Making a new thread to split off from the review one, because this probably warrants both its own discussion and also to be highlighted as a big issue.
So, for those new to the Catherine discourse, even more so than the original game, the Japanese version of Catherine Full Body was slammed by some of those who imported it as handling trans issues, gender identity, etc., incredibly poorly with some of its characters, to the point of not just being ignorant, but hateful. Atlus USA said that they'd make changes for the localisation, people were sceptical as what exactly they could change, the game is in the hands of reviewers and what do you know the changes are minimal and are unable to fix a rotten transphobic core, that's inherently part of the new narrative.
Writing is hard, so here's two articles that explain the situation! Spoiler warning for the entire game, but equally for me personally this is a deal breaker, so if you care (you should), you might want to read these anyway. Thanks to Syrenne for writing these!
About the Japanese release and about the English release.
TL;DR:
To add on a quick addendum, there's gonna be someone reading this. Maybe they'll post, maybe they won't. But they'll be thinking "Is ___ REALLY trans? Are you sure they're not cis/a crossdresser/a story related thingy that sidesteps the issue entirely?", or some other form of denial that seemingly renders the conversation moot. To that, I say this. Even if you're right (which I don't think you are), there's too much trans imagery going on here, with Atlus's history with queer subject matter being historically terrible (Persona 3 beach scene, Persona 4 in general, Persona 5 beach scene, Original Catherine in general), to give Atlus the benefit of the doubt. Even if they're trying to sidestep the issue, if they truly cared, this is not how they should have written the story. This isn't a one off comedy scene that they didn't care about any more, this is the focus of the new character's narrative.
They knew what they were doing.
And they did it badly.
I won't be buying the game, partially because I don't want to support this bullshit, partially because I know this would *actually* ruin the game for me. I hope this thread is informative to those who need it. Trans rights!
So, for those new to the Catherine discourse, even more so than the original game, the Japanese version of Catherine Full Body was slammed by some of those who imported it as handling trans issues, gender identity, etc., incredibly poorly with some of its characters, to the point of not just being ignorant, but hateful. Atlus USA said that they'd make changes for the localisation, people were sceptical as what exactly they could change, the game is in the hands of reviewers and what do you know the changes are minimal and are unable to fix a rotten transphobic core, that's inherently part of the new narrative.
Writing is hard, so here's two articles that explain the situation! Spoiler warning for the entire game, but equally for me personally this is a deal breaker, so if you care (you should), you might want to read these anyway. Thanks to Syrenne for writing these!
About the Japanese release and about the English release.
TL;DR:
A deadname has been removed from the credits (there's still one in the story), and a minor conversation has been removed. Everything else is still included. Including a biological sex reveal, the character's pronouns changing after this reveal, and said character being an alien because god forbid the queer character is considered human. Oh also the other trans character randomly doesn't transition in one of the "good" endings that involves time travel.
To add on a quick addendum, there's gonna be someone reading this. Maybe they'll post, maybe they won't. But they'll be thinking "Is ___ REALLY trans? Are you sure they're not cis/a crossdresser/a story related thingy that sidesteps the issue entirely?", or some other form of denial that seemingly renders the conversation moot. To that, I say this. Even if you're right (which I don't think you are), there's too much trans imagery going on here, with Atlus's history with queer subject matter being historically terrible (Persona 3 beach scene, Persona 4 in general, Persona 5 beach scene, Original Catherine in general), to give Atlus the benefit of the doubt. Even if they're trying to sidestep the issue, if they truly cared, this is not how they should have written the story. This isn't a one off comedy scene that they didn't care about any more, this is the focus of the new character's narrative.
They knew what they were doing.
And they did it badly.
I won't be buying the game, partially because I don't want to support this bullshit, partially because I know this would *actually* ruin the game for me. I hope this thread is informative to those who need it. Trans rights!
