Stray is far more than the marketing and internet reception would lead you to believe. On the surface, this game may seem like a simplistic cat RPG where you go around town being a cat and doing very little of consequence, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Stray is an emotional post-apocalyptic sci-fi adventure that talks about the meaning of life and the relationships you form. Yeah… not quite your average cat game.

The story of Stray truly elevates the gaming experience. You follow a cat who gets separated from his friends and finds himself whisked away to a robot revolution where an oppressive government is attempting to silence its dissenters. The contrast between our characters' soft and innocent appearance with the dark, existential implications of this robot-inhabited world helps lay the groundwork for the relationships in Stray. The best moments of this game were the ones where I had the freedom to explore and communicate with the world.

The gameplay and mechanics of Stray are somewhat interesting initially, but as the game goes on, it leaves the player desperate for more variety. There are only so many couches and floor mats you can scratch before you start to wonder whether the game is close to finishing. Stray is a game that can be finished in one sitting, as the total game length is between 4-6 hours. However, the repetitive groove of mechanics began to eat away from the excitement of the interesting story and made this a tad difficult to play for extended periods of time.

Overall, Stray is a small and contained game that excels when it decides to dig deep and get emotional. This game is ultimately about the connections we make, so when Stray chooses to delve into the honest, human emotions of its non-human characters, it truly shines. While the repetitive mechanics and slow pacing hold the game back somewhat, the short runtime does partially assuage this. If you’re like me and received it for free thanks to your Playstation Plus subscription, I would highly recommend you check it out. Otherwise, I would still say (albeit less fervently) that you should play it, as the $20 price tag is worth it.

Score: 7/10