What If Catherine Seduced Vincent Brooks…At The Arcades?

Since the PC port of the original Catherine is titled “Catherine Classic”, I would not be surprised if an official arcade port would be titled “Catherine Arcade” [7]. I posted a poll on Twitter not too long ago asking my followers if they would like to see an official arcade version of Catherine and the results were fifty/fifty [25]. Despite the mixed results, I would actually love to witness a Catherine-theme arcade machine in my state sometime after 2019 as it would be quite a good expansion on the Catherine franchise, as well as a method of expanding the possibilities in arcade gaming. As many of Catherine crusaders in the West wait for the English dub of Catherine: Full Body while plenty of others are into “Catherine Classic” for the PC [7] [8], Even though it is not official and it might not happen anytime soon, I shall discuss how a good arcade adaption of the sexy but scary tale.

Can’t get enough seduction and suspense after Catherine: Full Body? Well, perhaps an arcade port ought to satisfy your specific gaming needs? [7]

Since there were often children and teenagers in arcades, there is a chance that there would be plenty of restrictions on what content to feature. The horror within the nightmares would remain unaltered since there are plenty of violent and scary first-person shooters in arcades these days. What about the profanity? Well, at some point in the Tomb Raider reboot from 2013 and its definitive edition, Vladimir points his gun at Lara and says “Don’t you f***ing move.” after knocking her to the ground [4] [19]. But in the arcade version of it from 2018, he says ‘’Don’t you move”, which is a sign of rather legitimate censorship [23]. Furthermore, the Brookster better watch his mouth. Again, there are often minors in public arcade places. As for Catherine’s seductive appearance, I would not really complain about that too much since there were fully live-action samples of cheerful women in provocative outfits in Super Bikes 2 [20] [21]. A small amount of censorship can make the arcade port of Catherine acceptable to public arcades, but not to the point when too much of what made Catherine notable for being mature is lost, thus making the outcome not as recognisable.

Won’t somebody PLEASE think of the children?! [7]

Speaking of carefully selecting content, which cutscenes shall be featured once the player inserts a coin? Trisha can give a brief summary of the plot, but it can be skippable. The moment when Vincent and Katherine McBride dine at the Chrono Rabbit would definitely be featured in one chapter for establishing a few character traits [9]. There have been some erotic arcade games throughout the history of gaming [18], but I honestly do not think including that much erotica would fit the standards of the public arcades in my state today. Likewise, the moment when the Brookster wakes up next to a fully nude Catherine would probably not be featured, despite how it is an important aspect of the story [6] [7]. Nevertheless, one cutscene in the cabinet can be when the seductive blondie meets him at the Stray Sheep [6] [7]. Featuring only a couple of cutscenes would not only steadily shorten the story, but prevent any censorship issues regarding how the premise would be established. It is best to not make the port too long for arcade admirers. With a few cutscenes carefully selected for each chapter to build the purpose of the nightmares, the player can also focus on the gameplay…for dear life!

LISTEN TO ME!!! Or no dessert for you, mister! [7]

Do we really need to explain what happens afterwards again? [6]

But before we discuss the gameplay, what can be featured on the design of the cabinet for an arcade port of Catherine? If Rin ought to be featured on either side as a shout-out to Catherine: Full Body [8] [15], I guess the pink-haired pianist ought to be the one posing with a miniature Vincent [15]. We all know what happened with Katherine and Catherine’s suggestive posing at one point during the marketing the original Catherine for the PS3 and Xbox 360 [6] [7]. Speaking of Full Body, it is a bummer that it will not be available for the Xbox One [8], but the PS4 cover of it would be another good option for one side of the cabinet. The best choices for the controls would be a joystick for moving and climbing from block to block, a button for grabbing blocks and another button for undoing a move [22]. There should be enough room for two of each so that the game will be available to play with another fellow arcade admirer. Aside from a faithful and appealing design for the cabinet, the most important aspect to bring to the arcades would be the unique tower climbing gameplay, along with acceptable controls.

We don’t have to display my boyfriend climbing towards my booty? Oh thank Atlus! [7]

It’s raining sheep! Hallelujah, it’s raining sheep! [8] [15]

I definitely would like the gameplay of the arcade port to be based on Babel or Colosseum Mode, so that it would definitely be available for two players [5] [11]. So how many stages shall be in a shorted adaption for arcades? A fair amount of the stages for an arcade port would be:

• The Prison Of Despair [13]
• The Torture Chamber [16]
• The Inquisition [12]
• The Clock Tower [10]
• The Cathedral [17]

For a bonus chapter or alternative mode, the additional playable characters ought to be the ones who are playable in the DLC of the Japanese version of Catherine: Full Body [8]. Hopefully, the DLC will also in the English version of Catherine: Full Body. And as for a likely arcade port, perhaps it could be featured in a special edition that would be quite like the special edition of Deadstorm Pirates [1] [2]. Whatever happens in its gameplay, let us hope that the difficulty in an arcade version of Catherine will not be too extreme [7]. The decision to only base the outcome on Babel or Colosseum mode in order to make it seem like a mature multiplayer arcade game would definitely make seem representable for expanding on the Catherine franchise in arcades.

The thought of dying in the nightmare is baaaaaaaaad! [5]

I think I know what plenty of our fellow Catherine crusaders are thinking. An arcade port of Catherine? Why not just make a real-life version of Rapunzel [14]? You know, the minigame that takes the techniques of the main game [14]? Well, I suppose a real-life version of the arcade game from the Stray Sheep would be great for any cosplayer who chooses to cosplay as Vincent in his regular attire. However, I believe that many arcade admirers who never played Catherine would just see it as a rather random adaption of the classic story of Rapunzel unless the cabinet indicates that it is a game from Catherine, thus giving them a better understanding of it. Furthermore, I believe a port of the main gameplay of Catherine would be a better choice for marketing since the legacy of the strange tale has been fairly popular for eight years [7].

The Brookster about to play Rapunzel. [14]

Remember when mass-produced and commercially available arcade gaming spawned with Computer Space and Pong back in the early 70s [3]? Well, a carefully planned out arcade version of Catherine can not only be quite a unique specimen of a modern arcade game, but further prove that appeal of arcade gaming shall last so much longer. It could also give the mature side of gaming in the 2020s a good impression after the success of Catherine: Full Body. I guess there is always something new for many intellectual properties, as long the passion for each of them can be maintained for future generations of gaming. I would definitely spend at least one British pound on trying to guide the handsome Brookster or any of his allies to the top of the tower of blocks. An official arcade of adaption of Catherine has not been officially confirmed by Atlus, but I just thought I might discuss a possibility with my fellow readers and gamers. Stay golden.

It seems today that all you see is violence in arcades and sex on PC. But where are those timeless gameplay values that we adored long ago? [7] [24]

References

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