This review contains spoilers
I should’ve known that Atlus would release an expanded version of Catherine as they tend to do with each of the Persona titles. Still, an eight-year gap between Full Body and the original Catherine was a long enough duration for a sizable percentage of new players to experience Atlus’ most unconventional IP for the first time as opposed to veterans squeezing more juice out of the potential content to total satisfaction. While a whole gaming generation of time passing caused Catherine to become a fainter recollection in our memory banks, perhaps forgetting its finer details is a fortuitous circumstance for the developers to rework some of the game’s questionable decisions.
Naturally, to get the money’s worth for all returnees to Catherine, Atlus has compiled a plethora of additional content that wasn’t available in the original. Upon selecting Catherine’s story mode, the player has the option to choose “remix mode” which shuffles the placements of blocks in the levels as well as injecting some unseen blocks with new mechanics into the mix. Quality of life enhancements have been implemented to make the already nightmarishly (no pun intended) challenging levels less of a grueling excursion. Dying due to either falling or being slain by a pursuing machination of Vincent’s psyche will not result in a game over. Rather, the developers have shifted these fatal occurrences into the “undo” mechanic, reverting Vincent back to the previous spot to his last maneuver. The developers have also done away with the limited continues, so Vincent is free to fuck up as many times as necessary. Anything to alleviate the binding duress of Catherine’s strict difficulty is much appreciated. The “Babel” and “Colosseum” challenge modes are unlocked without any conditions, so you and a friend can tackle these steep, formidable climbs immediately.
Really, I think the focal point of Full Body is the addition of Rin as Catherine’s character that Atlus shoehorns into the story as another reason to justify rereleasing the same game at full price. Forgive my cynicism, but it’s not as if Marie was a highlight of Persona 4: Golden that made it radiate brighter than the original. Rin’s placement among the plot points is awkward for those who experienced the original game as expected, but she isn’t a waste of space. The game establishes her as early as the first cutscene even before Vincent goes to bed for the first time as she’s being pursued by a stalker the size of an ogre. After getting perhaps too acquainted with her, Vincent helps the frangible, pink-haired girl get back on her feet as she is debilitated by an amnesiac stupor. Vincent houses her in the apartment next door where she decorates her living space with frilly girl things like stuffed animals galore. Vincent also sets her up with a gig playing piano at the Stray Sheep. She isn’t exactly Arthur Rubenstein, but all of the bar patrons appreciate her efforts nonetheless. What is even stranger is that Rin’s job extends to Vincent's nightmares as she slackens the rate of erosion whenever she feels Vincent it could be gaining on him. This is a relief to everyone involved in the nightmare, especially the player, but Rin’s inclusion goes beyond a glorified quality of life enhancement. Seeing Vincent take care of Rin like an older brother makes him a more likable protagonist, giving him a responsibility that forces him to shed the usual pathetic worrywart persona that makes everyone pity him.
But a sibling relationship is not the type of bond Vincent is intended to have with Rin. Once it’s revealed that Rin’s full name is Qatherine, the absolute last consonant to fit as the beginning syllable sound for the name, we realize that she’s also another potential love interest. While a vocal handful of people complain that her presence disrupts the organized love triangle because a love square isn’t as contextually shapely, her inclusion might present another facet of what happens when a man is discontented with his love life: sexual experimentation. Vincent busts into Rin’s room after a disturbance finding her lying on the floor in nothing but a towel. After the towel falls off, let’s just say that now Vincent knows everything there is to know about the crying game. Yes, the big reveal behind her character is that Rin is a trans woman, or at least she’s a gender-fluid, femme-passing person with male anatomy (it’s complicated). Because Vincent is attracted to Rin in some capacity, this revelation makes him frantically question his sexuality as he lashes out at Rin out of complete shock. Of course, I did say that Rin is still a viable romance option so if the player feels inclined to pursue Rin even further, Vincent will have to apologize up and down to her for forgiveness. Once Vincent puts himself on the Rin route, more is revealed revolving around her origin as a supernatural being similar to the yandere blonde bimbo of the same name, hence why she can enter the nightmare to serenade the sheep with her piano playing. Vincent defeats her Archangel older brother as the game’s “final boss,” who then splits into a group of pink aliens that resemble those from Toy Story with a swapped color palette. Vincent marries Rin and becomes her music producer as they travel through space in her rightful saucer. As dumb as the good ending result is, it’s rather sweet of Vincent to pursue his true feelings for Rin regardless of her gender identity.
In reality, the more likely reason the game’s one additional story character is trans is to backpedal from the grievous mistake the original made with this topic. I omitted this detail from my review of the original game but once Toby loses his virginity to Erika, it’s revealed that Erika used to be a high school friend of Vincent and the others named Eric and has had a sex change. Toby is revulsed beyond belief at Erika’s “duplicity” and Erika is offended at his gall to dispute her gender identity. I glossed over this B-plot because it seemed quite trivial to the overarching story of Catherine and almost like a mean-spirited punchline to Toby. If he’s not old enough to suffer the block tower gauntlet in his dreams, he can still suffer in the real world with his crush having a penis. Yikes, Atlus. If this interaction drew a sizeable bit of ire from the LGBT+ community back in 2011, imagine what kind of backlash Full Body would’ve received in a post-#metoo world. I’m not certain Full Body remedies their mistakes with Erika’s gender identity, rather, makes it more vague when Toby tells Orlando that intercourse with Erika was “weird” instead of having a fit. There is also a scene where the gang discusses same-sex couples, and Erika brings Rin over to voice her opinion who is naturally receptive to the concept. Touche, Atlus, but this level of inclusivity is laughably elementary at best. Truthfully, I don’t think Japan as a culture is as progressive and enlightened on the rights and awareness of LGBT+ rights as the Western world even in modern times. They tried, but their attempts are too shallow to show they now have a profound understanding of the subject matter.
Besides adult sophistication, the “full body” wine parallel in the title alludes to a richer, bolder taste that signifies maturation and complexity. If the parallel means that Catherine has reached its potential, I can’t really agree. Sure, the gameplay is far more agreeable and makes for a smoother experience, but there are still several thematic holes in Catherine that are still leaking because the job to fill them has been half-assed. It’s tolerable at best. Still, I can’t argue that this is the definitive Catherine experience despite the glaring flaws that shine through the solid steel door like bullet holes.
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Attribution: https://erockreviews.blogspot.com
Naturally, to get the money’s worth for all returnees to Catherine, Atlus has compiled a plethora of additional content that wasn’t available in the original. Upon selecting Catherine’s story mode, the player has the option to choose “remix mode” which shuffles the placements of blocks in the levels as well as injecting some unseen blocks with new mechanics into the mix. Quality of life enhancements have been implemented to make the already nightmarishly (no pun intended) challenging levels less of a grueling excursion. Dying due to either falling or being slain by a pursuing machination of Vincent’s psyche will not result in a game over. Rather, the developers have shifted these fatal occurrences into the “undo” mechanic, reverting Vincent back to the previous spot to his last maneuver. The developers have also done away with the limited continues, so Vincent is free to fuck up as many times as necessary. Anything to alleviate the binding duress of Catherine’s strict difficulty is much appreciated. The “Babel” and “Colosseum” challenge modes are unlocked without any conditions, so you and a friend can tackle these steep, formidable climbs immediately.
Really, I think the focal point of Full Body is the addition of Rin as Catherine’s character that Atlus shoehorns into the story as another reason to justify rereleasing the same game at full price. Forgive my cynicism, but it’s not as if Marie was a highlight of Persona 4: Golden that made it radiate brighter than the original. Rin’s placement among the plot points is awkward for those who experienced the original game as expected, but she isn’t a waste of space. The game establishes her as early as the first cutscene even before Vincent goes to bed for the first time as she’s being pursued by a stalker the size of an ogre. After getting perhaps too acquainted with her, Vincent helps the frangible, pink-haired girl get back on her feet as she is debilitated by an amnesiac stupor. Vincent houses her in the apartment next door where she decorates her living space with frilly girl things like stuffed animals galore. Vincent also sets her up with a gig playing piano at the Stray Sheep. She isn’t exactly Arthur Rubenstein, but all of the bar patrons appreciate her efforts nonetheless. What is even stranger is that Rin’s job extends to Vincent's nightmares as she slackens the rate of erosion whenever she feels Vincent it could be gaining on him. This is a relief to everyone involved in the nightmare, especially the player, but Rin’s inclusion goes beyond a glorified quality of life enhancement. Seeing Vincent take care of Rin like an older brother makes him a more likable protagonist, giving him a responsibility that forces him to shed the usual pathetic worrywart persona that makes everyone pity him.
But a sibling relationship is not the type of bond Vincent is intended to have with Rin. Once it’s revealed that Rin’s full name is Qatherine, the absolute last consonant to fit as the beginning syllable sound for the name, we realize that she’s also another potential love interest. While a vocal handful of people complain that her presence disrupts the organized love triangle because a love square isn’t as contextually shapely, her inclusion might present another facet of what happens when a man is discontented with his love life: sexual experimentation. Vincent busts into Rin’s room after a disturbance finding her lying on the floor in nothing but a towel. After the towel falls off, let’s just say that now Vincent knows everything there is to know about the crying game. Yes, the big reveal behind her character is that Rin is a trans woman, or at least she’s a gender-fluid, femme-passing person with male anatomy (it’s complicated). Because Vincent is attracted to Rin in some capacity, this revelation makes him frantically question his sexuality as he lashes out at Rin out of complete shock. Of course, I did say that Rin is still a viable romance option so if the player feels inclined to pursue Rin even further, Vincent will have to apologize up and down to her for forgiveness. Once Vincent puts himself on the Rin route, more is revealed revolving around her origin as a supernatural being similar to the yandere blonde bimbo of the same name, hence why she can enter the nightmare to serenade the sheep with her piano playing. Vincent defeats her Archangel older brother as the game’s “final boss,” who then splits into a group of pink aliens that resemble those from Toy Story with a swapped color palette. Vincent marries Rin and becomes her music producer as they travel through space in her rightful saucer. As dumb as the good ending result is, it’s rather sweet of Vincent to pursue his true feelings for Rin regardless of her gender identity.
In reality, the more likely reason the game’s one additional story character is trans is to backpedal from the grievous mistake the original made with this topic. I omitted this detail from my review of the original game but once Toby loses his virginity to Erika, it’s revealed that Erika used to be a high school friend of Vincent and the others named Eric and has had a sex change. Toby is revulsed beyond belief at Erika’s “duplicity” and Erika is offended at his gall to dispute her gender identity. I glossed over this B-plot because it seemed quite trivial to the overarching story of Catherine and almost like a mean-spirited punchline to Toby. If he’s not old enough to suffer the block tower gauntlet in his dreams, he can still suffer in the real world with his crush having a penis. Yikes, Atlus. If this interaction drew a sizeable bit of ire from the LGBT+ community back in 2011, imagine what kind of backlash Full Body would’ve received in a post-#metoo world. I’m not certain Full Body remedies their mistakes with Erika’s gender identity, rather, makes it more vague when Toby tells Orlando that intercourse with Erika was “weird” instead of having a fit. There is also a scene where the gang discusses same-sex couples, and Erika brings Rin over to voice her opinion who is naturally receptive to the concept. Touche, Atlus, but this level of inclusivity is laughably elementary at best. Truthfully, I don’t think Japan as a culture is as progressive and enlightened on the rights and awareness of LGBT+ rights as the Western world even in modern times. They tried, but their attempts are too shallow to show they now have a profound understanding of the subject matter.
Besides adult sophistication, the “full body” wine parallel in the title alludes to a richer, bolder taste that signifies maturation and complexity. If the parallel means that Catherine has reached its potential, I can’t really agree. Sure, the gameplay is far more agreeable and makes for a smoother experience, but there are still several thematic holes in Catherine that are still leaking because the job to fill them has been half-assed. It’s tolerable at best. Still, I can’t argue that this is the definitive Catherine experience despite the glaring flaws that shine through the solid steel door like bullet holes.
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Attribution: https://erockreviews.blogspot.com