Catherine （キャサリン) demo

-On the Japanese PSN store and Japanese Xbox Live Gold Marketplace

-Around 930mb

-The demo includes 2 gameplay sequences

-There is more cut scene than gameplay in the demo however, which is nice in establishing the world.

*For PS3 users, you can make a Japanese PSN account as well as your respective country's.

Story details include the relationship with Katherine (megane + brown hair)and how Vincent, the protagonist, meets Catherine (blonde hair).

The "stray sheep" bar is shown and revealed to be a location in the story that the player is able to interact in, however not playable in the demo, it is evident from the in-game cut scene. 2 male acquaintances of Vincent are introduced in this section.

During a new scene a time and date are displayed, similar to previous Persona games where the date and time have played a role in the story.
In between the two gameplay sections the real shine of an Atlus game comes into play, their storytelling.
This game will definately be about the story for me while the gameplay is a bonus. ^^

The gameplay of Catherine focuses around a puzzle game where the character Vincent is dropped into a nightmare world and must climb up a tower to reach a door in the least amount of time as possible. It involves Vincent being able to push and pull blocks into various positions to either enable him to climb up or the blocks to fall down. Making it to the end is less about achieving it, but the skill and speed in which you achieve it.

The first stage introduces the core puzzle gameplay to the player and shouldn't be too difficult as "nightmare" elements have not been introduced yet. The second stage playable is considerably more difficult, with a faster pace and more obstacles such as heavy blocks. At times it can get very tense and demand fast thinking when you realise there is a giant pair of hands trying to grab you, wielding a fork ready to om nom nom poor Vincent if he doesn't make it fast enough. The demo has a rewind features which allows the player to redo the last action they had made as it is possible to leave yourself stuck without a path.

Outside of the puzzle stages, there are very visual novel-esque elements to the narrative. There appears to be a good/bad meter which is influenced by the decisions made by the player.

I recommend that you have a look at this demo if you've an interest in the SMT world, Persona or just looking for a game to look forward to.
If you're into other Atlus products particularly the SMT or Persona series' then the design will be familiar to you with a darker and grittier touch to it. The aesthetics of menus and how the animation is handled is done very well and anime/manga lovers will appreciate the style during cutscenes.