Stray is a 2022 adventure game that’s been on my to-play list pretty much ever since the first trailer dropped. It’s a highly praised game where you play as a cat who gets stranded from their posse in a very Lion King -esque cut scene and ends up in a slum inhabited by robots.
4 years is a lot of time to build up expectations and hype but this game truly cashes out all of them. Its soundscape and atmosphere are incredible with the meows of the cats and clanks of metal items as you kick cans and tins down the road. The animation is what really makes this game though. While the controls are very simple, the animation of the cat makes it feels so believable and immersive. Jumping around is smooth as peanut butter and exploring the world is so much fun.
The way the cat and the robots interact with each other is also cute as heck and the entire world and its lore — while a bit sad in its post-apocalyptic setting — is so interesting and there’s so much to see. A lot of the story is about making and losing friends and everyone of those relationships is heartfelt experience.
I recommend playing the game with very good headphones on and on as big of a screen as you can. That way you’ll get to experience all of its best.
In my The Last of Us note, I wrote:
I kinda wish the team would make similarly exciting story through level design but with more upbeat environment and story. I would love to just explore a world with such attention to detail while having a good time.
and this exact same thought went through my mind while playing through Stray. Its environment is quite dystopian and dark and while I enjoy that kind of storytelling as well, it would be amazing to get a Stray-level audio-visual experience with a more positive and vibrant atmosphere.
Stray was definitely an experience. A great one at that. An instant classic that I think everyone who plays games should experience.
It’s not a long game though. HowLongToBeat.com estimates it at 5 hours for story and 10 hours for 100%. For me, that’s perfect because it means it’s a one-day game: a nice package of self-contained experience that I get to experience from start to finish in one long or two shorter sessions. I’m mentioning the length just because some people don’t think short games are worth the money.