

  • have been herded from the local watering hole, these sheep trade block-pushing techniques,

  • and it doesn’t take long to realize your friends are sharing in the same hell as you

  • are. Between a woman constantly appearing in his

  • bed who threatens to kill him if he cheats on her, and learning his girlfriend is pregnant,

  • Vincent’s got problems, and Catherine’s story is all about owning up to your problems

  • and your mistakes, pursuing what makes you happy while also being responsible for own

  • actions. It’s a really well written game that deserves your attention, because if you

  • don’t give Catherine what it needs, it will toss you into a nightmarish tower and turn

  • you into a sheep. It’s the truth!

People are kind of messed up sometimes”….to pilfer the ponderings of a certain someone.

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