But the trade-off is the developers are able to keep the animations tight and better maintain the illusion of playing as a cat, whereas jumping everywhere could easily break that sense of immersion and lead to animation problems. This could be another point of contention with some players, as they may find Stray's platforming too restrictive. Stray doesn't let players jump wherever and whenever they want, but instead relegates jumping to a contextual button press.

Part of the reason the developers were able to obtain such an impressive level of polish is likely due to the restrictions placed on the game's platforming. This way the game doesn't overstay its welcome, so the novelty of what the developers accomplished with the cat never wears off. This will certainly be a downside for some, but Stray's short length may actually be to its benefit. Those wanting to get 100% completion can easily do so in under 10 hours, as it doesn't take long at all to unlock all of Stray's trophies. Stray is a short but sweet experience that can be completed in less than five hours in the initial playthrough. The fact that Stray only really has two open areas like this may disappoint some players, especially since the game is light on content in general. It's here where players are let loose to explore as a cat, testing the limits of what exactly they can do in the game. However, the open-ended areas, of which are there are two in the game, are where Stray really shines. The linear sections offer more action, with players having to use a mix of speed and stealth to outrun and hide from the Zurks and other enemies. The Stray experience is broken up into linear levels and more open areas. It helps that the animators went as far as to make the cat literally breathe, of course. Any cat owners that have tried to put similar harnesses on their pets to take them on walks will recognize this behavior, and it's the little details like this that make the cat from Stray feel like a living, breathing cat. Early in the game, the cat is outfitted with a harness to help transport its drone companion, and it hilariously flops to the ground, refusing to move for a moment. Real-life cat owners especially will come away impressed with what BlueTwelve Studio has accomplished here, as they may be more likely to notice subtle things like the cat's ears twitching in the direction of a noise. The animations are perfect, down to the smallest details.

Stray's feline protagonist and eye-popping graphics made it one of the most-talked about games coming out of Sony's Future of Gaming event, and as it turns out, the hype was warranted.įirst and foremost, the developers at BlueTwelve Studio have absolutely nailed what it would be like to move around a city as a cat. One of the very first games ever revealed for Sony's PlayStation 5 console was Stray, a game where players control a cat in a cyberpunk city populated by robots.

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