Feline Good…
Seeing my objective on the other side of a small and yet remarkably dense city block, I leaped from rooftop to rooftop, knocking down a few paint cans below me as I would mantle up the railing of my destination and enter in through the small open window. Looking around for additional clues on what to do next, my robotic drone companion would chime in with a comment, furthering my direction with information we’ve collected by talking with some of that district’s civilians. While that may not seem too out of the ordinary, I’m doing this as a small orange cat, exploring a walled-in metropolis where humanity has long since passed.
Stray sees you scampering about a cyberpunk world devoid of any living organisms, apart from a mutated collective of hungry creatures known as Zurks, who not only have a taste for organic life but can also consume metal as well, keeping the robotic populace in check. To fill in the role of what humanity represented are a race of robotic souls that wear clothes, work jobs, and emulate humanity in all its forms, not because they understand it, but as to keep those once societal differences alive. As a cat that is separated from its clowder, you soon get caught up in a mystery that will change the lives of its people, their freedoms, and you, forever.
While I wasn’t exactly sure what Stray would offer me in the ways of a narrative, given I am a cat who doesn't speak robot, or anything other than a few meows and noises, Stray’s story is compelling in all the right ways, offering a deeply emotional story about life, legacy, and loss. While you do have a dedicated meow button to give your little protagonist a bit of a voice at your leisure, the conversational elements presented to you are largely through B-12, a robotic drone who travels alongside you. B-12 is a companion who is tasked with some important mission from his creator, but he isn’t comprised of all his memories, so he follows you around, assisting you, as he attempts to rebuild those memories during your roughly 5-7 hour adventure.
Without diving into any spoilers of its greater path, Stray sees you attempting to return to your fellow cat friends and you are often pointed in the direction of members of the central cast, a group of robots who all attempted to escape this walled garden of a city at some point in their lives and yet always came up short, and are now since scattered around the few districts you'll travel to. You’ll meet each of them as they do their part to assist you, becoming dear friends in some ways as you often give them hope that escape is truly possible.
I was surprised at how quickly I grew attached to the central cast, often emotional from events that would remove them from the story for some time. You’ll also meet several other characters as you offer your services in exchange for help, such as tracking down someone’s lost father, finding music sheets for an alley-based musician, or finding clothes for a shivering task giver. You can also rub against the legs of nearby folk, cheering them up in the process, or even leap up on top of someone asleep on the couch to catch your own breath of shut-eye. In fact, you can often find little nests or pillows to curl up in, seeing that big stretch as you awaken from your brief slumber.
Stray is equal parts adventure game and platformer, even if the only platforming you do is via context-sensitive prompts. To likely limit the burden of creating a mass amount of different jump animations, as well as not wanting you to fail any critical leaps, Stray’s movement from platform to platform is via button prompts that appear when you are close enough to jump. While this can lead to your cat not being as nimble or as quick as you’d want it to be, I still feel it was the right call, given how the game is designed and what it demands from you. That said, there are times when the button prompt wouldn't appear and I'd leap down instead of up, but this was thankfully few and far between.
While there is no direct element of action throughout the entire game, there are moments where you’ll be tasked with running away from the Zurks or dealing with them head-on, via an upgrade to B-12 at a later point in the game. While this segment has some really enjoyable and tense moments, it doesn’t overstay its welcome and prevents Stray from becoming a full-on action game. There are other elements to combat later on, but it tackles them differently, which was greatly appreciated and gives the game some much-needed variety. Apart from the more action-orientated bits, Stray does engage in a few moments of extremely basic stealth that has you slinking around as you try to navigate around security drones that can also be lured to your location if you press the meow button.
While none of the puzzle elements will have you scratching your head in confusion, they often result in finding the solution very close by. One moment, later on, has you almost solving a sliding puzzle in a 3D space as you control a few floating podiums to shift around the room to cause an opening for a barrel to roll through, allowing you to grab the item you are rewarded with by solving the puzzle. Another section in the game has you trying to figure out how to nab an outfit in a clothing store while the owner is in the same room. While the solution is rather simple in some regards, finding the path to get you there is just as rewarding as the answer.
Stray does a remarkable job at truly making you feel like a cat, and a very intelligent one at that. There are numerous little paths to take, couches and walls to scratch up, as well as piles of books to knock down. You also have numerous instances of knocking paint cans over or an entire container of bottles in order to wake up someone who is late for work. While the scratching is largely for giggles, there are times when you’ll need to do so in order to get someone’s attention at a door, causing them to open it up briefly for a quick trip inside. You’ll also have to use your size to get into boxes in order to stealthily enter forbidden locations or into barrels to roll them over in order to solve a few light puzzles.
During your journey to escape this walled-in city, you’ll find collectibles and memories that help B-12 figure out his past and his mission. These often have you exploring off the beaten path, but there isn’t too much of that open space to really dig into. Without trying I was able to track down all but 6 memories, and they are pretty noticeable as they have this digital flickering that is viewable from a pretty decent distance. Each of these memories comes with conversation with B-12 as they detail more about what they remember and what it all means.
Visually, Stray knocks it out of the park with a gorgeous cyberpunk setting full of all the hallmarks you would expect. The unnamed cat looks adorable, and while some animations are a bit too stiff for my liking, the fact that real cats and dogs around the world are reacting so intently towards this adorable protagonist certainly is an achievement in itself. The environments are colorful, detailed, and dense, offering a wonderful playground that is built to explore as a cat, leaping from rooftop to rooftop and climbing up air conditioner units and guard rails as you explore this walled-in city at your leisure. The robot citizens, and even your drone in B-12, all are animated wonderfully with engaging reactions and personalities to them as they attempt to portray humanity in their own special way.
Rocking an extremely well-produced soundtrack of melancholic and somber beats, Stray is a very impressive game that achieves quite a lot for a protagonist so small. While I do wish there was one change to its ending to complement the journey, my time with Stray was enjoyable from start to finish. For a game built by such a small team over the course of some 6+ years, it’s great to see that vision come to life and be executed to this degree. While there are some stiff animations and limitations in how nimble and quick your cat can be, Stray still succeeds in making a wonderful adventure that is almost purrfect.
Developer - BlueTwelve Studio. Publisher - Annapurna Interactive. Released - July 19th, 2022. Available On - PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC. Rated - (E 10+) Animated Blood, Fantasy Violence. Platform Reviewed - PlayStation 5. Review Access - Stray was downloaded off of PlayStation Plus Premium for review.