Atlus Talks Catherine Design Concept

Catherine is one of the most intriguing games currently in development, and Atlus has not been shy about sharing details, media, and updates. Most recently, we had the new TGS 2010 trailer , which followed closely behind the bizarre debut video .

Now, Atlus has spoken with Japanese publication Dengeki about the project, and we learn a bit more about the creator's overall vision. As summarized at Andriasang , producer/director Katsura Hashino and character designer Shigenori Soejima provided more info and told us the game is getting a ton of attention. In fact, Hashino mentioned that the official site "is at the same levels as when they announce a new Persona game." He was also surprised to see how popular the released videos have become on YouTube…which might indicate enough foreign interest to bring the game to the US, if they haven't already planned on doing that. That all being said, the director is still a little nervous about how the game will be received.

He says the project is "ambitious" and although we've only seen narrative and cut-scenes in the video media, Atlus actually cemented the gameplay systems before the characters. Initially, Soejima wanted a war theme, but after discussions with Hashino, they decided to switch to a male/female love theme. For some character insight, they said Vincent is actually modeled after Vincent Gallo from Buffalo '66, and as far as Catherine and Katherine are concerned:

"Old Katherine is meant to show adult charms, compared to the young and healthier Catherine. Soejima said he had to redraw the old Katherine character many times before coming to the final result. However, the young Catherine proved particularly difficult herself during the conversion to 3D as he made adjustments right to the end and even upped her bust size."

Part of the story is a love triangle between Vincent, Katherine, and Catherine, as you probably guessed from the trailers. Oddly enough, Hashino conducted research on this theme by asking members of the Atlus staff for similar personal experiences. Those who anted up might get their names in the staff roll. In terms of the visuals, Studio 4C spent "about a year" working on the anime for the game, which will be more than the "30 minutes or os you'd find in Persona ." Oh, and there will be multiple endings, too, so that's incentive to go through the story a few times.

Hashino and Soejima finished by saying we should expect additional character announcements and that while we've seen the "erotic side," they'll soon unveil more of the "horror side." We'll definitely have to get a closer look at this one.

Related Game(s): Catherine