Feel like I've hit my stride. Playing on normal the only level that *really* fucked with me was the 3rd boss. The reason for that was I actually didn't know how to progress. There have been other spots that were simply difficult but I had an idea of how to proceed... but this one section on the third boss totally mystified me. I ended up having to look at a video walkthrough, which was funny, because it didn't actually help. I don't know if it was just the way they'd done things or if it was a different version of the game (it appeared to be English, so I dunno), but it did give me an idea. Even though I ended up solving things in an entirely different way.
That's one thing that's very cool about the game. It's a puzzle game, and because of the way it's built you *can* find an absolute best path and follow it all the way to the end, but it doesn't limit you and feels pretty organic, so if you forget how you first scaled one part of a level you can end up doing it differently the next time around. Which can also be frustrating... if you figure out some awesome way to do something and then die, you might freak out because you can't remember what you did to get up so quickly and easily the last time.
As far as just-plain-hard, the 4th boss kicked my ass because I hadn't figured out how some of the attacks were happening in the second half of the fight. Once you figure that out it's not so bad, but I must have died 5 times before I even figured out how the attack worked. Half of the reason the boss fights are so hard is because of all the chaos that goes on, and that one made it really hard to see. Such a great feeling when you complete a level though, especially if it was hard. You get that sense of relief and victory that so many games lack these days.
Catherine is a mixed bag on the whole. I think scores in the 8.5 to 9 range are about right. It's super unique and does so much cool stuff, but it isn't transcendent. It still suffers from some limitations. You can feel the Japanese RPG roots in the ways the dialogue moves and works, but it really shines when the great localization, interesting characters, and acting all come together. And that's not always. There are moments that are a little stilted or don't mesh quite as they should, which is a shame because they do take you a little out of the moment and away from the great, introspection-encouraging story, but I suspect this is more noticeable just because when it does work it's so much better than these games usually are in that regard. The localization team really made this shine, and while there are a couple of unfortunate voice actors, for the most part I'm really pleased with the English voices too (and I wasn't expecting to be). While it may not be perfect, the game does a fantastic job of showing what it's like to feel directionless in your late twenties or early thirties, in particular if you're having woman problems. No reason a woman couldn't play and enjoy it, either.
Anyway... my save is at 10 hours on normal, I just finished the first floor of the 6th tier, and I think I'm at level 14 of Rapunzel (the arcade game you can play at the bar, which is a series of shorter, untimed puzzle levels). Having a blast. I want to say everyone should check this game out, but it really won't appeal to everyone. Either way, it's something that anyone who really loves games should take a look at. This one has the potential to be marked as a turning point, though I don't suspect to see an industry-wide wave of influence. Really, just not enough people will play it.
