The Cat Lady

Depression is no joke. This game portrays it brilliantly. It's brutally honest and also hopeful. The plot is perfect for a movie adaptation. I really felt like watching a few hours long movie. Good dialogues, great voice acting (especially the main protagonist. I could really feel all her emotions). Great soundtrack. Unique art. You dont use the mouse here, only keyboard, so it's not a traditional point and click per se, but the gameplay is simple and easy that way. Nothing is too hard here, there are only a few puzzles, apart from the usual interaction with objects, which are both intuitive and logical. But the story is so thrilling that the lack of challenging puzzles really doesn't matter here. I really felt for Susan and I was rooting for her until the end. At times I felt like it was me and the dialogue or action choices were influenced by how I feel. I think what's really special about The Cat Lady is that it doesn't leave you indifferent. I felt a lot during this game. There are some eerie, creepy and unsettling scenes here and there but that just showed the darkest sides of human nature. At the end of the game, I just said ''wow''. Susan Ashworth and her story will stay with me for a while.

I like this game but have to take 2 stars away.. One: it is very empty and boring in comparisson with the first one (Downfall). Two: the voicover is HORRIBLE! I know that it is an indie game and all but it is NOT hard to hear that 50% OF THE VOICELINES IS CLIPPING! and really awfully! would it really be hard to stay a little further from the mic or at least do something about the clipping in post? I didnt feel immersed half of the time because I felt like listening to a counter-strike 1.6 voicechat in 2005 instead of enjoying a horror story...

SPOILERS: Let's start with the gameplay. It's the usual adventure game schlock: moon logic puzzles, puzzles that hint toward their solution after they're solved (looking at you, hospital heart). For an adventure game, it's par for the course: stupid, but usually doesn't get in the way too much. Aesthethically, it looks fine at first, but as the game gets more and more confused about what it is about, the graphics stop complimenting the story. It's not pretty, but it doesn't have to be. The voice acting is horrid, but not entertainingly so. The story starts strong. The first chapter is great, but as the game goes on and the number of plot-unrelated (!!!), contrived psycho killers skyrockets, the suspension of disbelief gets strained. Mine lasted right about the fourth one, right around the time he got eaten by cats (don't think too hard about the supernatural elements, they don't make sense and are a red herring {!}). For the most important element of an adventure game, this plot doesn't seem to know what it is about. Ghosts, psychopathic murderers, disturbed minds, suicidal persons, loss and dealing with it, alienation, All sorts of topics are fired like grapeshot, hoping that at least one plot pellet finds its mark, with about as much accuracy or subtlety. Sadly, the game is an overhyped, preachy and misguided mess. For a work of art touted as life affirming (that particular review rumbled me enough to write this one in response), it is absurdly misguided. The game's take on misery is not merely naive, but is downright stupid. It uses concepts like crutches until they break, so they get discarded and replaced with other ones. As a result, it's a mess. The first third of the game has nothing to do with the second or third, characters are introduced and retired quick. The game has a loyal following, but I strongly suspect it is because it mentions emotionally charged topics like suicide and depression and so forth. It's successfully pretentious, but not good.

I've tried to stick with the game long enough to find the mesmerizing story everyone has blathered on about so much, but the horrible artwork and amatuer animations make it a hard one to like. Add in strange gameplay mechanics with side scrolling movement its just well... tiresome. Trying to find a use for items is a recipe in repetition and randomness. Add in tons of backtracking and searching for usable hotspots which is one of adventure games most irritable mechanic. I get that the art is supposed to convey the depth of her depression but frankly, its just ugly and lazy artwork and animation. The story line is so emo filled and pointless, if you like to wallow in self misery and think that is fun game play then this crap game is for you.

At first the game looked really artistic and different to me, that was the reason I bought this game. I knew it was different than the usual 3d games with amazing graphics that always lacked a good story. This game though... It kind of brings something that is hidden, that we all hide at some point. I saw a little bit from myself in this game, all the obsessions, frustrations, hating the life and everything else, I am sure you will emphatize yourself with the main character in the game. It idefinitely worth your time and make sure to play the second game as well !