Just when you think you’ve seen all there is to see with Cyberpunk, along comes a Stray.

Over the years, cats have been merely relegated to side characters or pets in adventure games, but now one is the star of the show. BlueTwelve Studios have already spun convention on its head with their first game and for the most part, it’s one that does a great job.

Stray opens with a heartbreaker as your gorgeous ginger cat is split from its family after falling from a great height. One moment you’re licking each others butts and rubbing against each other, the next you’re meowing and crying, desperate to find a way back to each other.

As a Stray, you start lurking through sewers, making your way through power plants, but eventually you happen upon a vast, open futuristic city that is apparently taken over by androids. It seems humanity has been wiped out, which is probably for the best, really.

But interestingly, robots and androids aren’t the only thing that’s survived, human bacteria is still very much a presence and often serves as your antagonist in the adventure as you sprint, skulk, and leap between points.

And that was possibly the first thing I needed to acclimatise to with Stray, I can’t just go and climb a ladder. I can’t go and just swipe at stuff as I’m often on the run. You can’t tap at keyboards and you can’t even speak, basically you’re extremely limited and that, for me, was the best part of Stray.

You need to figure out ways to interact with characters, discover alternative solutions to solving puzzles, find roundabout ways to climb and make progress. Stray made me think outside the box (see what I did there?) more than most games I’ve played in the last few years and it’s wonderful.

Fortunately, you do get some help with a little bot, B-12, who can talk and also interact with things you can’t with your cat paws. And this is a smart way to circumvent the obvious limitations of your protagonist, even if they are incredibly adorable while engaging with the player.

The design choices are smart and well-thought out, giving the player plenty to think about while not overwhelming them with overly detailed lore or trying to introduce too much over a short period of time.

And yet, the thing that I still come back to when I think about Stray are the animations. They’re so slick, well presented and implemented that my dog stared at the screen for ages thinking she was looking at a cat. From the base mannerisms of stretching, to licking and and even the way the cat leaps and moves. BlueTwelve have captured it perfectly.

Stray is a one and done game, though there are a bunch of collectibles to discover and optional quests that can be taken on, so the experience can fill out closer to six hours, rather than 3-4 of just burning through the base game. But the experience it offers from beginning to end is memorable and enjoyable.

Not just that, but the themes it plays with will hopefully get developers to think about how they communicate in-game information to players. With Stray, they couldn’t just have walls of text of the character talking to you, they’re a cat, so instead they’ve had the droid do a lot of the talking.

Before that, though, the game is arguably at its most powerful when it’s silent and you can’t interact and you don’t know how to do all the things you want to. That, for me, is the most interesting element of Stray. That’s where the game is at its most effective.

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Summary

Stray is just infectious. At one moment, fun and silly, in another, heartbreaking and emotionally engaging But all throughout it is a game where you truly sit back and marvel at its animation. Where you applaud its design and narrative implementation. Stray is like nothing else out there, and yet it’s also a game you’ll feel right at home with. A truly special title that will hold a place in my heart for years to come. 

Pros

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Stray is out now on PC and PS4/PS5

Played on PS5

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