The biblical references scattered through this nightmare start with the obvious “lambs to slaughter” motif, but are many and everywhere. This nightmare realm is filled with other, equally unfaithful men (who all appear as sheep), and they’re all terrified for their lives, because to die in this world is to simply perish. He’s got to move those blocks around and climb to the top, fast, because coming up from underneath is one of a number of mutated symbols of every relationship or sexual concern that he has.
Or are we? Vincent finds himself whisked away to a nightmare realm every night, where a “tower of Babel” of movable block looms tall in front of him. there’s no overt malice in anything he does, but he represents every cliche and stereotype about the masculine view on relationships, to the point that we are not meant to sympathise with him on any level. Things spin even further out of control when he allows himself to be seduced by another woman and, on top of that, starts to build a connection with the Lolita-like Rin, who is intensely vulnerable on account of having absolutely no memory (and yet being pursued by something insidious and has a story of so many surprises I won’t spoil them here). Meanwhile, he hangs out with his same group of friends night after night, spending big on alcohol and junk food as though he’s still in college, and complaining about the ball-and-chain like no halfway mature man does. The guy’s been with a gorgeous woman since high school and, even when she comes to him to say that she’s possibly pregnant, Vincent still resists her less-than-subtle overtures that they should formalise their relationship (i.e. That’s not even a debate, as far as my reading goes. Catherine is that preciously rare experience. It’s rare to find a game that features sex and/or beautiful characters, but also does its damnest to pull the sexiness out and look at it as a subject for discussion. Usually when we talk about the presence of sexuality in video games (particularly video games from Japan), it’s framed in that way the playful sexiness of a Dead or Alive or Senran Kagura, or the impossibly beautiful characters of a Persona, Final Fantasy, or Fire Emblem.
Having not played the original Catherine, I found that in going into this remaster, knowing its reputation for being steadfastly adult and pushing boundaries on what it would can get away with in terms of sexual themes, the complete lack of fan service was surprising. Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut, for its cult orgies and various fetishes, is one example. We can see ourselves in what we’re seeing on-screen, and that’s a turn-off. There’s a point where a dive into the relationship between two people, the temptations and challenges they face, starts to become uncomfortably familiar. The best stories about sexuality and human relationships are often the least sexy.
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