Zero Punctuation: Catherine

[LadyRhian]

Explain to me WHY....WHYYYYY i always have to see these damn Venus razorblade adverts when i watch escapist videos? Yes... this is what we who are from norway and dont have publishers club membership get treated with. It cant be much more unrelated than razorblades for women... W T F

OT: funny one from Yahtzee... and im glad you liked it although you think its not worth more than a rental

I'm from America and I got to see the "Male Spice Loss" Commercial for Slim Jim Dare sticks. It came together in a sort of funny way when the guy in the middle traded his cherry red mustang for a white/silver SUV... and Yahtzee's imp lost his motorcycle...

 

[K4RN4GE911]

If the game treats the male characters so badly isn't it misandristic (?) rather than misogynistic? Or is the game just overall misanthropic?

I'm thinking when it comes to relationships, the game was misinformed. (Boosh!)

In all seriousness, I watched my friend play through the Assmonster boss of the game. Biggest mindfuck of the year!!

 

[Jamielordofgingers]

Ok, I caught most of the anime references, but I really want to know what show he's talking about with the guy who missed his one shot.

 

[Cheery Lunatic]

i didn't care for this game when i first heard about it and now i just don't give a shit about it

Yeah, this is my mindset.
I usually NEVER take any of Yahtzee's reviews very seriously, but his complaints cover every single worry I had about Catherine in the first place.

So yeah, I'll be passing on this game, and there won't be no tears in MY eyes.

And was it just me, or was this episode of ZP actually very funny this time around?

 

[PleasantAsAHeadcrab]

For some reason, I thought Yahtzee's suppressed laugh-snort was oddly adorable.
I'm going to blame my fever for making me creepy.

 

[zombiejoe]

Fine review.

I actually played the game twice. The second time, I wanted to get the best neutral ending because [spoiler/]You go to spaaaaaaaaaaaaaacccccceeeeee[/spoiler]. I thought it was fun. But not too much replay value.

Oh, and the multiple endings are don't really matter on how "good" or "evil" you are. While that does matter, it also has to do with [spoiler/]The final questions at the last level[/spoiler]

You should try for the ending where you get to become King of the Underworld. I forgot I
wasn't playing Disgaea for a moment.

Dude! Spoilers! I already know about that ending but others might not!

 

[Undeadpool]

I actually really, really wanted to play this until I heard that nothing you do has any impact on the story progression until the very end. So it's basically like Atlus' Persona games where you can start a relationship with one of the characters, but they still treat you as platonic during cut-scenes, which was annoying but acceptable. EXCEPT THAT WAS A LAST-GEN GAME! There is absolutely no excuse for that kind of laziness this console generation.

Though your choices do not (directly) have impact on the ending, the basic questions the game raises give the game more depth than the sum of the story. In my experience especially the first play through had a real impact. The meter in the game isn't all that interesting, more of a way to extinguish the three end paths.

I do appreciate that a game is trying to tackle a subject like relationships and I do think it SOUNDS interesting, but the fact that Vincent keeps acting like a philandering, spineless jerk no matter how many decisions you make to stay loyal to Katherine is unacceptable in my book. Plus I've heard the ending, rather than sticking to the whole "dreamscape as a metaphor for relationships/decision-making", basically degenerates into "Stock JRPG Save the World From Ennui-Causing Monster" territory.

There is absolutely no excuse for that kind of laziness this console generation.

Well, how many games actually have the story wildly vary due to early/mid-game decisions besides The Stanley Parable? If a writer is going to set up a narrative they want to tell, allowing the player to derail that part of the way through due to, let's face it, their own wanting to dick around kinda shatters that. It's the classic "linearity" vs. "non-linearity" thing. Non-linear gives more freedom and protagonist relation. Linear gives more narrative and cohesiveness.

I probably screwed up the HTML on this, so I apologize in advance, but off the top of my head I can think of both Mass Effects (the changes aren't massive, but at least characters acknowledge your decisions), Alpha Protocol (which actually does an AMAZING job in that department), Deus Ex, and both Witcher games. I'm not asking for completely different experiences, but the fact that Vincenet just continuously does the same stupid things regardless of what decisions you make is mind-blowingly poor form.
Edit: And actually both Dragon Age games have amazingly good consequences for your actions.

 

[Catalyst6]

"All women are dykes".
Not all the women, just all the ones you know, right? Up top!
/sigh.

Still considering renting the game (or GameFly, as it may be). I'm a sucker for bizarre horror types. Of course, it comes at a price of anime drama, but hey! Sometimes someone gets horribly murdered in a show of "love", and that's fine by me.

 

[CyricZ]

i didn't care for this game when i first heard about it and now i just don't give a shit about it

Yeah, this is my mindset.
I usually NEVER take any of Yahtzee's reviews very seriously, but his complaints cover every single worry I had about Catherine in the first place.

So yeah, I'll be passing on this game, and there won't be no tears in MY eyes.

And was it just me, or was this episode of ZP actually very funny this time around?

I really don't care if you don't want to play the game, but I have to ask: what was so special about this review that made you take it seriously compared to the rest?

 

[Nimcha]

"All women are dykes" -Ben 'Yahtzee' Croshaw.

Oh if only it were so!

Great review as well, one of the funniest in the last few weeks

 

[Hitchmeister]

This has very little to do with the video itself, but when Yahtzee and the Zero Punctuation theme music sound calming by comparison, that means the volume on your unskippable pre-roll ad is TOO LOUD!!!

 

[shogunblade]

I have been playing the game for some time now, and I'm somewhat in the same understanding that Yahtzee is in: It's hard but continuously fun and the bar stuff kind of drags itself out, but as for Vincent being unlikable?

He's a tool, but recognize the game starts like a B-movie (haven't finished it yet), so it should feel like a B-Movie. In this case, it's outlandish monsters, a kind of quirky premise and it's going to portray men and women in a negative stereotypical kind of way, but you shouldn't care because you are playing a game that's more Evil Dead than it is Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

Also: Did anyone else have their mind blown when the Butt Monster showed up? Also, did anyone else have their mind blown when you put the Butt Monster together with the plot?

Seriously, that symbolism blew my mind [/Completely Serious].

It's a good game, I won't speak on repeat viewings yet because I have yet to finish the game, but I'm having a good time with it.

 

[reecenolan]

Saw it and genuinely thought it was a cartoon porno stuck in a PS3 case

 

[CyricZ]

I probably screwed up the HTML on this, so I apologize in advance, but off the top of my head I can think of both Mass Effects (the changes aren't massive, but at least characters acknowledge your decisions), Alpha Protocol (which actually does an AMAZING job in that department), Deus Ex, and both Witcher games. I'm not asking for completely different experiences, but the fact that Vincenet just continuously does the same stupid things regardless of what decisions you make is mind-blowingly poor form.
Edit: And actually both Dragon Age games have amazingly good consequences for your actions.

Well, obviously I mistook what you actually wanted. You don't want the story to go off in separate directions based on your choices. You want the freedom to act and have characters in the game react. All the games you mentioned still end up going in the same direction towards the end, narratively. They all have the same general endpoint and climax, just different motivations and ultimate outcomes.

The difference between most of those games and Catherine is that those games make *you* the protagonist, while Catherine doesn't lie about the fact that "Vincent" is the protagonist, and you're merely guiding him, not actually controlling him. Yahtzee has touched on this before in The World Ends With You (with a touch more exaggeration), and it is honestly a very Eastern thing. You're not part of the story, you're merely the witness to it and can subtly alter it on ultimately unimportant lines.

And no, that's not always a good thing, but honestly, if we needed every story we're told to have us as the stars, then movies, TV, books, etc. would have a much tougher job keeping us entertained. I can accept only being an accessory to the end if I feel fulfilled in the journey and outcome.

EDIT: But the reverse can be handled sloppily as well. Think of any game that puts you as the protagonist, then make a choice and find out that the game's leading you down a path you didn't want to go originally. There, the illusion of freedom is shattered, as is the immersion. Then you just have to ask yourself for you, which is more important: being mostly in control but tossed out on your ear when the game won't let you do specifically what you want, or allow yourself to be railroaded if it means things are more cohesive.

 

[Dfskelleton]

That final joke was hilarious. I don't intend to play this, or any Atlus game, in the forseeable future. I don't enjoy Anime, and that's probably the biggest factor.

 

[Nenad]

I enjoyed the game. But yeah, Vincent is a tool. It does feel like an animu shows that come every season.

Maybe that was the point? People are flawed.

 

[Cavouku]

There is absolutely no excuse for that kind of laziness this console generation.

Well, how many games actually have the story wildly vary due to early/mid-game decisions besides The Stanley Parable? If a writer is going to set up a narrative they want to tell, allowing the player to derail that part of the way through due to, let's face it, their own wanting to dick around kinda shatters that. It's the classic "linearity" vs. "non-linearity" thing. Non-linear gives more freedom and protagonist relation. Linear gives more narrative and cohesiveness.

Besides, choosing Catherine over Katherine doesn't make much sense to me, because as frumpy as Katherine is, she does win in the aspect of not being fucking insane! And as such, can be reasoned with, as I mentioned.

And besides, what's the future with Catherine, anyways? Keep in mind, I've only played the demo and watched the Susan Arendt review, and this one. Even if I did get the game, I'd either stop playing out of the unfulfilled desire to bitchslap Vincent, or just play through doing the sensible thing and stay steady with Katherine, because I don't favour crazies.

Minor spoiler: Catherine's actually not insane. The trailers will focus on the weird things she does in the game, but you can actually sit down and chat with her at some points in the game and she seems, while a bit free and loopy, relatively on the level.

As to the future with Catherine, well, explaining it in detail would give a lot away, but let's say it's probably something you weren't expecting. Regardless, Vincent does seem quite satisfied with his decision.

I hope so, for his sake (on both her not being insane and not a bad future).

Note: I just took the liberty of watching all the endings on Youtube (I wasn't planning on getting it, just not my kind of game, good or bad not factoring into it), there were 8 of those bastards, but at least they had the decency to stay pretty similar for the first parts.

But I guess he's happy... I think? Sure. Not my ideal relationship, so I probably wasn't going to go for it, but uh, when in Rome, I guess (referring to the Catherine True Ending).

 

[Raziel_Likes_Souls]

I LOL'd when he giggled at the thought of pimply, fat losers without any kind of "experience". Personally, I'm a pimply, AVERAGE loser without any SIGNIFICANT kind of "experience".

Also, it's too bad that the purple region gives you the "Shit Ending", especially since I like purple. And yes, I like purple all the more because the Saints (from Saints Row III) have a purple logo.

He's lying, purple gives you the most alpha badass ending.

Also, I didn't think he was going to review this out of all things, wow.

 

[Cavouku]

I enjoyed the game. But yeah, Vincent is a tool. It does feel like an animu shows that come every season.

Maybe that was the point? People are flawed.

It's true, and there are people who are tools, so it's interesting to play as one, but I can see his point, it's hard to care about someone who looks terribly pathetic, and is being dragged around all the time. Especially in a game, where you as the player feel like you're the one driving the story, and making the choices, and then you get stuck playing as someone who's to pathetic to do so, or at least it feels that way.

It's like tasting something really really bitter. You know you have to taste it at some point, and the world's better off with the taste, but if you don't like bitter, it's just going to leave a bad taste in your mouth, no matter how many vitamins it has.

 

[CyricZ]

I enjoyed the game. But yeah, Vincent is a tool. It does feel like an animu shows that come every season.

Maybe that was the point? People are flawed.

Maybe some gamers can't handle not being the guy who wins and succeeds at everything. >_> Ooo, psychoanalysis!