With Stray's stunning and densely packed neon-lit world, you owe it to yourself to take a break from all the ledge pouncing and carpet kneading to stop and marvel at the finer details of this jaw-droppingly gorgeous game.
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Whether it's the wonderfully realised design of the city’s zany robot citizens, the various scattered easter eggs and references, or even the many adorable ways to simulate being a cat, there are so many small details that breathe life into the world of Stray and make it an unforgettable experience.
10 Be Adorable And Ruin Things By Being A Cat
Despite the game’s richly detailed world and surprisingly compelling story, one element is cut above the rest - you get to play as a cat. It includes every adorable feline activity you can think of, including getting your head stuck in a paper bag, taking cat naps, and scratching incessantly on doors and carpets.
Then there’s all the cat mischief (catschief…?) you will inevitably get up to. You can walk all over a keyboard to corrupt what looks to be very important files, knock things off of ledges, and completely destroy a friendly board game - much to the chagrin of its participants. It’s the quintessential cat simulator.
9 Treating Cats How They Deserve To Be Treated
The robot inhabitants of this far-future dystopia are (mostly) warm and welcoming to the cat in Stray. There are plenty of funny and poignant exchanges to be had, but sometimes it’s the smaller and seemingly less significant interactions that tend to have the most impact. One of the best is with the bartender of Midtown, Jonee, who addresses everyone’s favourite furball as “little sir”.
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It perfectly reflects how cat owners refer to their little bundles of joy on a daily basis. We can most assuredly confirm that these cute nicknames people give to their cats are 100 percent accurate. If anything, they could have dialed up the cutesy name-calling to a much higher degree, and it would have been even more accurate.
8 So Many Pop Culture References
Stray’s downtrodden slums, shadowy alleyways, and colourful streets are all jam-packed full of cool film, TV and video game references to some of the most popular and beloved franchises out there.
The game is full of Easter Eggs and ranges from small nods to popular TV shows - such as the “Duffer Bar” referencing The Simpson’s “Duff Beer” - to blatant acknowledgments of beloved films properties. You may notice the splitting resemblance Doc and Seamus have to Back To The Future’s Doc and Marty, as well as a direct reference to the infamous “screwdriver to the knee” NPC dialogue from Skyrim.
7 Robot Language
Via Reddit User u/studiothequePretty soon after the game’s release, some intelligent fans took it upon themselves to decode the mysterious and complicated robot language that you’ll stumble across during your playthrough. Throughout the game, there are a variety of indistinguishable symbols and glyphs that show up on food and drink packets, newspapers and the many neon signs that litter the streets and rooftops.
Fans managed to decipher the city’s mysterious robot signage, using a meticulous method of documenting each symbol the developers have used for the game’s titles. It’s a nice touch and adds another layer of appreciated depth to the game.
6 B-12’s Memories
B-12’s memories act as one of the more interesting collectables in Stray. It encourages you to be more observant of your surroundings and pay attention to the finer details of the game’s gorgeous semi-open play areas.
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As well as a way of increasing your bond with your robot buddy, they also add a huge amount of detail and lore to the game world. They are incredible for world-building, such as the “RIP Humans” graffiti on the wall of the slums that suggests a sense of grief and loss for the robot’s fleshy non-synthetic counterparts, and the futuristic “Neco” plant, which doesn’t need sunlight to survive.
5 Sixteen-Hour Clocks
The observant of you will notice that something is a little off when looking at the various analogue clocks scattered throughout the various interiors of Walled City 99. Rather than the typical twelve-hour clock face, players have noticed that the clocks in Stray have sixteen hours.
There are many theories as to why these peculiar clocks exist within the game’s dystopian underground city, but it is most likely due to the fact that the robot inhabitants run off of bit memory, which can contain sixteen numbers. These clocks would more logically accommodate a society filled with robots and is just another example of the game’s stellar world-building and attention to detail.
4 Guiding Lights
The cool Cyberpunk-themed neon lights that litter the concrete-laden alleyways and populated rooftops of Stray do more than just convey a gritty sense of atmosphere - they serve a gameplay purpose too. Most of the orange-tinged neon signs and bright bulbs serve the purpose of nudging our little feline friend in the right direction.
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In particular, it will guide you towards locations that are important for the story, including apartments of missing robots to investigate in the slums. How this cat can understand the purpose of such carefully placed lighting is beyond us. We just have to (rightly) assume that he is a very clever boy.
3 Guitar-Playing Robot - Morusque
The various bits of sheet music left dispersed about the numerous locations of Stray act as another interesting form of collectable that encourages you to explore the breadth of the city and leave no stone unturned.
Pretty early on in the slums, you’ll stumble upon Morusque, a talented guitar-playing robot who seems to have misplaced a bunch of sheet music. Finding them all will grant you a badge which is needed for an achievement, but it also serves the added purpose of getting a nice little ditty to chill out to while taking a curled-up nap on a comfortable pillow.
2 Design Of The Robots
Once upon a time, all robots were made equal. Though, after centuries of being left to their own devices, the denizens of Stray have each developed a personality of their own. BlueTwelve Studio has gone the extra mile to make each and every robot in the game burst with unique flair and charm.
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Firstly, their base design is very inspired, with big hulking heads displaying large screens that show simple emoji-like illustrations of their emotions. Despite all being cut from the same cloth, each robot is distinct in how they present themselves to the world. You’ll find a variety of zany characters, including a poncho-clad musician and an assertive protector who wields a steel pipe like a bo staff.
1 Dedicated Meow Button
By now, everyone knows that there is a button with the singular purpose of making the ginger cat meow in a variety of extremely adorable variations. Sometimes, it has a gameplay purpose, such as making the aforementioned guided lights appear to show you where to go, or as a way to distract the sentinels and Zurks.
Mostly it’s just there to make you swoon with joy at how utterly and insufferably cute it all is. If you’re playing on PS5, the cute meows and chirps will even come out of the DualSense’s speakers! We have reached the pinnacle of gaming.
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