Action adventure game about a cute cat turned out to be an action adventure game about a cute cat. Who knew?
In all seriousness, there’s not much about Stray that isn’t easy to surmise from the earliest trailers of the game. It’s an action adventure where you play as a cat. Most actions (apart from meowing) are context-sensitive. You get some platforming, some light interactions with items, a few optional “quests”, collectibles, stealth and escape sequences. And it works similarly to how a cinematic platformer would work (like Another World or more recent INSIDE), just with less systemic elements and more context-sensetive concepts.
Luckily, even though it doesn’t do anything extraordinary, what it has it mostly does really well. Most sections or concepts are done “just enough” and do not get old. Failing in the game isn’t particularly easy, even though there are a few harder sections that will get you tense. And the game delivers a really good visual style to keep you in awe, while showing cute things to keep you in “awww”. The music fits well, the story is as predictable as it gets, but it serves the purpose. And it’s very nice that in sections that are more open for exploration, you can do a lot “out of order”. Although, a few of the chapters do end really abruptly and lock you out of going back (but you can select any chapter from the main menu).
So, I suppose what this game reminds me of in the end is something like Little Nightmares – which is more style and mood, rather than INSIDE that can really get to you. Or Beyond Good & Evil that’s much bigger and more complex than its primitive basic controls imply. Granted, Stray is much more than sections where you possess the cat in Murdered: Soul Suspect (which it did remind me of), but it does leave you with an “yeah, that was nice” feel when you’re done with it, rather than with a desire to return to it and experience it again.
Should you play Stray? Sure, it’s a solid, stylish and very cute action adventure that lasts perfect 5-6 hours and packs enough variety to keep you interested all of that time. Just, don’t expect it to be more than a good action adventure game about a cute cat.