Catherine

I like this game, I got the ending where he got back with Katherine and it wasn’t the best ending but it worked I guess. I watched YT videos on the other endings and I much prefer the one where he married Catherine. The game has a great message and it actually made me think about my own love life at many points, it’s a very vibey game that I recommend playing late at night with a couple beers here and there. However, I was pretty bored with the gameplay aspect of the game and wished that there was more variance. I wish it was a Mario party style game where you climb by playing several different types of minigames instead of just climbing blocks. The story does make up for the full gameplay and I definitely recommend a binge play for anyone who plans to stay up late on a Saturday night.

One of the most unique games ever made. Story arguably didnt age that well. But seen as a product of its time, and the other elements of the story and absolutely amazing gameplay, an absolute masterpiece.

This review pertains to Catherine: Full Body, but is mainly my thoughts on the character Rin. SPOILERS ahead.

I played the original Catherine as well and finished Full Body recently. Obviously the major change is the inclusion of Rin (Qatherine lol). Midway through the game when the characters mention the existence of queer people, Erica and Rin are the most accepting and like "yeah dude queer people exist." At this time, I said to my partner who was watching me play, "I would be my entire bank account that Rin is trans." I also don't remember this conversation happening in the original.

So when Rin was revealed to be trans, naturally I was a bit self satisfied. It was kind of obvious over time though. Vincent's reaction to the realization is BAD, but from the narrative's point of view his revulsion is condemned, which is GOOD. He does something cruel, and we as the audience are meant to see it as such. At this point, I felt like the weird anti-queer subtext of the original was being rectified.

Entering the next bar scene I thought "lord please don't let Vincent blab to his bros about this." He does, which sucks hard. I think when I played Catherine, I gave the narrative some leeway considering Japan has different standards for talking about queer people. I also played the game for the first time in 2016. So if I transported myself to 2011 (before same-sex marriage was federally legalized in the US), I could be a bit more forgiving. The same mental exercise was necessary tolerating Vincent's loose lips about Rin's transness. Overall, I understand that Japan has a totally unique understanding of queerness; however I'm not so much a relativist that I don't believe some of the culture's treatment of LGBTQ+ people is ethically wrong.

Things got worse when Rin left the game entirely. I understand that sometimes, not every character can be so fleshed out that they don't just serve the protagonist. But, come on, she literally stopped existing after she was known to be trans. Of course she's a token queer character, but it didn't have to be so shallow. There were so many loose ties by the end of her story, and it was incredibly dissatisfying.

Erica: On the Wiki, I found that in the original game's credits Erica is labeled "Eric." The Wiki states that this a joke about Erica being trans and is supported by the guys' revulsion over Toby's infatuation. If this is the case, the subtext is so flimsy that I don't think someone would really pick up on this. I think the more immediate interpretation is her sisterly relationship, shamelessness, and age (relative to Toby).

Given these flaws, I still adore this game. While I was very disappointed to see Rin leave, I honestly appreciate her inclusion. As a queer nerd for Japanese pop culture, I've gotten used to managing my expectations for representation.

The funny thing about this game is one of my friends wanted to play this so he rented it through our Gamefly account and it was about a month before the end of the college year during my Junior year of college, which was my worst year of college because of horrible, obnoxious roommates, so it felt good to get away from my apartment as often as possible. So for about a week, I'd head over to one of my friends dorms, then the whole group of friends which was about 8 or so of us would all gather on the couch in the dorm lobby and play Catherine. It was a game that even drew in the non gamers as we tried to solve the puzzles and progress. It actually is a pretty fun game, its a game where you have to think about what you want to do and how to climb the towers, and it was a game that brought us all together as friends. There was some story between about a man who was struggling with his love between his girlfriend and a girl he meets at the bar, and to be honest, the story is decent, sure its not Persona level genius, but its still good with some twists, plus the fact that there are 8 different endings is cool. I mean what more to say, its a solid puzzle game that isn't too difficult but will keep you on your toes and does present difficulty at times, and well there are a few frustrating moments where you have to be quick, its mostly a fair game that only punishes you for being rash. My only complaint is the game has hardly any variety, sure there are some new blocks and puzzles in different areas, but the whole game is basically moving blocks and climbing up to the top, yeah I know a lot of games are repetitive but I guess I just am not a fan of this kind of repetition as much as others, I would have preferred more interactive story over gameplay to be honest.

Occasionally, elements of a story that may appear deeply problematic can be a good thing. Catherine's tale of infidelity and the study of devotion vs. freedom may seem like an excuse plot for assholes, but every character is realistically developed to the point that the overtly complicated relationships Vincent holds with everyone still feel real, making for a nice counter-balance against, you know, the puzzle gameplay set in his nightmares. Too many supernatural plot points cheapen the mood, though. And the puzzle gameplay reeeeaaaally stands out, without enough metaphor to distract from its frustrations. Still, it holds a uniquely viable place in videogames. This narrative may have been present in the early 90s, the decade of irony, but in an area of melodramatic romance, either presented optimistically or callously, we needed Catherine to shake things up.