Recent reviews by TheFlawed

Despite the fact that only my Steam friends will see this, in all likelihood... I think this beautiful game is worth a review. (And no, it's not just beautiful because of the girls...)

I loved it. The art style is clean, the story is phenomenal, and from beginning to end, it was an emotional rollercoaster. I knew some of the story already, but the game executed it masterfully; it emotionally impacted me in a way that few things ever have.

It got me attached, fed into my hopeless romanticism, and then ripped me apart from the inside out! You may feel depressed at times, but it's worth every second. It's too, too good.

This game was gifted to me, and I will say, I think it is just simply amazing. It was a very pleasant experience, and I'm sure many would enjoy it (and already have) as well.

With that said, I have a list of pros and cons, because I do not think that this game is for everyone, as I'll detail below. I hope to be exhaustive, and thus helpful:

• People who want to be a cat. Some people (even cat-loving ones) find this to wear off. However, for me, it didn't wear off in the slightest; I enjoyed being a cat the entire time.
  
• People who want beautiful scenes and pleasing music. As far as I can tell, this game is made to be for the experience. It entirely wants you to enjoy being a cat, so you lose some gameplay in return for promised success and a smooth experience. Likewise, it wants you to enjoy every other aspect of the game, so relaxing scenes are aesthetic, intense moments are difficult, and the world is yours to learn about.
  
• People who want a well-made game. This might be up for debate, but I think Stray is excellently produced. It undoubtedly has its flaws (as I'll detail below), even with a bug or two—but nonetheless, I am impressed by the overall quality of this game. I'm not surprised that it took 7 years to make.
  
• People who enjoy learning about a fictional race. Like I'll mention below, this game is very linear and not open-world, but it also tries at creating a legitimate population with a fairly good backstory. You may very well enjoy this dystopian "cybercity," and the inhabitants thereof.
  
• People who want the ending to be satisfying. It doesn't exactly tie up all loose ends, but it does surprisingly gives meaning to everything that happens.

• People who want inventive parkour, puzzles, or action. (1) There isn't really any parkour in this game, as the jumps are as simple as pressing a button—though, this isn't to say the navigation is boring, as the game takes you through a variety of locations to run around in. (2) The puzzles are often easy, and when they're difficult, you may be simply confused. (3) The action is fairly simple: earlier on, you're simply running from creatures; later on, you'll also be sneaking around and eradicating things.
  
• People who want a consistent challenge. Like I'll mention below, this game has some rather difficult moments, but those mostly come later. Earlier on, any intense moments are sparse, and when they appear, they're fairly easy.
  
• People who want excellent storytelling. It's not that this game has a bad story, but it could be better. The thing that stands out the most to me, is how it's constantly looking back at the past—with your robot companion trying to remember everything—and yet I never learned very much about the world's history; it felt like an afterthought. With that said, the story you experience is very imaginative (albeit sometimes a little too imaginative), and makes almost everything tie into the big picture.
  
• People who want a long/replayable game. A regular playthrough of Stray might take you 6 hours, and completing the game in its entirety might take 10. I think it will be a nice experience to go back to, but otherwise, you'll likely only play it once.
  
• People who want an open world. Occasionally you'll find yourself in a wide area where you'll be going all over the place, and even optionally finding easter eggs—but even then, the game has a linear progression.
  
• People who lack reaction time or lower mobility. Based on a negative review, apparently this can become an issue. You might find yourself dying a few times, with certain parts being fairly difficult, as even I had trouble at times.

All in all, I would highly suggest this game... or at least, as long as you're here for the experience, and not for the gameplay.

I am simply at a loss at the brilliance of this game, especially when I remember that basically a single person made it. It provides hundreds of hours of entertainment, whether you prefer ambitious or relaxed gameplay. One day, you can be fishing at twilight with nothing but the quiet sounds of crickets, the next day you're in a cave with dangerous monsters, and the next day you're getting random items to please the townsfolk. All in all, it's one of my favorite games, if not #1.

It's a challenging puzzle game while still being easy enough to do it without any guidance. It has so much content, even extending to an entire list of multiplayer levels, giving you such a big game to play. The graphics are phenomenal considering the game's age, everywhere you are feels realistic, and the humor is on point.

I love this game. It's extremely replayable and there's a lot to do, and the community is great. There are mods and multiplayer, too, for the people who want to go further! It may take a bit of researching for some things if you don't know what you're doing, but the learning process is an adventure in itself. Hands down, one of my favorite games.