There’s a thin line between love and worrying that your girlfriend might murder you in your sleep.
Up until now the majority of Atlus’ PR materials for Catherine have featured a sort of playful whimsy. Sexy, yet demure, like a French foreign exchange student from a small village in the Pyrenees.
This latest trailer however, brings with it some seriously dark undertones. Yes, they are couched in reassuring, almost comical vignettes of actual Atlus fans discussing their own romantic ideals, but behind the smiling faces and bespectacled grins lies a message seen most clearly once the clip segues from reality to the game world. We see our protagonist and the titular female in bed, possibly enjoying post-coital snuggles, when she not-so-subtly warns our scruffy hero against cheating on her.
“What’s wrong with that?” you wonder. In theory, nothing. Infidelity is a debasement of the monogamist ideals romantic love is built upon. That said, the subtext in Catherine’s voice when she utters her warning reads like a line from Fatal Attraction. In print her words are entirely reasonable, but in practice her voice alludes to Glenn Close boiling a pet rabbit.
The effect is impressive, really. It’s simple enough to make a terrifying adventure title with zombies or geometrically-themed serial killers, but making players fear an attractive woman before you even get to the game’s supernatural bits takes a very special touch.
Here’s hoping Catherine can maintain that subtly chilling ambience when it hits the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on July 26.
