Catherine: Full Body Review – Still As Exhilarating As Ever

Catherine: Full Body Review

What is Catherine: Full Body About?

The enhanced remake of the game with the same name, Catherine: Full Body is a puzzle-platfomer developed by Atlus. Set in an unnamed American city, the game follows Vincent Brooks, a man who is beset by supernatural nightmares while torn between his feelings for long-time girlfriend Katherine and the similarly-named beauty Catherine.

The gameplay is divided between the daytime, where Vincent interacts with the characters in a social simulation, and his dreams where he must navigate three-dimensional towers through combined platforming and puzzle-solving. The game’s ending is affected by choices made by Vincent over the course of the story denoted by a Karma Meter.

In the remake, the love triangle has been expanded. There is now a new third love interest in the form of Rin, a new neighbour and pianist at the Stray Sheep. As a result, there are a total of five new endings along with twenty new cutscenes to further develop all three love interests. Unlike the other two however, Vincent will have to go out of his way to develop a relationship with Rin.

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Every Choice Matters

At its core, Catherine: Full Body is a puzzle game. There’s a heavy emphasis on story and your actions will shape the path that you will be taking. The game can be easily divided into two portions; the daytime and the nightmare sequence. The brunt of the choices that you will be making is during the daytime sequence, which mostly takes place at The Stray Sheep bar.

In the daytime sequence, you will be treated with various cutscenes which will help further the storyline. You will then be given choices of actions to take that will tailor the storyline based on what you choose to do. For example, if you choose to reply to Katherine in a cold manner or ignore her outright, your Karma Meter will move towards the bad side and you’re less likely to progress towards her ending.

You also have the choice of interacting with people at The Stray Sheep. However, it’s worth noting that people and their interactions can differ depending on when you choose to interact with them. As you have limited time to spend at the place, these actions will consume time. Doing certain activities may result in you being unable to interact with them as they might have left the place by then.

As for why you’d want to interact with certain individuals will depend on your goal. Are you looking to progress towards a specific ending or are you looking to help certain people survive? Some of the people will appear during nightmare sequences and simply interacting with them will improve their chances of survival.

This gameplay dynamic gives you a sense of urgency and forces you to prioritize your goals, which makes for an exhilarating experience. Once you are done for the day, you will then leave The Stray Sheep, trigger some new cutscenes, and then proceed to the game’s primary attraction, the Nightmare sequences.

The Nightmares Are Where Its Truly At

The most adrenaline-pumping and mind-boggling entertainment factor that Catherine: Full Body has to offer is the nightmare sequences. What it offers is essentially a three-part puzzle sequence which concludes with a boss battle of sorts. While you do not fight the boss directly, it will be chasing you as you make your way towards the exit, which makes for a real heart-pounding experience.

The gist of the puzzle sequences is that you have to climb up a wall of floating boxes in order to reach the exit. Climbing the wall is no simple feat however. You will need to create an accessible pathway by pulling and pushing the boxes. Vincent can climb up one box, but two boxes is too tall. He can also hang on the edge of the boxes to maneuver around.

In Catherine: Full Body, there is a new Remix mode that gamers can opt for. In this particular mode, the Nightmare puzzles will have a new type of block reminiscent of Tetris puzzle shapes. This adds a new layer of challenge on how to approach the puzzle. In harder difficulties, there is a time limit, in which the boxes will fall if you’re too slow. In Easy mode, there will be no time limit so you can afford to stop and think about your next move.

After each part has been completed, you will be treated to an intermission area where you can save your progress, talk to the other sheeps around, and learn more about your current situation. There is even a helpful sheep that will teach you some techniques to progress up walls during the puzzle sequences. Prior to beginning the next part, you will be asked questions that will influence the direction you will be taking in the storyline.

While the boss battle portions are challenging, the regular parts are generally quite relaxing to play even with the time limit. It is still as fun as ever and the new pieces in the Remix mode is certainly more than enough to freshen up the game. As for the choices prior to progressing to the next part, it’s usually very obvious who you will be leaning towards with. This is especially the case if you’re going after Rin, as you will want to pick choices that will make the meter crack and eventually break.

Catherine: Full Body Verdict

Catherine: Full Body is a unique, and very entertaining game. While many may think that there is no point getting the game if they already know the story, the new cutscenes and love interest are definitely enough to be worth playing again. If you love a good story and puzzle games, then you will definitely have a blast with this.

However, if you’re someone who can’t think on their feet, not really good with puzzles, or someone who prefers a more action-oriented gameplay, then this game isn’t the one for you. The boss battle portions may even be enough to make you feel anxious that you won’t enjoy the game much. In truth, if you’ve already played the game before, I feel like it’s only worth going for the Rin route. However, if you’ve never played it before, you’re gonna be in for one heck of a ride. As such, I award Catherine: Full Body with our coveted Gold Pokdeward.

If you’d like to purchase the game, click right here for a full list of retailers in Southeast Asia with the game on sale.