The Nintendo Switch has received numerous ports of M rated games in its three-year lifespan despite Nintendo's family-friendly reputation, recently including Obsidian Entertainment's The Outer Worlds — though many have complained about its major visual flaws and technical glitches. Another heavy-duty game coming to Switch is Atlus' Catherine: Full Body, an enhanced port of its 2011 horror puzzle game, and interested players may get the chance to try it out before its official release in July.
Sega of Japan, Catherine: Full Body's publisher, announced on Twitter Thursday that a free demo for the game will be available on the Switch eShop July 11 that will cover the first two days of its story. It's not specified whether a version of the demo will be available outside of Japan, and currently the Switch eShop in North America only lists a pre-order option for the full $50 game.
The game is already available on PlayStation 4 and Vita, and physical pre-orders on Switch include a bonus sheep keychain according to its official website. While Catherine is more of a cult classic compared to Atlus' very popular Persona series, there was a Catherine: Full Body DLC crossover with Persona 5 released in September 2019.
While having access to a free trial of the game would likely help Nintendo Switch players decide whether they are interested in buying Catherine: Full Body, there are already some decent reasons to consider it. For one, the game's puzzle-platforming nature theoretically fits well on a handheld system like the Switch, but also, Atlus is debuting exclusive content on Nintendo's console.
Atlus fans recently got another chance at one of the company's games with the release of Persona 5 Royal, the expanded version of its incredibly popular role-playing game. After it released, Sega announced that Persona 5 Royal achieved "record sales" in Europe and the United States, which could be a strong indication that its Dynasty Warriors spin-off Persona 5 Scramble: The Phantom Strikers may one day release outside of Japan.
The developer annually gauges what its community is interested in seeing, and earlier this year tried to figure out what Switch ports and remasters fans were interested in. Catherine: Full Body was the second-highest game on the list, beating out multiple series including Persona and Shin Megami Tensei.
Catherine: Full Body is available now on PlayStation 4 and Vita. It will release for Nintendo Switch on July 7, 2020.
Source: Catherine: Full Body