Catherine Modes Detailed, Multiplayer Revealed - News
by Nicholas Taylor , posted on 27 January 2011 / 3,095 Views
The latest issue of Famitsu gives some more information regarding Atlus' newest project, Catherine. The magazine has details on the game's different play modes, online support, and - surprisingly enough - multiplayer features.
When you load up the game, there will be four options on the menu screen: Golden Theater, Babel, Colosseum and Configuration.
Golden Theater is the game's main story mode where you take the main character Vincent through the story revolving around Catherine C and Katherine K. Famitsu also says Vincent's fate will change depending on the player's choices.
When you select Golden Theater, you choose between the Easy, Normal, and Hard difficulties. These affect the difficulty of the game's action, but will have no effect on the story or its conclusion. Easy Mode also allows you a "Redo" feature, according to the magazine, but they didn't clarify exactly what that means.
The "Golden Theater" term has been appearing in watermarks in most of the Catherine screenshots so far, and outside of it being the name of the story mode it is also the name of an in-game television programme that's hosted by a lady named Midnight Venus. The story mode begins with a video that introduces Vincent and the other characters.
Even though the interview doesn't say so, Andriasang speculates that the entire game is being presented as a Golden Theatre episode due to said watermark during the Story Mode. When Atlus updates the site with this new info, you'll be able to notice Midnight Venus as the woman with the gigantic red afro.
Babel Mode is focused on the game's action components and a screen in the magazine shows Vincent climbing a tower so high up that you can see the clouds in the distance. This mode has four stages which you unlock based on your performance in Story Mode (from Normal Mode and up). There are single player and two multiplayer options in this mode and you will also participate in online rankings where you attempt to clear the level in the shortest time.
Colosseum is a competitive mode where two players simultaneously challenge the game's action stages. As you climb up the tower, you need to think about both speed and methods of hindering your opponent. The person who first wins two rounds of play wins the match. This mode is unlocked once you've cleared Golden Theatre mode. 
Famitsu also has details on the game's online features with two areas mentioned. The first is trophies, which isn't really a surprise as a trophy list was leaked earlier. The other area, however, is the Confession Room: an area you enter when you reach the top of a stage. Here, you'll be asked multiple choice questions and your response will determine how you advance. If you're connected online, you can access graphs showing how other people responded to the questions and apparently also divide the responses by gender. 
With less than a month until its release, Catherine is back at the #1 most wanted spot among the readers of Famitsu, and players will be able to get a chance to see just what the game is like later today when Atlus release a demo onto PSN and Xbox LIVE. The demo will offer a digest version of the game's opening.
Catherine is set to be released on February 17th in Japan for PS3 and Xbox 360. No word on a release in other regions yet.
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Do want.
Yeah, this game is neither cartoony nor a JRPG, unless cartoony is intended to mean anime-style.
Regardless, can't wait for the Japanese demo to drop Gold-exclusive status so I can download it!
@Michael-5
I wouldn't really consider this game to be a JRPG, even if it's made by the Persona team. It looks like it's more of an action/puzzle game, from the gameplay snippets shown so far.
Wow this game is coming out sooner then I thought, and I know nothing about it!
I've never played a cartoony JRPG before, but I love JRPG's and Chronology Trigger on PS1 had cartoony cinematics. If reviews a decent I'll give this game a shot. Demons Souls was fun as he'll after all.
can't wait
