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Stray
Stray is a third-person cat adventure set amidst neon-lit alleys of a decaying cybercity.
Along the way, the cat befriends a small flying drone, known only as B-12. With the help of this newfound companion, the duo must find a way out.
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“Going on means going far - Going far means returning”
Starting this soon heard a lot of good things. Day 1 sales are incredibly strong (inferring from Steam metrics) and it’s getting great user reviews as well.
A few hours into the game right now. The presentation, world building and environment design are all quite good. The story is pretty simple right now, our titular Stray cat gets separated from their pack, falls down to a weird robot city and is trying to escape. There are some decent lore seeds being planted, though, so we’ll see how that goes. I’m liking all the robots and cute cat hijinks but the real star of the show for me is the (fairly) open ended city environment that’s crammed with lived-in detail to pour over. BlueTwelve Studio really nailed the “feels like a real place” aspect of the game.
For people in the “Upcoming adventure games” thread who were concerned about platforming, don’t worry. There’s no platforming in the game you just get a prompt to jump when you’re near a ledge and the jump happens automatically. You cant jump at all without a prompt, you can’t miss, and you can’t fall off ledges accidentally. It’s basically the same way climbing and jumping were handled in Broken Sword 3, except better.
Having fun with it so far gonna be playing more tonight. I see over on Steam the game is already a massive success with over 4k reviews in one day, so congrats to BlueTwelve Studio and Annapurna Interactive for that regardless.
Is this a console/platform game omly?
For whom the games toll,
they toll for thee.
Is this a console/platform game omly?
It’s on PC, that’s where I’m playing it.
nice, its system requirements are fair as well, i thought it would be high as Syberia 4, which couldn’t play for some lagging issues. i will give it a go in the next few days.
Heads up there is some stealth and “running away from things” gameplay later on.
For people in the “Upcoming adventure games” thread who were concerned about platforming, don’t worry. There’s no platforming in the game you just get a prompt to jump when you’re near a ledge and the jump happens automatically. You cant jump at all without a prompt, you can’t miss, and you can’t fall off ledges accidentally. It’s basically the same way climbing and jumping were handled in Broken Sword 3, except better.
Thanks! Played it for 15 minutes to see if I could handle the “platforming” and was very relieved there was none. I currently don’t have much time to play games, but I liked my 15 minutes of Stray.
EDIT:
Heads up there is some stealth and “running away from things” gameplay later on.
Damn. I hope it’s not too hard?
Butter my buns and call me a biscuit! - Agent A
The are some chase sequences further into the game. Your mileage may vary but I found them to be very easy. I would basically have to be playing bad on purpose if I wanted to fail one.
i hate stealth elements more than action’s actually, that is a big red flag for me
I’ve waited for the game for years and even prepurchased it to my eldest kid, but just too exhausted to play… Maybe I should give it a try after some rest.
I think stealth makes a lot of sense when playing a cat, so I’m not repulsed by that.
Currently Playing: Dragon Age Origins: Awakening
Recently Played: Red Embrace: Hollywood, Dorfromantik, Heirs & Graces, AI: The Somnium Files, PRICE, Frostpunk, The Shapeshifting Detective (CPT), Disco Elysium, Dream Daddy, Four Last Things, Jenny LeClue - Detectivu, The Signifier
Finished up Stray last night and got a total playtime just shy of 7 hours. I did miss 3 of the optional memories so I imagine if you’re doing a full completionist run you can squeeze a bit more out of it.
I liked the game well enough, the story and lore are pretty simple but delivered with enough charm that I was invested in seeing it through. The world and level design steal the show here. Navigating all the stray passageways and varying levels of elevation to find your way around the gorgeously rendered, worn down, city is a lot of fun. It would be even better if the exploration was in service of some more involved puzzles. Stray’s puzzles are decent but that’s about as far as it goes. The intermittent action sequences are actually not bad at all. The occasional chase or stealth part added a little variety and they never overstayed their welcome IMO.
Overall I consider the game very good but I wouldn’t call it great. The 2nd big area you get to explore is less vertical, has less puzzles, and is less interesting overall. Stray is definetely worth playing, though, and I’m glad it’s getting a positive reception and so many people are taking to it. BlueTwelve could have a truly great game on their hands if they take what they’ve made here and elevate certain aspects.
Thank you for the review PlanetX. I think I’ll skip it until it hits a big sale.
Now I noticed that many negative reviews say something like this (in many ways): “This game has overwhelmingly positive rating only because you play as a cat. The rest of the stuff is of solid quality but nothing to blow your socks off.”
So I’m curious to know - if you swap cat for a human and leave everything else there, getting rid of all the sentiments that people have about cats, do you think the game would have the same rating? Or would it be simply well-executed but average experience?
That’s an interesting question.
Would it be a cat-like human? Dexterity and all. I think what we observe, more than what we love about cats, makes me want to play as one.
I used to climb on top of a roof with the toughest cat in the neighourhood. This cat fought everyone, cat and human, of any size, but we had some kind of rapport. I’d have to climb some containers, grab a latch and take small leap just lift myself up and hoist myself onto the roof. Took me a good couple of minutes. The cat would be up there in three seconds.
One time, he got startled and took a different route down - after one misdirected jump in an awkward direction, he stabilized himself in the course of falling and managed to land on a container. He jumped off and just walked away.
That’s just awesome. If this game is anything like it, it might be great. If it’s Solid Snake is a cat now, or something like that.. I’ll pass. Either way, not something I feel up to right now.
It’s making the rounds, though. I saw Jackson Galaxy of “My Cat From Hell” made a video about it.
So I’m curious to know - if you swap cat for a human and leave everything else there, getting rid of all the sentiments that people have about cats, do you think the game would have the same rating?
I don’t know because I haven’t played it, but my opinion is that it definitely shouldn’t.
I mentioned Bad Mojo elsewhere in reference to Stray and that is a game where replacing the animal for a human wouldn’t be possible. I don’t see why Stray should be any different. Cats have as uniquely feline lives as cockroaches do cockroach-ean lives. If Stray isn’t taking advantage of that, I don’t think it’s using all its potential as an adventure game.
AKA Charo
Thank you for the review PlanetX. I think I’ll skip it until it hits a big sale.
Now I noticed that many negative reviews say something like this (in many ways): “This game has overwhelmingly positive rating only because you play as a cat. The rest of the stuff is of solid quality but nothing to blow your socks off.”
So I’m curious to know - if you swap cat for a human and leave everything else there, getting rid of all the sentiments that people have about cats, do you think the game would have the same rating? Or would it be simply well-executed but average experience?
It’s a little weird to draw significance from this hypothetical because a lot of the experience would instantly change, even down the exploration. Part of the reason exploring Stray’s world feels cool is because everything is so much bigger than your character.
Plus, even in its current cat form I’d give the game like a 7/10 so it’s not like it completely knocked my socks off. But to answer your question plainly, I think aesthetics are a big part of the game’s appeal (not just the cat but the look of the city, robots, etc) and the game wouldn’t be as highly rated without them. I also don’t consider that a bad thing.
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