STRAY |OT| CYBERPAWNK

[nny]

Exploring the more open area was so much fun - I loved the feeling of the place, and the lighting looked so good - I stopped playing when I reached the second hub/city area and can't wait to go back and just take my time and take the place in.

I was not expecting to come across huge eyes on walls O_o ...but the area wasn't too long and I was glad to go back to exploring soon. After the fact, I learned there is a trophy for not killing any headcrabs in the sewers, but in my playthrough I did the complete opposite, I made sure I annihilated every single one of them ^_^;

One thing I quite like is the way the jump is incorporated - you assess your surroundings and only jump when the cat knows the jump can be made - yesterday I saw my cat taking a long time studying a jump (to the top of a bookshelf; she changed positions, rehearsed the beginning of the jump), and this mechanic is a nice way of translating that.

 

[Messofanego]

I read about parents and children and peoples' triggers and responses with games, but this is the first game that's done something to me.

I had to put my three cats down in 2018, 2020, and just after New Year in 2022 due to renal issues and age.

Haven't had the fortitude to home a new one.

Did the tutorial and soon into it/after(?) I burst into tears and hard shut down my console. No, the cat does not get put down, no spoilers here, but animations and mews just killed me for the entire night.

I only just now stopped crying.

So... I get it now.

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Sorry you went through that, it must have been quite hard. The game seems to be resonating with cat parents and people who've lost them, so your reaction is entirely understandable and normal. Have you ever spoken to anyone, like a counsellor, about pet bereavement? It affects people just as much as close ones dying. It's worth it to process your feelings and what comes up for you. Hope you're taking care of yourself.

 

[Poldino]

I turned off the jump prompts. Much better.

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Same here, much much better for immersion

 

[Ayra Sutoraifu]

I read about parents and children and peoples' triggers and responses with games, but this is the first game that's done something to me.

I had to put my three cats down in 2018, 2020, and just after New Year in 2022 due to renal issues and age.

Haven't had the fortitude to home a new one.

Did the tutorial and soon into it/after(?) I burst into tears and hard shut down my console. No, the cat does not get put down, no spoilers here, but animations and mews just killed me for the entire night.

I only just now stopped crying.

So... I get it now.

Click to shrink...

Terrible…
Lost my cat/best friend/son in April on his first birthday after a car hit him. Utterly devastating… still miss him so much.
I've been on the fence to buy the game but i think i am going to hold out till i feel somewhat better.

 

[SolidSnakex]

This isn't really a spoiler as it's more about the themes the story deals with, but i'll put it in tags anyway. I don't know why but I didn't expect it to be so overtly political. That was certainly a pleasant surprise.

 

[Stacey]

It's an absolute travesty that this game doesn't support HDR. I mean, the artstyle craves it.

 

[Koyaannis]

Finished the game today, after 5 hours. Enjoyed it, but it's an "ok" game in the end, not a little gem.

First : please turn off the jump prompts and motion blur. The game become way clearer and more immersive.

It's definitly a "mood" game. You don't want to play it for the gameplay, for the puzzles or even for the story : the places are incredibles, the lights, the characters, the architecture... all of that is absolutly wonderful. Especially for a first game. I'm so happy this world exist. The cat is also a success : you can go anywhere, enjoy some verticality with a lot of fluidity. It never gets old.

But i'm glad the game didn't outstayed its welcome. The puzzles and infiltrations parts are SO basics. No difficulty, nothing smart, they quickly become a chore. Worst, the whole thing become even less interesting in the last levels. You can almost feel that the developpers weren't that interested in creating puzzles.

In the end, it reminded me of Inside : a trip in an incredible atmosphere, with some puzzles. But Inside had ok puzzles. Stray has not. Can the atmosphere be your only motivation to play ?

 

[lvl 99 Pixel]

Inside's puzzles were slick, not "ok" unless you have some absurd standards that I can't really imagine. Obviously atmosphere isn't the only motivation.
I actually really hate this idea that games have to be gameplay priority. I have multiplayer games for that and like really like that games like this (or inside) exist.

 

[burgervan]

Just finished it. It was exactly what I expected and I'm pretty happy with that. The gameplay is very basic, but it's clearly not trying to be super in-depth mechanically. It's more of a vibe. Beautiful, atmospheric, adorable. It's not amazing, but it was a pleasant way to spend a few hours.

 

[Rikster]

I regret playing this at 11pm and now it's really late, need to go to bed. Absolutely digging the environment holy hell and the music. And I totally get why people are saying Half Life 2 vibes, pretty much yup.

 

[Koyaannis]

Inside's puzzles were slick, not "ok" unless you have some absurd standards that I can't really imagine. Obviously atmosphere isn't the only motivation.
I actually really hate this idea that games have to be gameplay priority. I have multiplayer games for that and like really like that games like this (or inside) exist.

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I have no precise recollection of Inside puzzle's (nor bad memories), but I believe you. My point wasn't to criticize Inside. My point was that Stray puzzles are just bad. "Find the 3 buttons in the room" bad, they have no point.

And I agree that gameplay can be minor. But it is not an excuse to put bad puzzles in your game : you make them interesting or you don't put them. They become an annoyance here.

I love Journey. I would love it less if they put boring "push those blocks" puzzles in it. I really liked Stray, I would love it even more without the push buttons / infiltrations parts in it. That's all.

 

[BarryFishFinger]

Enjoying it so far.

My only thoughts:

- I'd have liked to be able to change the colour of my cat, right at the start with the other cats I thought I'd get the chance. I'd have been black.

- Would have been nice to have other cat things on dedicated buttons rather than contextual prompts. Stretch, wash bum, tail up etc etc. It would be pure cat to get somewhere inappropriate and start licking my bum.

- Quite would have liked to be able to jump whenever again rather than contextual, although this does give you that cat confidence of just leaping onto the narrowest of ledges knowing you're not going to fall off.

 

[Deleted member 16876]

I wish I had an OLED.

This game seems like it would have been so good with it!

 

[gachapin]

Perhaps the cat's eyesight isn't very good and thhe game is expressing that?
Lets enjoy HDRless blurry world.

 

[Gonzito]

Finished the game. It was a blast and I really enjoyed it

I want a sequel with bigger enviroments, more lenght, and expanded gameplay

 

[Rubmifer]

Not even 2 minutes in. 😅

 

[FuturaBold]

Again anyone knows why in the Video Info it states HDR is supported? I only briefing tested the game with HDR always on but it looked decent. This is the screen without HDR on.

View: https://imgur.com/a/yeVxDAD

 

[Grain Silo]

I absolutely love the look of this game. However, my own orange cat who passed away two weeks ago makes me conflicted about giving it a play.

 

[DC5remy]

You know Joel, we really are the cats of us.

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Not even 2 minutes in. 😅

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Nice. My little dog was looking a little.

 

[Peek-a-boo!]

I loved this, what a pleasure. Gonna do a quick speedrun tomorrow to round out my platinum and that's that.

Spoiler: Ending spoiler

B-12 lives! LFG

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Out of curiosity, with regards to your spoiler — as the cat walks up those stairs and out into the open, we see a small computer display momentarily flicker to life on the left side of the screen; presumably this implies B-12 is okay?

Thoroughly enjoyed this game, and it took me exactly six and a half hours to finish, going by the time on my save file.

Felt like prowling through Half-Life set in Midgar (Final Fantasy VII) albeit as a charming cat … 🐈

The puzzles, whilst lightweight, kept the pace of the game flowing, and exploring the neon-lit slums was an absolute joy. Both atmosphere and ambience wise, this is one of the best games I have played in recent memory, along with a soundtrack which I feel compelled to listen to outside of the game itself.

 

[JahIthBer]

The lighting in this game is so good at times. Insane how good devs have got at it without ray tracing.
For some reason this makes me want an Ico remake with this level of visuals.

 

[Koyaannis]

Felt like prowling through Half-Life set in Midgar (Final Fantasy VII) albeit as a charming cat … 🐈

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That's actually a perfect summary of the atmosphere !

 

[Joo]

Only had time to play like half an hour, but really liking this. Visually it's more impressive than I initially thought and especially lighting is A+ at times.

Sony has just the right people for my tastes for picking indie games to back up. With some rare exceptions, all these different third person action-adventures are the sole reason I'm even playing video games.

 

[thatJohann]

I'm about 75% thru the game and so far it's been spectacular. The visuals, especially the art direction, and the soundtrack are so on point it's insane. I'm constantly stopping the cat to take in all the details and the sound and spin the camera and just marvel at it. Haven't done that in a game in a long time.

It's already on my top 10 games of all time list. 10/10 so far for me.

 

[redflamingolingo]

I really wanted to like this game.

After several hours, it is one of the most boring games I have ever played, unfortunately. The art is cool, but that's about it.

I really wanted to enjoy this but can't muster the energy to even see it through.

 

[Theecliff]

Again anyone knows why in the Video Info it states HDR is supported? I only briefing tested the game with HDR always on but it looked decent. This is the screen without HDR on.

View: https://imgur.com/a/yeVxDAD

Click to shrink...

that's just the the system telling you your TV supports HDR, not that the game you're currently playing has HDR - Stray is an SDR game unfortunately. if you were playing in HDR earlier, chances are you have the HDR option to 'always on' on your PS5, which forces all SDR content into a HDR container, losing colour accuracy in the process. you're better off leaving your PS5's HDR option on 'when supported' so that SDR and HDR content display as intended, unless you prefer the look of it

 

[ben_bot]

Feeling like a dense fool right now because I found both the text with the number of days (making me think "that sounds like way too many") and the one about the Moon (where my reaction was "Cool, but why is this game telling us this?"). I hadn't noticed the clocks!

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Some back of the napkin math on the

Spoiler: time stuff

The earths rotation is slowed by the moon by 1 second every 1000 years. So to get an extra 8 hours in a day would take 28.8 million years. So by the point in the story humans have been gone a LONG time.

 

[ced]

I'm surprisingly loving this game. I do wish some of the puzzle elements were more challenging but anyways it's excellent.

 

[Zebesian-X]

Out of curiosity, with regards to your spoiler — as the cat walks up those stairs and out into the open, we see a small computer display momentarily flicker to life on the left side of the screen; presumably this implies B-12 is okay?

Thoroughly enjoyed this game, and it took me exactly six and a half hours to finish, going by the time on my save file.

Felt like prowling through Half-Life set in Midgar (Final Fantasy VII) albeit as a charming cat … 🐈

The puzzles, whilst lightweight, kept the pace of the game flowing, and exploring the neon-lit slums was an absolute joy. Both atmosphere and ambience wise, this is one of the best games I have played in recent memory, along with a soundtrack which I feel compelled to listen to outside of the game itself.

Click to shrink...

---

Exactly! Seems like his software is still alive, he just needs a new body

 

[Linus815]

I'm near the end now, and it's been a wonderful experience. Fantastic art design, and a surprisingly enjoyable narrative. The thing is, the gameplay might be simplistic but it works perfectly because it does such a good job at emulating cat behavior, all the movement is looks and feels great, and the way you navigate the playspace actually fully utilizes the fact that you're controlling a cat. It's really expertly put together.

I don't think harder puzzles would make the game better, in fact I think keeping them fairly simple just sells the "cat fiction" a lot better.

 

[remanutd]

Just finished it. It was exactly what I expected and I'm pretty happy with that. The gameplay is very basic, but it's clearly not trying to be super in-depth mechanically. It's more of a vibe. Beautiful, atmospheric, adorable. It's not amazing, but it was a pleasant way to spend a few hours.

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I'm having a hard time trying to find the last notebook ... Ok I just accidentally found it lol

 

[SoloTerran]

I'm enjoying the game more than I thought I would, as I'm not a cat fan. I was playing last night with headphones on and taking in the cyberpunk city, enjoying the music and trying to find all the energy drinks / collectibles and completing puzzles was really fun. Think I'm around half-way before I stopped for the night.

This game is great value for PS+ Extra. But I can't help but feel that if I paid full price I might not have enjoyed it as much. I think it could have been priced at $20USD due to it's length, but I hope the game does well.

 

[Vidpixel]

Playing this late in the evening with both my cats staring at the screen all curious and stuff is the most adorable thing ever lol loving this so far.

 

[Skot]

Really enjoyed this until the very end

Spoiler

I really hope B12 survived at the end! Also wish we got to see kitty reunite with his fellow strays but overall thoroughly enjoyed myself.

 

[CHC]

View: https://i.imgur.com/qiRYEI8.mp4

 

[PolygonalDude]

The dialogue boxes etc?
I thought they fit the game.

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No the UI in general. When the game boots up, the transitions, the design of the menus, etc. It all feels kind of "cheap" in the sense that it was quickly put together last minute. I get that a lot with unity games for the most part.

 

[PlanetSmasher]

Someone tell me if it's possible to go back to the first hub area later in the game. I progressed the story inadvertently and when I turned around to go back, the window I had jumped through to get into the room had closed on its own, so the game wouldn't let me backtrack and I missed exactly one memory. Can I get it later?

 

[Zebesian-X]

Someone tell me if it's possible to go back to the first hub area later in the game. I progressed the story inadvertently and when I turned around to go back, the window I had jumped through to get into the room had closed on its own, so the game wouldn't let me backtrack and I missed exactly one memory. Can I get it later?

Click to shrink...

What chapter are you on? you get to revisit the first hub once or twice. A robot gave me the typical "there's no going back, are you sure" prompt on the way out of the last visit, so if you didn't encounter that then you should be fine. (failing that there's also chapter select when you beat the game)

 

[PlanetSmasher]

What chapter are you on? you get to revisit the first hub once or twice. A robot gave me the typical "there's no going back, are you sure" prompt on the way out of the last visit, so if you didn't encounter that then you should be fine. (failing that there's also chapter select when you beat the game)

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I just gave the last notebook to Momo.

 

[Zebesian-X]

I just gave the last notebook to Momo.

Click to shrink...

you'll be back!

 

[PlanetSmasher]

you'll be back!

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Perfect, thanks!

 

[ymgve]

Does the ending change depending on how many memories you find?

 

[raspberrymousse]

I just gave the last notebook to Momo.

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I just came in here to ask the exact same question and I'm super relieved, I just found the last piece of sheet music which I wanted to turn in after and then talked to Momo and he locked the window lol.

 

[PlanetSmasher]

I just came in here to ask the exact same question and I'm super relieved, I just found the last piece of sheet music which I wanted to turn in after and then talked to Momo and he locked the window lol.

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Fuckin' Momo, lol. Yeah. What a relief.

 

[ExhaustedWalrus]

Really enjoying this so far. The music is fucking great

 

[Manu]

Someone tell me if it's possible to go back to the first hub area later in the game. I progressed the story inadvertently and when I turned around to go back, the window I had jumped through to get into the room had closed on its own, so the game wouldn't let me backtrack and I missed exactly one memory. Can I get it later?

Click to shrink...

Was it the second memory? Happened to me as well.

 

[ced]

Well shit, I really enjoyed it but I just finished it right under 4 hrs, and I did a good bit of exploring.

That's pretty disappointing I thought I had a good bit to go based on the stated playtimes.

 

[Serpens007]

Played for an hour and a half last night, though I spent a lot of that time making sure my cats didn't scratch the TV lol

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Liking a lot the game! About what I imagined it would be. I can understand why some people don't like it very much, beggining is a lot "cat walking sim" and the game is very moody. That's just what I wanted of a game like this.

 

[Zampano]

The sound design in this game is absolutely incredible.

 

[warcrow]

Hey guys, is this a little-kid friendly game? IE: no cussing, blood or uber-sadness with animals?