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What's your honest opinions on Stray?


Lucibur

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9 hours ago, OneOksana said:

Hi @Lucibur

I'm loving it! Maybe being a cat lady help, but I find it very fun and cute.

Beautiful pictures 2764.png

 

Hello there! 

Definitely being a cat lady makes the game more enjoyable, because I'm the same tbh. Well.. I love animals in general. ?
Beautiful pictures? ?

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8 hours ago, Lucibur said:

 

Hello there! 

Definitely being a cat lady makes the game more enjoyable, because I'm the same tbh. Well.. I love animals in general. 1f60d.png
Beautiful pictures? 1f648.png

I'm sorry, English is not my native langage... I wanted to say that the graphism in the game is insane ?

 

Btw, I'm always happy to have more girl friend gamers. You can add me on your friend list if you want! ✌️

Edited by OneOksana
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Excelent game. Always had this concept in mind, and thinking why no one dares to pull this out in industry so far. Wished it was AAA project, it is so possible to make a Last of Us like quiality game on this. 

 

Special thanks to developers not forgetting scratching on vinyls, as the big foundation has been build around this. May be if game was made in 2000, there could be ninja tune track at that club scene:).

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On 07/08/2022 at 7:34 PM, OneOksana said:

I'm sorry, English is not my native langage... I wanted to say that the graphism in the game is insane 1f602.png

 

Btw, I'm always happy to have more girl friend gamers. You can add me on your friend list if you want! 270c.png

 

That's okay! ^-^ They are pretty amazing, aren't they?

I don't see why not! 

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My honest opinions are contained within this review I wrote ?

 

L4495d1.png

Stray

A 2022 narrative Adventure / Puzzle hybrid from small developer BlueTwelve and published by premier purveyor of quality Indie fare Annapurna, Stray is arguably one of the smallest games ever to reach the heights of bonafide gaming phenomenon status! 
After its reveal and initial showing over two years prior as one of a handful of games included in visual showcases of future PS5 games, "That cat game" managed to secure a place in "most anticipated" lists the world over. The reasons are obvious - we, as a culture, are, frankly, obsessed with cats. Just ask the internet. As a people, we agree on nothing. We differ on politics, we differ on movies, we differ on book and TV shows and celebrities, and virtually everything else. 
We can't even reach a consensus on whether pineapple belongs on a pizza... 
...but we all seem to love seeing a cute cat do a thing!


Rampant anticipation, of course, can be a petard, as well as a benefit. One need only recall the debacles of Cyberpunk 2077, or, (more applicably,) indie game No Man's Sky, to see how quickly rabid public anticipation of a game can sour when the game fails to live up to those expectations. For a game as small, crafted and intimate as Stray, the chance of it being overwhelmed and crushed by the weight of the expectation was not an inconsiderable danger.
(I do wonder, in fact, what the final consensus will be on the game, once the dust settles. While anyone who reads on will quickly learn that I very much liked the game - it is a game in my particular wheelhouse. The sheer number of people playing it currently does dwarf the numbers I traditionally see for games of this ilk though, and so whether it connects with all of them remains to be seen.)
Qualitatively though, Stray inarguably lives up to the level of hype it - for better or worse - acquired.


The player takes the role of a stray cat - living a seemingly rather idyllic life with his feline friends, in a dilapidated, overgrown and dried-out water canal system. The place is clearly run down from a human point of view, but free, bright, and perfect for the feline inhabitants, who live their days exploring under the clear blue sky.


When, on one of these explorations, the Stray jumps to a broken pipe, and falls down a drainage ditch, he finds himself in a dank, dark alley. Exploring, he soon finds himself lost in a strange, alien city, under a dark, starless sky. The City, populated only by robots playing out some feeble approximation of a human existence, know nothing of the outside, and consider the very notion of a blue sky to be the stuff of myth and legend... but when Stray stumbles upon a chirpy drone robot named B-12, the two set out to cross the dark city, and find the fabled outside once more.


The narrative is a very good one here. There is a remarkable amount of story and environmental lore in the game, considering the "critical path" playthrough can be fairly short. Told over ten chapters, the narrative is fairly tight, but there is ample scope in many areas to investigate beyond that critical path by talking with different NPC robots (via B-12's handy translator,) or by simple exploring the spaces and drinking in the details, and this is almost always rewarding and worthwhile.


The storytelling can feel at times a little bit over-reliant on a principal contrivance: that the cat would understand complex human concepts, if only the language barrier were removed... however, the world of Stray is not aiming for realism, but rather magical realism. 
This is not a realistic world, but rather one more akin to Studio Ghibli, or Wes Anderson's stop-motion films, and within that context, that contrivance feels right at home. It still retains enough emotional connection to the player that when the game chooses to weaponises it - particularly at the end - it is very effective.


The game functions generally in the realm of light social commentary - the robot inhabitants of the city life a facsimile of human existence, and while this is used (as in much sci-fi) as a way to shine a light on real-world issues (class and caste systems, the futility of struggle vs. the blessing and tyranny of hope, the pathos of aimlessness or purposelessness,) these concerns are generally treated fairly broadly, and with a light touch. There are poignant moments for sure, but more often these are purely emotional in nature. Unlike something like Nier Automata, which uses some of the same "machine-as-human-facsimile" notions, but does so with a more cerebral nature, dissecting specific human philosophies or cultural eccentricities to show divisions in human types, Stray is more interested in broad, universal elements of the human condition - hope, fear, inertia,  listlessness, anguish.


Stray is a game that really leans into the concept of environmental storytelling. Detail in the environments - particularly the attention to detail in some of the dilapidation and ruin of the broken city - is extremely good - not just for an indie game, but for any game. Frankly, it is on a level I have not really encountered since The Last of Us Part II.
Obviously Stray is a smaller game, and with a more heightened tone, however, that can almost be a distraction from the really impressive art on show. This is an instance where fantastic artwork is almost overshadowed by cool, interesting art design - not because one is stronger than the other, but simply because one is more obvious than the other. The design of the robots and the technological anomalies of the city are genuinely interesting - they would warrant mention even without the level of fine detailing in the environmental design - but because of that, it can almost pull attention away from what is a really incredible level of finesse in the background environmental details.


In Stray, the world is a human proportioned one, yet seeing it from the perspective of a cat really makes it feel like a whole different world. The player is forced to constantly think twice about what is accessible or isn't, or what is a barrier, or what is a passageway, as their human understanding of the landscape is not applicable to little Stray. 
In fact, the environment design of the game really shows how limited some other games are when showing "alien" landscapes or locations when the player is playing as a human. Often when a player is exploring a ship / building  /location that is narratively supposed to belong to an alien race of beings, the designers still tend to "default" back to one-to-one correlations to human proportioned or familiar elements. 
Doors are human-sized, walkways still have barriers, steps are designed for the human player to navigate, despite there being no narrative reason why this would be the case. 
It is a convention so common, that as gamers we have been conditioned not to notice it. Stray, however, specifically and deliberately shows the player a familiar "human" world...
...but then asks that they think about the space on new terms, to review what is actually possible, not for them, but for the feline protagonist they control. The world is designed to make narrative and stylistic sense for the primary occupants of it, not necessarily the player playing it. As such, the player is forced to really consider their path from a new, unusual angle, and a lot of the puzzle solving is essentially predicated on the players ability to adapt a surface level understanding of a space to one custom to the avatar they inhabit.


Mechanically, the game functions relatively simply. Actual puzzles and platforming are pretty basic - in fact, all gameplay elements are, though not detrimentally so. There are sections of the game that dip lightly into various different genres - platforming, stealth, puzzle, action, exploration, and even light RPG or Adventure game mechanics - however, the game tends to favour retaining its own unique style and overlaying these elements on top of that, rather than contorting its core design to accommodate them. 
Because Stray is a game that very much favours quality over quantity in terms of its pacing and mechanics (something I appreciate) and tends to feature single, well implemented uses of a mechanic, rather than over-egging the pudding with full "sections" of one style or another, (which I also appreciate!) the player is never really made consciously aware of the changing mechanical dynamics. 
While the puzzle-solving Adventure game mechanics involved in acquiring a cassette tape, to then distract a shop-keeper long enough to acquire a stolen jacket are a long way removed from an action chase sequence through the sewers with Zurks (enemy blobs) on Stray's tail, or an RPG-style "collection of items for an NPC" section, it still all feels cohesively "one thing". The game manages to contain elements of many genres, without feeling like it is bogged down in - or inelegantly stitching together - any of them.


The music is wonderfully odd - the soundtrack is a strange mix of electronic, atmospheric and oddly cartoonish and cheery - and it works both as a unique audio signature, and as a mood setter. The game flips between genuine emotional beats, where the music "plays it straight", and sections where the music seems to actively work as a contrast to the setting - but that dissonance never feels like an accident. 
In fact, the oddly cheery or plucky music in areas of extreme dilapidation and seeming hopelessness is actually something of a mood setting element in itself. Because Stray is a "fish out of water" in the City, and his spirit has not been crushed by the oppressive darkness and malaise that the robotic inhabitants have bene living in - and because this world is not one designed for him - the oddly dissonant musical tones feel somehow more appropriate than straight emotional ones would. When Stray himself is sad, the music follows suit, but when he is simply navigating a world that is sad around him, but he himself is indifferent or unbroken by it, the music is more upbeat. It follows the path set by the protagonists understanding of the world - not the players. 


Sound and foley work is excellent too - the robots speak in a kind of buzzing, half-broken early Macintosh style (befitting their design, which also seems inspired by the Apple Macintosh,) and the sounds of object clinking and clattering as Stray pushes past them or knocks them over (which happens a lot!) are satisfying and well implemented. The fact that there is a "meow" button mapped is a curious and fun little thing - its virtually impossible not to keep meowing at the world as you play, and there are quite a few different sound samples mixed in to make Stray himself feel more natural, and less robotic.


Overall, Stray is a great game - a short, sweet gameplay experience that works on a gameplay and mechanical level, and tells a genuinely affecting story within a unique, interesting and compelling world. 
It's not a game likely to take any player longer than 10-odd hours to platinum, and there is nothing particularly challenging in it, but it's a game that leaves its mark, and will likely remain alive in their memories for a long time afterwards.

 

 

(Originally Posted In The Super Scientific Ranking of Games)

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Disclaimer: my bar is set really low and I like most of the stuff I play, comics I read and things I watch. 

I really enjoyed Stray, exploring ingame world and figuring out what happened that it's in the state it is was a proper drive and being able to play as a cat, who also acts like a cat in given moments was adorable as heck. I rate 10/10 would meow again. 

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It's a simple game but at the same it's utterly charming and a joy to play and it delivered what it promised. The graphics are gorgeous and the music and sound design is brilliant. The only thing I wasn't so fond of were the stealth sections, I generally don't like stealth games, but there's not that many of them and they were pretty short and simple so they didn't bother me all that much.

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Well polished game, I had more fun with it than I did in my 20+ hours on Elden Ring. These days I prefer games that I can complete in 20 - 30 hours vs 80. Stray was cute, I love cats, and I'm allergic so I cannot own any. Beautiful visuals, interesting story, and great setting. The fact that this could happen someday is also something that gripped me. 10/10 for what it is!

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  • 1 month later...

Only just started to play it, it’s good but not as good as I was expecting. I’m glad there is a chapter select so I can mop up trophies before going for the speed run. I do love the fact it’s a game about a cat, I love cats like nothing else ? 

I seen some of the videos of real cats reacting to stray, my cat wasn’t bothered not one bit. 

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15 hours ago, FocusDR said:

Only just started to play it, it’s good but not as good as I was expecting. I’m glad there is a chapter select so I can mop up trophies before going for the speed run. I do love the fact it’s a game about a cat, I love cats like nothing else 1f602.png 

I seen some of the videos of real cats reacting to stray, my cat wasn’t bothered not one bit. 

 

There is chapter select, so that does help for trophies! 
Cats are amazing tbh. :3
And I know what you mean, I have yet to see how cat reacts to the game tbh. Hopefully your cat reacts at some point.

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1 minute ago, thefourfoldroot said:

I enjoyed it. I just have the speedrun for the plat but I am finding it hard to find the motivation to go for that. Hate repeated plays and speed run trophies.

 

I know what you mean, it's annoying when you have to do multiple playthroughs on a game for the sake of the platinum.

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7 hours ago, Lucibur said:

 

There is chapter select, so that does help for trophies! 
Cats are amazing tbh. :3
And I know what you mean, I have yet to see how cat reacts to the game tbh. Hopefully your cat reacts at some point.

Yeah chapter select is always a god send! 
I really don’t think my cat will react to it lol. I’ll play this again when I’m off work whenever that will be. But I’m also trying to get through cyberpunk when I have the time 

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20 hours ago, FocusDR said:

Yeah chapter select is always a god send! 
I really don’t think my cat will react to it lol. I’ll play this again when I’m off work whenever that will be. But I’m also trying to get through cyberpunk when I have the time 


Definitely, going after collectibles in games where you have to start all over again always does my head in!
That is a shame, the kitty must react and meow alongside the kitty on screen. ? I'm wanting to go back to Cyberpunk at some point myself, so I'll be able to relate to you soon enough. 

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  • 1 month later...
12 hours ago, Unebrion said:

I just have the speedrun left, but I thought the game was fine. I don't think Stray has any business being on any official GOTY lists however. I'm happy that the game has had success and I enjoyed it, but GOTY this is not.

 

Good luck with the speedrun! And I know what you mean tbh.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

My honest opinion is that I felt let down with this game. All I’d ask is to consider for one second that you weren’t controlling a cute cat....when I did this, what I felt I was left with was pressing the x button when prompted for 5 hours

 

The asthetic and environment is indeed very nice and interesting to be in...but it wasn’t anything unique or ground breaking. I couldn’t help but feel that the exploring didn’t need the x prompts. It killed dead in the water any intrigue playing as a cat bought to the game and essentially it would have made no difference if I was playing as any animal, it didn’t matter, I just had to press x when I was told to. Would have been much more interesting exploring the environment as a cat if I wasn’t being led step-by-step-by-step every single moment of every single area. As it was I didn’t have to figure out for myself what heights I could and could not jump, I didn’t have to work out how small a space or ledge I could traverse and so on. I just had to press x when I was told. Constantly. For the entire game. And I very quickly became bored with this.

 

it could have been so much more engaging playing as a cat, as it was I felt a little bit cheated and let down.

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On 31.7.2022 at 5:38 AM, ZZ383 said:

It's bait and switch. Everyone I know and read articles from was expecting a chill messenger/delivery service game. I considered it would be more of an "emotions" game as we watched the robots groan about their lives, Night in the Woods style stuff. More of an interactive/visual novel than a game.

 

Then we get this light platforming thing about the demise of human civilization and not all that much care on the character you play as or the plague and the zurks or how the robot populacce lives. It's just so damn vague about everything except having side characters sacrifice themselves at every corner for you. 

 

I thought Momo was gonna die in the sewers. Abzalatar is basically dead in a self-induced meditation coma. You know what happens to Clementine and B12. But what happens to the cat?  

 

I don't think it was worth the $30 entry. 

Spoilers for other games and needless bashing for this, just because you picked a game you knew you wouldn't like had you looked into it more beforehand

6 minutes ago, PotrikBerger said:

My honest opinion is that I felt let down with this game. All I’d ask is to consider for one second that you weren’t controlling a cute cat....when I did this, what I felt I was left with was pressing the x button when prompted for 5 hours

 

The asthetic and environment is indeed very nice and interesting to be in...but it wasn’t anything unique or ground breaking. I couldn’t help but feel that the exploring didn’t need the x prompts. It killed dead in the water any intrigue playing as a cat bought to the game and essentially it would have made no difference if I was playing as any animal, it didn’t matter, I just had to press x when I was told to. Would have been much more interesting exploring the environment as a cat if I wasn’t being led step-by-step-by-step every single moment of every single area. As it was I didn’t have to figure out for myself what heights I could and could not jump, I didn’t have to work out how small a space or ledge I could traverse and so on. I just had to press x when I was told. Constantly. For the entire game. And I very quickly became bored with this.

 

it could have been so much more engaging playing as a cat, as it was I felt a little bit cheated and let down.

You could've made it more engaging for yourself. 

I absolutely loved playing this game. 

In my opinion it's noticeable that you're a cat and you couldn't just swap it out for any other animal, just wouldn't work.

I knew what I was getting into with this game, because I did look into it, unlike some others. However, I did get more emotionally invested than expected and I love that. The game honestly fits the theme of the pandemic, just like death stranding and it's just as unique. The only thing I didn't like are the trophies, but everything else is worth it and makes it my game of the year 22

58 minutes ago, manotelikas said:

This game is just to hard for me. Every time i come back to it , I end up doing clueless jumping around . And almost falling assleep. Difficulty 7,5/10 for me lol.

Then it's clearly not for you and that's okay. 

On 14.12.2022 at 0:42 PM, Felix038 said:

In my opinion this game is worth it. Even with all the hype. It is unique, it looks good and the story is great. It's also not more than that. It's not a triple-A game. 

Especially if there is a sale, you can't go wrong here.

So a game has to be triple A to be worth it? No

It's a good and unique indie game

Indie games beat triple A

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2 hours ago, lostforever77 said:

Spoilers for other games and needless bashing for this, just because you picked a game you knew you wouldn't like had you looked into it more beforehand

You could've made it more engaging for yourself. 

I absolutely loved playing this game. 

In my opinion it's noticeable that you're a cat and you couldn't just swap it out for any other animal, just wouldn't work.

I knew what I was getting into with this game, because I did look into it, unlike some others. However, I did get more emotionally invested than expected and I love that. The game honestly fits the theme of the pandemic, just like death stranding and it's just as unique. The only thing I didn't like are the trophies, but everything else is worth it and makes it my game of the year 22

Then it's clearly not for you and that's okay. 

So a game has to be triple A to be worth it? No

It's a good and unique indie game

Indie games beat triple A

 

I agree with what you've said. ^^

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After getting a plat like Sekiro, this was the perfect game to wind down to and cleanse the palette.

 

Pretty chill overall, no combat, fun and gorgeous environments to explore. I didn't know what to expect going in but I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed just being a little cat.

 

Definitely one of the more unique gaming experiences I've had in recent memory. 

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