Wow, I really loved the pre-alpha video they showed last year, but this new video looks awesome. From teh new video we see how the game play will work for some of the game. The little drone and backpack is a nice addition for imagining what gameplay can be like. Also, it awesome that they game will be out of last generation hardware and this generation. This is definly a game taht makes me want to play a game again.

The cat is damn cute too, the artists did an interesting thing with the pattern of fur. To me, it seems like a traces on a circuit board mixed with tribal tattoo to my eyes....maybe I'm seeing things. It is subtle, but it gives me future cat vibes nevertheless.

As a long time hater of cats and any and everything cat related, I hate that this game exists.

The trailer had me intrigued until they introduced the drone, then I just couldn't stop laughing. A game where you experience a world as a cat is a fun idea, but with the drone it loses all the flavor.

I think it looks real cool. Cats are definitely underrepresented in games and it’s great to finally see a real cat hero take center stage.

Looks pretty cool to me. Any game where you can play as a non-humanoid is pretty unique, but the world looks interesting too. I'm a little iffy on the drone since it seems like it's there to just give dialogue options when I thought maybe the story would be told through like, environments and inference and stuff but honestly I probably wouldn't mind it when actually playing.

Yeah. It looked really good. Some good looking cat animations in there, between movement, and climbing and such. Some cool looking environments in there too.

A lot of cool looking stuff in that Annapurna show yesterday. I didn't even realize it was even happening until hours after it was over. Worth a watch if you missed it, and you like cool art.

Annapurna definitely has a certain style of game they like to work with, don't they? Mostly the kind of stuff they publish isn't my thing, but Stray does look pretty cool. Wishlisted.

I'm all for the drone. It fits the world that they seem to be describing perfectly.

Now when they then weaponize the kitty.....

Anyways, I am honestly looking forward to this game. It's got atmosphere, and is less cutesy-almost-hipster (but too sincere of a game really for that) then that last one I tried to play, that everyone was so big on.

They said 2022 (?), well that's a ways away.

I think this is neat, but at the same time i'm looking for a more Yakuza approach to Kowloon walled city. Such an interesting place!

I'm glad the cat is well animated, i don't think there's that many animators that could do it that well.
Gameplay wise it looks quite simple, move to object, press button, darting past enemies fits being a cat well and the gadgets they add throughout the game could keep things interesting, i don't expect the game to be too long and if it is as simple as it looks that's probably for the best, as long as the price reflects that.
This was one of the few games i was interested in during that event, it looks a bit more grounded than the first trailer, less vertical, more obvious paths, but i'm still interested.

I don't know if you looked at a calendar lately, but 2022 is only four months away...

@broshmosh Well, it seemed that way. Especially if it is fall 2022.

But yeah,....Only 4 months left, you are right.

Great. I look forward to playing a character who does nothing I tell it to, sleeps when I need it to move, and whose only desire is to be a complete and total asshole interspersed with rare moments of cuddliness.

@sparky_buzzsaw: Are we talking about cats or humans here?

As a long time lover of cats and any and everything cat related, I love that this game exists.

This game looks good and I want to play it. The cat's animation is very fluid and cat-like. Usually jumping in video games is very... video game-y and unnatural. But here the movement seems realistic and justified, since cats really can jump that high.

My thoughts on the trailer:

1:16 I love knocking things off of high places is prominently featured.

1:23 Man I hate this stock sound effect. Hopefully before the game is released they'll have a chance to record some cat sounds, or at least find less common ones.

4:08 I love this.

@brian_: ...all right, that's pretty good.

It's 5 months, even here in Australia where we live in the future.

Don't scare me like that.

???
It's August, which means after four months have passed, it will be 2022.
Today is Monday. In four days time it will be Friday.

Do you count differently in Austrailia too?

@broshmosh: Well if you're going to work under the assumption that it's the end of August then yes, it's 4 months. But it's August the 2nd, not the 31st, so we still have 29 days (roughly one month worth wouldn't you say?) until september. In just under two months it will be October. etc etc.

If I wanted to be pedantic I'd say it's 4.93 months away but at a certain point specificity stops being constructive.

Any further questions by PM please, let's not derail this thread any further. Thanks.

I definitely want to play this, they did a fantastic job on the cat's animations.

Also if sweep didn't shut it down with his gross reasonable logic we could've had a full blown bodybuilding forum "8 days in a week" argument here.

Not too much chatter about this here, huh?

Got this as part of PS+ extra/premium, but would've gladly paid the actual price too, after having finished it. This year hasn't really had any bangers for me, so I wouldn't say there has been a tough competition, but this is probably my favorite game of the year so far (at least until Ragnarok).

Game looks beautiful, has a neat story and the gameplay's great too. I was a little worried before release since it seemed like the platforming was going to be based on just prompts, rather than allowing you to jump around freely, but that ended up being a non-issue very fast.

Obviously I also adore how cat-like they've managed to make the titular stray cat. I imagine even people who are not cat owners can appreciate it, but as someone who does have one as a pet, it's just spectacular how well they've nailed it.

@glots: I just finished it, it was very good :).

My friend tells me the critical reception has been a bit overblown but i haven't looked at any of that yet, maybe people are just excited about something that's not a battle royale, to me it's a well crafted and polished game, the gameplay itself is simple but it's not lacking in a few challenges and puzzles, the contextual platforming could have been a lot worse, they do a good job of letting you climb and jump almost anywhere you want to go, also cat animations are great.

It reminded me of Remember Me, where the gameplay is alright but it's wrapped in a fantastic world, just looking around was enjoyable.

Funnily enough i just found out Stray was developed in France, so was Remember Me, apparently i can tell when a game is french.

Totally harmless little game. The actual design of it feels very simple, reminded me of playing games in the PS1 era to be honest, and if you've played any prestige narrative video game the story pretty eagerly employs the most bog standard devices. I spent more time being reminded of great game stories than caring about this one. Like pretty much every game ever I was a little surprised I didn't get some of the basic completionist trophies like scratching in every chapter or finding all the memories.

I think at this point I should just know stay clear of Annapurna games, since I seem completely immune to whatever charm everyone else swears their games have.

Stray is . . . fine. It's fine. It's definitely not bad, but I wouldn't call it "good" either. I think a lot of reviewers are so busy gushing over the fact you play as a cat that they kind of gloss over how little there is behind that. I wonder if the cat had been replaced by a rat if the game would be getting as much buzz.

In particular, they needed to take out the chase sequences entirely. They add nothing to the game and feel like filler. They aren't hard enough to add a challenge factor, and they aren't puzzle-y enough to make you think very hard. Most damningly, that's the one part of the game where I no longer feel like I'm in control of a cat. When she's being chased, my cat is both much faster and can change direction on a dime. The cat in Stray has this big looping turn that feels like you're playing a driving sim and went into a corner with too much throttle. It's not nearly fast or agile enough.

Also, I'd really like it if games could start moving out of the "post-apocalyptic cyber-punk crapsack world" aesthetic. It feels like every other game that comes out these days goes with that.

3/5

I feel like this might be a victim of it's own hype for me. It's a fine game, but I can't help but focus in on the rough edges.

I've seen people compare the movement to Assassin's Creed a lot, but for me this is probably my biggest issue with the game. If it's AC parkour, it's still in the era of AC1, but also requires incredibly precise positioning in order to move to specific points. This leads to me feeling like the world is way more restrictive than it is, dampens the "cat feel" that should be the game's biggest strength, and ends up being incredibly frustrating as the game throws in enemies and puzzles later on. I struggled more than I'd like to admit due to incorrectly jumping or missing a platforming opportunity because I wasn't facing the exact right way to connect my little cat from one designated jump point to the next. I really soured on it the more I played.

I will say that I was honestly surprised at the amount of dialogue and the fact that there's an inventory and quest system. I'm not sure if I'd list it as a negative or positive, but there's more to this than jumping around as a cat. I do think your enjoyment of Stray will ultimately come down to how much you get out of the novelty of playing as a cat, though.

@therealturk: I remember having the specific thought about 2/3 of the way through the game, "every game really is just a clueless protagonist wandering through an abandoned world while a voice from the past explains their regrets, aren't they?"

I mostly loved my time with Stray. I love cats but I can't get my own, so I just got a real kick out of "being" a cat, although this cat seems to understand stuff and be helpful in a way that a real cat never could. I even got the platinum, despite being mildly perturbed by the "don't get caught during the first chase" trophy (got it in less than 15 minutes thanks to a video guide, but I feel sorry for those who say they took HOURS of attempts to get it).

The only things that bothered me were

- the Zurk environments (and the lack of any explanation or payoff for the giant eyeballs). I don't really like stuff such as gore, zombies, "ugly" enemies and places, so those fleshy places felt out of place in what I expected to be a relatively cozy and cute game.

- the ending, which failed to show the cat reuniting with his/her cat buddies. I will just pretend that the beginning sequence where it's raining and the cats play & sleep together is also the ending so I can be happy.

I'd give it an 8.5/10, which is basically spot-on with the metacritic.

Now I've started another game but I keep trying to press O to meow.

@therealturk: At this point its more than just critical reviews, Stray has been widely successful on steam with really high user scores and concurrent players.

Its not just Stray we've had plenty of games with minimalist gameplay relying on charm and striking world building like Journey, Inside and Little Nightmares.

I also think Stray does a good job of changing things up it has light puzzling, stealth, chase sequences and exploration more so than other similar titles, and its an easy game that anyone can enjoy.

Umm I don't know a lot about the story of Stray; cause I have been hoping it will come to xbox and I will play it, but for a reveal trailer it is incredibly cat ownership on.