‘Stray’: Purr-fect for cat lovers

By JORDEN NUNER 

Staff Reporter

“Stray” is a game that released July 19 on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and Windows platforms, that follows a cat as it is separated from its family in a post-apocalyptic world where robots have learned to mimic human behavior and all the humans have died out due to disease. 

The game also features a little robot drone, with the consciousness of a human stored in it, that helps you communicate with the robots and better understand what has happened to the world around you, though it does make one wonder if those robots are actually just mimicking human behavior.

The world-building, story and gameplay are amazing and as someone who grew up with cats in my life, I can say that the game did a fantastic job at portraying real-world cats. As I played through the game, I felt like I was a real cat exploring this mysterious world. The world feels so real and the story is intriguing and makes you want to continue playing even after beating the game. 

The graphics of this game are phenomenal and the animation is so well done that some might even mistake it for a real cat. It’s amazing how well this game captures the true heart of a cat and allows someone to play as one and explore the world from its point of view. The game is sweet and short and doesn’t overstay its welcome and ends on a satisfying note that leaves it up to the player’s interpretation. 

There were not many issues I had with the game. There were few glitches that I noticed as a casual player and the mechanics of the game were easy to follow with few button inputs required to play. I had a bit of trouble navigating at times and would not know where some items were meant to be used but it wasn’t too difficult to figure out. 

The only other issue I had was that if you wanted to replay a chapter for trophy hunting or collecting anything that you may have missed, you had to play the entire chapter over again with no easy way to get to an area where you know you missed something. 

However, since the game is fairly easy and short it wasn’t too big of a deal and wouldn’t stop me from recommending the game to others. I’d give this game a solid 9 out of 10 and say that it’s the perfect game for cat lovers.