If you’ve been on the internet lately, you’ve likely heard at least a murmur about Stray. Stray is a video game—made by BlueTwelve Studio and published by Annapurna—in which you wander around a post-apocalyptic robot society as a lone cat trying to make your way home. It’s like if Untitled Goose Game took place in the world of Final Fantasy VII, with a penchant for Legend of Zelda-like environmental puzzles—but cat. In other words, it’s absolutely phenomenal. And the internet, which is famously always down for a good cat friend, is beside itself.
Ever since Stray was announced in 2020, Twitter lovingly dubbed it “The Cat Game.” Because cat. We love a good cat. And this cat looks a lot like one of my cats, and one of the main robot characters shares his name with my other cat. But that’s neither here nor there. The point is, The Cat Game fully lived up to its hype. What makes Stray so special is the team behind it is so obviously full of cat people. Your protagonist is a normal cat, doing everything a normal cat would do, and nothing that a normal cat wouldn’t do. My favorite moment so far in my playthrough: when B-12, your companion, puts a vest on the cat, he immediately flops on his side dejectedly, then slinks weirdly for a while when he walks. My cat did the same thing the first time we put on his stress vest. Classic cat.
All this is to say: the moment Stray released on July 19, memes flooded Twitter, because everyone was so goddamn excited for The Cat Game.
Earlier this year, when Elden Ring launched, everyone assumed that it was the obvious contender for “Game of the Year.” It still is, probably, but Elden Ring Burnout became very much a thing. Now, months later, we are presented with this perfect cat game. Yes, Stray is infinitely shorter (10 hours vs 150+), so I’ll let you come to your own conclusions.
Even official PlayStation accounts made the following joke. For real, everyone is overjoyed about this wonderful game. We needed this so bad.
And then … there’s all the videos of real-life cats watching Stray. Our own Briana Lawrence talked about this a lot in her review. But it was definitely not just her cats who got excited. If you don’t believe me about the realness with which Stray’s protagonist moves and acts, these actual feline friends are the purrfect (muahaha) reviewers. Prepare your heart, lest it burst.
You think I’m content with that measly number of videos of cats watching The Cat Game? Hell no. Here’s more. (My own cat just kind of watched at a distance and then left. My more curious one is sick, the poor booboo. I promise to update this article with videos of my own, should they arise.)
In summary, Stray is great. It has done something that very few things do: made a formidable chunk of the internet very, very happy. Now, if you excuse me, I’m going to play Stray right now.
(featured image: BlueTwelve Studios)
Published: Jul 20, 2022 05:25 pm