Let's Play Catherine - Chapter 1 - Underground Cemetery

Ok. Let's begin.
From the moment we slide the disc in, one of the first images we get it an interesting black and white logo graphic on a tiled marble pillar into which the bloody corpse of a sheep smashes after falling from unknown heights.

Take a moment to reflect on the placement of the gender symbols. Why is the "male" symbol hovering above Katherine while the "female" symbol is hovering above Catherine? What does this tell us about the characters?

Then we reach the start menu and are faced with the image of Vincent chained to a stone pillar screaming for help while Katherine sits above him, ignoring his pleas.

The symbolic imagery is so heavy here, I could cut it with a knife...

The game has three modes to chose from:
Golden Theater: "Enjoy our story by taking control of our tormented main character and leading him into freedom!" (Narrative Mode)
Babel: "Take on the trails once you're adept at the game!" (Insane Puzzle Mode)
Colosseum: "Choose from the various stages of the Golden Playhouse and have a competitive climb-off!" (Multiplayer Mode)

There's three difficulty settings: Easy, normal, and hard. For the sake of getting through the whole game and focusing mainly on narrative elements I'll be playing through it on Easy.

The opening sequence is a montage of scenes from many familiar old movies and highlight aspects of different genres. More than that, you might notice a very distinctive and different artistic style than the rest of the game.

This isn't just random..it serves a pretty important purpose. This game is a STORY.

Spoiler alert: Godzilla is NOT real.

This is a tale, much like any other tale, and just as you wouldn't mistake any of those works of fiction for reality, neither should you believe put so much weight in the "truth" of this game.

In fact, the designers go so far as to make it painfully obvious that this is not real life, and this is not "you". This is not your story any more than Godzilla is your story. This is Vincent's story.

We get introduced to the tale in a very Twilight Zone-esque fashion, where we exist as a spectator to yet another tale in the "Golden Playhouse".

I still can't explain the anachronistic television set or Foxy Cleopatra hairdo...

Our disco seductress for the evening is Trisha, the self proclaimed "Midnight Venus". Yeah, yeah Goddess of late-night love...even Hawthorne would find that symbolism a little condescending.

We stumble into a world the immediately breaks the fourth wall, addressing us (the audience) and again reinforcing this is someone's story other than our own.

This is an important space to discuss because primarily, in games, you either act as a protagonist whom you embody and live in a world as "yourself"where you can (potentially) get multiple endings depending on your choices (Mass Effect, Skyrim, Dragon Age, etc.), or you play as a defined character with his own personality playing through a narrative that has a definitive resolution that will always be reached upon completion of that character's story (almost any JRPG).

Here we have a story of a player viewing a character's story and being given the opportunity to manipulate it in ways that change the outcome with decision made, BUT it is still not the player's story. They are not giving free reign of the world and Vincent must always act in character.

Is your name Vincent Brooks? I didn't think so.

I had to address this partially because I find it intriguing and partially because I find articles by certain Feminists who argue what choices they would or would not have made in any given scenario and I believe they chose to ignore the framed narrative that Atlus provided them with. The article prefaces itself by saying:
"Vincent, though terribly pathetic and stupid, feels like an actual individual. The player can influence Vincent but ultimately he’s the one calling the shots. It gives the game the feel of an interactive television show, which, as noted in the prologue, is the goal."
And then follows it up with comments like "but I, gentle readers, was immune to Catherine’s pixelated charm"

Don't get me wrong, the article makes some very valid points, but many of them seemed to be HER valid points and not VINCENT'S valid points, which makes her prior comment all that much more ponder-some, but regardless...that's just something that should be noted and hopefully discussed. Moving on.

Ah...I see what you did there. lolz.

After being teleported inside the television, we get another brief intro that seems vaguely reminiscing of a film introduction, but instead of actual cast member's names on the screen (such as voice actors or the like) we get the characters names.

Not a real person

This furthers that idea of us watching a film unfold and preventing us from putting too much of ourselves into this story. We're being given every hint that the (metaphorical) girl doesn't want you to make a move, so if you go in for it then it's your fault you got slapped (metaphorically).

This intro also gives us more than that. It gives us a brief understanding of Vincent by snapshots wee get of his room. It isn't much, but it's enough to inform us that he's rather lazy and lives a slovenly lifestyle akin to that of a college freshman.

We then view Vincent laying in bed, but from above his head looking down, to make the connection between player and character (But we are above his head. We cannot see it, but we are not in it. A very important, if minute, difference).

Note: The Special Edition of the game also comes with a pair of  boxers that match Vincent's so you can feel even closer to him than you are in this moment.

We are then teleported into a nightmare dream-space that would make Q*bert piss himself with terror.

Ain't your average puzzle-platformer.

Vincent pretty much looks himself, but now he's sporting a nice pair of ram horns to really pull the whole outfit together. He also was allowed to bring a pillow into the nightmare as well...as if climbing blocks wasn't hard enough with two free hands.

An omnipresent voice begins speaking to us and directing our actions up this marble tower. He graciously informs us that we should probably start climbing...because if we fall, we'll die.

Oh...by the way...

We soon learn that, on Easy mode, if we press the "Back" button we are allowed to "Undo" a prior action. Feel free to analyze how that mechanic affects the game-space or the narrative (or the meta-narrative) at your leisure.

We'll probably be using this... a lot.

We are also introduced to the "Mystic Pillow" which act as our representation of the classic "1-Up" in this game. I'll be making a section on Symbolism where we can try and delve deeper into seemingly arbitrary object choices like that or the stacks of coins the player picks up to increase their score. It may just be a mechanic for the overachiever out there, but the question still stands: "Why coins?"

I'll probably be busting out a dream interpretation book at some point for a lot of this stuff, but we'll see where we go with that when we get there.

What I DO want to address is the interesting space that exists here and the concept of "Freedom" within this space.

Hmm...you don't say...

We'll discuss this "Freedom" in terms of other aspects of the game when we reach it (such as the bar), but as far as nightmares go, there is a certain amount of freedom the game allows you. You are trapped, and if you take too long you will surely fall and die, but at the same time it is up to the player how they wish to climb the tower.

If you watch a guide on YouTube for this game, you have to start from the beginning. Otherwise, your tower will look vastly different than anyone else's. We'll refer back to this concept as we progress, but it should just be noted that there are very specific confines to the game: Reach the top or die. But all the decisions the player makes along the way are entirely up to them.

This mechanic of "spaces of oppression and liberation" reoccur consistently as a general theme throughout the game and certainly bears some scrutiny and enlightened discussion.

But, O! We are getting close to the top of the tower!

Really...unless you put the controller down to go pee or eat dinner,  it is impossible to lose this first level.

While we're at it, let's add bells to the list of the symbolic/significant, but for now let's admit that it's just a really frustratingly awesome mechanic in later levels because you hear the bell, and know you must be close, but you can't figure out how to ascend any higher as the world is literally crashing down around you.

Note: The "Golden Playhouse" logo is always in the top corner, lest you forget whose tale is really being told here/

After you open the door and step through the "bright white light", you get a nice little patronizing message saying "Great Escape! You Survived!" and all your points are tallied up.

Nice score, bro.

It might be an amusing thing to note that your trophies in this game are of Trisha, thereby further objectifying women in a competitive capacity as prizes to be obtained for masculine feats of strength.
(trying really hard to regain that feminist support I undoubtedly lost earlier).

Congratulations! You beat the tutorial!

(Next: Day 1)