No, it's not a meow simulator nor an open world cat game. Nope, it goes somewhere more contemporary, as it's about a cat trying to go back home, while also a social commentary about an impending dark future of our world. A world where our mistakes lead us astray, kind of like how Inside told us about how we've been dehumanizing ourselves. But this is also about cherishing life the way we can.
Around the short time I've played Stray, I was trying my best to see if there were any major faults with the game, what if the reviewers and media were lauding this over some marketing gimmicks. Thankfully wasn't the case, because the game surprisingly weaves a linear tale with wonderful environmental storytelling, engaging puzzle sections, and with little to no dialogue whatsoever. I'll fondly remember the feline I've taken this adventure with, of which has tucked to my heartstrings.
The game lacks proficiency in terms of technical design, and requires you to just take a guess at things before knowing where you're supposed to go, but these problems aren't always the case, and so didn't take me out of the overall session. It's safe to say, I was wholly enamored all the way.
One fine day, a clowder of cats huddled up in some drainage pipe, being kissed by the sun, going about their business with nature at their sights. There's nothing out there that's bothering them, all 4 of these feline companions roaming what seems to be silent, desolate structures. Then out of nowhere, the orange one, the protagonist suddenly slips and falls way below the sewers. Wakes up in a pit of death and wreckage of robot parts way below.
Our little buddy eventually gets help from an A.I. that leads him through an abandoned city, right before getting attacked by glowing critters named Zurks. He makes his way into the A.I.s hideout, before freeing him and introduce himself as B-12. Both the cat and B12 team up and eventually find out what happened to the walled city they're stuck deep within.
There are multiple stories going on here, it's a cat trying to go back to his family but also help uncover a large conspiracy and what has happened to civilization right before the robots became sentient. Mimicking a lot of how the humans used to live. B-12 is also largely involved, and his story gets even more tragic as I went further into the game.
First I kept assuming that the robots being here, and that everything has this 90s era tech around, are mostly kept for aesthetic purposes. But it goes deeper than that, there are remnants of human civilization, yet nobody's around. The cat's only companions in this game are B-12, and the robot denizens. They can't do get out of their holes, because they don't want to deal with the Zurks. A by-product of human experimentation for dealing with bacteria. They can't go outside the walled city, because it has been sealed by an old program.
The story is endearing, even in its bleakest, darkest moments. It doesn't show anything gory, but it doesn't stray (pun not intended) away from some grotesque imagery either. The best way to describe it is like playing as Wall-E, but more dreary even. The subtle, minimalism of the soundtrack brings more depth to such a somber tale.
There's also downtime where you explore the robot residence and look for stuff, like music notes for a street musician to play or exchanging items from a vendor. There are even memories to find for B-12 while exploring certain areas.
I could have skip interacting with the robots while playing, but would miss out on bits and pieces of the robot's sociology, and a number of useful information that tells me about the old world or something like how wish things to be a little different from their mundane lives. They're colorful individuals with different kinds of personalities and lighthearted obliviousness. Even if they speak gibberish.
Interacting with NPCs, as well as sightseeing the environment, helps create this unique kind of storytelling that very few games that deals with minimalism has mostly managed to succeed. The game has a lot of variety when it comes to both factors, all it takes to savor in its very short run.
Speaking of environmental storytelling, the game doesn't hold back when it comes to the grotesque stuff shown within. It changes tone from sweet, somber to ghoulish nightmare. The Zurks are hard to outrun, even with a neat UV ray weapon, which is only there for a short period of time before it does out. There's a lot to uncover in this, and the mysteries fade away once you realize what has transpired all those years before the game's story began.
The puzzle and platforming in this game is pretty basic, but it gets interesting and challenging as it progresses. I do have a couple of nitpicks, and that has to do with the cat's position before climbing up and down certain places. The game makes it pretty fickle to do so, but nothing that took me away from playing it.
Stray is a short game, and I guess some people are going to have a hard time justifying maybe it's half AAA price. But for those looking for a good experience, something that goes even beyond just pressing B for meow, you're in for quite a ride. The game even allows you to play longer if you want to take time finishing the extra things.
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