BlueTwelve Studio is a small company located in the south of France and which has designed a rather attractive game where players embody… a cat. Stray was therefore born on the consoles of Sony Interactive Entertainment and on PC, inevitably, we embarked on this feline tribulation in order to give you our impressions. Did we have a good time? It’s time to answer it.
Stray is gripping, charming and exquisite.
The visual part of Stray is pleasant overall. We walk in rather narrow areas, overall, the rendering is more than appreciable for the peepers. The environments are full of details of all kinds and the play of light, as well as the reflections, are attractive. There are a few small flaws in the area, such as popping where certain textures arise without warning, animations a bit rigid and small collision bugs. Don’t panic, it doesn’t spoil the experience, the title exhibits a captivating artistic direction that veils these slight imperfections.
On the soundtrack side, we have tones that stick with the image. If we are chased by small creatures, the music becomes intense, if we drag our feet, the notes are softer and slower. It’s charming and fun to listen to. If you play it on PlayStation 5, the voice of the feline comes out of the speaker to immerse you as it should. In stray, we therefore play a cat who has been separated from his family and who finds himself in a cybernetic and mysterious city. His goal ? Flee the scene and find his loved ones. The story is elegant and conveys messages about life, society and what we are losing. In spirit, this production reminds us of the work of Yukito Kishiro, Gunnm.
The handling is simplistic and limited for certain things… We can only sprint and jump on walls if the game gives us permission. Also, we can meow, but not only. Don’t forget, we’re a cat, which means we can do cat stuff. That’s to say ? We can scratch ourselves on carpets (with some resistance from the triggers of the DualSense), scratching at a door for someone to open us, sleeping and purring on a cushion (the DualSense vibrates perfectly to make us feel the small buzzing of our feline), hide in a cardboard box, put its head in a paper bag, or even knock objects off a table with its paw. What is it for? To nothing, apart from making you love these animals so much they are cabbage.
To progress, we must explore restricted areas and complete riddles. In addition, our cat is accompanied by a small mecha flying, B-12, which helps us throughout our odyssey. Somewhat frustratingly, the puzzles are extremely easyfor once we would not have been against a little more difficulty. Beyond that, we are entitled to chases and infiltration phases to avoid monotony. Stray is eye-catching, only here it is, it does not take much time to reach the end of the tunnel. Count about 4 hours to see the credits.
stray is captivating, charming and exquisite. The experience remains in mind and it is hard to put the controller down once the beast is finished. So yes, the scraps can be re-soldered in a snap of the fingers, the lifespan is super short, but the title marks the spirits by transmitting beautiful messages to the players. Here we have a meowsterclass independent games that deserved a much longer and more thrilling adventure.
Stray is available on the PlayStation Store for €30, you can buy a PSN card on Amazon.
Most
- A fun art direction
- A good sound environment
- Step into the skin of a feline and do cat stuff, fun
- Beautiful messages conveyed
- Purring, excellent sensations with the DualSense
The lessers
- It’s short, too short, sniff
- The puzzles, too easy
- Limited grip on jumps