Pussyfooting onto the Xbox One like a cosy kitty who’s pleased to see you, Stray whiskers you away into dark neon-lit streets, where you solve puzzles, engage in mischievous cat-tivity, like balancing on precarious platforms and leaping onto buildings -whilst occasionally taking time out to nudge objects like plant pots and paint buckets with your paw, claw up carpets, interact and cuddle up with your fellow feline friends, and pressing all over computer keyboards to produce letter gobbledygook. Stray is an im-purr-essively irresistible little adventure, but does cough up a few furballs along the way.
On a stormy night tucked inside a tunnel, the Stray, along with its pack of purring pals, cuddle up together whilst gazing out at the scenic view before them. When they arise in the morning and venture through the dingy tunnel, they scurry up platforms and carefully plod along iron pipes and seesawing metal shafts as they seek to find new refuge. The group encounters dislodged piping, so resolve to bound across from one pipe to the other. Two cats make it to the other side as the iron screeches under strain of their weight, but when you attempt to vault over to meet your chums, the pipe gives way, and you helplessly fall down and desperately hang onto a ledge before losing your grip and descending despairingly into a dark abyss.
Detached from your brethren, you’re left to find your own sanctuary, which you’ll eventually find through neon-lit city streets playing host to a curious robot population with a surprisingly deep backstory that’s heartfelt and meaningful, making you care about your interactions in a way you won’t expect. The sense of a journey is what Stray does so well that it truly flies a flag proudly for smaller story-led adventure games, the fact Stray stars a cat is a bonus, like getting meaty chunks accompanying a bowl of Whiskers.
The way Stray begins and cleanly lays out its carpet for you to dig your claws into is very slick and not only entices you to discover the uncertainties that lie ahead, but lets you play around and engage in a myriad of joyous cat behaviours that are always so pleasant and cute to witness. Seeing the Stray kneading rugs, pussyfooting over keys on a keyboard, rubbing up against the company it keeps, and affectionately playing and cosying up with its cohorts is always a delight because these behaviours are a reprieve from the more urgent aspects of the story, showing that the devs BlueTwelve Studio care about the cat-centred experience by including all of these subtle but sweet cat-mannerisms.
The fluidity and zippiness of Stray contributes to the sensations that you’re in control of a cat. Galloping along the rundown streets and alleyways feels swift, clambering up posts and the context-sensitive jumping provides effortlessness, allowing for platforming to be nimble and precise. The action in Stray is as fluid as its visual identity is gripping and immersive – which is why Stray is a strikingly exceptional adventure game experience.
Yet for every Dreamy treat Stray receives, it can occasionally and clumsily dunk itself into a tub filled with bathwater. Although technically impressive, sometimes there are bouts of jitteriness courtesy of animation hiccups, where the Stray could be seen hanging in thin air, moving in inorganic ways when it turns around, and clipping through objects. None of this would be as big of a deal if Stray didn’t market itself as a technical wonder, but alas it has its moments of choppiness and inconsistencies that can break your immersion.
Contending with Zurk enemies and chase sequences do much to ratchet up the drama in Stray. Zurks like latching onto the Stray leech-style to drain its health away, but you can shake them off quickly as you desperately scamper for safer ground. Zurks will become a repetitive nuisance throughout Stray, highlighting the linear zone of ideas Stray runs along with throughout its short time span.
Another allergen that causes this cat to sneeze is the pervading realisation that Stray is dank and dreary with a classically triple-A heroic thread streaming through it. There are so many games that present themselves seriously, forcing you to play the hero role who saves civilisation or the planet – yet Stray coheres to this convention. Such ambitious stakes wouldn’t bother a cat, it’d be too busy chasing down and chewing up birds and getting distracted and perplexed by shoelaces it’d decide to box with its paws. Giving the Stray human concerns is a misstep that could’ve been remedied with bolder ideas.
You’d think a game starring a cat would look cheerier and be more upbeat, but because conflict and engagement go hand-in hand like cat and mouse in the world of mainstream videogames, there’s not much vibrancy to be found in Stray. On the flip side though, Stray’s representation of its own ambience is very pleasing, looking far more appealing than many triple-A games with an ample-sized budget.
For a game with a lower indie-esque budget though, Stray is one excellent looking game if you can ignore all the concrete and dankness. The city streets pulse with a bleating glow despite being rundown and ramshackled. Witnessing the robots going about their activities such as scrubbing the ground and serving drinks at a seed bar reinforce the state of destitution the city’s inhabitants are suffocating in.
The music evokes a sense of mystery and blends magnificently well with Strays night-time setting and the depressing mood that can be felt therein. Sinister notes and downbeat tones do much to accentuate themes of loneliness and detachment-which coincide seamlessly with the game’s story and characters.
Conclusion
For cat-lovers and Xbox lovers, Stray is a pleasant and uncanny feline-centred adventure game that’ll be purr-cisely what many will be looking for. The various cat behaviours are cool, the dark alleyways and neon evoke a particular kind of foreboding atmosphere, and there simply isn’t another game out there quite like Stray. However, Stray’s presentation is a mask for routine gameplay dynamics, and the overarching dreariness of the dystopia setting doesn’t mesh convincingly with the playful moments found dotted throughout. There’s a sense BlueTwelve Studio wanted a big-time mainstream experience condensed down to the length an indie title, and they’re successful in achieving that, it’s just the world they created could’ve been cheerier and less predictable. Thankfully though, this cat game never outStrays its welcome.
This game was reviewed based on Xbox S|X review code, using an Xbox S|X console. All of the opinions and insights here are subject to that version. Game provided by publisher.
