Catherine is a controversial game. I think it’s officially described as a “relationship horror” – it just so happens to have lots of overt sexual imagery. At one point, Atlus USA was quoted saying; “Catherine is a Japan-only game and there are no plans for a NA release at this time. Sorry about that!” but the game will be coming to the States and to Europe as well.
Why? It’s sold very well. It topped the charts in Japan.
There have been complaints. Japanese gamers didn’t complain about the juxtaposition of horror and sexy images – they complained it was too hard! As a result there will be a patch that introduces an assist mode to help players through.
The trailer came out yesterday.
The trailer certainly boldly announces its anime heritage but I think it keeps the focus very much on the horror. It may hint at the sexiness but I don’t think anyone would argue that the game puts that element in the headlines. It’s probably a good strategy. We’ve seen We Dare picked on by the right wing media for being a “game” and “adult” in at the same time where plenty of horror games go unnoticed by those loons. I suspect Catherine will be steering the same course.
