E3 2019 Hands-On IMPRESSIONS: Catherine: Full Body

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Catherine is one of those games that is hard to define, as our review of the original PlayStation 3 release could have told you. Catherine: Full Body introduces a new love interest, Rin, into Vincent’s already complicated romantic triangle with Catherine and Katherine. This time around, there are new cutscenes, over five-hundred puzzles (twice that of the original release), and a new ‘Remix Mode’ that adds new linked blocks to the levels to make them challenging for veterans of the original.

My Catherine: Full Body gameplay demo during E3 2019 took place during the fourth night in the game. If you’ve played the original, then you know the basic gameplay: during the day, there are social interaction segments with Vincent at the bar, and at night there is a platforming and puzzle-solving gameplay. Unfortunately, I did not get to play during the daytime segment, so I was not able to interact with Rin, voiced by newcomer Brianna Knickerbocker. The platforming and puzzle segment is as complex as it ever was. If you played it back when it came out originally for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, you may remember that Vincent has to climb the tower at night, pushing/pulling blocks along the way to make them into stairs. While he is doing all this, the lower levels are all being torn asunder beneath him by a diapered baby (these are dreams after all), and if Vincent gets caught in the destruction, then he loses a life and has to go back to the prior checkpoint. This gameplay is back in full force, and it looks positively stunning on PlayStation 4. Catherine: Full Body is a gorgeous game to experience, and the gameplay was incredibly hard for me to get through. The gameplay mechanics themselves are extremely responsive, and I found myself trying to puzzle out solutions of how to move and rotate the camera around to see how to build a path forward and upwards as quickly as possible. I only managed to get to the second floor, however, before my time ran out.

The fact that I did not finish the demo is not the game’s fault, but is more the lack of skill on my part. Furthermore, despite playing it several years ago, I was never great the original release either. But Catherine: Full Body was still a fun, well polished demo that is clearly not a remake but is instead a whole new expanded version of the venerable classic.

You can pre-order Catherine: Full Body now for the PlayStation 4 (Launch Edition / Premium Edition).

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Are you excited to revisit this world in Catherine: Full Body? Who do you prefer: Catherine, Katherine, or Rin?