catherine
I love Catherine. This game has a very spiritual special place in my heart. I remember being a kid and seeing the big cutouts of Catherine and Katherine at gamestop and thinking they were beautiful. It's such an interesting take on the dating sim genre. It was my first exposure to morality in art. Whenever people talk about creativity coming from something else outside of us as humans, Catherine is one of the works that come to mind as evidence of the phenomenon.
I like the settings in Catherine. I like that they vary from a dimly lit lounge bar to corrupted biblical towers. Between the themes of right and wrong, pleasure and responsibility, life and death, are these philosophical quotes in the loading screen. The game wants you to be really critical of Vincent's situation and rightfully so. Vincent is being manipulated by the succubus Catherine, but it he is irresponsible and cowardly through out the whole story. He talks to his friends about how much in the wrong he is, and knows full well he has to take responsibility for Katherine, but will still blackout drink at the bar right after. He's avoiding showing up for the woman he's gotten pregnant and is self aware enough to know, but drags his feet anyway. The final enemy reveals this kind of behavior is exactly what made Vincent in a target in the first place. What Vincent is, or isn't doing, is wrong but is it worth his life?
Vincent struggles with purpose and his mishandling of his love life reflects that. I love the detail of huge the spaceship poster on his wall. It sticks out in his otherwise mundane male living space. He still has desires for more adventure, more whimsy. I don't think Vincent dislikes Katherine. I think she represents a lot of fears he harbors about conformity. Katherine is very direct with her expectations of Vincent. She wants him to be a husband and father to her children. Even though if the player chooses Katherine Vincent is undeniably happy in their good ending, there is an on going use of the phrase "self sacrifice" to describe that life path through out the story. There's a good argument to be made that choosing Katherine is a more mature and virtuous decision.
Catherine was my favorite growing up. She's so cute and insane. I think she's one of the most misunderstood heroines in gaming. It might be because she's so cute that her demonic personality gets pushed under the rug. It's like the player is at risk of falling for her manipulation too. In the first game Catherine represents freedom, and at the time it worked. Catherine provides a solution to living a "normal" life by introducing this supernatural fantasy. Who wouldn't want to be become the king of hell with their demon girlfriend? She's not just free from people's expectations she's free from the limits of reality too. She's Vincent's type, crazy about him to the point of violence, and she's completely unpredictable. She's dangerous and exciting. The complete opposite of the life Katherine promises, and an acquired taste. It has to be a taste that lacks shame too, being Catherine is heavily implied to be a lot younger than Vincent and the two have a purely sexual relationship. Does Vincent not have the right to make that choice though? In the first game Catherine is all about rebellion and in Full Body she comes off more as a fantasy. I think she falls flat in the second game.
I recently saw Rin's route. I think it's interesting with the context that she was always suppose to be a part of the series. Rin is a great character which makes it unfortunate that she is kind of handled in a messy way. I think Rin is the centerpiece of Full Body, and the other two girls fall into her shadow which is a shame. Her character narrative of being an angel who teaches Vincent inner strength and freewill actually does a lot for the themes of the series. Her route is the only one that doesn't aim to antagonize Vincent. The two genuinely fall in love with eachother. I like that Vincent admires Rin's ideas on the world even if they are shocking to him and his friends sometimes. She takes over being the symbol of freedom. It's a more profound one and I think that's potentially because it's a queer ending. Rin inspires Vincent through out the game inside of his dreams and in reality. With Catherine you watch Vincent become seduced, but with Rin he's falling in love. As over the top her character's ending is it's hard not to like what her and what she does for Vincent as a character.
I love this series, I hope in future installments they blur the line a little more and ask more morally uncomfortable questions. It'd be interesting to see it break out of the black and white moral spectrum.
