Stray Review: "A Phenomenal, If Compact, Feline Adventure"
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Loading... - Colin Drakos
- 19 Jul 2022
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The cat animations in Stray are so good I think a cat made them – maybe even Ratatouille-style, to take advantage of the dev team's opposable thumbs. There are a lot of kitties on that credit list, so it all makes sense. From the little chirp meows our nameless feline hero emits as they make a larger leap, to just the way they move around between objects and run along railings, everything has been thought about and brought to life with meticulous detail.
The fact you are a cat in a world full of robots imbues everything you do with a sense of wonder. You're tiny after all, a lost stray who finds itself trapped in a locked-down city long left behind by human life. It's a place built on decades of trash, with the robots living fairly sad lives in makeshift homes. And yet, somehow it's also rather beautiful. On PS5, Stray's world is a stunning place to just exist in, which feels odd to say for a trash city. Ray tracing lets you see neon lights reflected in gathered groundwater, and you can almost feel the slight smog that hangs in the air around you – Stray is able to generate atmosphere quite unlike anything else I've played this year.
Getting your claws in
But, despite this being the land of robots, developer BlueTwelve Studio has made sure that every part of it feels accessible, and has designed so many elements to make being a cat within this world super rewarding. Whether you're running across piano keys, interfering with a mahjong game, typing a cluster of letters into a computer, knocking paint pots off ledges to splat onto the pavement below, walking through said paint to leave little pawprints along the street, playing with the balls on a pool table, finding various sleep spots to take a nap, or clawing at everything you possibly can. You are, after all, a playful young cat and all of that is just what cats do, something which BlueTwelve Studio captures with ease.
That playful nature also extends to the way you're able to connect with the cat under your command. You can meow on cue with a press of the Circle button, which makes the cry emit from the DualSense controller – which is later joined by the purrs of your sleeping kitty when you take a break. It's a simple but effective way to make you really feel connected to the orange tabby, and it's truly delightful. Read More...
