Catherine is a game that I have found to be quite an interesting one to play. A game by Atlus, the creators of the Persona franchise (Which, if you know me, you would know I'm a huge fan of), Catherine follows the story of Vincent Brooks, a bachelor who is currently stressed and worried about his girlfriend, Katherine McBride, wanting to marry him. As this goes on, Vincent is met by the young and seductive Catherine, and here, his life begins to spiral into chaos. He must keep Catherine a secret from Katherine, as well as do what he can to survive the nightmares he faces during his sleep, as dying in the dream will cause a man to die in real life, and it soon becomes apparent that Vincent isn't the only one facing these nightmares, and even comes to a point where his friends are facing these nightmares as well. But as I continued to play the game, I started to notice something. Something quite interesting. Catherine reminded me a lot of the 1954 thriller by Alfred Hitchcock, Rear Window.
Okay, so clearly, the nightmares involving sheep and a guy in his boxers pushing blocks to reach the top of a giant tower, clearly was never in Rear Window. But other things, things that are much smaller in Catherine, seem to have much more similarities in it than one might think. So, in Rear Window, it follows a photographer named L.B. "Jeff" Jefferies who, after breaking his leg in an photographing accident, is left in his apartment that has a rear window, as the title says. Jeff has a wonderful girlfriend, Lisa, but he isn't too sure if he wants to marry her, believing her to be too perfect for a guy like him. One night, one of his neighbors, Lars Thorwald, is believed to have murdered his wife, and with the help of Lisa, Jeff does what he can to find the truth. So, how is a Hitchcock film from sixty three years ago similar to a Japanese puzzle game from 2011? More so than you might think.
In Catherine, there are several settings, while in Rear Window, the entire film takes place in only Jeff's room. But a place of great significance in Catherine, and where most of the game takes place is the local bar, The Stray Sheep. This is the bar where Vincent meets Catherine, as well as all the other characters in the game. Catherine, clearly being the driving point that leads Vincent to become stressed and nervous, clearly has some significance to it. And, no spoilers, but the main antagonist of the game, being "a person that Vincent knows" is met in the Stray Sheep, and has been the person responsible for all the acts in the game. Same goes for Jeff, while not directly meeting many of the characters, all of them are known to us just through visuals, maybe more so than just words. And this is also where Tharwold, the character that Jeff is trying to find out about, is at throughout most of the film. So, clearly, both of the antagonists that I am discussing are in the same area as the protagonists, very close by, no doubt. And in the end of both Catherine and Rear Window, they are both confronted by the antagonist, and must defend themselves, despite there limitations. While the limitations are different, as Vincent must face a god and Jeff must face a man with two working legs, it still shows that the odds are against them, but are still more than capable of defending themselves from someone who can clearly overpower them. Now that we've gotten the major characters out of the way, how about the side characters.
In Catherine, Vincent has three friends. Johnny, Orlando, and Toby. Johnny believes that a man should only marry their soulmate, and that a person should never be married if they can never find them. Orlando finds marriage to be a waste of time due to being a divorcee. Toby is a young man who is excited at the thought of marriage and hopes he can get married soon. And that doesn't even include the five characters that Vincent meets in the bar. There's Justin, a reporter scared to marry his girlfriend. Todd, a man who believes that more women equals more power. Archie, a man who only sleeps with women and very much despises them. Daniel, a man who wants to marry his girlfriend despite his parents being against it. And Morgan, a man who blames himself for his wife's death. They all seem to have their own thoughts and opinions on romance. The characters in Rear Window, while not having their opinions told to us, do show us how they are with relationships in the movie. These characters, all named by Jeff, include Miss Lonelyhearts, a single woman who is trying to find a man to love. Miss Torso, a dancer who seems to be single but happy. The Musician, a talented and single man. The Sculptor, a single female artist. The Newlyweds, a young married couple who are happy together. And The Thorwalds, a couple who seems to be miserable with their marriage. These people all show the possible outcomes for Jeff if he does decide to marry Lisa, which could make his decision easier or harder, as it is shown to him. But let's discuss the biggest one. The relationships between the protagonists and the female leads.
In Catherine, Katherine is stressed over Vincent constantly avoiding her questions of marriage, as he isn't sure he is ready to give up his life as a bachelor, despite them having been together for five years. The same is for Jeff, but for different reasons. He does in fact love Lisa, but he isn't sure if he is good enough to meet up to her expectations, due to her fancy clothes and the food she eats. Both Vincent and Jeff are never able to decide on what they should do, and while Vincent's delay does lead to bigger issues, like almost dying, Jeff's doesn't exactly lead to that big of a leap. But, if you got for the Lawful choices, and try to get Vincent to be with Katherine, than it really compares to Rear Window in that aspect. Throughout all the troubles that Vincent has gone through, he is now able to see what he really wanted, and he is now able to come to terms with himself and has decided to marry Katherine, which does lead to her being put in danger, as she is also placed in the dream. And while she does forget afterwards and breaks up with Vincent, it leads Vincent to push himself to defeat the man who created the dreams in order to get back with Katherine, and depending on your choices, she does decide to be with him again, and eventually leads to their marriage, with Vincent finally feeling happy with her (Again, depending on the players choices). For Jeff, this is also apparent. When Lisa goes to find out what Thorwald is up to, she decides to check inside his apartment when he is gone, leading to her caught by Thorwald, and if it wasn't for Jeff calling the police, god knows what would've happened to her. Seeing Lisa in danger made Jeff worry about her very much, and didn't care if she was too perfect for him, he just didn't want her hurt, due to his love for her. These points for both Vincent and Jeff really shows how they truly do care for the women that they are with, and have decided to mature and be with them. And while they do come from completely different genres of not just story-telling, but forms of entertainment, it shows the similarities they have. And if you think that I am thinking too much into this, yeah....
See you all next time on Nikpicks.
Okay, so clearly, the nightmares involving sheep and a guy in his boxers pushing blocks to reach the top of a giant tower, clearly was never in Rear Window. But other things, things that are much smaller in Catherine, seem to have much more similarities in it than one might think. So, in Rear Window, it follows a photographer named L.B. "Jeff" Jefferies who, after breaking his leg in an photographing accident, is left in his apartment that has a rear window, as the title says. Jeff has a wonderful girlfriend, Lisa, but he isn't too sure if he wants to marry her, believing her to be too perfect for a guy like him. One night, one of his neighbors, Lars Thorwald, is believed to have murdered his wife, and with the help of Lisa, Jeff does what he can to find the truth. So, how is a Hitchcock film from sixty three years ago similar to a Japanese puzzle game from 2011? More so than you might think.
In Catherine, there are several settings, while in Rear Window, the entire film takes place in only Jeff's room. But a place of great significance in Catherine, and where most of the game takes place is the local bar, The Stray Sheep. This is the bar where Vincent meets Catherine, as well as all the other characters in the game. Catherine, clearly being the driving point that leads Vincent to become stressed and nervous, clearly has some significance to it. And, no spoilers, but the main antagonist of the game, being "a person that Vincent knows" is met in the Stray Sheep, and has been the person responsible for all the acts in the game. Same goes for Jeff, while not directly meeting many of the characters, all of them are known to us just through visuals, maybe more so than just words. And this is also where Tharwold, the character that Jeff is trying to find out about, is at throughout most of the film. So, clearly, both of the antagonists that I am discussing are in the same area as the protagonists, very close by, no doubt. And in the end of both Catherine and Rear Window, they are both confronted by the antagonist, and must defend themselves, despite there limitations. While the limitations are different, as Vincent must face a god and Jeff must face a man with two working legs, it still shows that the odds are against them, but are still more than capable of defending themselves from someone who can clearly overpower them. Now that we've gotten the major characters out of the way, how about the side characters.
In Catherine, Vincent has three friends. Johnny, Orlando, and Toby. Johnny believes that a man should only marry their soulmate, and that a person should never be married if they can never find them. Orlando finds marriage to be a waste of time due to being a divorcee. Toby is a young man who is excited at the thought of marriage and hopes he can get married soon. And that doesn't even include the five characters that Vincent meets in the bar. There's Justin, a reporter scared to marry his girlfriend. Todd, a man who believes that more women equals more power. Archie, a man who only sleeps with women and very much despises them. Daniel, a man who wants to marry his girlfriend despite his parents being against it. And Morgan, a man who blames himself for his wife's death. They all seem to have their own thoughts and opinions on romance. The characters in Rear Window, while not having their opinions told to us, do show us how they are with relationships in the movie. These characters, all named by Jeff, include Miss Lonelyhearts, a single woman who is trying to find a man to love. Miss Torso, a dancer who seems to be single but happy. The Musician, a talented and single man. The Sculptor, a single female artist. The Newlyweds, a young married couple who are happy together. And The Thorwalds, a couple who seems to be miserable with their marriage. These people all show the possible outcomes for Jeff if he does decide to marry Lisa, which could make his decision easier or harder, as it is shown to him. But let's discuss the biggest one. The relationships between the protagonists and the female leads.
In Catherine, Katherine is stressed over Vincent constantly avoiding her questions of marriage, as he isn't sure he is ready to give up his life as a bachelor, despite them having been together for five years. The same is for Jeff, but for different reasons. He does in fact love Lisa, but he isn't sure if he is good enough to meet up to her expectations, due to her fancy clothes and the food she eats. Both Vincent and Jeff are never able to decide on what they should do, and while Vincent's delay does lead to bigger issues, like almost dying, Jeff's doesn't exactly lead to that big of a leap. But, if you got for the Lawful choices, and try to get Vincent to be with Katherine, than it really compares to Rear Window in that aspect. Throughout all the troubles that Vincent has gone through, he is now able to see what he really wanted, and he is now able to come to terms with himself and has decided to marry Katherine, which does lead to her being put in danger, as she is also placed in the dream. And while she does forget afterwards and breaks up with Vincent, it leads Vincent to push himself to defeat the man who created the dreams in order to get back with Katherine, and depending on your choices, she does decide to be with him again, and eventually leads to their marriage, with Vincent finally feeling happy with her (Again, depending on the players choices). For Jeff, this is also apparent. When Lisa goes to find out what Thorwald is up to, she decides to check inside his apartment when he is gone, leading to her caught by Thorwald, and if it wasn't for Jeff calling the police, god knows what would've happened to her. Seeing Lisa in danger made Jeff worry about her very much, and didn't care if she was too perfect for him, he just didn't want her hurt, due to his love for her. These points for both Vincent and Jeff really shows how they truly do care for the women that they are with, and have decided to mature and be with them. And while they do come from completely different genres of not just story-telling, but forms of entertainment, it shows the similarities they have. And if you think that I am thinking too much into this, yeah....
See you all next time on Nikpicks.