Catherine: Full Body Review

Game: Catherine: Full Body

Developer: Atlus, Studio Zero

Genre: Puzzle Game

Release Date: February 14th, 2019 (Catherine [original] February, 2011).

Completed: April 2025 on the PS4

Main cast of Catherine: Full Body. Source

Overall Impression

I’m not usually a puzzle-game-enjoyer but since this game is made by Atlus my beloved, I figured I’d give it a shot before returning to my usual scheduled JRPG gaming. Overall, this was an enjoyable game with a strange learning curve and a neat story. It was much shorter than I expected but I’m still glad I played it. I do think a huge part of my personal enjoyment of the game is primarily based in the familiarity of the art style, music and overlapping UI to other JRPG Atlus titles. The story is decently written and features adult and erotic themes which is a welcomed contrast to the minors/young adults featured in many Atlus game casts.

Gameplay Mechanics & Performance

The gameplay of Catherine: Full Body is primarily a puzzle platforming/climbing game with some life-simulation elements between puzzles. The nightmare-puzzles are very daunting at first, as the blocks Vincent (the protagonist) is climbing slowly fall into an abyss. At first, I found this very overwhelming and a stark contrast to my usual turn based combat that allows for unrushed thought. To help with this, in between stages, other sheep in the nightmare teach the player climbing and movement techniques. Although helpful, I found this difficult to put into practice during the real-time speed of the gameplay. I had to put the game into easy mode for like 3 puzzles but then got the jist and returned the setting to normal difficulty, and was mostly pleased with the level of challenge that brought me. 

The puzzle designs are well made and creative. I don’t play many puzzle games so I don’t have a standard of expectation for gameplay for this genre. I thought the combination of different block styles and a very limited item selection made for simple yet effective gameplay. I found myself having a small pop-off at the top of each stage in celebration. The included auto-play function is extremely useful in seeing what paths the game’s AI would take to get players back to the point which they left off. I would learn a lot and adapt from this function often. Near the end of the game, I was able to utilize the techniques that the sheep in the nightmare teach you. 

The social simulation elements are brief but made for good breaks in between high stress puzzles. All of the social gameplay takes place in a bar where players can drink, talk with other characters, play an arcade cabinet, use the bathroom and jukebox. Thrillingly enough, on the jukebox there are 2 tracks for “Project Re:Fantasy” (this version of Catherine was released in 2019) which became my BELOVED Metaphor Re: Fantazio in 2024! That was so cool to see. The songs were not the same that were included in Metaphor, but have the same vibe of what the music ended up becoming. On the note of sound, the entire game is voice acted (well) which encourages and supports the social simulation aspects of gameplay.

Moreover, it was interesting to get drunk in the bar and then move faster in the nightmare. Another nice tie-in of the puzzle gameplay to social simulation was how players interact with anonymous sheep in the tower, but later meet these characters as the people they are in "real life” in the bar.

Story and Characters

The story in this game strikes an interesting balance between crassness and many realities of adulthood dating and everyday life. Although a bit painfully hetero, Vincent and his boy squad are a very real reality for many 30-something male social groups. Work, drink at the bar, talk about women, repeat. The gameplay loop of cut scene, bar social simulation to nightmare puzzle really emphasized the sameness many adults experience in their daily life. Subsequently, the stark differences in the love interests (specifically Katherine and Catherine, I didn’t really get to do much with Rin) make for a clear push and pull of societal evil versus good for Vincent and the player. It made for exciting story choices but also made it hard for me to decide what kind of route I wanted to take. I ended up getting the Katherine Freedom ending, where she chooses herself. Go off queen. I liked this ending for a feminist playthrough of the game that seems to push favouring a positive outcome for the male protagonist. 

An interesting story element I noticed was when someone asks Rin her thoughts on gay marriage. She insists that love is love and it doesn’t matter and leads Vincent to pretty much agree with her. That was really nice to see, especially from a game made in Japan which has a very conservative society. Other notable story moments include the DV scene when Vincent tries to break up with Catherine. I always think about how something like that would be received if the roles were reversed, as Catherine beat down on Vincent in the bathroom. Of course, we know she is actually a succubus not a real person so that adds to the context. She also says some insanely lewd things like “After all that you’ve done to my body” and other highly sexual nuanced points. Again, yes, she is a succubus, but I was a bit surprised to see Atlus be this straightforwardly horny. It was fun.

One of my favourite characters was the narrator. They offer trivia and funny little quips and moments of encouragement for the player. They had a very dramatic and unique reading voice and I enjoyed what they added to segue moments in the story. I also very much enjoyed the use of real life trivia like the facts about alcohol or the polls in the nightmare that show you first-time player data for each “risque” question. Things like that ground this fictional game in elements of reality.

Happy with the ending I got, and knowing I will return to JRPGs after my rare puzzle game, I did go to YouTube and watched most of the game's endings. I love the wild Catherine endings and thought they were over-the-top in a quirky way. I see that there is puzzle replayability too, with additional elements for gameplay, but it’s not my style of play so I doubt I will play this game again anytime soon.

Graphics and Sound

I am always comforted by the unmistakable and detailed art and character designer of Atlus legend Shigenori Soejima. Soejima’s work in Catherine is so cohesive, particularly in the environment rendering. The bar, The Stray Sheep, has such a realistic local pub feel. I also LOVED the easter eggs in this bar like all 3 Persona companion plushies on the bartop, as well as the P3 Gekkoukan High School logo on the wall. Moreover, each character has a unique design in line with their obvious personality. I do think Vincent’s shirt design is kind of unfortunate, and I’m not sure why they picked that (see below). I loved every time he made D: face (see below).

Vincent's unfortunate shirt design. Source

Vincent's reaction face. Source

As for music, composed by the legend himself, Shoji Meguro, it does not disappoint. Lots of the daytime music is so jazzy and cool. The nightmare music did its job of being spooky scary but wouldn’t be something I’m adding to the playlist. When Meguro is composing for a game, I always want more music, but it's a selfish desire, much like some of Vincent’s endings in Catherine.  Overall enjoyable soundtrack with a few very memorable beats.

Comparisons, Final Thoughts, Conclusions

I’m glad I played this game if not only to add another Atlus game completed to my list. It is a nice variation to my usual JRPG-style gaming. The adult-oriented story is also a nice contrast from the usual JRPG protagonist being 15 for reasons no one can explain, even when there is no high school setting (e.g. SMTIV).  Not sure I would replay this again, but enjoyed the challenge and found myself improving at the climbing system by the end of the game. The game did feel quite short to me, but like I said I am used to 100 hour games. I’d recommend it to others though as it's affordable and fun! 

Overall Arbitrary Rating:

6.5/10 spoopies