Stray (2022)

It's mid-2020, and I see the trailer for Stray. It looks rad.

Two years later, a release date is confirmed. I preorder a physical copy.

A few months later (December, 2022), my physical copy arrives. But there are two separate issues affecting a "small number" of customers. Sometimes the game disc doesn't work at all. Sometimes the cardboard o-sleeve does not fit. My copy has both issues.

It's February, 2023 when my replacement arrives. I pop the disc in my PlayStation 5, wait for it to copy, settle back on the couch, get maybe 10 minutes in...

And my dog won't stop barking at the cat on TV.

Over the next two years, any time I put in Stray, my dog appears. "He must be hearing the game," I think to myself as I plug headphones into my DualSense controller. But alas, Buster's vigilance is constant. All kitty cats caught sneaking into our home through the television must be called to task for their transgressions. Even the quiet ones.

It's the tail end of February, 2025 when I finally remember: I have a Steam Deck. I've already installed chiaki-ng. I can stream this game to my handheld.

So this weekend, that's what I did.

Stray is a really good game. Beautifully paced. The world feels realized, cohesive and even more charming than I expected. Great use of lighting for wayfinding. Wonderful sound design. I'm not a big stealth or survival fan, so those sections could be a little tiresome, and I wished "points of no return" were telegraphed more consistently. But as a whole, it's as good as I'd hoped it would be.

But if you own a small dog with a big imagination, maybe don't plan on playing this in your living room.

This is one of those indie games that you could tell was created by passionate developers. Unique idea, beautiful visuals, and a story that left me satisfied.

The story wasn't anything spectacular, but I was compelled to learn about the world and get the cat back with his lil' cat friends.

The mechanics were fun and refreshing. Generally, mechanics are one the most important elements of a game for me to enjoy it unless the story is S tier, and honestly the mechanics more than impressed me. The pacing was satisfying and I had a blast running and leaping through the city.

The graphics were incredible even on my Xbox. The scenery had an engrossing atmosphere and consistently stunning views.

The gameplay wasn't too difficult, but hard enough to keep me engaged. Plus the fact I couldn't do anything but run from the zurks most of the game got my heart racing. I also liked the puzzles incorporated. They weren't hard to figure out, but I was left satisfied after piecing together the clues to find something or discovering a route to get to an objective.

A few flaws that may or may not influence someone's decision to buy this game:

• The game is short. Only takes a couple hours to beat, so if you are looking for a game to keep you playing for a while this probably isn't it. I don't see a whole lot of replay-ability unless you are an achievement hunter, but I don't think the length is an issue if money/time aren't any issue. With the limited resources the developers had, I think the length felt right.
• The npcs were kind of boring. I started liking the little robot dude, but the text-based conversations with the robots got old for me at times.
• The story was pretty good, but might not have enough depth for someone who plays a game solely for the narrative. If the mechanics weren't as good as they are my score for this game would likely drop quite a bit.

There are few games that I have played that I can say squarely fit in the category of art piece. Stray is not only my favorite game in this category, but also a great example of what an art game can be.

Everything about the game from beginning to tear jerking end feels organic and purposeful. You play as a cat who is separated from your fellow felines in a lush surface world. After recovering from your seemingly doomed fall, you awaken in a strange underground land full of three things. Robots, trash, and strange glowing bugs that want to make you a snack. after exploring the depths of this world you learn its secrets as well as how to set right what has been wrong. I genuinely don't want to spoil the story because I think it is so well written.

The entire game takes only a handful of hours to complete. if you're ignoring all the extra stuff and collectibles you can get through it in under 3 hours. But regardless of how you want to play it is a game that you should absolutely take the time to explore and enjoy when you next get the chance.

I was curiously awaiting Stray since when, a few years ago, I saw that huge screenshot with a cat roaming around some sci-fi city in Edge magazine. Then, I don't know how many years later, it arrived while I was on vacation and I saw you all getting angry because it was called "indie" and arguing about its "presumed" quality, which convinced me to put it in the "when I'll have time" box, or maybe in the "never" box. But then I showed thre trailer to my daughter, she adored it, it became one of her birthday presents. Great idea! She immediately fell in love with the cat, she immediately stressed out when it fell in the pit, she immediately was hooked. We played it in semi-cooperative mode. She played the adventure parts, exploring, tackling puzzles, talking to NPCs, asking me for suggestions. Then, when she panicked because of the more action parts, she gave me the controller and gave me moral support while I managed them. We loved the vibe, the world, the crazy little storylines and most of all we loved the cat, which is so well made and so lifelike in terms of behaviours, movements and in the choice of having a precise, guided, infallible control. Because that's how real cats are (or seem to be): they never fall, and even when they fall, they make it look like it was on purpose. We got to the end playing as we usually do: exploring a bit, experimenting, talking to the characters, doing some extra stuff, but mostly going straight along the main quest. And it was so cool. Then, on that twist right before the end, she lost it. She cried so much, in a never before seen way (at least for a movie or a game). Sure, she always gets into movies and stuff: she gets scared, ashamed, excited, she laughs, she gets tense, and sure, she already cried a bit in the past, while watching Turning Red, or that beautiful Hilda episode centered on Twig, or the ending of Vicky and Her Mystery. But never like this. Maybe this is her Bambi. Anyway, she got it out, we talked about it, she calmed down and the she was fine. We excitedly watched those doors opening, she enjoyed the ending, she was happy. And then she asked me to skip the credits, because she was getting said again. She cried a bit more. We talked about it a bit more. So nice.

And yes, Stray is not an amazing game, it does more or less everything you expect from this kind of game, and there's not a lot of particularly new ideas, no surprises at all in terms of gameplay. Some nice touches in terms of world building, solid writing, good attention to details, nice graphics, not much more. But it's great in the one thing it had to really do well: the cat. And even if I don't take into account my "genitorial cooperative" experience, I think it's a good, enjoyable game. So, if you hate it because of its success and because the I-word has been used too much, that's not my problem.

Also: what I wrote up there happened before Christmas. A few days ago, my daughter told me that sometimes, in the evening, before falling asleep, she still thinks about that scene right before the end of the game. ♥

OK, this is not really a "cat simulator". Our character animations are really lifelike and all cat owners (cat owned?) like me will recognize their movements. But this feline shows an ability to reason and follow instructions that I just can't relate to a car.

It's a video game. What did we expected?

I loved Stray. It has some problems with controls and some orientalist details in its environment. But "the vibes" are amazing. Perfect atmosphere. Great soundtrack, varied gameplay and the cutest main character ever.

You can read my full review of the game in spanish in GamerFocus, as usual.

This was sent to us for consideration to The Game Awards and you know what? I think it deserves more than a couple of nominations.

As a child I would have been dying of excitement over this game. I would have bought it day one and played it to death, despite it's short run, for over a year. I love all things to do with cats and I would have felt such joy to be one, authentically, finally.

As an adult, a tired cynical adult that's hard to distract from the weary feelings given me by existing, I am still enchanted by this game. and that's something. My childhood obsession gave me plenty of knowledge to judge to what extent this game simulates being a cat. and i'm happy to report it mostly does. My one nitpick, that's it's fair to ignore and was probably a deliberate choice, is that the cats meow at each other, in the presence of no humans (because there are none in the world at all). Cats don't make sounds that loud expect to communicate with humans. they make very soft noises to each other, unless they are fighting very violently or painfully in estrus, or just in pain. It was a fine design choice though, because you want your cat to meow.

More important, the cat moves like a cat. the world is littered with things to jump, climb, squeeze under. All the kind of traversal that shows off a cat being cat like. The very wise deicision was made to make the movement effortless. you don't time your jumps and climbs or steer them, the cat just does them perfectly without trying when you prompt it. now I have seen real cats slip and fall, but if it doesn't serve a story aspect you want your player cat to move fluidly. it keeps the pace.

This is the most important thing, the key point, the cat plays like a cat. there are plenty of needless details that serve no further purpose than to cat, like drinking, scratching, napping, ruining things. On that note, this is not the be a pest and ruin things as a cat the game (as there are no people to bother just robots that can be very people like). This at first was not what i wanted. I wanted untitled cat game. but I have to admit this world is lovely and a great pleasure to explore.

There is not a wealth of things to do, though there are some side activities. the story is very very brief and forgettable. There is little to no reason to play again other than to play around and that gets old. This may not entirely be worth the price tag for that reason. but for as long as it lasts, the experience was calming and pleasant. I'm glad of it. I can't say that about a good amount of games I bother to play anymore. Or things I do in general. So take that as praise. This is an above average experience. Care was put into creating it. I give credit there. If you can spare the cost, or if it goes on sale, give it a try.

Most people seem almost obsessed with the cat and the fact that you play a cat. I don't have pets so I'm not super fascinated by that, it's just fine for me.

Instead, I really enjoyed the world this game is set in and its inhabitants. It's a very short game, but it was the 2nd half of the game and the areas you get to explore that really shined for me.

The graphics are very pleasant to the eyes and the environment is rich, dense and detailed. It encourages exploration in a subtle way and the little bits of lore you can find help paint a picture of what the world was and how it ended the way it is now.

Stray reminded me a lot of games like Limbo, Inside, Rime, etc. in one way or another. Light in the gameplay mechanics, big on the atmosphere and the worldbuilding.

It's clear to me that the gameplay isn't exactly the driving force here, and that's fine for a experience like this one. The platforming and puzzles are just the vehicle to deliver a post-apocalyptic world worth exploring.

Hope we get part 2.

Just letting you know that I am extremely biased, so I don't know how objective this review will be.

I can't explain how much my heart melted while I played this game. These people caught the essence of a cat in every single move and reaction of the furry ginger. I would have thought that cats made this game. Maybe they did, because they are awesome.

The story is so beautifully told, between dialogues with our robot friends and memories collected. Maybe one downside of the game is the lack of depth in the story as a whole. Sometimes I got a little bit bored in the beginning of the game, but thankfully it got more interesting and varied later on.

The gameplay is simple and effective, the perfect decision, since you are a cat and lack thumbs. Nevertheless, the way the cat could complete tasks was very rewarding to watch. I do have to mention that sometimes chaining jumps got a little stiff or clumsy (or maybe I was the one who was clumsy!)

Graphics were really good, especially with the robots. It was a pleasure to watch them move, and even fall when I tripped them over, sorry!

In general, an awesome experience! A must play for cat people. I would give it 5 stars, except for the fact that I found it way too simple and a little bit boring in the beginning.

Really delivers on the cat sim front, the way you move, interact, and (before you know it) think- its so feline! The character is the perfect cgi cat, realistic but enough exaggeration to have an emotional connection.

The story is great, the music is original, the level design also great. I just felt the gameplay was kinda an afterthought. It felt mostly like watching a movie, with some hidden object quests and super easy stealth sections.

The game is really short, so it doesn’t overstay it’s welcome. I just think it could’ve been one of the greatest games ever if the gameplay delivered, but it was more a walking sim than a game.