14 years after my first time playing the game, I recently revisited Atlus’Catherineand was pleasantly surprised to seehow wrong my first impression of the game was. I wasn’t too familiar with Atlus or their work when I first played the game. After really enjoyingPersona 5, I worked my way through some of their older games, including the otherPersonatitles. However, I didn’t immediately feel like revisitingCatherinewhen I realized it was one of theirs.
That isn’t to say I dislikedCatherineduring my first playthrough. I liked it so much that I even made the embarrassing decision to purchase a red plaid fedora like the kind Orlando wears in the game. However, I felt a little conflicted about liking it at the time.As a teenager, I liked that I could tell the game had something to say, but I don’t think I fully understood it, and some of the depictions read more like basic stereotypes than anything else. Afterplaying theCatherine: Full Bodyremake, I was happy to see my first impressions had been wrong.
Replaying Catherine 14 Years Later Made Me Realize I’d Been Wrong About The Game
There’s More Nuance Than Most Players Remember
For anyone unfamiliar with the story,Catherinetells the story of Vincent, a man struggling to commit to his long-time girlfriend, Katherine. Things get more complicated when he has a drunken affair with the free-spirited Catherine and begins experiencing nightmares of being chased by demons, which are seemingly linked to a rash of mysterious deaths. On my recent replay, I played the updated version ofCatherine: Full Body,which adds a few plot points and alternate endings but keeps most of the story the same.
On my first playthrough of the game when it came out in 2011,I was more concerned with getting answers to the game’s questions “right” than I was answering them honestly. I often made choices that would lean the game’s “Mysterious Meter” toward the blue side. These choices conformed more to societal expectations surrounding relationships and responsibility, and the red side had a little devil guy on it, so I figured it was bad. I was also 16 at the time and terrified of being judged, even by a video game.
I was pleasantly surprised upon revisiting it to see that it had more nuance than I remembered.
In my initial—and I stress shallow—reading ofCatherine, it seemed like the game simultaneously condemned the more sexually liberated Catherine and signaled that I should choose the more stable Katherine. It didn’t help that Catherine was revealed to be a literal succubus in the game’s late stages, seemingly confirming that she was bad news. Although I won’t claim the game is entirely perfect,I was pleasantly surprised upon revisiting it to see that it had more nuance than I remembered.
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By exploring more of the game’s choices and not restraining myself to what I had previously assumed were the “correct” answers, I realizedthe game isn’t about making the right choice but the right choice for you. Upon receiving the game’s “freedom” ending, where Vincent decides he’s not looking for a committed relationship, I was happy to learn that it was even an option. After checking out multiple other endings, I concluded that I had been far too harsh onCatherinein my initial playthrough.
Catherine Didn’t Change As Much As I Had
The Game Started To Feel More Relevant
The main reason I enjoyedCatherineso much more the second time wasn’t becauseCatherine: Full Bodyhad made substantial changes to the game (though being able to rock out to thePersona 4 Goldentheme songdidn’t hurt). I enjoyed the game so much more this time becauseI was approaching it at a time in my life when the game’s themes and messages felt a lot more relevant. I’ll also admit that my tolerance for abstract storytelling has greatly improved.
When I playedCatherineas a teenager,Vincent’s story didn’t resonate too much with me. My reluctance to openly engage with the game’s choices also made it harder to see what it was trying to tell me. On top of that, I was somewhat embarrassed to share my enjoyment of the game with my peers. I was afraid they’d think I was just into it for the more scandalous elements and even more afraid they’d find out how interested I was in romance stories.
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Having changed a lot since I first playedCatherine, I enjoyed it much more this time.I’m now around Vincent’s age, and having recently ended a seven-year-long relationship, the game’s themes felt far more relevant. I was able to look more charitably at Vince and Katherine’s relationship now that I had a better understanding of how romance evolves after being with someone for a long time, a perspective I never had as a teen. I also better understood Vincent’s immaturity was something to be worked on in his character arc as opposed to unquestionably accepted.
Being willing to openly engage with the game also showed me how comfortable I am with myself and my opinions.The game was much more fun when I wasn’t trying to work the systemand saying what I thought the game wanted to hear. This experience not only gave me a better appreciation forCatherine butalso made me reconsider the idea of replayability in games.
Replayability In Games Shouldn’t Be Thought Of In The Short Term
I often consider a game’s replayability factor when evaluating how much I like it. While it isn’t necessary for my enjoyment, I do tend to favor games that I consider highly replayable. This could mean engaging enough gameplay that repeating levels isn’t an issue, a fun multiplayer experience that can be enjoyed indefinitely, or just a moving story. Regardless of what aspect makes a game replayable,I have frequently thought of this in the short term. I usually consider whether I’d pick the game back up immediately or in a few months, butCatherinechanged this for me.
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Replying toCatherineafter 14 years was less like starting up a second round ofMario Galaxyto play as Luigi, and it was more akin to when I picked upSlaughterhouse-Fiveas an English teacher instead of an English student. This story I had once considered strange, somewhat unapproachable, and largely irrelevant to me suddenly took on new meaning. While I probably won’t pick it up again anytime soon, I now realize thatCatherineis the type of story that will likely mean different things to me at different stages in my life and may be worth revisiting down the line.
Thanks toCatherine, I no longer think of replayability as a short-term metric. A game doesn’t need to make me immediately want to revisit it so that I consider it worth replaying at some point. I now realize that, much like any other form of media, games are something that might be best appreciated years apart. That doesn’t mean they are less replayable; they might be better appreciated with a wider gap between sessions.
