Stray (catview)

strays the new game from publisher annapurna but is this new game really the cat's meow or are gamers being led astray let's get this out of the way in this game you play as a semi-realistic 3d cat just for that this game is an automatic 10 out of 10 for most people honestly one of the best games i've played gorgeous game i've had no crashes cat this is what innovation looks like the best indie game i have ever played the question i want to pose is would people still care about this game if you didn't play as a cat no they wouldn't care about this at all but you do play as a cat and the cat is fun to control stray does a pretty good job of capturing that signature cat-like slinkiness your movements are very nimble and a big part of that is because the game cheats for you a lot crossing a beam or a pipe is a foregone conclusion you don't have to balance yourself the cat is just going to cross it perfectly every time jumping is very knack-like we've de-emphasized jumps within that context to jump somewhere you just look at where you want to land press a and the cap pounces there automatically if that sounds limiting that's because it is but it also keeps the game's pacing in check and ensures that players of any skill level can slide around with grace even though you aren't fully in control there's a real novelty in exploring the world as a cat you can say this you can say this there's a meow button [Music] because you're so small things like a stack of books or a chair or a pulled out drawer become your platforms you can crawl through tiny vents and holes with ease you don't even have to slow down the cat just ducks his head down and slides right through there's a satisfying slipperiness and how you can so easily traverse through even the most cramped and awkward terrain however this is not a game that is going to wow you with its mechanics they are there to mitigate frustration and draw your attention to the fancy graphics and great sound effects [Music] the animation on the cat as he winds up his jump and launches springy spine out to make a tall leap the subtle pitter-patter of your paws on the pavement the way you can dart to a crack in the door in a game like stray those little extra touches go a long way which is a shame because there's a lot of little things where the developers definitely cut some corners you can knock all sorts of items off of tables and ledges but these items don't have a proper sense of weight to them sometimes when you're rounding a corner you get this slick animation other times the cat will awkwardly rotate his entire body this was here for the whole game robots don't have a stair climbing animation sometimes items will magically fly into the cat's mouth sometimes instead of doing a cool animation uh the screen just fades to black oh ta-da it happened off-screen because some of the animations are so lifelike and believable the constant snapping and rough edges really stick out in a larger more gameplay focused game i wouldn't even bother mentioning this kind of stuff but stray is only 5 hours long and is very clearly emphasizing its presentation over everything else something that i really appreciate about games in this genre like inside journey flower abzu is how they are able to communicate their stories entirely through visuals and sound stray is the odd cat out here with its reliance on cheapo text boxes which feel like a lame band-aid to cover for missing content while i did enjoy prowling around its cyberpunk setting as a cat that's really all straight has to offer this is the type of game that should be overflowing with easter eggs and subtle details which just aren't there the developers play their entire hand very early and struggle to fill this very short game with enough twists and surprises what the story of fails to acknowledge is i am a cat why am i being positioned as a selfless gordon freeman type hero battling headcrabs for the betterment of civilization if a cat was going to save the world it would either be on accident or because they wanted to drink some milk for an indie game it's hard to stomach how many elements here feel ripped from the ubisoft playbook stray is not even in the same ballpark as a masterful cat game like bowser's fury nor is it as theatrical and moving as other games in its genre but i mean come on it's better than bubsy [Music] you

Channel: videogamedunkey

Views: 4,481,868

Keywords: stray, stray review, stray dunkview, stray catview, dunkey, dunkey stray, stray dunkey, stray game, cat game, dunkey cat game, cat game review, goose game dunkey

Id: DE6JBysCljk

Length: 4min 31sec (271 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 27 2022