Catherine: Full Body Reviews

Catherine: Full Body is a marked improvement over the original Catherine, offering more ways to play for those who want to experience an engaging yet slightly problematic story.

Originally released in 2011, Catherine became a cult classic due to its oddities and innovation. Part visual novel and part block puzzler, gamers fell head over heels for Catherine. With several new additions and improvements, Atlus has released Catherine: Full Body, but will this be a loving stroll down memory lane or a painful and forgettable fling?

Catherine Full Body is a enhanced version of 2011’s Catherine, a social interaction and puzzler with elements of the horrific. It’s unique enough to have instantly captured my interest back in the day and still stands up now in 2019.

Those problems feel fairly minor, however. Catherine: Full Body is as much of a joy to play as it ever has been. If you’re wanting to play on a big TV, the PS4 version of the game is the clear way to go, but getting absorbed in the game’s excellent narrative or sinking your teeth into a puzzle is hugely rewarding in handheld mode. You’re not going to regret picking it up on Switch, put it that way.

Vincent Brooks was a hapless idiot. He was innocent enough, well-meaning, but entirely socially inept and seemingly incapable of holding things together. It always felt as if the horrific things happening to Vincent were placed upon him, not his fault, and he was a victim. But not anymore. Catherine: Full Body expands Vincent's story in new ways, and we see a different side to our protagonist, one that's not quite so innocent or flattering, and for better or worse (mostly worse) it forever changes a favored character of a cult classic game.

You are Vincent Brooks, 32 years old, in Catherine: Full Body. You’re relationship with Katherine McBride, someone you knew from high school, now reconnected. People are asking if you’re going to settle down. You’re not sure, so you confide with your friends at your favourite hangout, the Stray Sheep Bar. The night of drinking segues into a nightmare, a dream of a crumbling tower. Some voice asks you about philosophical topics. You wake up in bed, with not-Katherine. Welcome to the sta...

Catherine is certainly a fun and challenging game, both in its gameplay and story and character elements. In some of these moments it succeeds, in others, it fumbles, and falls flat on its face. But that doesn't mean it's unimportant, as it is good to learn from mistakes made previously in order to improve at a later point in time.

Even though Catherine debuted in 2011, it's still regarded as one of the most unique games ever created and now that an exciting remake is out, a new generation of gamers can see what all the hubbub is about.

Still one of the few video games to deal with love and relationships in anything like a realistic manner, but the attempts to shoehorn in an extra new character fall flat.

Catherine is a timeless classic, and Full Body does a great job of adding meaningful new content and plenty of small tweaks that breathe fresh life into it. It’s the perfect entry point for those who missed the 2011 original. It may be a little too familiar for those who already experienced everything Catherine had to offer eight years ago, but there’s still value to be had with Rin’s excellent story arc, remix mode, online multiplayer, and plethora of new puzzles.

Out of necessity of reviewing the new content, this review contains spoilers for the new “Rin” Route in Catherine: Full Body! If you don’t want spoilers, come back later when you’ve finished the game! The spoiler-free take? It’s a largely appealing game hampered by some mean-spirited and poor writing choices that undermine many of the very things the game is trying to do.

Catherine: Full Body offers plenty of new and challenging puzzles and a new Remix mode to keep returning players satisfied alongside a number of new story beats while offering newcomers a unique storyline and gaming experience that shows its age from time to time.

When it originally released in 2011, I loved Catherine. A strange blend of visual novel,  puzzler, romance and horror, it combined some very adult and strange themes, making it one of the more memorable titles I can think of in recent video game history. To my pleasant surprise, the mish-mash of concepts actually worked quite well together, creating a challenging experience that often kept you on your toes, guessing about its mysteries and questioning your own morals throughout.

Catherine: Full Body has aged like the finest of wines. For fans of the story, the new characters and plot threads fold in fantastically after an awkward start, and they're coupled with a wealth of new dialogue and beautifully animated cutscenes. For fans of the gameplay, new remixed levels and difficulty options add brand new challenges for even the most hardcore Catherine enthusiasts, and with support for the game's niche competitive scene to boot. And if you've never played the game before, all of these additions make an already classic video game even more of a must-play experience.

Atlus has released a great package for a title that probably didn't get as much love as it should have back when it first launched. From the puzzles, stylistic choices, and storyline Catherine: Full Body holds up even while it's closing in on its ninth anniversary. This is a unique game that's riveting throughout, I recommend it for newcomers and returning players alike.

Catherine: Full Body remains a bizarre, but enjoyable, adventure that asks a lot of questions about life without providing many answers. That’s fine; some of the best fiction lets the audience make up their own mind about what it all means. But the game itself seems to be stretching toward an ideal that it sometimes undercuts with its own writing and characterization, leaving an experience that mirrors Vincent himself: messy, uncomfortable, and always falling short of its potential.

With Catherine: Full Body, it feels like Atlus was trying to find an acceptable midpoint between remake and remaster. As a remake, its success depends entirely on whether or not players choose to follow Rin’s route. If they do, then the story changes at least feel justified, even if one doesn’t actually like where that story thread goes. If they don’t choose Rin, though, then the whole exercise winds up feeling entirely pointless. As a remaster, however, Catherine: Full Body is successful. The game looks and sounds great, its new remix mode offers refreshing challenges to player both old and new alike, the new safety mode makes seeing all the endings easier than ever, and the addition of a fully-featured online multiplayer is sure to keep die-hard block-stackers happy for a good long while. New players and serious fans likely won’t regret picking up Catherine: Full Body on release, but everyone else would likely be better-off waiting for a sale.

Catherine: Full Body didn't really change my opinion on Catherine all that much.  I'm still as conflicted as I was in 2011 with a love for the art style and weirdness of the game.  The uninspired puzzles that make up the rest of it wear out their welcome too quickly though.

The Persona team's puzzle-romance horror returns for a PlayStation 4 makeover.

Catherine: Full Body takes the 2011 cult classic to the next level. With new story elements, remixed stages, and compelling characters, this title is sure to satisfy old fans and newcomers alike.

Catherine is a puzzle platforming game that was originally released in 2011. It gained a large following and received a lot of praise for its puzzle designs, weird story, mature themes, and the fact it was designed by the same people who went on to design Persona 5. Trying to capitalize on their success and reach a larger audience, Atlus and Studio Zero have now given us Catherine: Full Body, a remake/enhanced version of the 2011 title. I was eager to see what all the hype was about and exci...

I was a fan of the original Catherine, and I’m pleased to find the changes are mostly for the better. If you like puzzle games, specifically ones about finding patterns through the noise, and don’t mind potentially uncomfortable questions about mature topics, I highly recommend picking up Catherine: Full Body.