Despite the fact that since the time of Atari we had games like Alley Cat that showed us the potential of having a cat as the protagonist, it was unfair to put an excessive illusion on Stray. Skip the “look how nice, a game of a cat“was walking on dangerous ground.
During the last few weeks I have seen and read many people excited about stray at levels of waiting for the indie GOTY of 2022 and, although there will be those who start it with that idea and leave happy, it is advisable to go with low expectations and let yourself go. I’ve done it and, honestly, I’ve really enjoyed it.
A humble and endearing adventure
Halfway between simplified platforms and work as a messenger, the cat’s goal stray is to return to the surface and join his family after accidentally falling into what seems to be an underground city completely prepared for the apocalypse.
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At some point in its history that city served the great purpose of saving a large part of humanity, but with the decline of subway City and the possibility of transferring his mind from the physical to the digital, soon came a point where the only thing left are robots without memory that do not know why or for what purpose they are there.
Fortunately for our cat friend, among a large majority of conformists there is a group of robots who dream of going to the surface and discovering what lies beyond that city with an artificial starry sky.
They will be the ones who, through assignments, clues and opening of inaccessible paths, will help us in our great mission to reach a blue sky and save the robots from torpor and darkness.
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Through corridor tunnels and slightly more open scenarios that correspond to different areas of the city, we will have to place the pieces of an imaginary Rude Goldberg machine that, with each boat thrown with our little paw, will bring us even closer to our goal.
One of the doubts that probably flutters in your head before launching into the game -remember that it is one of the tricks of the highest levels of the new PlayStation Plus and that you can try it for free by taking advantage of its latest offer- is how the hell you play stray. Is it a platform? Is it a narrative game? One of puzzles? Let’s find out.
The acceptable challenge of being a cat in Stray
The truth is that it actually has a bit of everything and does not spend too much time on each of those features. With the only freedom to move, run and meow, both the jumps and the interaction with objects and robots will be tied to contextual actions very well thought out that will prevent you from ever taking a wrong step or getting stuck with a puzzle.
Hiding in a box, jumping over a fence or grabbing an object are actions that will be marked on the screen with the corresponding button so that you never have the option of doubting where you can move or what you can grab.
The challenge, therefore, is in the exploration until you reach that wall that will allow you to reach the top of a building by jumping from extractor to extractor and, once there, you can climb on a lever that opens the next door. Simple to say enough, but also the sea of cash.
what awaits you in stray Broadly speaking, it would be something like this: climb on a roof, see that two robots are passing an object from one building to another, discover that what they are doing is throw paint cans at each other, approach one of them and meow while throwing one of the boats, that the boat falls to the street creating a mess, and that the clerk of a store comes out to clean it, leaving the object that you needed to take to another robot unprotected.
With some areas that demand a little more action when fleeing from certain dangers while you jump from one obstacle to another -in an automated way when pressing the jump button- or other situations that ask for a little more calm when acting stealthily hiding in the undergrowth and meowing to make the enemy move to A while you head towards B, there are all the surprises that, at least at the playable level, you will find in stray.
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The story is well told based on memories and small details, the puzzles are never complex enough that you can not solve them by walking around the stage, and the latter are never so big as to turn that task into tedium because of streets. too labyrinthine. For better or worse, everything is adjusted to the millimeter.
It even allows a good handful of panoramas to frame despite being a game with few options to play with the setting due to the buried city where it takes place. Perhaps there are more demanding palates when it comes to what’s new from Annapurna, but I have no intention of asking much more.
VidaExtra’s opinion
With cat adventures for a long afternoon -or two afternoons if you want to aim for all the side quests and unlockables- stray It’s one of those games that, with the right expectations, goes by in a flash and is thoroughly enjoyed. He is endearing, beautiful and knows how to be challenging and fun without being complex or ambitious.
It is, how to have a cat as a pet, a game that requires a commitment to be played with the utmost humility and without expecting anything in return beyond your company. From that perspective I assure you that you can enjoy it very much.
stray
RRP on Steam €24.29
RRP on PlayStation Store €24.29
stray
platforms | PC and PS5 (reviewed version) |
---|---|
multiplayer | Nope |
developer | BlueTwelve Studio |
Company | Annapurna Interactive |
Launch | July 19, 2022 |
The best
- A very well achieved mobility
- Very affordable puzzles and challenges
- The preciousness of the cat and its settings
Worst
- You can end up sinning simply
- Some might consider it too short
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The news
Stray Review: There are two ways to approach the cat game, but only one will let you walk into the credits with a smile
was originally published in
extra life
by R. Marquez.