Catherine

=== Setting and characters ===
Set in the American space colony of Neo-Brooklyn (as revealed in Full Body), the plot of Catherine is presented as a story within a story on Golden Playhouse, a television program described as "like a Saturday morning theatre, with a bit of a Twilight Zone vibe". The Stray Sheep, a bar where the main cast frequently meets, acts as the stage for the game's major events. The game focuses on four main characters:

Vincent Brooks, a 32-year-old systems engineer who acts as the game's protagonist and player character. Unambitious and unenthusiastic, Vincent lives a stereotypical bachelor's life; he avoids the challenges of adulthood, including his uninspiring job, his rundown apartment, and his unwillingness to marry his girlfriend, Katherine. Vincent is voiced by Koichi Yamadera in Japanese, and Troy Baker in English.
Catherine, a 22-year-old woman. She meets Vincent at the Stray Sheep seemingly by accident and ends up spending the night with him. This encounter, and Catherine's continued attempts to romance Vincent, become the catalyst for the game's events. Outwardly, Catherine is playful, seductive, and free-spirited; in reality, she is a succubus demon who tempts men for her own ends. Catherine is voiced by Miyuki Sawashiro in Japanese, and Laura Bailey in English.
Katherine McBride, a 32-year-old woman working as an office manager at a clothing manufacturer. A childhood friend of Vincent's, they reconnected five years before the game's events and began dating. Katherine wishes to marry Vincent and is increasingly irritated by his indecisiveness. Katherine is voiced by Kotono Mitsuishi in Japanese, and Michelle Ruff in English.
Rin, short for Qatherine, is a character exclusive to Full Body. An amnesiac who plays the piano at the Stray Sheep, Rin becomes a comforting presence during Vincent's journey. It is later revealed that Rin is in fact an otokonoko boy and part of a species of angel-like aliens sent to stop the Nightmares. Rin is voiced by Aya Hirano in Japanese, and Brianna Knickerbocker in English.
The supporting cast includes Vincent's regular drinking partners at the Stray Sheep: Orlando Haddick (Hiroaki Hirata/Liam O'Brien), an old friend and divorcee who holds cynical views on marriage; Johnny Ariga (Takehito Koyasu/Travis Willingham) an idealist and longtime friend searching for a soulmate; and Toby Nebbins (Kishō Taniyama/Yuri Lowenthal), Johnny's co-worker who has a crush on Erica Anderson (Junko Minagawa/Erin Fitzgerald) a waitress at the Stray Sheep who's been around her friends for a while. Thomas Mutton (Norio Wakamoto/Kirk Thornton), nicknamed "Boss", is the owner of the Stray Sheep. The game is narrated by Trisha, (Junko Minagawa/Erin Fitzgerald) who is the host of Golden Playhouse dubbed the "Midnight Venus".

Plot

Vincent Brooks is disillusioned due to his unwillingness to commit to marrying his longtime girlfriend, Katherine McBride. One night at the Stray Sheep Bar, a despondent, drunken Vincent meets an enigmatic young woman named Catherine; they have a one-night stand which turns into an affair. Simultaneously, Vincent begins experiencing surreal nightmares where he and other men must ascend a tower while outrunning terrifying demons; if they fail in the dream, they die in real life. Struggling with the stress of his double life and his delusional paranoia, which are intensified by his worsening nightmares, Vincent begins to lose his grip on reality and is eventually compelled to end the affair with Catherine. In a violent argument between Vincent, Catherine, and Katherine, who break out over having an affair with each other, Catherine is seemingly killed; however, the incident is revealed to have occurred in a nightmare from which Vincent and Katherine escape. The next day, Katherine — who retains no memory of the nightmare but grows furious after she guessed his infidelity — breaks off their relationship, refusing to believe that Vincent was unfaithful.
Vincent realizes he is the only person aware of Catherine's existence, and all her messages have vanished from his phone. Vincent confronts Mutton, the proprietor of the Stray Sheep; the only other person he has witnessed Catherine speaking to. He learns that Mutton is the Mesopotamian deity Dumuzid the Shepherd and that Catherine is a succubus who aided Mutton in his game to kill men who would not commit to marriage and family on the basis that the population growth for humanity is less than optimal. Vincent enters the nightmare world one last time on the condition that he and the other men will be freed if he reaches the top of the tower. Vincent is victorious and defeats Dumuzid, who is revealed to be an associate of Astaroth.
In Full Body, Rin moves in next door to Vincent after taking a job at the Stray Sheep playing piano. Vincent and Rin grow close, with Rin comforting him in his nightmares by playing the piano. During one meeting, Vincent accidentally discovers that Rin is an otokonoko male, which causes a rift between them following Vincent's shocked reaction. If Vincent chooses to reconnect, Rin appears in Vincent's nightmare and is captured by Mutton. Vincent rescues Rin by defeating Astaroth. Alternate endings for Katherine and Catherine are unlocked if Vincent sends them a recording of Rin's piano music.
From here, there are several possible endings, depending on the player's actions throughout the game:

Katherine Endings: Vincent meets with Katherine and asks her to take him back. In the "bad" ending, she refuses. In the "good" ending, she forgives him after Mutton and Vincent's friends reveal his ordeal. In the "true" ending, they are married. In the Full Body ending, Katherine again leaves Vincent, gaining new self-confidence while fondly remembering her time with Vincent.
Catherine Endings: Vincent summons Catherine and asks to marry her. In the "bad" ending, she refuses. In the "good" ending, she accepts that they live together in the Underworld despite the objections of Nergal, the Mesopotamian god of war and death and Catherine's father. In the "true" ending, Vincent overthrows Nergal, becoming the King of the Underworld with Catherine as his Queen. In the Full Body ending, Catherine transports Vincent back to his high school days and appears as a human, allowing them to fall in love, marry, and start a family.
Freedom Endings: Vincent realizes he does not desire marriage. Having won against Mutton, he demands payment from him, which he immediately uses to bet on a women's wrestling match. In the "good" ending, he loses the bet. In the "true" ending, he wins and uses the money to fulfill his dream of visiting outer space.
Rin Endings: In the "bad" ending, Rin leaves while wishing Vincent the best following Astaroth's defeat. In the "good" ending, Rin is revealed to be part of an alien race of "angels" after Rin's brother Archangel challenges Vincent to a final challenge to determine mankind's fate; Vincent wins, and he and Rin become a couple. In the "true" ending, Vincent becomes Rin's partner and music producer, organizing piano concerts for humans and many alien races.
In all of the game's endings, Trisha states in a closing narration that the purpose of Vincent's story and the player's actions in directing his story was to determine whether the player desired a life of comfort or excitement. She explains that the tower was a metaphor for the journey to adulthood, and that "there is no right way to climb the tower." In a secret ending unlocked when the player clears the game's challenge stages, known as the "Babel," Trisha speaks directly to the player and reveals that she is Ishtar, with Astaroth having been one of her avatars. Tired of Dumuzid's infidelity, the events of Catherine were a test to find someone worthy of her love. She offers to make the player into a deity so that they can become her consort.