Stray Review

Ali Hasan July 21, 2022

Stray proves that PlayStation’s recent commitment to indie games is paying off. BlueTwelve Studio manages to create a game out of an unlikely protagonist to deliver what is probably the most charming, imaginative, and enjoyable gaming experience on PC and Playstation in recent memory.

Let Me Tell You A Tail…

Stray starts off fairly simple as you assume the role of a cat just going about its day; Jumping onto objects, napping, and spending time with its family. Tragedy soon strikes when it is separated from its herd when it falls into a dark abyss.

You wake up in a dark tunnel, hurt and alone. making your way through the dark, until you find yourself in a mysterious city rife with mystery and intrigue with your only goal being reuniting with your family.

The game places a heavy emphasis on exploration and the majority of its lore and world-building comes in the form of talking to NPCs and interacting with the world.

You’ll spend most of your time climbing, vaulting, and running your way through the city as you seek to uncover its mysteries and reunite with your family.

Early on in the game, you discover B-12 a robot companion that bridges the gap between you, the cat, and the rest of the world by acting as a translator.

The main city is eerie yet feels oddly comforting and warm with its robot NPCs. When you first encounter them, they run away in fear. Attributing you to the Zurks, mouse-like creatures that roam the streets and act as the main antagonists of the game. They soon warm up to you, after discovering that you are in fact just a cat.

Enjoy Every Meowment

The hues of grey and brown of the dilapidated city are expertly contrasted by pops of neon, reflective puddles, and by its charming NPCs. The world almost feels like a rendition of the backstreets of Hong Kong or Japan. There’s hopelessness among the robots as the humans they once served are long gone. The hopelessness amongst the robots almost mirrors the cat’s journey as it too finds itself in a hopeless situation. The more you talk to the robots, the more you realize there’s a glimmer of hope much like the cat has.

Environments are meticulously detailed. It’s clear a lot of time was spent building high-quality assets and textures. The art direction and the extreme attention to detail go hand in hand to deliver a remarkable world. In my experience, in indie games, either of the two things is often times lacking.

I spent a lot of time wandering around the city, climbing on objects, finding data points, and scratching on doors to talk to the NPCs within. The bulk of playtime which came out to about 6 hours when the credits rolled was spent just exploring and doing cat things.

All of this is accompanied by an incredible musical score. The music works perfectly in capturing and heightening the sense of despair without being distracting. From the main menu all the way up to the credits, the music just flows perfectly.

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I’ve got Cattitude

It’s clear from the get-go that Stray was made for cat lovers by cat lovers. The game makes excellent work of convincing you of the authenticity of the cats’ movement, mannerisms, and noises. The cat will jump when it stumbles upon something scary, scratch carpets and doors, stand on top of keyboards to type gibberish, knock over objects (sometimes for no reason at all) and doze off next to companions, purring lightly.

The usage of DualSense features on the PS5 adds further immersion to the entire thing. From the resistance of the triggers when you scratch objects, to the heartbeat of the cat when you nap, it has all been done incredibly.

The game is also set in a city where all signs and texts are ineligible which further adds to the immersion and feeling of being a cat. This was something I found truly incredible. It isn’t until you meet B-12 that you’re able to translate the signs.

The dedicated “meow” button is your only way of communicating with the equally charming robot NPCs. each NPC’s face monitor changes when you meow next to them and it was always a treat watching how they reacted to you.

If you’re someone who loves cats it’s very likely you’ll develop some sort of soft spot for the adorable protagonist. There aren’t many instances where the cat “dies” but watching it get separated from its family can be equally gut-wrenching. If you’re not fast enough the Zurks can kill you which is probably about the worst thing you can see when your protagonist is as cute as the cat in Stray.

What disappointed me however was a lack of customization. While it wouldn’t necessarily have made the game more enjoyable. Being able to make the cat in the game look like your cat or according to your preferences would have been a nice touch.

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Climb Every Meow-tain

You’ll spend most of your time hopping and climbing through fairly linear levels. Leaping from ledges, hoping on trashcans and walls, and walking on thin railings is all you can expect when playing Stray. It’s simplistic but that isn’t a weakness. The simplified mechanics are meant to lend themselves to seamless exploration and discovery and it works quite well.

Simplified mechanics also help feel the game more fluid by not having to focus on several different button presses or prompts. The simplistic nature of the game is what shines and is what ultimately sets it apart from many games released today.

Interacting with NPCs is a major pillar of the game and is where the game shines the most. About halfway through the game, you come across a big city area that has NPCs littered throughout. There’s a musician who has no sheet music to play and a grandmother knitting clothes who doesn’t have yarn.

These side quests are completely optional but in my opinion, are the best part of the game. Finding the right objects to trade with the merchant just further fuels the game’s emphasis on exploration and discovery and watching the face of the robots light up when they’re brought their missing items just ties everything together.

In my experience puzzles were fairly simple. As someone who tends to have difficulty with navigating intricate puzzles within video games, I think stray managed to strike a nice balance where I didn’t need to look up guides but it also wasn’t without its challenges. Balance is subjective, obviously but for me Stray just had the right amount of difficulty.

There’s an instance where you have to use your meow and time it perfectly to trigger an event that lets you access one of the materials needed by the merchant. It’s incredibly adorable in its execution and is an example of one of the many things you’ll miss if you don’t take your time and really explore and revel in this world.

Verdict

Stray is a massive win for BlueTwelve studios. Delivering a game that manages to encapsulate so perfectly the nuances of a cat while also bringing together a unique and beautiful world. The game feels unique in its art style as well as its protagonist, all of this is set to an incredible musical score that completes the package perfectly.

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