Stray may have been sport of the yr but it surely’s too darkish and dreary

A reader enjoys indie hit Stray however feels the thrill of controlling a cat would’ve been improved if the sport’s setting wasn’t so drably miserable.

Upon finishing Stray I believed what I had simply skilled was top-of-the-line video games of the yr. I beloved the very fact you performed as a cat, and I acquired a kick out of witnessing all of its mannerisms and cuteness sprinkled in with mischievousness. I relished within the sport world and admired its inscrutable qualities and it stored me questioning what the historical past of Midtown and the cats are, all of the whereas galloping or in any other case briskly strolling by way of the illuminating neon-lit streets and darkish, suspicious alleyways.

After some cautious rumination nonetheless, I really feel that Stray catches itself in a lure that it couldn’t escape from. I found that what I had been enjoying, while polished and satisfying, was a dank, dirty, and predictably triple-A online game, albeit one which takes two to 4 hours to finish, as a substitute of the traditional 10 or extra we’re accustomed to from huge releases.

As acknowledged, I actually like some parts of Stray, particularly the cat mannerisms. Seeing the feline scratch into carpets, bushes, and different surfaces is nice, and watching it use its paw to knock objects to the bottom is equal components lovable and hilarious.

Nevertheless, the absence of different mannerisms such because the licking of the legs and paw behind the ear, coughing up furballs, enjoying with yarn, chasing mice, and cat fights are all lacking. You’d assume a dank and dingy sport the place you play as a cat would no less than have some cat preventing, however I admit all that is nit-picking.

What isn’t a minor gripe although, is that Stray is a sport the place you pounce by way of solely darkish environments. In a sport the place you play as a cat, you’d assume there’d be some brightness and cheeriness to go together with these beautiful foibles, however nope. Vibrant blue skies, summery streets and comfortable, loving household houses aren’t what avid gamers need, they crave pleasure and acquainted thrills – and if you add a cute kitty to the combination everybody’s coronary heart simply melts, even when the substance is left selecting shrapnel out of its abandoned bottom.

Most of what you do in Stray is both working, climbing, escaping, evading, and eviscerating these parasitic Zurks. Sure, there’s a little bit of puzzling, stealth, and a normal sense of selection, but it surely all feels slightly textbook. The finnicky clambering is a momentary frustration now and again too. So what I’m getting at right here is that whereas Stray does what it does properly, it’s all slightly acquainted save for the plain enjoying as a cat half.

I additionally get the wafting aroma of Uncharted and The Final Of Us in Stray. Whether or not it’s climbing, the environments or the chapter range, it appears at instances like a free meowing imitation of these Naughty Canine classics.

With all my criticisms laid naked I’ll reiterate that I do like Stray, it’s a purr-leasing expertise and naturally it encourages loads of cat puns, however I do really feel it may’ve been a lot stronger if it wasn’t so darkish and dreary. We get sufficient darkish and dreary video games as it’s, it’s as if having cheery triple-A video games are passé as a result of now they’re both miserable, emotionally evocative or exhausting as nails.

I’m glad so many individuals love Stray. I genuinely am, and when you get hung up by my phrases right here don’t allow them to get to you, these are my hang-ups they don’t have to be anybody else’s. I definitely really feel like Stray continues to be a breath of recent air amongst a horde of acquainted triple-A releases. Most of us know Elden Ring is licking its lips for loads of Recreation of the Yr nods this yr, however to some I’m positive Stray can be a greater various – and that’s one thing I assist.

Stray no less than dares to be one thing totally different from what we’re accustomed to, I simply need it to unfold its wings and fly – y’know, like a cat-pterodactyl hybrid so we will see Stray actually mark itself out as a real various to the triple-A norm.

By reader James

The reader’s characteristic doesn’t mandatory characterize the views of GameCentral or Metro.