If there's one word to describe Catherine, it's "intelligent." True, there are more typical shooters or brawlers that are also intelligent, but Catherine is a smart puzzler that will make you feel smarter for playing it. While there's a mature and (mostly) intelligent story and some fine-looking graphics, your enjoyment of the game will probably depend on how addictive you find the main puzzle gameplay.
After an interesting, though long-winded, intro, the game throws players directly into the action: you must help the main character, Vincent Brooks, escape from a nightmare in which he must move blocks in order to ascend a rapidly-crumbling tower. After waking up, Vincent's long-time girlfriend Katherine begins dropping hints she's looking for commitment, and then Vincent hears a rumor about bad boyfriends having a similar dream to his. And if they fall in the dream, they die in real life. That night, Vincent's approached by blonde bombshell Catherine. Unlike brunette Katherine, this Catherine's looking for a good time. In a moment of weakness, Vincent shows her one. The story's told through a stunning mixture of cell-shaded graphics and anime cut scenes.
Gameplay is divided into two main sections. The main section is the dream sequences, where you must push and pull blocks to create paths up increasingly tall towers. These freeform puzzles are pretty fun to improvise your way through, and different types of blocks are added into the mix as you progress, requiring skill and timing to bypass.
The other section is the Stray Sheep, Vincent's favorite pub, where you choose responses to the texts from the women in Vincent's life, lend an ear to the rest of the bar's regulars, chat with Vincent's drinking buddies and the Robert Goulet-like proprietor, "Boss", listen to background music on the jukebox, and play a faux-retro version of the game on an arcade booth. Of course, you can also pick your poison and drink, which not only gives Vincent a boost during the puzzle sequences but, in one of the game's finer touches, also provides some liquor trivia. Other nice touches include quotes from famous writers and philosophers during loading screens, or the original jazz compositions providing accompaniment for Stray Sheep sequences, while climbing sequences feature ultra-modern remixes of classical compositions by Beethoven, Bach, and the like.
The game's nuanced morality system is based on your responses to relationship questions, and rather than pure "good" or "evil", it's based on whether you're more compatible with Katherine or Catherine. It doesn't impact the story much, though, until unlocking one of several alternate endings. Catherine, perhaps fittingly, is more of a commitment than it seems at first. On at least two separate occasions, I put the controller down, thinking I'd finished the game, only to be treated to a long series of cutscenes and then flung back into another puzzle. And while the game's central mystery provides a couple great twists, the conclusion is incredibly convoluted. In the end, it will be the game's unique puzzles and interesting characters that make you want to play again as soon as you finish.