As a game reviewer there are few times when you can honestly say something was the first time you felt a particular way for a game. It's often just hyperbole or something being a bit overblown. But this is definitely one of those times when it's genuine – Catherine has got to be the first time that I was so confused, enthralled, horrified and simultaneously unable to look away from a video game. It really is just that sort of game.

Catherine follows the protagonist Vincent through the trials and tribulations of one really hellish week. What starts as a single nightmare and lunch with his girlfriend rapidly spirals out of control. Every night these dreams get worse, leaving him exhausted during the day. As such his sleep deprived, alcohol addled mind isn't exactly handling the fact that he's cheating on his girlfriend very well. His whole world is falling apart and he's being told that if he dies in his sleep he dies in real life. Sweet dreams!

The story for this game is, to put it lightly, pretty screwy. Vincent is an inherently likable protagonist who has fairly normal problems. He really cares for his Katherine, his girlfriend of many years, but he is afraid of commitment and the idea of having to settle down. Heck he even seems to be weirded out about the idea of moving in together. This is something a lot of guys can understand even if they don't panic like our boy Vincent does and, when paired up with his otherwise normal nature, makes him easy to empathize with. A likeable, easy to sympathize with main character? I... I don't know what to say...

As this is a romantic drama, during the daytime at least, the women are just as important and luckily they're very well written. Katherine is the serious type but not exaggeratedly so. She's at the age where she wants to get married and settle down which isn't a lot to ask. While a bit of a nag that only seems to be the case because she really cares for Vincent, even going so far as to clean up his place when she comes over and he's not there. This is a tough balancing act but the game nails it right on the head.

Catherine on the other hand is quite the fun loving individual. Vincent meets Catherine at his favorite bar after a night of heavy drinking and he wakes up in bed next to her with no memory of their... canoodling. While she wants to be in a relationship with Vincent, going so far as to threaten him if she finds out he's cheating on her, she gives off a weird vibe. Super hot she may be but she also feels kind of dangerous and somewhat stalkeriffic. But her ideals of having fun, not being tied down and living life are the sort of thing that would appeal to quite a lot of people (read: guys).

All of the supporting characters are fairly well developed. At night Vincent hangs out at the Stray Sheep bar where he can interact with the patrons as much as he likes (more on that later). This, and the cutscenes that occur before you're given free roam of the place let you see what each of the characters is like. All of them are fairly well developed and act as voices of reason one way or the other in Vincents morality play.

Morality, surprisingly enough, does play a role in all of this. You're not just on a set path here, you can influence the way things turn out. To a degree. Vincent can either follow the blue morality, which seems to represent order, or the red, which represents chaos. The ordered path is the way that society expects you to act – be responsible, get married, raise a family and be stable / dependable. Chaos on the other hand is all about doing what you want. Wanna go out and drink with friends? Have fun. Want to hook up with a hot chick? Done. Shirk your responsibilities? Go for it.

The game tests your moral stance in so many instances it's not even funny. You are given questions while in the dream world, at the end of every puzzle, that influence it but these are only the obvious ones. While in the Stray Sheep and interacting with your friends you can also influence it by what you tell them. Encourage someone to settle down and watch your blue go up. Extol the virtues of a harem and watch your red go up. It's a fairly subtle system that really bases who Vincent truly is on more than just a few choices. You're shaping who Vincent is over the course of the game and who he will be in the future which gives it a much greater impact than such systems in most other games.