I was on the fence about this game; not just waiting for a price drop, but in buying it at all, as there are about ten games I haven't even opened yet on my shelf.
So, I tried the demo finally the other day, and then the next morning I pre-ordered it on Amazon. I was the first to say "really, this is just a block-pushing puzzle game? Not a fucking turn-based RPG?" when the first videos were released, but I just had to play that demo to say "you know what? Totally fine with this." Yeah, it's not as fun to me as a shooter or platformer, but hell, Portal's a puzzle game. Granted by the looks of Catherine, Portal 2 seems to be more varied in its puzzles, but we'll see.
But it's the story, the theme, the characters, and the presentation that made me pre-order Catherine. Just like Persona 4, these guys may not know incredibly deep, innovative gameplay, but I really feel their top-tier in the other things I just mentioned.
There isn't another developer I can think of where I just love the look of their UIs and menus. I love the way in Catherine specifically when you back out of Options, the words quickly crumble or fall away. Such a small but brilliant touch that ties in with the entire game, and that's the freakin' Options menu!
By the way, when the game is loading there are some like chain-silhouettes being pulled tight across the black background, and this reminded me of the chains you'd see in Persona 4 (I believe the place you buy new weapons/armor). Is there a reason for this? Is it just coincidence? Am I imagining it?
