One of the most ambitious mid budget non AAA games.. It might end up being the biggest AA game of the year. Some people think. Now we have no idea for sure.. We havent gotten our hands on the game yet. When we do well make a Before You Buy video., But we could be wrong.. The game could just turn out terrible., But we thought there was an interesting conversation here about this game. I mean the game has really gone. Viral. Posts about it were number one on certain gaming subreddits at a point. Weve seen YouTube videos about it, get decent views.. Any time theres a new trailer like a State of Play or anything like that, theres, a lot of interest on social media., Weve, seen forums, comment sections popping off with excitement. All this over a cat game. Well, it might seem surprising until you actually look at it. Not to sound like a hype. Man cause again. We still havent played this thing, but I mean look at the game footage.. I feel like most people cant help but instantly be intrigued by this.. Now this game Stray is developed by a studio called BlueTwelve and its published by Annapurna Interactives game division, which has a good track record lately with Neon White Outer Wilds and one of my favorites, The Artful Escape.. So it has that going for it.. But what exactly is this game? Well, according to them, you explore and survive as this cat in an unwelcoming, fallen city, environment.

, Navigation exploration, puzzle, solving using items and stealth seem to be the main game. Elements. Now weve seen the cat pick things up and use objects to solve. Puzzles. Weve also seen the cat sprint from danger, as well as jump across ledges and up onto objects, not like a jump button but more of a context. Sensitive jump. Not as exciting but yeah. Doing cat stuff like eating drinking playing rubbing up on stuff, knocking stuff over scratching couches, which makes me extremely angry. The game seems to go all in on the playing as a cat thing and the sounds it makes from what we can hear sounds like its mostly actual cat sounds., According to a preview from GameSpot theres. Actually, a dedicated meow button. And some of the actions just involve the cat swatting at things with its paw. And even the way it jumps up on things like the back legs winding up and then the sudden pop of a jump. Animations and little touches like this. Just from the gameplay trailers do seem convincing.. If you have a cat, you probably get it., I mean the way the eyes work, the sporadic movements of the tail and just the cuteness factor. It seems like they got. The cat game part figured out. Now, as for the rest of the gameplay, the cat makes friends with a drone in the game and this little drone that sticks around on your collar or something it can help.

You interact with different objects in the world. Seemingly some inventory management and menu stuff translate language like on signs and stuff, as well as communicate with the robots living in the city.. Now the robots that inhabit this city seem really interesting and kind of make up the other half of this game. In my opinion., They I mean they just look really cool. The robots here or androids or whatever they might be, really create a cool setting and vibe.. They look about human size and it seems, like theyll, be a big part of the journey.. It looks like you can interact with many of them, thanks to your little drone, partner. Im sure youre gon na be giving some of them items, but I wonder if theres, any more types of trading or side quest stuff going on with them. Well have to wait And see., So with navigating puzzle solving and interactions, we havent seen any gameplay elements that look really intense.. Sorry guys.. I dont think this one is gon na be Elden Ring.. This looks like way more of a story. Experience thing than a hardcore: gameplay game.. There still do seem to be threats. Though. Threats seemingly involve the chase sequences, bad drones that you hide from environmental hazards and scary, weird alien bug things because theres something going on with the city, some sort of infection and thats, where these weird alien bugs seem to come into play.. It does also look like your drone will eventually have the ability to scare these gross things off with a special light.

And with the stealth elements that they tease Ill take it.. There are still not enough stealth games, so hey cool., It might not be the deepest stealth gameplay elements, but just seeing the cat hide in a cardboard box and wait for something else to pass. Just gets me excited at the concept of a hardcore animal stealth. Game.. Maybe we can get that or maybe at the very least they could bring back Sly Cooper., But hey anyway soapbox over.. I think the real focus might just be the world and the story., Its all very mysterious.. I think the one thing that is really appealing to people besides the whole play is a cat thing is, like I said, the cool robots, but also this dystopian cyberpunk esque city. Seemingly all underground., It looks cool like some cool Instagram, sci fi art come to life. Its dreary and depressing, but also just cool science fiction at the same time.. You know what I mean: Weve seen plenty of games with this style, but none quite like this and playing as a small, vulnerable stray cat in a much bigger world makes it that much more interesting. A cat game in a Blade Runner world Thats an easy pitch For a lot of players right there., So I just hope we get some answers about this mysterious world. You know Whats up with the cat. Where are all the humans Whats the deal, Even if its ambitious, I just hope, theres some interesting themes that pop up.

? My other real question is how much of this world can we really explore? How linear is it Some areas? Look pretty open.. Some people have thrown around the phrase open world, but its still hard to tell, especially because it seems like there might be some verticality too.. A cat can jump up fire escapes and across rooftops, so theres a lot of potential for these areas to be big.. But thats the whole thing right Potential.. I think whether it ends up a compelling video game, adventure or just a chill simple piece of video game art. I think either way its at least kind of a win as long as it doesnt end up, boring or just a complete gameplay disaster.. The other bit of appeal is just that: its an animal game. People, love animals and love, regular old animals like cats and dogs.. You know what this kind of actually vaguely reminds me of Its part of the reason why I was interested in this game in the first place.. Remember, Tokyo Jungle Remember Tokyo, Jungle on PS3. It was a Sony published, smaller scale game based around a few animals in an abandoned Tokyo.. It started basic.. A lot of the focus was on Pomeranian dogs, but it would expand to other dogs, deers, hyena lions and it got pretty crazy.. It was a really unique game kind of about animal survival, but with a vibe. That is something else man., And I wish I could just go back and replay it because there arent really many games like it.

. It was an experience more than like. I said a hardcore game, but it was still really satisfying to play.. Also weve just never really talked about Tokyo Jungle in a Gameranx video, and I felt like it was a good time to finally bring it up. Anyway, that tangent over. Really to wrap up Stray, has been popping off online. I think, because, obviously, cat game in Blade Runner city is an easy pitch.. The sci, fi setting seems unique and not generic.. Playing as a cat is something we dont, often do., And really just to touch on something else. The game as a concept is different man.. How many of you guys out? There complain about remakes and sequels, and just endless stuff and less creativity, Heres, something new and special right here.. I think thats, why theres a lot of interest.? I think a lot of people are just hungry for something a little different. Something fresh, you know So with Stray thats, really where we think all the appeal lies why people are interested in it.. It could still like, I said, end up being a flop, but we wont know until we play it. Its releasing July 19th 2022. So we dont have to wait too long and its gon na be on Windows, PS4 and PS5. Fingers crossed its good. And at the very least, even if it isnt that, maybe we just get more games that try cool ideas like this., But thats us.

. We thought this game was interesting and we wanted to talk about it a little before release just some of the ideas behind it.. We kept it kind of simple, but we are gon na link a couple of interesting stories and previews of the game down into description. So definitely check those out if you want to dive a bit deeper. Big picture, though, with what we said. What do you guys think about this game? Did this game catch your eye when you first saw it at a State of Play or something a few years back, or did you see the more recent stuff and now youre into it? Weve been looking forward to this game pretty much since day one, but whether youre like that or if you just figured out about this game from this video, we wan na, know what youre thinking.. Would you wan na play as a cat in a game and if there were other games like this, this type of vibe, this type of creativity? What animal would you wan na see involved? Let us know whatever youre thinking about Stray.. I think it could be a fun conversation., Its fun to talk about a different type of game every once in a while., And if you enjoyed this little chat, clicking the Like buttons all you got ta do.. It really helps us out. And, like I said, be sure to keep an eye out for our Before You Buy video.

That will be coming out closer to the games. Actual launch. Itll probably be pretty fun to talk about either way. So keep your eyes. Peeled. Click to notification bell, if you havent already, if you arent, subscribed or anything because we put out videos every single day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZx8Y_x4IRw