Catherine Full Body - Review

Ten years ago now I heard about Catherine. I saw a teaser trailer and some mild details about it, my first thoughts were 'this looks crazy, I must play it'.  I have played Catherine quite a number of times over the years and seen all the endings, it is an awesome game and is like no other I have played.  Naturally, when Atlus announced they would be releasing a new edition of the game with a new story, characters, dialogue, animations, and music I was pumped.


I love yum-yums! What the hell is a yum-yum I hear you asking? They are like a doughnut only softer, full of sugar and frosting and make you go yum-yum.  It's a stupidly good name and even while I type these words I am thinking how much I want one or four.  Playing Catherine Fully Body I found myself asking was it is tasty and sweet as I remember or was there a chance it was better?

Story 


The story of Catherine follows Vincent Brooks, a guy who loves drinking with his friends and is trying to figure out what he is doing with his life.  His long time girlfriend Catherine is getting tired of his antics and wants him to commit more to their relationship. He is happy where he is, but the time has come for Vincent to figure things out. That might seem tough enough already but add in a girl he has woken up beside who is also called Katherine. Then there is Rin a mysterious girl with amnesia who Vincent is trying to help out, but who is she really? And that is just his waking hours, at night he is plagued by nightmares.


The added dialogue and characters are awesome, there are new challenges and new endings to the game recorded by the original voice actors. I loved playing Catherine Fully Body and look forward to seeing all the new endings in time.  Overall the story is fantastic and really adds something new to the game.

Graphics


The visuals in the original release of Catherine in 2011 were awesome. They mixed great in-game visuals and character designs with anime sequences. This time Atlus has given the visuals a bit of an overall upgrade along with adding in some new stuff as well.  The game features some new characters that all add their own flair to the world of Catherine.  There is now a new story puzzle mode where the deadly blocks look very different and offer a lot more of a challenge. Additionally, there is a whole slew of new cut sequences that look amazing.


Overall the visuals look amazing, the upgrades and the addition of new story sequences help make Catherine Fully Body even more impressive than the original release.



Music


The music style used in Catherine Fully Body is varied, including jazz, rock, and anime. Shoji Meguro is the Japanese composer for the Persona and Shin Megami Tensei series. This time he adds his talent to the soundtrack of Catherine Full Body (as he did with the original release). Japanese composer Takeshi Kuramochi also adds his talents to the soundtrack and is best known for his work on the Magical Halloween Series.  The soundtrack also features Japanese hip-hop and rapper L-VOKAL.


The soundtrack runs slightly over two hours and features nothing but great tracks! The soundtrack adds a load of new tracks, including those featured in the Persona series that can now be played on the Juke Box at the Stray Sheep while Vincent is killing time. Overall a great soundtrack that goes way beyond the original.

Gameplay
The gameplay is quite different from any other game I have played before.  It manages to feel like an anime, crossed with an RPG and something else too.  The combination works well and there is time to enjoy all elements of the game.  For example, when Vincent is in the Stray Sheep Bar talking to his friends and speaking with its patrons it seems like the most important thing.  I loved going around talking to people, drinking, sending texts, listening to music, and sometimes if I was in the mood I would play Rapunzel.


Each night when Vincent falls to sleep he must navigate a wall of blocks, build paths to get to the top and try to avoid traps, or falling, or killer sheep.  The puzzle mechanics have been improved quite a lot from the original.  In the original release, the camera angles could be a bit of pain making it awkward to plan your path.  There is now a blue light that indicates when blocks are touching each other and show the potential route you can take while hanging.  The game did not feel as tough as the original and made me wonder if this was due to how many times I had played it before or had Atlus removed some of the difficulty?


In between the puzzles of certain death, a voice asks you certain questions to get a better idea of who you are.  The scale will either tip closer to the red or into the blue depending on how you answer.  More questions have been added this time, and like last time you get to see how other players answered.


Finding the game to easy? Put up the difficulty! Want more of a challenge? Take on the Tower of Babel or take on people online.


Overall the gameplay has enjoyed some tweaks and improvements which really helped provide a smoother experience.





Final Thoughts

So, after twelve hours how did I feel?  Amazing.  The story was awesome and the addition of Rin, along with other characters and the new endings provide a lot of excuses to replay it in the future. The visuals have gone from great to amazing and love the new anime sequences.  The music is awesome and manages to make something old new and then some.  The gameplay improvements are welcome and make the overall experience that much better.  This one gets a solid 5 out of 5