Stray Review

Stray – Review

Stray Review: A Clever and Addictive Twist on the Endless Runner Stray PC Review: A Fun and Innovative Endless Runner

How far will you go to escape? That’s the question that Stray asks, and it answers in the best way possible with addicting gameplay, eye-catching graphics, and an interesting premise that’s unlike anything else I’ve played in the genre. Read on to learn why you should buy Stray PC today!

I absolutely fell in love with this game

I really enjoyed playing Stray. It’s a clever and addictive twist on the endless runner genre. The art style is also really cool and I love the sound design. The game is a lot of fun and has tons of content to explore.

My only issue with it was that it felt like it had less variety than other similar games, but overall, this was one of my favorite games from 2022.

There are tons of reviews online praising the game as well. IGN gave it 8/10 stars, and Metacritic gave it 84 out of 100. Some critics have gone so far as to call it ‘The Best Game You’ve Never Played‘.

This game has been reviewed by multiple outlets and received largely positive feedback for its innovative take on the traditional platformer.

Stray Game Screenshot | Gamelance | Stray Review
Source: VG247

What I disliked about this game

The first thing I noticed about Stray was the controls. They were very floaty and sometimes unresponsive. I often found myself frustrated with the game because I would often press the “Caps Lock” instead of the “Tab” key.

The second issue I had was with the graphics. They often times laggy and I would experience frame drops below 30 fps even on an RTX 2060.

The third issue was with the sound design. It was very repetitive and became annoying very quickly. While the sound design is good, I’ve often times found them limiting and repetitive.

My favorite part was…

The best part about Stray is its clever and innovative twist on the endless RPG-runner-platformer genre. I’ve never played a game quite like it before.

The art style is also charming and cute, which was a nice change of pace from the more dark and gritty games I usually play. Overall, I had a lot of fun with Stray and would recommend it to anyone looking for something new to play. It’s unique, different, and really worth playing.

It’s easy to learn but difficult to master. And the best of all, you are playing as a cat. Not a superpowered mutant cat, but a normal everyday run-of-the-mill stray cat.

Stray Screenshots 2 | Gamelance | Stray Review
Source: Stray – PC Gamer

The biggest challenge of the game was…

The biggest challenge of Stray was getting used to the controls.

Especially while running away from ‘Zurks‘ I found myself constantly pressing ‘Left Alt‘ to evade or post back the Zurks and looking for the ledges to get the ‘Space Bar‘ jump prompt to jump on time, but after a few minutes of practice, I got the hang of it.

The controls are simple and easy to learn, but they take some time to get used to.

The best way to experience this game is…

Just go in with the expectations of experiencing the game as a cat and not a serial RPG protagonist who is just thrown into an unknown world and as a stranger is instant trusted more than its own inhabitants to save themselves from impending doom.

Stray asks you not to be a protagonist and just be a cat and experience the world and observe.

Just look around, solve some simple puzzles and find a way to escape from this underground shelter/city devoid of human life.

The bottom line is…

Stray is a delightful adventure in a dark but endearingly hopeful cyberpunk world, and that’s thanks in no small part to the fact that you are playing as an adorable cat the whole time.

Its mix of simple platforming and puzzles with item-hunting quests is balanced very well across the roughly five-hour story – and though I wished my movement was a little more nimble during that time, I still loved hopping across rooftops and scampering through back alleys to find its well-hidden secrets.

The new ideas it introduces along the way help keep things as fresh as a new bag of litter, too, even if not all of those ideas work quite as well as others.

But whether I was scratching at a carpet or curling up into a ball and taking a catnap, Stray does a great job of setting itself apart in a way that feels like more than just a novelty game.

Stray Review
Stray – Review
The Final Verdict
Stray is a true ode to both adventure games and cats. The game is expertly crafted with satisfying gameplay, a brilliant art style, and an even better story. A strong contender for indie game of the year, Stray will dig it’s claws into you from the very beginning and it wont let go.
Gameplay
9
Controls
7
Graphics
8
Story
9
8.3
Final Score