You’re not reading the headline wrong. There are two women with identical names in Atlus‘ upcoming game, Catherine. One of them is the Catherine we see on the game’s box art (the one the game’s named after) and the other is Katherine, the protagonist Vincent’s girlfriend.
Katerine is a 32-year old mid management employee at a clothing company. She and Vincent were good childhood friends and after high-school became distant. Five years prior to the game’s events, the two bumped into each other at a school reunion and began dating. She and Vincent know each other well. So well, in fact, that Katherine knows how many sugar cubes Vincent likes in his coffee. One screenshot even suggest Katherine’s pregnant with Vincent’s child!
You’re probably wondering how Catherine (with a C) comes into play. Vincent ends up having a one-night stand with her while he and Katherine are dating. We’re not sure how or why, but it happens. Based off the Famitsu screenshots, though, Catherine doesn’t know Vincent has a girlfriend, as she tells him that he better not cheat on her.
After the one-night stand, Vincent begins having nightmares. Rumor has been circulating around his town that people are having dreams where they fall and don’t immediately awaken, but die instead. In Vincent’s dreams, he sees sheep, giant hands, and an evil creature that tries to attack him.
Catherine‘s already been confirmed to have multiple endings. Perhaps going about different paths between Catherine and Katerine will affect those endings? We’ll see soon enough.
Famitsu.com has some exclusive screenshots for now. Expect to see them on here in high-res sometime next week. That’s usually how the Famitsu exclusivity goes, at least.
Catherine launches winter 2010 in Japan for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Atlus hasn’t said anything about a North American or European release date.
Thanks, Andriasang.