Zenitae
Connor   United Kingdom (Great Britain)
 
 
Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present.
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5.1 Hours played
TLDR - Great game concept but could've been executed better. Though quite short, I'd say the price is fair, and is definitely worth buying if it goes on sale. Certainly worth playing though.

-Minor Spoilers Ahead-

I really enjoyed the game. Playing as a cat was a refreshing and different approach compared to other story-driven games, and of course the cat is extremely cute. That was never a doubt.

The puzzles themselves are nothing too spectacular, one or two made me stop and think, but never enough to disrupt the gameplay. If you're looking for some complex puzzles, this is not the game for you. The puzzles are more like an attachment to the game, rather than part of the game's core identity.

Fundamentally, this is a story game. There is almost no dialogue in the game, and the only characters you see are cats, robots (wearing human clothes) and enemies that look like they're giant dust mites. This in itself was different, in both a good way and bad. Let me explain.

The concept of the world itself is great. The idea of the entirety of humanity disappearing, and navigating that world as something other than a human or robot, is nice. It's different. However, I feel like Stray really didn't dive into the backstory as much as it could've. The fact humans no longer exist is a core part of the world design, but we know basically nothing about the why and how. There are hints and some moments where we do learn a little bit, but I really wanted to learn more. It could've been a nice idea to be able to collect diary or newspaper scraps, so the player can dig into the backstory further, even progress B-12's identity even more.

Next, the robots. I love the idea of robots wearing clothes and forming their own personalities. It blurs the line between human and robot a little bit. Once again, however, Stray feels like it gives you a taste of something, but never really commits to it. It could've been very interesting to see examples of robots struggling with their artificial humanity. This is explored somewhat (for example, reuniting a "father" and "son" and the ongoing theme of personal sacrifice), but there just doesn't seem enough of it.

Graphically, it's pretty good. I don't have an amazing PC so I was limited by this, but I can imagine it to be really beautiful on higher-end PC's. I had one moment of stuttering frames during a cutscene at the start of the game, but nothing else in the way of performance issues. It ran perfectly.

All in all, it's a solid game that I enjoyed. I feel like it's worth more as a proof-of-concept, rather than a fully-fleshed game. Despite the issues I've raised, it's still a fun game and is worth buying, especially on sale.
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1,720
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Light at the end of the tunnel.
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FoxYinny 9 Jun @ 8:40am 
:2018spacefox: War of WarBOATS :2018spacefox:
Talisman 23 Sep, 2021 @ 8:50pm 
+rep
Chucklenuts 22 Sep, 2021 @ 7:35pm 
Hi you've reached the voicemail of Relevant Trash. Please record your message after the dial tone.
UnknownBastion 3 Jul, 2021 @ 2:58pm 
I see you. :evilsmile:
Zenitae 25 Jun, 2021 @ 1:53am 
Hi, I've seen it mentioned but not looked at it properly myself!
CaptConfuzed 24 Jun, 2021 @ 11:45pm 
Hey :steamhappy:
Have you seen the new Police Simulator: Patrol Officers game?