Sometimes, it's nice when a game premise just writes itself. Such is the case of "Stray," a game first shown off at the initial PlayStation 5 reveal event that won over the hearts of many gamers. But why? It's a random indie game with a nondescript title, what makes THIS such a huge selling point for the PlayStation 5? Well, it's simple; you play as a cat...yes, a cat. Suddenly, the world exploded with joy. Cats are a creature many of us love and while I myself am more of a dog person, I appreciate cats for their artistic value and the joy they leave on life (even if they don't really smile or anything like that...I don't think). So I was pretty excited to play "The Cat Game," as some were dubbing it. Hearing that it would also be a Day One release on the PlayStation Plus Extra/Premium service was the icing on the cake, especially in the wake of Sony announcing that none of its own first-party titles would come to the service on Day One. This provides hope that third parties and indie devs could still get some Day One releases on the service. And as the first to go...I mean, I like it, but I can't say I didn't expect a bit more.
"Stray" sold itself on its premise, and that's what's sure to bring a lot of people in. It's an open-ended game where you're a cat in a big, cyberpunk-esque world...let me repeat that, you PLAY as the cat. A lot of people were sold right then and there, and it's understandable: cats are a beloved species, so getting to play as one sold the game all by itself. And there's a lot to like here; I think the story has a lot of good emotion to it, and I think playing as a cat didn't stop me from connecting to the character (or any of the other surrounding characters within this world). The visuals are also stunning; bursting with bright colors befitting the futuristic vibe, and there's plenty of detail and depth to the world as a whole. I also think the gameplay's relative minimalism can work well and, not to get all "every 'Batman: Arkham Asylum' review ever" here, but the game really does make you feel like a cat in a big world. The "playing as a cat" thing doesn't just feel like a gimmick: the developers at BlueTwelve Studio really built the world and gameplay around the cat and made it feel exactly how you would expect. I really think the game did a good job setting things up to pretty realistically show how a cat would react to this kind of world around them.
However, I can't say in good conscience that this game did everything I hoped it would, and some things left me disappointed. I think that the game loses some of its novelty as it goes on, and while it has plenty of adorableness to it, once you get past the "OMG CAT PSPSPS" part of it, it can feel a bit too standard. I'd also say that the stealth sections felt uninspired, and I personally think the game could've potentially used a map. I get it, there's the question of whether a cat could decipher a map, but as a player...some sections had me going in circles and would've been nicer with a map. Also, a couple of sections had big frame-rate drops, which surprised me given that it was the PlayStation 5 version.
Overall, "Stray" does everything it can with its premise, and mostly walks away doing pretty well. If cats have nine lives, I'd say this one walked away with at least four or five intact. I do think it loses some luster and suffers from its novelty inevitably wearing off, but considering its unique concepts, I'd say BlueTwelve did a pretty solid job here. It could've been better, but I'm glad it ended up good at all. I'm also glad I was able to get it as a Day One release with PlayStation Plus Extra/Premium (though it's a $30 game if you don't have the service), as it's the perfect kind of game for the service. Hopefully, Sony continues to offer third-party and indie games as Day One titles under PlayStation Plus Extra/Premium as it gets more and more updates from here.
Final rating: 7 out of 10 "Good"