Stray - Doomed Game...

The first time Stray was introduced in 2020, it immediately became a highly-anticipated game. The situation with Stray was ambiguous. On the one hand, the game was doomed to success even before the release - who can't like a cute cat in a cyberpunk setting? On the other hand, the no-lose marketing strategy gave the BlueTwelve Studios developers a free pass to bungle the game: Stray would have been commercially successful in any case. So why try?

Concentrated Pleasure

But fortunately, fears about low quality of the game were not confirmed, as well as some expectations. Before the release, the players were expecting from Stray a simple platformer, but the game was more tailored for adventure. Despite the fact that our nameless feline protagonist has to jump a lot throughout the game, the emphasis on the point control of the character in the air is absent.

The whole platforming simplified to the brink of the ledges appear icons jump button, it all comes down to the banal QTE. How or die by accident in Stray is simply impossible, which is hinted at by the achievement "Die 9 times" - it is really difficult to die. All in order that the player is not distracted from the main thing, and the main thing here - to feel a weak animal, trying to survive in a strange, frightening world...

Stray shows a surprisingly high level of worldbuilding with a great love of detail. The world here is full of life, and the robots that inhabit the city do not look like extras, each of them is a puzzle in the overall picture. The behavior of the robots is strictly scripted, but it did the game good: here and there you meet little scenes imitating real-life situations - immersion is guaranteed.

But the real surprise of Stray is not so much the tiny, but meticulously created locations, as the simulation of the cat's habits. Not only does the animation of the fluffy protagonist's movements sometimes make you forget that the cat isn't real, but also the cat's behavior is conveyed in great detail: the cat sharpening its claws, knocking objects off shelves, meowing. Purrs on a separate button. Meow is not just for fun, but for quite specific purposes. And, of course, our cat likes to sleep curled up.

The cat is no less organic in the cut-scenes. As someone who has a cat at home, I can authoritatively state that the cat in Stray is 90% similar to a real animal. The 10% - in Stray, our cat doesn't scream when he wants to eat, doesn't destroy his slippers...

The main problem with the game

If Stray were a human or a robot, the game would not have received such publicity and recognition. At its core, Stray is a huge speculation on emotion, a very powerful clickbait. Is it conceivable to scold a game with a SEAL? It's sacrilegious.

Herein lies the biggest problem of the game: Stray is a quality indie game, it doesn't fall apart into separate elements, but the best thing about it is the cat.

You don't have to go far to find arguments: someone says that Stray has fantastic graphics and its cyberpunk feel is 10 points above the rest - take a look at The Ascent, you'll see the cyberpunk look two times better; someone says that Stray has a very touching story - take a look at the now forgotten Transistor, both its story and the ending are unlikely to leave anyone indifferent.

Stray is a game of the moment, a game of emotion if you will - a mood game: exciting at first, it just as quickly vanish from your head. Stray itself takes only 2 hours to complete (which is hinted at by the achievement in the game) and has no replayability, from the word "at all".

Verdict

I called Stray a doomed game for a reason: it is doomed to success and oblivion. Stray is a bubblegum game, but the bubblegum tastes pretty good. It's not for me to decide whether to buy it or not, but I'd advise you to wait until Stray gets on Game Pass or Steam for a big discount. But what I'm sure of is that Stray is worth your time.