Saturday Suggestion – Game: Catherine Full Body

Catherine is by far one of the weirdest yet most addicting games I have ever played. I wanted it as soon as it came out simply because I’m all for choice-making games and puzzles that make you think. It’s definitely not for kids though as innocent as puzzles sound. I’m sure by now you know how much I love a good romance, but you know what spoils it? A love triangle. So… who will you choose? Katherine or Catherine? — A Geeky Gal, Saturday Suggestion – Game: Catherine (2014)

Brief intro: You are Vincent, a 32-year-old office worker, and you have a girlfriend named Katherine, a 32-year-old mid-management level employee. You’re at your favorite bar drinking and contemplating marriage with Katherine who has been dropping heavy hints about commitment when you meet Catherine (yeah, you read that right), a very mysterious woman who seems way too good to be true.

Soon after meeting her (and waking up in your bed with her), you begin having terrible nightmares. You are climbing blocks along with sheep (yep, sheep!) and sometimes running for your life from scary monsters while climbing up these giant puzzles made of blocks. After waking, you soon learn there are men in your neighborhood dying in their sleep from horrific dreams that they can’t remember… Uh oh.

The drama doesn’t end there in Catherine: Full Body. While on your way home from your favorite bar you save Rin who becomes your neighbor and the new pianist at the bar! Yet another love interest? If you want Rin, you’ll have to work harder than ever. Just like a full bodied wine, Catherine: Full Body has been kicked up a notch in content, sexiness, and depth. Let’s dig into this review.

Review: I played the first Catherine in 2014 and fell head over heels for the love triangle, puzzle solving, horror game. When I heard we were getting Full Body, I knew I had to have it. It still has everything I loved about the original with fixes and added content to keep my attention for the long haul.

The ending-determinant questions you have to answer that help determine what kind of ending you get are ever present and help you learn about yourself as a person, just like in the original. The puzzles are completed by climbing, pushing, pulling and running from your fears. The game play outside the nightmares is just as good as before with better lighting and textures in some areas. You can check your cellphone, receive texts, and pictures. You can play the arcade machine “Rapunzel” which helps your puzzle-solving skills.

You can also chat with the bar-goers and get more information on the nightmares and other men. Full Body features new bar patrons as well. You can influence these NPC’s just as before. All of theses things affect what ending you can get: answering texts a certain way, staying home or going out, texting Catherine or Katherine. Everything you do has an impact.

The artwork during the cutscenes looks like traditional anime, but the gameplay is its own 3D ‘anime-like’ style which I really like personally. The music is also very lovely. Full Body includes more tracks for those that are fans of its haunting music. My husband bought me Catherine: Full Body “Heart’s Desire” Premium Edition which came with a cute sheep plush, the soundtrack on CD, a hardcover art book, and a metal case for the game. A total must-have for a fan life myself.

Catherine: Full Body brings us even more amazing content and some major changes to the gameplay. There’s now 20 new animated cutscenes added to round out Katherine, Catherine, and, now, Rin. There’s even more extra spicy scenes added! We get twice the amount of puzzle stages from the original game. We also get new endings for Katherine, Catherine, and, of course, Rin.

Full Body introduces ‘Safety’ to its difficulty options: no game over, no time limit, and the ability to ‘skip’ puzzles. ‘Easy’ and ‘Safety’ modes also include an autoplay feature now that climbs the shortest route for the player. New to the game is also two modes: Classic and Remix. Classic allows the players to play unaltered stages (with a few adjustments) from the original game. Remix features new mechanics and gimmicks in puzzles stages. There’s more changes than what I’ve listed, but you get it! It’s a huge improvement form the original bust still carries all of the uniqueness that is Catherine.

With all of that said, fans of the original Catherine and those who never got their hands on it have plenty of content to explore, puzzles to climb, and mysteries to solve in ATLUS’ Catherine: Full Body. With more endings than before, who knows what fate awaits Vincent? Is it Katherine, Catherine, Rin, or… something else?

Bottom Line: Full Body is the sexiest horror puzzle game you’ll ever play and is even better than the original.

Official Rating: M

Genre(s): Adventure, Puzzle Platform, RPG