‘Catherine: Full Body’ is an excellent puzzle game. You play as a character named Vincent, who awakens each night to find himself trapped in a nightmare. To escape alive, he must navigate towers of blocks, which he moves to provide paths for his ascension. The puzzles really cause you to think creatively about how to help Vincent climb up to the exit. The puzzles in this game, while they do get repetitive towards the end, are fun to think through. 

There is no one way to complete a tower, so experimenting is always an option. I enjoy going back and finding new ways to move blocks that I hadn’t seen before! Additionally, each night includes new challenges for Vincent to overcome, which spices up the repetitiveness a bit. The game, made by ATLUS (‘Persona,’ ‘Shin Megami Tensei,’ etc.), is available on modern consoles!

Score: 8/10

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Alright, so I should probably address the rest of the game. Everything I mentioned above is not meant to throw you off. The puzzles in this game are exciting and fun. The rest of the game though…now that’s a different story.

I’m not saying that the rest of the game isn’t fun…it’s just strange. The story revolves around Vincent and his affection for three people: Katherine, Catherine, and Qatherine (who goes by “Rin”). Vincent is dating Katherine but has an affair with Catherine, all while he’s falling in love with Qatherine, who is also his neighbor. Confused yet?

The game has some…how do I say…adult content. Visuals of women in this game are sexualized like crazy. The game isn’t afraid to make references to many deeds which I’m sure you can connect the pieces to by now. That all being said, there isn’t actually any nudity in the game. You do see Rin’s chest, although it isn’t nudity. 

Rin is transgender. It’s revealed midway through the game that Rin is a “man.” Also, one of Vincent’s friends, Erica, is transgender as well. Don’t get me wrong, it is wonderful to see representation in a game, although the game doesn’t handle it well. It outs these characters and makes it a point to show them as “different” by making jokes. I do not believe the developers had any malice towards transgender people, they just simply didn’t know how to represent them properly. 

There are a whopping thirteen endings in this game. They are split between the three love interests for Vincent. All the endings range in absurdity. To give you a basic idea, in one ending, you can marry Katherine, and in another, you travel back in time with Catherine. I made sure to leave out the most insane endings so I don’t spoil the fun of your jaw dropping to the floor.

I mentioned the nightmares previously. Vincent is plagued by nightmares each night, where if he dies in the nightmare, he dies in real life. All the while, he’s trying to manage three people at once who all want to be with him. His long-term relationship with Katherine is rocky, and then he becomes infatuated with a mysterious girl named Catherine who ends up in his bed each morning. There’s also the mystery of Rin, who just showed up one day. All three of these characters are options for Vincent, so don’t be upset if you’re all alone. You can at least pretend like people want to date you in video game form.

There are breaks between each nightmare, where Vincent can explore a local bar and interact with people. It’s a nice change of pace from the puzzles and wild plot. Some of the conversations you have may impact the story, so make sure to talk to everyone you see. You may also learn a bit more about the lives of the other characters.

The plot, and by extension endings, are changed by your decisions. Between each nightmare tower, you will answer a set of questions that will determine what path the game will take you on. 

The story itself isn’t too bad. Some paths are better than others, but it isn’t that big of a difference in quality. Every single path has positives and negatives, as does any story. I wouldn’t recommend playing the game solely for the story. The plot plays a huge role in the game, but the puzzles do as well. It should be noted that all the paths tell the whole story of the game. As I said, there are thirteen different paths, so have fun!

Besides the story, you can participate in the Tower of Babble. This is a mode where you may choose any character and try to climb as high as possible. This mode would only be played by those who are confident with their abilities in the main game’s puzzles because this mode can get really hard. Joker from “Persona 5” is a playable character though, so that’s a nice touch!

The game is very…exaggerated in its depictions. The opening title has the outline of Catherine and Katherine opening a bottle with their…bodies. It’s moments like these that happen throughout the game which makes me uncomfortable. Yes, the game genuinely makes me feel anxious. I would not recommend this game to someone sensitive to mature content. Even someone who has been exposed to a lot of mature content may find this game a bit too much to handle.

All in all, ‘Catherine: Full Body” is an excellent puzzle game with a plethora of mature themes. I really did enjoy the puzzles, and anyone who likes puzzle games should at least consider this game. However, this game can be a lot for someone who isn’t prepared for it. Use caution before buying it, because you may be in for a shock. If that doesn’t bother you though, enjoy the harem of characters out to date you.