Stray is unlike any other game. There are many games that show the storyline from the perspective of a human being. This is the first game I have seen that shows the story from the perspective of a cat. It was a new concept for me, but it was definitely worth it.
Stray has been developed by BlueTwelve Studio and published by Annapurna Interactive. Lately, BlueTwelve studio has been releasing amazing games such as A Plague Tale: Requiem, Elden Ring, and the hit of 2023 Hogwarts Legacy. Well, it feels good to say that they did not leave any exceptions in the game Stray either.
- Release Date: 19th July 2022
- Available on: PlayStation, PC
To play on PC, you can buy it from Steam but do check out the minimum requirements to have a smooth experience:
- OS: Windows 10 (64-bit operator)
- Processor: Intel Core i5-2300| AMD FX-6350
- Memory: 8GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 65o Ti, 2GB | AMD Radeon R7 360, 2GB
- DirectX: Version 12
- Storage: 10GB available storage
Stary Video Game Storyline
This game is set post an apocalyptic time where all humans are dead, and now robots are living. So, in the first scene, we can see that there are a bunch of cats playing together. It is really cute. We play as a ginger cat, and we follow some other cats.
When following the cats, there is a place to jump from one place to another, but as expected, the other cats can make the jump, but our poor ginger cat jumps but falls down. The cat falls down in the sewers.
So, when he falls into the sewers, he follows the path and reaches an underground city which is called the Dead City. In Dead City, lights and televisions which say “Help Me” guides our dear ginger cat to an apartment. But getting to the apartment isn’t really that easy as there are small creatures that are trying to attack the ginger cat.
In this apartment, the cat finds a robot that needs help, and we need to solve a few basic puzzles, which basically open up a door. Inside the room, we find a robot that needs a new body, so the ginger cat helps the robot by getting it a small body that can hover.
The tiny robot does not have any previous memory and has B12 written on its exterior. So, he asks the cat to address him as B12. Oh, also, B12 gives the cat a bag sort of thing to attach itself whenever in need of power, as its power dies out real quick. In the apartment, they find a picture of the outside world.
They move forward and are able to reach a new area called The Slum. A few robots spot the cat and start running away from the cat while alerting the whole area of a foreign organism present in the area.
They meet a robot called the Guardian. This is where we first learn about Zurk. Those were the small creatures that were attacking the cat in the beginning. Also, the picture of the outside is shown to the robot Guardian, and he asks to meet another robot called Momo.
Once they meet Momo, they get to know that he is part of a group called The Outsiders. The Outsider consisted of Doc, Zbaltazar, Clementine, and Momo himself. Everyone besides Momo from the group had left, and he did not know what had happened to them.
Now, the first task given is to get all of his other friend’s notebooks. After getting all the notebooks, Momo is able to fix the transceiver, which would let him talk to his friends who might be on the upper levels of the city. The transceiver is then given to the cat to put it on the rooftop.
After going to the rooftop, where they encounter too many Zurks, but with the help of B12 and our beloved ginger cat, they make sure to cross it and do it properly. B12 and the cat comes back to the bar to talk to Momo about what’s going on. We understand that way outside to the outer world is through the sewer, but it is filled with Zurks.
In the bar, the cat and B12 meet Seamus, who is the son of Doc. Seamus tells B12 and Momo to stay away from the sewers as it is infested with Zurk, and his dad had left for the sewers to check out a new weapon he had made but has not returned since.
They go to Seamus’s house and discover a secret room that has a tracker after getting the tracker fixed by a character from the bar from a robot. Momo and the cat have set to leave for the Sewers.
They search for Doc in a place Seamus guides them to. The cat enters a house and finds Doc there. The Doc says that he has been stuck there because the generator fuse blew, and putting in a new one is going to make a loud noise, and that would kill him.
So, after inserting the fuse in the generator, there is a loud noise which in turn causes all the Zurks to come out, but Doc comes to the rescue, and the weapon, which is called Defluxor in this game, he had gone to test out, is actually working. He then makes a miniature version of the Defluxor and attaches it to B12.
B12 and the cat makes sure that the Doc comes back to The Slum safely, and he meets his son there. They have a very happy reunion. Now that B12 has the Defluxor, the cat is ready to enter the sewer.
Momo arranges a boat to continue their expedition to the outside world. Before leaving, a robot asks if they have any pending tasks left in The Slum, which is a very good way of saying that their role in The Slum has ended and they will be moving to the next area.
So, they get in on the boat, and he will be taking them deep into the sewers. Along the path, there will come a locked door. The cat manages to find a way through the other side, letting in Momo with his boat. There is another door that is locked, but through this, only the cat and B12 can slip in as the space is too small, and someone has to hold the door from the other side.
The cat goes alone and passes through the area and reaches a place called Antvillage. When they step into the Ant village the first thing that happens is that they meet the Zbaltazar. But to meet him, they must meet the Guardian, who is called Baladin. He watches the entrance of the gate.
In Antvillage, B12 remembers that he was actually a human, but he had uploaded his consciousness into a robot body. This realization leads him to take a moment, and they are unable to interact with any robots for some time.
After climbing a few stairs, they meet Zbaltazar. He seems to have uploaded his consciousness out of his robot body. They understand that he has given up on trying to leave the city. They get to know that Clementine has made it to Midtown and still has the plan to escape.
Leaving Antvillage, they come across a subway station. B12 remembers that he used to take the subway when he was a human. He would go to work using the subway. Once they step into Midtown, they find they want posters of Clementine.
In Midtown, there are many robots to talk to and a lot of side missions. They enter a building, and there they find Clementine. He tells them that they need to get the Atomic Battery for the subway to start but to do that, they have to meet another robot who can get it for them.
But this robot, whose name is Blazer, requires a worker jacket and a worker hat. Once these items are acquired, he will put them in a box and sneak them in. The cat steals the Atomic Battery but needs to be very careful of sentinels. They are drones that seem to have a very particular vision.
Once the Atomic Battery has been retrieved, they go back to Clementine, but the place is filled with sentinels as they are searching for Clementine after doing a little puzzle-solving and sneaking away from the sentinels. For his safety, Clementine ditched the place but left clues for the cat and B12 to follow and meet them.
Clementine is then found at a nightclub, there is a bit of puzzle-solving here also, and you see Blazer. As you keep going towards him, it takes a surprising turn, and they end up in jail. In jail, the ginger cat is stuck in a cage but is somehow able to free itself, and from there, we can see that even Clementine is stuck in jail.
He points to them. The key and he is also freed. Now, that leaves them with B12. He is put in a cage, so our mighty ginger cat comes to the rescue and gets him out of jail. After getting B12 out of jail, leaving the jail seems like a tedious task.
They all get away from the sentinels and try to run away. As there are so many sentinels, Clementine sacrifices himself, allowing the other two to get away. They reach the subway and plug it in. They finally reach the control room.
In the control room, B12 says that he is going to open up the cover so that the actual sunlight reaches all these places. Well, in trying to do so, B12 dies, and it is a terrible thing that happens. So, our ginger cat decides to lie down next to it, and then it leaves after some time showing that it is able to get to the outer world.
Honest Thoughts About Stray
This is a new-gen console game, and the visuals are amazing. Stray has made quite a few references to other games, which was a nice thing to see. While watching the trailer, I did not think it was going to be that big of a deal, and the main focus of the game was going to be the cat, except that was not the case. The game gave Cyberpunk vibes.
This is many downsides to this game. We do not have a map or list of things that need to be accomplished on a map, so there are chances that you might miss something completely without coming back to it. The side missions do not award you well. All it gives you is a badge. As cool as it looks, it is kind of useless.
The Defluxor, which was given by the Doc, after some time, the game takes it away because that makes you very strong. I mean, if they have given it to you might as well keep it for the rest of the game.
At one point, the whole game kind of felt repeated. Members of The Outsiders sacrifice themselves for the cat to get away. This was a recurring theme. But altogether, it was a new concept playing a game from a cat’s perspective, but it could have been better if it let us play in first-person.
Our Rating: ⭐ (3.8/5).
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