Stray: But I got Cat Class and I got Cat Style

[Becksworth]

I've played this for 10 minutes and I've already:

Clawed the shit out of a tree.
Drank water from a drainage puddle.
Walked on pipes and hand rails just because.
Got into a fight with another cat.
Batted at a 3rd cat's tail.
Meowed incessantly.

This is the most Cat game ever.

 

[Kazin]

I don't know why I'm so surprised a cat is so fun to control. Of course it is - the little shits always seem to be having so much fun, wreaking curious havoc all around the house! lol

I showed your post to my wife, Becksworth, and she immediately made me start the game. She was delighted until the cat fell down into the undercity or whatever is going on down there, when she had to stop watching. It's weird how indifferent we are to human pain and suffering, but throw a housecat off a small building and it just... feels worse, somehow. Probably shouldn't, I guess, but I've played a thousand video games where humans get maimed and yet not many where cats get hurt... In any case, my wife stopped watching at that point, and I would just get her attention when something cute happens, which is far more frequent than scary stuff. The game was clearly made by cat owners/lovers - other than the few times when I solve a puzzle for the cat I'm playing as, it feels like I'm playing as a cat. Maybe a bit less hesitant than a real one, but I find myself hanging back a bit more than I usually do in video games, just because it's what I'd expect a real cat to do. It's kind of a neat feeling!

I've not looked up anything about this game prior to playing it, really, but my precious stray kitty better fucking get back to his or her friends by the end, god dammit

 

[Violentvixen]

Oh hey I thought this was a Playstation 4/5 only game for some reason but apparently it's on Steam too, yay! My laptop definitely can't handle it but I should have access to the desktop again later this year and will check the specs and pick it up then.

 

[lincolnic]

I am enjoying the cat game but the robots need to pet the cat more.

 

[Paul le Fou]

The beginning of the game was really linear and I felt myself getting bored (which upset me because Kitty Game plus a setting that's like, tailor-made to me), but I hit a point where it opened up and I was loving that a lot more. I guess exploration really is my drug.

Also I was having an awful time because the camera kept bugging out horribly, until I realized that it appeared to be my controller's shoulder button freaking out instead. I switched controllers and it went away, and now I have to hope that the PS5 controller we got just a few months ago isn't already borked. 300 hours of Elden Ring can't have been enough to mess up a trigger button, can it have?!

I was simultaneously hoping that there wouldn't be any characters or a stand-in for the cat to let us "talk" to them, and we'd just go around being a cat, and appreciating it when it finally happened just because it adds a lot more depth to the gameplay possibilities. My current headcanon is that the cat has no idea what B12 or anyone else is saying to it, it's just going along doing cat stuff and the robot has hitched a ride and is talking to itself.

Cat things I would (have) like(d) to see added:
A pounce and a springing vertical jump at e.g. bugs, or at invisible things.
The ability to charge a regular jump (or the above spring) by holding the button so the cat does its wiggle.
A button to purr (perhaps just by holding the meow button).
The cat randomly turns its head rapidly to look with interest at nothing in particular.

 

[LBD_Nytetrayn]

Oh hey I thought this was a Playstation 4/5 only game for some reason but apparently it's on Steam too, yay! My laptop definitely can't handle it but I should have access to the desktop again later this year and will check the specs and pick it up then.

Reeeeeeeeeeeally hoping this comes to Xbox at some point.

 

[zonetrope]

This game is adorable. I'm having to seriously suspend my disbelief, though, that this cat covers quite a lot of ground instead of picking a single spot and sitting there for 10 hours at a time.

 

[lincolnic]

This game is adorable. I'm having to seriously suspend my disbelief, though, that this cat covers quite a lot of ground instead of picking a single spot and sitting there for 10 hours at a time.

You've got the controller. Be the cat you want to see in the game world.

 

[zonetrope]

It's true, since writing that post, I've found a number of nooks and crannies where I can do just that if I so please.

This game is delightful. I guess it's a pretty standard pathfinding + looking for items game at its core, but if you're a cat person, all of the little details really elevate it. I laughed so hard at the part where you can walk on a keyboard.

 

[Kazin]

Beat it. Thoroughly enjoyed myself. Ending spoilers follow:

Took 5.3 hours to beat it. I wish there was a post credits scene or something that shows the eponymous Stray finding their friends, though I guess that's implied given the final shot of the game. Excellent use of a slow blink, too. I feel bad for B12 that he couldn't make it, but humanity doesn't have a place in the world they destroyed, so I suppose it's fitting, if bleak. The world of Stray appears to be fully post-human now.

 

[lincolnic]

Also beat it. Cat game is good, but (ending spoiler) WHAT DO YOU MEAN B12 IS DEAD AND YOU DON'T GET REUNITED WITH YOUR CAT FAMILY, UNINSTALLING

 

[LBD_Nytetrayn]

 

[MetManMas]

Stray is out on Xbox platforms now! I've been playing it and I am loving it.

 

[Violentvixen]

Started this last night. It's a bit stressful! I keep feeling like there's going to be a jump scare, something is really ominous about the music and style. But liking it so far and curious where it all goes.

 

[Exposition Owl]

I keep feeling like there's going to be a jump scare

I finished the game and really liked it. I can assure you that there won’t be any jump scares.

 

[Violentvixen]

I finished the game and really liked it. I can assure you that there won’t be any jump scares.

That is good to know, thank you!

 

[Violentvixen]

I enjoyed the "the password is very simple! It's *multiple lines of gibberish*".

I'm struggling a bit with the controls in the stretches where you run from the Zurks. I like the rooms where you trap them in areas and can move at your own pace but the faster ones are really tough. It doesn't help that reloading after a death takes ~45 seconds on an Xbox.

 

[Issun]

The Zurk sections are really frustrating and easily the worst part of the game.