I upgraded my PS5 Plus subscription so that I could pick up Stray which is now included in the higher tiers of PS Plus. Let me tell you, I do not regret it one bit. When a friend messaged me and asked if I had played Stray yet I had not yet had the chance to pick it up. She let me know it was free on the upgraded PS Plus so I immediately went to upgrade my subscription.

Stray is an adorable game that lets you play as a stray cat thrust into a weird and strange but also beautiful and moving post apocalyptic world. It took me about 8 hours in total to beat but that’s because I did a lot of the extra side bits and bobs. If you were to go through the main storyline only you’d likely beat it in about 4 or 5 hours.

Visually the game is very pretty, and there are lots of quirky cat behaviours you can do that aren’t necessarily crucial to the gameplay, but add to the character of your little friend. There’s things to scratch, toys to play with, items to knock off sides and water to drink. There are also nap spots throughout the game which allows your cat to take naps, the game will then play a little music and give you an artistic zoom of the area, similar to the pause moments in Life is Strange. You definitely get the feeling that this game was made by people who love cats, because its movement and behaviours are spot on. There’s one bit early on which I won’t spoil but I remember thinking…..yup that’s exactly how a cat would act if that happened. The game in general is full of puzzles to be solved, a few high stakes moments and a fair bit of exploration. There are plenty of hidden extras to keep you entertained, memories to unlock and badges to collect.

Without giving away too many spoilers, the story line is well thought out and nicely developed. There was nothing really about it that left me wanting, the writer included just enough to let you understand but not too much as to make it seem like overkill. Whilst the storyline is not necessarily anything novel in the grand scheme of things, the execution and perspective in which you view it is pretty unique.

Now for the one and only negative from the game, sometimes the cats movements can be a little juddery and the game often had some clipping issues when I played. However, I did play around launch day so there is a good chance that some of these bugs and glitches will since have been patched out.

Overall I think it’s an outstanding game. It’s a perfect time filler and a great game to play in between longer games. It exceeded at keeping my attention (trust me this is a feat in itself, you should see my unfinished game list) and it provided enough content to flesh out the world and make it feel real whilst also sticking to a linear narrative. I score it

9 / 10

Written by Clarissa

Edited by Alexx