Catherine (video game)

Catherine is a puzzle video game from Atlus. It launched on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in Japan and North America in 2011, then in PAL regions through Deep Silver in 2012. A Windows version came from Sega in 2019. An expanded re-release, Catherine: Full Body, arrived worldwide on PlayStation 4 in 2019, on PlayStation Vita in Japan and Asia with English subtitles in 2019 and 2020 respectively, and on Nintendo Switch globally in 2020. The story follows Vincent Brooks, a man caught between his longtime girlfriend Katherine and a woman named Catherine, while he suffers supernatural nightmares. Gameplay splits between daytime social simulation at a bar and dream sequences where Vincent climbs collapsing block towers using platforming and puzzle-solving. The ending changes based on Vincent’s choices.

The game was made by the same studio behind the Persona series, with producer and director Katsura Hashino, character designer Shigenori Soejima, and composer Shoji Meguro. Production started near the end of Persona 4’s development in 2008, aiming for an adult audience. Atlus USA handled the English localization. Full Body was developed by Studio Zero, a new Atlus division led by Hashino, which expanded the original by bringing back the initial cast and adding a new love interest named Rin, short for Qatherine.

Reception was generally positive, with critics praising the mature themes and gameplay, though some found it too difficult. Atlus responded with a patch adding an “Easy” mode. The game earned several award nominations and sold over one million copies worldwide by 2017, exceeding Atlus’s expectations.

**Gameplay**

Players control Vincent Brooks, a man tormented by deadly nightmares after getting involved with multiple women. The game has two parts: daytime social simulation at the Stray Sheep bar, and nightmare segments where Vincent climbs deadly block towers through platforming and puzzle-solving. There are three modes: the single-player story campaign called “Golden Playhouse,” “Babel,” and multiplayer “Colosseum” challenge levels unlocked after finishing the story.

During daytime, Vincent interacts with his girlfriends and other characters at the bar. He chooses dialogue options and composes text messages. He can buy drinks that help in nightmares but slow him if he has too many.