If you’re not familiar with Stray, it’s a PS4/PS5 game where you play as a cat. It’s a very short game; the main story can be beaten in an afternoon. However, it’s available on PS+ (although going away soon), and can be purchased outright for <$30.
It’s the first time in a long time where I felt totally delighted by how innovative and different a video game was. First of all, playing as a cat isn’t just a cute gimmick. The level designs are all about navigating around slums using your size and acrobatic abilities of a cat.
Second, the world that the devs have created is so cool. It’s like some sort of cyberpunk version of Kowloon Walled City.
This game is not Elden Ring. But for an afternoon, it’s absolutely worth your time. I can’t recommend it enough. Especially if you are finding yourself burned out by the usual types of games. I hope the devs follow up with something else adjacent to this game!
It’s a good game worth playing, but it fails to avoid pitfalls of AAA games that make you “go there, listen to exposition dump, do generic puzzle, watch cutscene, repeat”. I wouldn’t call it innovative or a breath of fresh air unless you only play realistic story-driven open world AAA games.
The level design is great but the game as a whole was not designed around the fact that you’re a cat. Once you get to B-12 the story only progresses because you somehow understand the robots’ language and can interact with keypads and carry giant items in your magic backpack. I just felt like it was a missed opportunity, it could’ve been a whole game with no text at all, completely driven by environmental storytelling and contextual clues like the first hour is.