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Stray | Review Thread

Topher

Gold Member
How's the gameplay? Please don't try to sell me on it if it's not good.

I don't like puzzles or walking sims.

Why would anyone try to sell you on a game they thought wasn't good?

texas rangers gallo GIF by MLB
 

STARSBarry

Gold Member
Solid 4/5, its not a master piece by any stretch but it is a ubique experience well worth playing. I am a little sad that its an indie title as the robots and there city have so much character.

I would say the game felt its weakest at the sections involving the evolved bacteria zurk. As weird as it sounds I would have preferred something more light hearted and less borderline horror for those sections.
 

FingerBang

Member
I think I'm more than halfway through, maybe towards the end, and this game surprised me. It's a fun, lovely little game with pretty good graphics.

Weirdly enough, I find the cat itself to be a little disappointing when it comes to expressions and animations, but everything else is top notch. I'm seriously surprised, it's a solid 8/10 for me.
 
The more I play it, the more it feels like a point and click adventure in 3D space which is kinda nice. Still being blown away just how good the city area looks.
 

BadBurger

Is 'That Pure Potato'
Wrapped it up. It was not as engaging as many people on social media led me to believe, but it was fun. I got Journey vibes a few times while playing.
 
I bought this yesterday and me and my girlfriend really like it. I got up to the
sewers area
before calling it quit and we were really surprised by the quality of the graphics, the pace of the game, the music and the simple yet charming story. I'm really glad I didn't skip this. Not sure it will end up in my top games of year list but so far if it keeps going like that it sure will.
 
I'm not quite finished but definitely think having a cat as the main character is why social media has gone wild.

The jumping is automated which is fine so it doesn't get in the way of the experience but there is a lot of talk of how great it feels to play as this agile cat but the user experience is walk to edge of platform and press one button to jump to a predefined spot.

The puzzles are almost insultingly easy so much so that they may as well not have bothered. It has the feel of a point and click adventure just without any puzzles which I didn't love.

The look and feel of the city is absolutely perfect which is obviously one of the most important things in a walking simulator but it feels like a cool concept piece at times and not a game even compared to other walking sims or point and click adventures.

The last two walking sims I played were What Remains of Edith Finch and Firewatch and I found both much better experiences and I can't remember this crazy level of hype but maybe I'm wrong here.

It's good don't get me wrong and I guess the point of games like this is what people get out of them as an experience so if you say this is 10/10 who am I to argue but for me it's an absolutely beautiful but mid-tier walking sim.
 

RoadHazard

Gold Member
I'm not quite finished but definitely think having a cat as the main character is why social media has gone wild.

The jumping is automated which is fine so it doesn't get in the way of the experience but there is a lot of talk of how great it feels to play as this agile cat but the user experience is walk to edge of platform and press one button to jump to a predefined spot.

The puzzles are almost insultingly easy so much so that they may as well not have bothered. It has the feel of a point and click adventure just without any puzzles which I didn't love.

The look and feel of the city is absolutely perfect which is obviously one of the most important things in a walking simulator but it feels like a cool concept piece at times and not a game even compared to other walking sims or point and click adventures.

The last two walking sims I played were What Remains of Edith Finch and Firewatch and I found both much better experiences and I can't remember this crazy level of hype but maybe I'm wrong here.

It's good don't get me wrong and I guess the point of games like this is what people get out of them as an experience so if you say this is 10/10 who am I to argue but for me it's an absolutely beautiful but mid-tier walking sim.

There aren't really predefined jumping spots though, just predefined ledges you can jump to, but you can jump to any point on them. And there absolutely are puzzles, but none are very challenging.
 

LostDonkey

Member
I'm enjoying the game, it's very chilled and nice to explore and the animations and movements are great but I have a bug where I can't progress any further. There's a certain door I need to get through and the character I need to engage isn't fully rendered. Only the head and one leg is drawn, and I cannot go any further. I've tried restarting console. Uninstall and reinstall game and continue and it's the same. Such a shame.
 

DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
I don't think I've seen a single person talk about this game or really sing any ofits praises even after a few days after launch.

2022 gaming in a nutshell. I mean, I know if was only really hyped because of the cat angle but man, I cant wait for some actual meaty good games to come out.

How did this score anything above a 7 imo is crazy.
 

Hugare

Member
I don't think I've seen a single person talk about this game or really sing any ofits praises even after a few days after launch.

2022 gaming in a nutshell. I mean, I know if was only really hyped because of the cat angle but man, I cant wait for some actual meaty good games to come out.

How did this score anything above a 7 imo is crazy.
?????

I mean, it's not a new Sony first party title or Elden Ring to generate that much buzz, but still, for an indie game, it made some pretty big waves

At release a lot of people was talking about it, it was reviewed really well, and it's by far Anapurna's biggest game yet in terms of success

I think your expectations for a budget, 5 hour indie game were greatly misaligned. It was a huge success.

"How did this score anything above a 7 imo is crazy.". Did you play the game, man?

The execution of pretty much everything that it tries to do is ace
 

ZoukGalaxy

Member
I don't think I've seen a single person talk about this game or really sing any ofits praises even after a few days after launch.

2022 gaming in a nutshell. I mean, I know if was only really hyped because of the cat angle but man, I cant wait for some actual meaty good games to come out.

How did this score anything above a 7 imo is crazy.
The only thing crazy there is that you think you necessary aware of all good games published only in your circle of friends/youtubers/streamers/whatever like, you and them, were the only true reference in the world, which is pretty pretentious, and that if nobody from this circle is "talking" about STRAY for weeks, it means it's not a good game: that's plain ridiculous.

And with all of that, without yourself having play the game.

Yeah, it's a pawesome game and it's ok if you have missed it or if you don't like it, just move on.
 
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DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
?????

I mean, it's not a new Sony first party title or Elden Ring to generate that much buzz, but still, for an indie game, it made some pretty big waves

At release a lot of people was talking about it, it was reviewed really well, and it's by far Anapurna's biggest game yet in terms of success

I think your expectations for a budget, 5 hour indie game were greatly misaligned. It was a huge success.

"How did this score anything above a 7 imo is crazy.". Did you play the game, man?

The execution of pretty much everything that it tries to do is ace

I didn't play it, I watched a friend play it and it wasn't for us. Beautiful game but it just wasn't enough for us. Very French game, looked amazing but the press x to platform wasn't great. Weak stealth etc. It was just eye candy really with a cute cat.

Re reading my post and it reads a bit too harsh. I think we are so starved that the littlest amount of content gets grabbed onto...this wqs a victim of thatbfor me. It's nothing really special as a game and it felt over hyped. Happy for those that enjoyed it though.
 
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I don't think I've seen a single person talk about this game or really sing any ofits praises even after a few days after launch.

2022 gaming in a nutshell. I mean, I know if was only really hyped because of the cat angle but man, I cant wait for some actual meaty good games to come out.

How did this score anything above a 7 imo is crazy.
It's a short one-and-done walking simulator, so yeah. The high scores might still be well deserved though, walking sims have their place in gaming (Edith Finch is a masterpiece, for example).
 

Paasei

Member
I really want this game. I just can’t decide on what platform I REALLY really want it. Fuck me, this is a hard decision. PC so I can also play on Steam Deck and PS5 once it will get its physical version in September.
 
I don't think I've seen a single person talk about this game or really sing any ofits praises even after a few days after launch.

2022 gaming in a nutshell. I mean, I know if was only really hyped because of the cat angle but man, I cant wait for some actual meaty good games to come out.

How did this score anything above a 7 imo is crazy.
what?
This game has gone viral all over social media.
It's literally the biggest seller on Steam since release and it's still #1. An indie game.

It's doing better than all expectations...
 
It's good don't get me wrong and I guess the point of games like this is what people get out of them as an experience so if you say this is 10/10 who am I to argue but for me it's an absolutely beautiful but mid-tier walking sim.
I think there's a lot of social media explosion going on for people wanting to like it and be a part of a movement that's elevating it up far more than where it should be. Even the cat elements, of which is arguably where most of the hype comes in, is largely mediocre.

Tangetially, we need a sad dad meme equivlanet for the heart-breaking sad moment indies love to slide in.
 
Played some more of this tonight after dropping it on launch day. Didn't change my opinion that it's dramatically over hyped. The Zurks sections are just annoying - no real challenge, no real point to them. They would have been better going for a full graphic adventure style than trying to shoehorn that in. Just doesn't work.

Think I'm about halfway through, and I'll finish it at some point because it's so short, but it's already overstayed its welcome for me.
 
Played some more of this tonight after dropping it on launch day. Didn't change my opinion that it's dramatically over hyped. The Zurks sections are just annoying - no real challenge, no real point to them. They would have been better going for a full graphic adventure style than trying to shoehorn that in. Just doesn't work.

Think I'm about halfway through, and I'll finish it at some point because it's so short, but it's already overstayed its welcome for me.

Do you mean overstrayed it's welcome?
 
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Gamer79

Predicts the worst decade for Sony starting 2022
Just beat the game tonight. A very charming cat but very dark story. Overall, I had fun!

Surprised nobody linked the game to Halo.

The Zerks are like the flood and the Sentinels are about the same as the library in Halo.
 
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DeepEnigma

Gold Member
Just beat the game tonight. A very charming cat but very dark story. Overall, I had fun!

Surprised nobody linked the game to Halo.

The Zerks are like the flood and the Sentinels are about the same as the library in Halo.
I thought more Half Life 2 with the headcrabs.
 

FunkMiller

Member
Meh.

This feels like the first draft of a much better game. I liked the setting and the lore, but the game does very little with it. There's nothing clever, inventive or fresh about the concept. Throughout the game I was expecting some kind of deeper meaning or narrative revelation that would add meat to the bones of the story, but it really does boil down to 'get the cat out of the robot city'. They should have, and could have, told the story of the downfall of the humans better. Fleshed the whole thing out. The game feels short in both story telling and length.

The cat movement was a bit clunky too. Being a feline is supposed to feel... well... feline, but Ginger Kevin (my name for the cat) never moved all that intuitively, or smoothly enough.

5/10.

Now do one about a dog, you cowards.
 
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