Stray

Stray is THE game with the absolute best atmosphere I’ve ever had the pleasure of experiencing in a game. It’s what made me fall in love with the game instantly from the moment I entered into the slums in chapter 4 to the moment I reached the end in the control room of chapter 12. The game’s atmosphere and level design, coupled with the beautiful art style and sound design, all of these together form an amazing experience and work to pull you right in and keep you right there, immersed in the world of Stray.

Who would’ve thought that a game where you play as a cat could be so engaging. What I didn’t realize before starting this game is that, it’s not a platformer as I initially thought—it’s more alike a telltale game but with player agency, and it also counts as a puzzle game despite the difficulty of its puzzles being a bit lack luster to say the least. They are definitely engaging but the game is very easy, which for a game like Stray, is a good thing.

My favorite part about Stray has got to be the level design and, how the game makes you feel. I don’t have any good words to describe the atmosphere of this game, it’s cozy most of the time but honestly it can be a little scary at times. The good kind of scary, not the jump-scare kind of scary. The big levels inhabited by robots feel incredibly cozy and are just so well designed. And there are a lot of things to do in these levels aside from main progression with lots of collectibles and stuff spread throughout each and every level. The game oozes love and care from all of the walls and scratchy rugs and couches, it makes you want to live in its world. Which is amazing and a feeling not many video games manage to capture for me. Hearing the chiptunes from the radios and jukeboxes spread throughout the level always filled me with joy as I was playing and always made me wanna stay just a little longer and listen… and the absence of those chiptunes in the more intense parts of the game sets the tone really well, as well as the soundtracks playing throughout the game at random points and during chases and stuff… so good.