Catherine Q*bert-All

ClockworkHouse wrote:

Although if I'm seeing the logo right, Catherine, despite being cute and blonde and happier-seeming, is the figure on the dark half of the seal. Katherine, despite being more gothy, is on the light half of the seal.

Which makes perfect sense, if K is the "normal" half of his life and C is the crazy look-I-have-horns-and-the-devil-is-trying-to-impale-me dream-maker.

Minarchist wrote:

I approve of the title change of this thread.

I still wonder how they're going to spin that gameplay into an entire $60 game. I suppose it will be persona-style, where there is "town" gameplay and the Q-bert stuff is a secondary dungeon gameplay. It's an interesting direction.

The Giantbomb quicklook seems to suggest that a lot of the game will involve the protagonist hanging out with various characters (his friends, Katherine) in real world locales, which is very Persona-esque. There also seems to be some kind of text messaging mini-game going on there. Hard to tell in Japanese.

It was hard to tell anything about the game from the QL, really. it was all over the place.

I'm not sure if it's a general pre-order bonus, but Amazon is offering an art book and "sound disc" (OST?) with pre-orders.

Don't you want the special edition boxer shorts in a pizza box?

ClockworkHouse wrote:

I'm not sure if it's a general pre-order bonus, but Amazon is offering an art book and "sound disc" (OST?) with pre-orders.

gains wrote:

Don't you want the special edition boxer shorts in a pizza box?

I don't know if this is a response, but Amazon will sell you the special edition (with tee and boxer shorts and pillowcase in a pizza box) and it includes the Sound Disc and Art book just like the regular edition. Search for "catherine deluxe edition" otherwise it doesn't seem to come up. $79.99 instead of $57.99.

GameStop also has the Sound Disc and Art book preorder bonus. I think they are supposed to get the deluxe edition but I didn't see it on their website.

I have also noticed that those who are uncomfortable with the saucy box art (perhaps you have nosy kids in the house?) can get the game with an alternate cover. It features a close-up of the face; it's a zoomed-in version of whatever art your platform would otherwise have.

10-minute+ video up at gamespot. SPOILER WARNING: they show a small section of what is (I think) an early boss. If you're on total blackout, don't watch. Otherwise, you get a taste of some of the English voices, they talk about changes made to the English version (apparently even the Japanese thought this game was too hard), and we get a hard release date of July 27 -- if it hasn't been mentioned yet.

Honestly, a good portion of the reason I'm learning Japanese is to be able to play stuff like this early, so I'm pretty stoked.

Didn't see this posted yet, so I'll just leave this here:

http://kotaku.com/5775215/a-mastercl...

Probably nsfw.

Cosplay is fun.

Giant Bomb has a developer-led Quick Look up. In English this time. Demon Baby is terrifying to a level that is genuinely uncomfortable.

imbiginjapan wrote:

Giant Bomb has a developer-led Quick Look up. In English this time. Demon Baby is terrifying to a level that is genuinely uncomfortable.

Nice, that's significantly longer than the one I linked to a few posts up. Here's the link for lazy people.

So what's the final verdict on this thing? Throughout its entire PR campaign the only message I've taken away is, "hey, you guys like vagina?"

Looks damned amazing. I love the Persona team's work so I'll give it a shot regardless, but it may be a pre-order for me at this point. It's been selling like hotcakes in Japan, too, so there must be some meat to it.

Minarchist wrote:

Looks damned amazing. I love the Persona team's work so I'll give it a shot regardless, but it may be a pre-order for me at this point. It's been selling like hotcakes in Japan, too, so there must be some meat to it.

There are lots of things that sell like hotcakes in Japan. Horrifying things. Did you know they put mayonnaise on pizza? Also schoolgirls.

Wait, they put mayonnaise on schoolgirls or schoolgirls on pizza? I'm confused.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

Wait, they put mayonnaise on schoolgirls or schoolgirls on pizza? I'm confused.

Either way, I'm sold.

Well mayonnaise makes me ill so I'll order the latter. Though we can go halfsies on the pie if you really want your mayonnaise.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

Wait, they put mayonnaise on schoolgirls or schoolgirls on pizza? I'm confused.

Both. Weird place, Japan.

LobsterMobster wrote:

So what's the final verdict on this thing? Throughout its entire PR campaign the only message I've taken away is, "hey, you guys like vagina?"

My verdict is I'd rather watch it as a TV series than play it as a game. The puzzling looks fun but I seriously doubt I'll be any good a it, and I simply *must* experience the story. It seems neatly layered and metaphorical, easy to relate to.

I dunno, I thought the puzzling looked cute but not the kind of thing I'd want to do for 20-40 hours.

LobsterMobster wrote:

So what's the final verdict on this thing? Throughout its entire PR campaign the only message I've taken away is, "hey, you guys like vagina?"

If you do, I suppose you've just answered your own question.

I actually think the puzzle stuff is interesting, and will certainly be buying this thing in June.

I'll wait for a price drop. While I like support unique games, I don't think there's much to the gameplay besides a tower puzzle to be worth a fully priced game.

cyrax wrote:

I'll wait for a price drop. While I like support unique games, I don't think there's much to the gameplay besides a tower puzzle to be worth a fully priced game.

Have you played any of the Persona games? If this is similar (and it sure looks to be; even developed by the same team), then the majority of the gameplay and 95% of the fun will take place outside of the "dungeon world". If it's like crawling Tartarus, I think it will be fine (though I'm not seeing some hook to the dungeon like the drug that is combining personas...).

Price drops are odd with Atlus games. They fill a very niche market so they can go out of print fast and be hard to chase down later. Even if they flop early, theirs is a cult audience and a slow burn in sales is not uncommon for them. In some cases they've gone up as people are forced to turn to eBay or collectors to get the really unusual ones like early Shin Megami Tensei titles.

As interested as I am, I don't think this one's for me. Though I will no doubt end up watching it on someone's "let's play".

Minarchist wrote:
cyrax wrote:

I'll wait for a price drop. While I like support unique games, I don't think there's much to the gameplay besides a tower puzzle to be worth a fully priced game.

Have you played any of the Persona games? If this is similar (and it sure looks to be; even developed by the same team), then the majority of the gameplay and 95% of the fun will take place outside of the "dungeon world". If it's like crawling Tartarus, I think it will be fine (though I'm not seeing some hook to the dungeon like the drug that is combining personas...).

The last couple videos promised more variety in the puzzle world than I originally thought. Frankly I'm happy to see something other than turn based RPG combat. There are plenty of games that have that mechanic covered.

imbiginjapan wrote:

Frankly I'm happy to see something other than turn based RPG combat. There are plenty of games that have that mechanic covered.

I've been jonesing for a good JRPG lately, but even I'll agree with that. If nothing else, Catherine looks like an attempt at something new and interesting. I'd like to experience it even if it's an utter failure.

Minarchist wrote:
cyrax wrote:

I'll wait for a price drop. While I like support unique games, I don't think there's much to the gameplay besides a tower puzzle to be worth a fully priced game.

Have you played any of the Persona games? If this is similar (and it sure looks to be; even developed by the same team), then the majority of the gameplay and 95% of the fun will take place outside of the "dungeon world". If it's like crawling Tartarus, I think it will be fine (though I'm not seeing some hook to the dungeon like the drug that is combining personas...).

Similar in structure, sure, but I haven't really heard that this is a long or content heavy game. Plus, there are so many nuances to Persona's gameplay, and I'm not seeing that wealth or diversity here.

gains wrote:

Price drops are odd with Atlus games. They fill a very niche market so they can go out of print fast and be hard to chase down later. Even if they flop early, theirs is a cult audience and a slow burn in sales is not uncommon for them. In some cases they've gone up as people are forced to turn to eBay or collectors to get the really unusual ones like early Shin Megami Tensei titles.

Sorta beat me to it. I know two guys who waited for price drops on Radiant Historia and wound up paying $49 for a $35 MSRP game.

Blind_Evil wrote:
gains wrote:

Price drops are odd with Atlus games. They fill a very niche market so they can go out of print fast and be hard to chase down later. Even if they flop early, theirs is a cult audience and a slow burn in sales is not uncommon for them. In some cases they've gone up as people are forced to turn to eBay or collectors to get the really unusual ones like early Shin Megami Tensei titles.

Sorta beat me to it. I know two guys who waited for price drops on Radiant Historia and wound up paying $49 for a $35 MSRP game.

I paid $75 for Nocturne! ...but I got Daemon Souls for $19, so universe is back in balance.

I paid about $20 for Samurai Western. That game was in print for a total of three weeks.