Catherine

[Casanova]

It's probably not the Persona title you are hoping for. In fact, I can pretty much guarantee it.

This Persona title is being called Catherine and revolves around Vincent, the character from Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 Portable and his dreams. It is being developed for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, but other than that and this image, details are sparse. I can also tell you that Catherine is supposed to be an action-adventure-type game aimed at a more adult audience than previous Persona titles.

And that's... it, I'm afraid. More news coming soon, hopefully.

EDIT: Here's some more information I managed to find and some pictures, too.

These scans, with the one in the post above, should allow you to properly get the whole "adult-oriented" thing a bit more.

I can also tell you that Vincent is 30-years-old and his dreams are of him climbing a never-ending staircase. Also, Shin Megami Tensei seems to be missing from the game's title card. Perhaps this is the very first Persona game proper?

[Mellusia]

Grown up school girl blond with big boobies

There was a whole debate on the U.S.A. Atlus forums about who the heck Vincent was from P3P. I honestly thought he was a potential S.Link that got scrapped at the last minute. That's he's actually a legit character in another game that debuted in P3P is pretty kewl in of itself.

In general, I've noticed there's been loads of clambering demands for games to be focused on adults. I mean, yeah, I'm not tired of it myself, but the young teens/adults saving the world can get tedious after a while.

But the question is if anyone outside Japan will actually see this game *ponders*

[Casanova]

Apparently a release date has been set for later this year in Japan. If that's true then Atlus sure kept this title a secret for a long time. I'm still a little confused as to why on Earth they'd want to make this game instead of a Persona 5, tbh...

Anyway, a (probably NSFW) trailer was released today, and I can confirm that the dynamics of this game will be pretty much the same. In the way that a story centered around a murder mystery advances when your character goes to sleep. When Vincent drifts off he seems to be transported to some kind of world full of evil-looking bi-ped rams.

According to translations of the first few seconds of the game this title will work on the premise that Vincent is trying to find truth behind the common thought that if you die in a dream then you die in real life, too. He is asking a woman if she's heard that when people die in a dream, they die in real life. She replies that she has had a dream in which she has killed someone. (DUN DUN)

The rest of the trailer is lush, this really looks like a great game. Anime cutscenes are done by Studio 4C (who have worked on such projects as The Animatrix) and they look really well done.

[Doubt]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZfTl...layer_embedded
^(Kinda NSFW)

Catherine is a new IP from ATLUS (I think. Could be SMT in America); Catherine is their first HD game, and what the Persona team has been working on. Soejima's on the character designs, and Meguro is in the sound department (which you can really tell from the trailer). It's a horror adventure game marketed towards adults; the key words when making it were "erotic", "adult oriented", and "classic". It features a protagonist, Vincent, who is basically the typical "herbivore" Japanese man. He meets an...adventurous girl named Catherine and the next night, he starts having nightmares in which he must climb a set of stairs (along with his Sheep companions...?), running away from a pair of hands along the way. There's a rumour going around saying that if you have a dream in which you fall and hit the ground, you die.

The game is for 360/PS3, and as such, it's safe to assume it will be released in North America in due time. Until then, it's due out Winter 2010 in Japan.

EDIT: Oh, lol, I didn't realize a thread with a name like this could be referring to Catherine. My bad. I'm fairly certain this isn't a Persona game, however.

EDIT EDIT: They're still working on Persona 5. This is just a testing ground for new HD games. When interviewed in Famitsu, they said something like "We hope to be able to announce a new RPG this time next year." In addition, it was announced earlier that the Persona team was split up: One worked on P3P while the other worked on this. The P3P half is presumably working on P5 and so will the Catherine team when they finish with this title, as it was stated that both teams would come together when their individual projects were finished to work on one large title.

[Mellusia]

It would be weird for a SMT game not to be an RPG for me, so I kind of hope it only comes over as "Catherine"...However having the main character make a cameo in P3P, it seems like it'll share that broad title anyways xD

So as I mentioned at other places, I already hate Vincent for being a cheating fuck. I'm hoping the story is deeper than just him getting punished for being unfaithful, perhaps enough for me to stop hating him for an indiscretion that I think lead to a break-up he seemed to want anyways.

My curiosity for Vinny's relationship is about the unborn kid his GF is supposedly carrying. A twisted possibility is that Catherine is that unborn child in some screwed up way. Of course I can't figure out how that would work, but this is SMT - if that's the conclusion, they'll figure it out ;D

Another thing I thought was that maybe Catherine is the GF's alter-ego of herself that manifested into being.

The logo of the game features Catherine and the GF, so I'm guessing the GF is important in some way.

[Doubt]

The website opened up. COMMENCE HYPE!

http://cathy.atlus.co.jp/

Also, am I the only one who thinks Shin Megami Tensei: Catherine has a nice ring to it? It's probably not SMT, but still. D:

[Casanova]

Have some suggestive promo art:


Fun fact: As can be seen above, the game will have a JP rating of CERO C, which means ages 15+ to you and me. Also, to quell any doubts anyone may have, this game is officially a Persona spin-off. Nothing more, nothing less.

[Doubt]

Also, this is now officially a Persona spin-off. Nothing more.

According to what?

[Casanova]

I swear I read it somewhere. Someone had this listed as a Persona spin-off so I just assumed it would be common knowledge. It certainly doesn't seem to be a SMT game proper. I'm thinking of this as a sophomore HD effort that serves as a precursor to Persona 5. What better way to test out Persona's dynamics HD-wise than with a spin-off that will leave SMT fans screaming for MOOOAR? =]

Also, if you read my earlier announcement posts, you can see I state the fact that this is pretty much a Persona game. It has all the trademarks that I'm aware of. That's me assuming, of course, that you don't already know. You may well.

And then there's the fact that this isn't an RPG. That should positively scream spin-off at you.

[Doubt]

I swear I read it somewhere. Someone had this listed as a Persona spin-off so I just assumed it would be common knowledge. It certainly doesn't seem to be a SMT game proper. I'm thinking of this as a sophomore HD effort that serves as a precursor to Persona 5. What better way to test out Persona's dynamics HD-wise than with a spin-off that will leave SMT fans screaming for MOOOAR? =]

Also, if you read my earlier announcement posts, you can see I state the fact that this is pretty much a Persona game. It has all the trademarks that I'm aware of. That's me assuming, of course, that you don't already know. You may well.

And then there's the fact that this isn't an RPG. That should positively scream spin-off at you.

Why are you assuming this is SMT at all? It doesn't say so anywhere. In fact, aside from storytelling, it looks nothing like any SMT game I've ever played.

[Casanova]

Are you so set on getting into a debate with me about this? Seriously?

I have said nowhere that this is an SMT game. I have said nowhere that I even think this is a SMT game. I said explicitly that this seems to have all the trademarks of a Persona game, things that SMT fans will be familiar with, things that you should be familiar with, things that will let you know this is definitely developed by Atlus, things you will enjoy, things that will get you pumped for Persona 5.

For you, in black (grey) and white, my opinions are stated thusly:

1. I THINK THAT THIS VIDEO GAME IS A SPIN-OFF
2. I THINK THAT THIS VIDEO GAME IS VERY MUCH LIKE YOUR AVERAGE PERSONA VIDEO GAME
3. I DONT THINK THIS VIDEO GAME IS STRICTLY A PART OF THE SHIN MEGAMI TENSEI UNIVERSE

I cannot be any clearer. Take from this what you will, and please feel free to counter anything I have said with some opinions of your own. Which would strictly probably almost be an accepted algorithm essential to the construct and maintenance of a proper discussion. Just throwing that out there.

[Doubt]

Are you so set on getting into a debate with me about this? Seriously?

No, I'm not here to debate anything, I'm just saying that nothing is confirmed, is all.

[Mellusia]

I've pretty much only played RPGs from Atlus, so I'm interested in trying another genre. Although my concern is how long a playthrough will be. That's in fact why I usually stick to RPGs - almost always I get a guaranteed 40 hours in one play through (barring extra additional stuff I could do) as opposed to some 10-15 hours play through campaign or something :/

[I Changed My Name Too!]

I cannot be any clearer. Take from this what you will, and please feel free to counter anything I have said with some opinions of your own. Which would strictly probably almost be an accepted algorithm essential to the construct and maintenance of a proper discussion. Just throwing that out there.

Just gonna stick my nose in here and say that this bit is totally sig worthy, IMHO.

EDIT: Also, so I don't look like a complete douchebag, I'm looking forward to this game a good bit, as the concept baffles me really. A lot of sex and a lot of sheep just seem like kind of an odd combo, but I'm willing to wait it out to see how they do it.

[Darkmatter]

Well I can't really say much that hasn't been said already other than I'm looking forward to this and it's always nice to see something different.

[Doubt]

I've pretty much only played RPGs from Atlus, so I'm interested in trying another genre. Although my concern is how long a playthrough will be. That's in fact why I usually stick to RPGs - almost always I get a guaranteed 40 hours in one play through (barring extra additional stuff I could do) as opposed to some 10-15 hours play through campaign or something :/

Being an Action Adventure/Horror game, I think 10-15 hours is a good estimate. I don't think that should stop you, though. Adventure games cram a lot of story in those 10 hours, which is IMO better than having 10 hours of story and 30 hours of grinding like some RPGs.

[Casanova]

I've not taken the playthrough time into consideration yet. Would some mini-games be a bit much to ask for? I'm not familiar with horror-themed video games as I've only played a handful but this is still an Atlus title at heart, right?

You know, now that I think about it, I suppose one dynamic that should be lost if this title drops all the RPG swagger, is time restraints. I mean the amount of actions you're allowed to take at the end of the day to develop your character. Will there even be any character development? So many questions. D=

Atlus haven't actually answered any. xD

[Doubt]

Playtime is 20 hours, with multiple endings. It's been in development for 2 years, and it will have full voice!

http://www.examiner.com/video-game-i...ltiple-endings