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Getting your Trinity Audio player ready…
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Even if you don’t love cats you’ll fall in love with this little furball and the robots!
Stray by Blue Twelve Studios (published by Annapurna Interactive) was one of the first games that I got on my Playstation 5 two years ago and I still love this game. I’ve done 3 complete playthroughs. Sometimes I just go back to hangout in the Slums or in Midtown and purr on a couch and have a nap or visit old robot friends.
The Storyline of Stray by Blue Twelve Studios
Stray by Blue Twelve Studios is definitely a story based game. There’s more than just story and the dialogue is minimal but if you really want to enjoy the game, I highly advise reading the dialogue. Dialogue exists between the cat and B12, the droid who accompanies you through your journey. B12 shares memories that explain things that have happened in the past and how they affect the present. You’ll also find dialogue with the main robots (Doc, Momo, Clementine, etc.) and the supporting robots that are scattered throughout the game.
Without spoiling the game, the gist of the storyline is that you play a little cat who helps the robots of a cyberpunk world find their freedom by escaping the slums of the underworld. The computerized systems, built by humans of the past, keep them limited in their range of living. Some live in the Slums while others live in Midtown. Yet others are stuck in their roles in various other parts of the world as cleaners, guards, and so on.
The Enemies in Stray
Stray comes with its fair share of enemies. They come in the form of mutant creatures called Zurks (they remind me of big rats with one eye) who will eat anything and everything from flesh and blood (i.e. you) to metal (thus a danger to the robots, too). They come in swarms and their are fast, but not terribly smart.
There is also the droids, programmed to eliminate anything that threatens the stability of the environment. Get in their way and they will shoot you down with their lasers!
The Cyberpunk World
This is perhaps the part of the game I love the most. I’m obsessed with anything cyberpunk and will try almost any game that has a cyberpunk theme. I enjoyed exploring all the areas that the game gives you access to. There are several urban environments but there’s also a nature environment where many of the robots have escaped to that is beautiful in its decay.
I loved climbing the buildings, exploring the rooms, running down the narrow halls, and meeting the robots that live there. The dialogue of the secondary robots is limited but each one has something different to say.
Memories and Trophies
If you want to get the most out of the game, try to get all the memories and trophies. The memories, relayed by B12 the droid, share a lot of details about how the world got to the point it is at and how B12 got where he is at. B12 has “memories” that are revealed by finding points in the game. The memories are those of the scientist who existed before all humans became extinct.
Trophies are little actions in the game that are fun to collect and if you collect them, you get badges for your vest (a vest you wear to give B12 a place to rest and recharge). For example, one of the trophies is playing Mahjong with the robots at the treehouse in Antvillage.
All of these trophies and memories take exploration and time to collect. That means, you have to slow down and not rush through the main storyline. The first time I played it I missed a lot but I went back for a second play to explore more.
A Personal Theory
Throughout the game, you’ll see that the robots are not standard robots. They express feelings, have relationships, and each has its own character. Doc is curious. Momo is anxious. Seamus is sad. But robots don’t have feelings…do they?
I have a theory about that.
At one point, you learn something about B12 and his memories (I won’t reveal it but you might guess after this) that made me think about the robots and their emotions. What if all the robots are representations of the real people who existed at one time? What if humans uploaded all their thoughts, feelings, memories and emotions into a database that came to live inside a robot?
Seamus, Doc’s son, might have really been a young man who lost his dad and hadn’t seen him in a long time. And thus, the robot Seamus, thinks he misses his dad. Clementine might have really been a strong and independant young woman, intent on finding a way out of the slum, and thus robot Clementine is strong willed and determined to fight the authorities.
When you think about it, it makes sense. It’s never specificially said but I like to think that all the humans who no longer exist live on in the robots.
Play This Game!
Many people will tell you that this game can be completed in about four or five hours. And it can. But you’ll miss a lot if you go through it this fast. If you just focus on getting through the game, you can even complete it in two hours and get the speerun trophy.
I took 13 hours to play my first time through. I’m slow though and the Zurks really kicked my butt! I was relieved when I was done with them. But then there were the droids, which are a little more predictable but equally deadly.
My second time playing the game, I focused more on getting memories and trophies. I still want to do a series where I go get all of them and record them for social media. I have no idea how long that playthrough took! But it was a lot of fun.
The third time through I did a speedrun and got through it in two and a half hours.
No matter how you play it, you’re going to have a good time if:
- you love cats
- you love cyberpunk
- you like to explore
- you love a good story
- you don’t feel the need to constantly be in action
I think everyone should try this game but that’s just me. The great thing about gaming is that there is something for everyone. At the time I played this game, I was almost strictly a cozy gamer but I still found lots to enjoy with this game.
Get Stray by Blue Twelve Studios on Switch, Playstation, or XBox. It’s also available through Steam.
