Catherine Classic

An odd hybrid of life sim and puzzle game where both flawed halves somehow work well together.

Largely, though, Catherine Classic is a pretty fantastic rerelease of a cult hit that people have nattered on about endlessly since its debut.

Catherine is a genuinely funny, fun and altogether unique experience, even now. It merges brilliantly challenging puzzle gameplay with an Animé adult-romance story that is as equally compelling as it is entertaining. It features interesting and deeply flawed characters, particularly the protagonist whose emotions directly affect the challenges he'll face. All of this contained within a game that has aged particularly well due to the colourful and Animé-style design.

Catherine Classic may have lost some of its freshness over time, but it remains an intriguing title for those looking for a game that defies expectations. Its more adult style may seem too simple for some, but it's something that very few visual novels attempt to do. The puzzle aspect remains hellish in difficulty but is still fun once you learn all of the tricks and can deal with the imposed time limits. For longtime fans, there isn't much here to bring you back, but unless you don't have your PS3 anymore or an Xbox One to play the Xbox 360 version, Catherine Classic is worth checking out.

Catherine Classic may not be the definitive way to experience Vincent's journey of self discovery, mainly due to some pesky technical issues, but it is a solid port nonetheless, with a few improvements of its own. Faster loading times, crisper visuals, and dual audio support, elevate the title from beyond just another bog standard PC port. It is unfortunate that English audio clips in when playing in Japanese, but Catherine is so thoughtfully designed, and so well-written that it's easy enough to endure the port's more disappointing qualities in favour of the incredible experience underneath. Catherine Classic is a great alternative to the PS3 original, if flawed.

Catherine Classic's unique combination of genres still feels modern, fresh and inventive. It's just a shame the PC port leaves a lot to be desired.

As a conclusion to this improved edition, Catherine: Classic brings us back a title that has already gone through the consoles of two generations. And it does not have much more improvement than seen in previous editions, apart from some graphic improvement. Still, it's still a very good game, complete, with replayability and hours. It becomes heavy in some places, because the story slows down and does not advance as fast as we would like, making the experience longer than we would expect.

As a puzzler, Catherine Classic delivers in spades. As a narrative, I'm not a fan. I don't like the storytelling, or the characters, but I can't deny I had fun along the way.

Catherine Classic is a great port that treats the core game with respect while also implementing some optimisation features to get the most out of it’s target platform. It doesn’t bring anything new to the game, content wise but we still have Catherine: Full Body to look forward to for that later this year.

Catherine Classic is a port to PC of one of the more unique and surreal gaming experiences around. Scary, thought provoking, and beautiful to behold, Catherine combines horror, romance, puzzles and platforming into a must play experience for anyone. Highly repeatable and challenging gameplay defines this true classic cult hit that begs to be discovered and rediscovered despite outwardly obscuring its true nature behind the standard expectations of a game in this style.