Zero Punctuation: Catherine

[BrainWalker]

Alright, I need a t-shirt that says "All women are dykes" and I need it now. Go go Escapist/SpitReason designer teams!

That sounds like a really good way to get punched/kicked in the face/balls.

Not to be confused with getting punch-kicked in the faceballs.

And I need a t-shirt that says "I'm not misogynist, I only hate the bitchy ones."

This is a much better idea. Still kinda assy but in a funny way and not blatantly inflammatory.

 

[Fearzone]

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

I agree that Catherine is more misandronystic, giving us Vincent as a straw-man representative of an ineffectual man in that situation. It all comes off as a 70's sit-com portrayal of an affair, and makes me wonder if the game designers have ever had one.

Not that 70's sit-coms weren't a great moment in TV history...

I admit the block puzzle solving of Catherine looks pretty fun but I think it is overpriced. Will buy when it gets down to around $20. Watching a LP in the meantime.

 

[Senaro]

It's a good thing the English versions had a way to distinguish Catherine and Katherine by spelling. There was zero difference in the way their names were spelled in the original. Make for one hell of a confusing script.

 

[Jumplion]

I think I actually enjoy Vincent's constant indecisive nature and basically pussy attitude. It has almost a schadenfreude aspect to it.

He's a complete wienie, incapable of manning up, and throughout the game the player makes decisions (not choices, there's a slight distinction that I think is important in that the player doesn't make any huge "choices", just minor "decisions" that morph out Vincent reacts to certain things) that eventually make him man up and accept his situation. Depending on the 8 different endings, it all comes together nicely regardless of which ending you get as they more or less follow what the player has been deciding through the game. The neutral endings are actually kind of sweet, I think.

 

[samaugsch]

Well, I loved the game, but I accept that someone might not like it. Well off you for importing the game, though

You know who actually do seem to act like sheep though? A lot of ZP fans

This is true. Everyone alive knows it. Talk about any game on here, and the rampant opinion will be "BEST GAME EVAR!" if Yahtzee liked it and "WORST GAME EVAR!" if Yahtzee despised it. Tragic really.

Still, his opinions can say a lot about games. Take his Too Human game for instance. He seems to consider it the worst game he's reviewed, but it doesn't mean it will be to you. However, I wouldn't think it would be anything particularly interesting, either. Pretty much anything better could be given some consideration, though there were at least two games he didn't like that I did (Bioshock 2 and Alone in the Dark 5).

 

[samaugsch]

*double post :/*

 

[Senaro]

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.

 

[Toeys]

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

 

[Carbo]

Personally I think it's hard to really not like Vincent. I felt like everything in the game was written solid and acted out solid, with some nice metaphors for relationship drama. It's worth a play through for the experience alone, and it's one of the best handled localizations I've seen in a long time.

It's hard not to relate to some of the thoughts that goes through Vincent's mind based on the choices you've been picking. I found the experience just incredibly engrossing, and the ending I got the first time, while bad, felt like it was something I honestly deserved. Yahtzee was also spot on in terms of the game play, it's frustrating in the sense that you want to keep playing and overcome it. Without spoiling anything, the fact that Vincent's two love interests are both named Catherine, makes for an interesting final act.

That aside, much like the Persona games, the socializing aspect really feels just like an opportunity to learn more about the characters, which is probably what I wanted to play the game for the most due to how much I enjoyed the writing, and at least unlike Persona you're not compelled to actually go on with the side stuff since you don't miss out on anything different in the game play.

With all that said, it was an entertaining review. I didn't expect you to review it though since it hasn't gotten a PAL release yet.

EDIT: One thing I will say about your review that I didn't get personally was that Vincent not telling Catherine that he's in a relationship already is purely down to it being an anime inspired thing. It's clearly established in the game prior to him meeting Catherine that he really has no intention of jumping into a marriage what with him being comfortable where he is, and that Catherine symbolizes the thrills and freedom that Vincent is longing for, since he feels that he's not sure he can conform to this new, demanding and imposing side Katherine is showing off. The reason he's a tool is because of his indecision over finally taking responsibility with his current love, or continue living life through his own will and accord.

 

[Plurralbles]

lol. All women are dykes, apparently.

 

[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