Catherine Propels Itself Into Atlus' Record Books

[Thundero13]

They made an interesting puzzle game that has boobs in it, and THAT is how you get a game sold
Also, dear escapist, I see you're back to the good captcha's, thank you, that's all I really wanted

 

[Akihiko]

I approve greatly.
Now get around to finding an EU publisher and start making Persona 5 please.
And please be on 360.
[sub][sub]Please.[/sub][/sub]

It has an EU publisher. Deep Silver.

It already has a rating in Germany. No release date news though.

Eitherway, my copy finally arrived yesterday. Sort of disappointed how short it seems to be, I guess I'm too used to playing 40hour long rpgs. On my first playthrough(On normal difficulty) I'm at around 7-8hours and I'm already in the middle of the 6th Nightmare(Thats including talking to everyone at the bar, drinking every time of alcohol etc). However, the characters are interesting and so is the story. I don't feel frustrated when I fail in it too, which is always a good thing.

I'm not sure whether it's ATLUS' best game, but I think they deserve all the sales regardless.

 

[hazabaza1]

I approve greatly.
Now get around to finding an EU publisher and start making Persona 5 please.
And please be on 360.
[sub][sub]Please.[/sub][/sub]

It has an EU publisher. Deep Silver.

...when did that happen?
Oh well, I'm just glad that I should be able to get it sometime soon then!

 

[brunothepig]

This is good news indeed. I haven't played it unfortunately (port it to PC Atlus? Pretty please) but still, maybe it will be a sign to developers that their is a market outside Japan for these kind of quirky games, or that taking risks can pay off. Maybe some clever dev will even wonder if actually releasing a demo had something to do with it, but I think now I'm just being far too optimistic.

But yeah, Atlus took a risk, releasing it over here in the West, and it paid off for them. This has actually put me in a pretty good mood. At least I assume it was this, can't think of anything else noteworthy that happened today.

 

[Nazrel]

Well, considering that Atlus was on the verge of closing its doors, I don't think their expectations were high, still, I reckon that it's a great game on its own.

Where are you getting the idea Atlus was on the verge of closing? The merger with their parent company Index Holdings was I believe to make it easier for their other subsidiaries to make use of Atlus's IP's.

 

[Akihiko]

I approve greatly.
Now get around to finding an EU publisher and start making Persona 5 please.
And please be on 360.
[sub][sub]Please.[/sub][/sub]

It has an EU publisher. Deep Silver.

...when did that happen?
Oh well, I'm just glad that I should be able to get it sometime soon then!

Just under 2 weeks ago. I posted it in the gaming section infact. Though not enough people posted in it to keep it on the first page, so it was probably easily missed.

 

[aegix drakan_v1legacy]

Wait...most...successful atlus launch...EVER?!

...oh woooow....Congratz atlus. Keep making awesome stuff for us all.

 

[WolfLordAndy]

I'm in Europe so its not been released yet... but even if it was its not on a format I can play it, which also upsets me, it looks an interesting Anime/Puzzle game hybrid that I really want to try out!!

Hope it gets either a PC (steam) or Wii version at some point on its way to Europe

 

[AbstractStream]

Yeah! Way to go Atlus! Way to go Catherine! This is great news, buuuut let's start talking Persona 5...

 

[MetaKnight19]

I just got my 'Love is Over' edition in the post today. Got some weird looks from my parents to say the least...

 

[Princess Rose]

This news pleases me. A game I like is selling well, this can only do good things for the release of Persona 5, and it could encourage them to keep bringing over games that they would usually shy away from.

This. This pretty much sums up my feelings. ^^ Yay! Go Atlus!

It's still hard as hell but it was worth it. Now that I think about it that was the first Atlus game I ever bought. Wonder what else they have?

Well, since you asked --

Persona 3 and 4 are awesome (Persona 3 Portable is the best version of 3 to me). Odin Sphere, a game they published here, is amazing. I just ordered Digital Devial Saga, I've heard great things about it. Nocturne is considered one of the best RPGs on the PS2. You have Devil Survivor on the DS (redone edition coming to the 3DS soon) and Shin Megami Tensei 4: Strange Journey. And they are releasing Persona 2: Innocent Skin on the PSP next month.
There you go.

Ah... ninjaed. ^^;; Again. By the same poster.

So yeah, just listen to everything RedEyesBlackGamer said. Persona 3 Portable and Persona 4 are, IMO, the pinnacle of Atlus's best stuff. Oh, and don't worry about coming into Persona at mid numbers - like FF, the Persona series has a core mechanic (the personas) and the occasional cameo, but otherwise each game stands alone from previous titles in the series.

 

[AyreonMaiden]

Fantastic news. I've been shilling this game to everyone as if I'd developed it myself. I feel so strongly about it. It's undoubtedly one of the most original games I've played this gen, or well, any gen, really.

It's time now for Atlus to become who they were born to be, and accept the responsibility of single-handedly reviving the JRPG with Persona 5.

According to a journo who I personally trust but won't name as he told me this unofficially, Persona 5 will be shown off at the Tokyo Game Show. Locked in, put money on it, dead set.

Bro, you've just made me more excited than I can show on a public computer at work...Is TGS in September or October?

 

[Jumplion]

I loved Catherine (the game, I loved Katherine the girl in the game on my first playthrough) and this is excellent news. The story, I thought, was great and I think it could only be done as a video game. While many Atlus games sort of separate the story and gameplay through cutscenes and whatnot, I think that playing the game, and going through the struggles that Vincent goes, you really care for the characters and want to see what's best for them, something that only a video game could do.

That, and the soundtrack is great [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n66tyluciT4]. Can't get it out of my head.

I am totally a fan of Atlus, now. After playing through (most) of Persona 3: FES they got me hooked, and Catherine was the sinker. I eagerly await what Atlus has in store for us next.

 

[Onomatopeia]

I was surprised just how much people were anticipating this one, I actually had to queue up with 20+ other people in a small independant games retailer(<a href=http://www.dungeoncrawl.com.au>Dungeon Crawl), while we waited for the games delivery from their warehouse. And this was just for the Love is Over deluxe edition, they weren't going to have the standard edition in stock for another couiple of days.

This just goes to show that along with adequate marketing the gaming community craves something other than generic FPSs.

 

[dimensional]

Almost everything I hear about this game seems to be positive I like quite a lot of Atlus titles but wish they had a European arm rather than relying on other distributors, still suppose I better get importing right after I finish my run on Persona 4.

 

[SharkyStar]

Honestly, I think part of the reason the game sold so well is because there's literally NOTHING else being released during this time of year and people just want to play some games.

Not that I don't think Catherine deserves to sell well. I haven't played it yet but I'm really excited to. I agree that because it sold well that it should encourage publishers to publish more eccentric Japanese games in the west, even if it was released "off-season."

 

[WayOutThere]

Yay! Shame I don't have the money to buy it myself at the moment.

 

[rembrandtqeinstein]

It's still hard as hell but it was worth it. Now that I think about it that was the first Atlus game I ever bought. Wonder what else they have?

Atlus has a large and varied catalog. I particularly like their DS rpgs. Contact stands out a a quirky affectionate parody of old school rpgs. Also if you have access to a PS2 I think Odin Sphere is the pinnacle of gaming on that system. Likewise Birgandine was one of the highlights of the PS1 generation and still sells for over $100 on ebay.

 

[Carnagath]

Catherine, to my experience, was very well advertised and marketed. If you are a core gamer, chances are you at least heard about it and its general premise a long time ago, and they also made a demo. It's not my cup of tea, but it's good to hear it's doing well, and hope that Dark Souls does even better. Atlus always deal with their audience in an effective and respectful manner and the games they fund are always a breath of fresh air in an industry plagued by clones, DRM and microtransactions.

 

[Rad Party God]

Meanwhile, Nintendo are sticking their thumbs into their asses.