Have yet to finish it at the time of writing due to its Baba is You approach to difficulty, but I think it’s safe to call Catherine one of the most unapologetically auteurial video games I’ve played. It’s absurdly unique— pretty much the only piece of media I can think of to cross block pushing with girlfriend cheating, and in that regard it’s extraordinarily well realized. Tense, mind bending escape sequences are so masterfully woven together and juxtaposed with chill, Yakuza style bar crawls. But just as Vincent’s nightmare towers crumble below him during his climbs, so too are his reprieves brief. When hanging out at the Stray Sheep, time passes as you talk to each character, check your texts, even take a hard earned slug of beer. A mantra of Persona 5 (for which Catherine was a tech demo) is “take your time”, but here alas you are afforded very little— it’s keep moving or die gruesome after all. But where our tragic protagonist has to suck this up with a pit in his stomach, his journey is hardly grueling from the player perspective (though it is REALLY fucking hard at times). Gameplay is tight and snappy, challenging but fair, so much so that it even attracted a small yet dedicated corner of the FGC. Combine that with its brilliant excellently paced writing and you’re in for a treat, just keep in mind one with both a high skill ceiling AND floor.

Why do tech demos always hit so hard?