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@@emanuel81111 Telltale Games? *I do ever wonder if the argument of full Let's Plays/No Commentary Longplays does, in fact, take away from the desire to play such story-focused games as The Walking Dead (2012), Batman: The Telltale Series and The Wolf Among Us, since they can easily be enjoyed by merely watching them on UA-cam, something that simply can not be said for the same about such gems of games like Minecraft, Death Road to Canada, Stardew Valley, Terraria, Hades, Enter The Gungeon and plenty more video games of that nature?*
@@MasterLPG the last of us two is super story focused no one is playing it purely for the gameplay, so you dont really loose out on much by watching a full stream, issue here is luke doesnt critise other games by the standard hes put this one up to otherwise he woukd have told us not to buy TLOUS2 in his review of if but he didnt. This take of his just seems weird. Id agree with the general premiss some games you can just watch and not loose out on, but this take from luke just comes off hypocritical.
I usually agree with your reviews mostly but this and the “The future of Assassins Creed is bright” absolutely lost me. This dev team deserves the money and trust, while Ubisoft doesnt.
@@bluestarkiller I dunno, I still want to think the best, after we’ve gotten so much in-depth and great commentary from Luke. I guess a free chair is a reasonable reward. I’ll hope it didn’t come with strings attached.
@@SPQRKlio let us hope. But the timing of that chair and the immediate change in gears from "New AC games are garbage and are ruining the franchise" to "Guys guys.. it's all good!" was... interesting. And not in a good way.
I think the problem is....people have lost the fact that if a developer does a good game they need to be rewarded for doing the right thing, and that means giving them money so they can continue and Stray treats customers with respect and I feel they need to reap the rewards
It’s not just on the consumers though. It starts with hundreds of other gaming companies wanting to do nothin but siphon money from the population to the point where mediocre product is the norm and honestly the goal for a lot of companies.
@@careyanderson6567 they would not be incentivized to do that it players valued quality over quantity. Sadly video games induce a lot of gambling and marketing tactics like FOMO and percentage chances to make big bank. Battle passes are so big because people know that sick looking knife won't be there a month from now. Us players gotta be better than that.
@@careyanderson6567 the goal of any company is to maximise the profits for the investors. Until shitty games stop generating better return on investment with a lower risk than good games, it won’t change.
I bought this to play with my 5 year old son and 12 year old daughter, it will probably get at least 2-3 playthroughs by that alone. Support the developers, quality is quality!
mgs ground zero was quality. I bet youd not wanna support that game though since its like 4 hours or 5 hours for 30 bucks. Except you actually get something far better
@@grahamkelly8662 Speak for yourself. I am an adult and I loved the game. I have a pet cat myself and I am a cat lover so this game spoke to me, and it was a no-brainer purchase.
I play my games anywhere from maybe 2-4 hours a week, if I'm lucky maybe a little over an hour a day, stray was fun because after a long day of work it was relaxing and mindnumbing. I think it's hard to feel that when you're job is to play games as a living. That's just my take on it.
@@bluestarkiller Me too, taking my time and poking into everything and being rewarded for interacting with the world and the gameplay at the cat’s level. I can’t imagine, for instance, not completing the musician side quest. It’s one of the few games I’m determined to 100%.
Same here brotha, took me a week actually but that's cause I was taking a day off here and there, it was fun but I agree not worth 30$, that's a lot of bones
I disagree, there is something completely different about experiencing the world yourself and watching someone else play it. The gameplay is the exploration area is very cozy. I paid for it on my PS5 (because I want to support the devs) and I have no problem with that. I also played through fire watch and paid for it. I turned off the jump prompt and it improved my experience instantly.
See, was this not the whole argument gamers had with publishers over let's plays/livestreams years ago, that playing the game yourself and watching someone play the game are 2 inherently different things, Devs were concerned such things would affect sales because people could just watch the game and not buy it themselves... it was a pretty big deal at the time and eventually was resolved in such a way as we now get to have let's plays/livestreams. Now this dude wants to say "nah don't buy this game just watch someone play it online" way to undermine that whole thing.
This is exactly the type of game you should buy and pay for. It's by an indie team that worked really hard and needs/deserves it more than half the developers you endorse on this channel. It's not even expensive...
Telltale Games? *I do ever wonder if the argument of full Let's Plays/No Commentary Longplays does, in fact, take away from the desire to play such story-focused games as The Walking Dead (2012), Batman: The Telltale Series and The Wolf Among Us, since they can easily be enjoyed by merely watching them on UA-cam, something that simply can not be said for the same about such gems of games like Minecraft, Death Road to Canada, Stardew Valley, Terraria, Hades, Enter The Gungeon and plenty more video games of that nature?*
After watching Jackson Galaxy play the game, saying that making a cat with its small actions like the ears and whiskers twitching, tails flicking, its hard. And it takes a lot of effort for player immersion to the point you wont even mind the small details. Art and experience has a price. An indie dev team who took years to make a cat game should get their due
Telltale Games? *I do ever wonder if the argument of full Let's Plays/No Commentary Longplays does, in fact, take away from the desire to play such story-focused games as The Walking Dead (2012), Batman: The Telltale Series and The Wolf Among Us, since they can easily be enjoyed by merely watching them on UA-cam, something that simply can not be said for the same about such gems of games like Minecraft, Death Road to Canada, Stardew Valley, Terraria, Hades, Enter The Gungeon and plenty more video games of that nature?*
The game is an absolute joy to play through. It's filled with moments that really show you how much love went into every little detail. Sure, the jumping mechanic isn't as fluid as it could be (and yes, you can only jump on certain marked platforms), but that makes sense given that the main focus of the game is to explore, interact with the world, and solve puzzles. Timing your jumps is an added challenge that would only take away from the overall experience in my opinion. It isn't 80 hours long, but again, that isn't a necessarily a bad thing. Most people who are going to buy this game want something cute (that isn't a rage inducing, stressful chore), and that can be played on weekends: not a grind-fest. I think Stray is worth every penny, and the developers should be applauded! Game of the year so far for me.
i have to disagree, this game was made with so much love and care, and just because its not a 80+ hour RPG with action and enemy mechanics doesnt mean you shouldn’t pay the dev team. They worked just as hard to create a beautiful game and especially as a small studio as they are. This game is define worth $30. The mindset you have is exactly why small studios struggle, because you see it based on price instead of the journey and story it’s telling
The game has no replay value, you can have a short game and still want to come back to it. Based on the amount of hours it takes to beat this game it would mean they think their game is worth around $7 an hour with no reason to come back. The issue isn't that they shouldn't be compensated but the value in the market matters too. If this didn't have a cat in it, would anyone give a shit? Probably not.
@@skram9245 There's plenty of short games with little to no replay value - beyond those really dedicated to it - that are worth £20+ even with the absence of a cat. I was going to wait to buy Stray but I caved because I'd been waiting for its release since I first heard about it at E3 years ago, and I ended up thinking that I was glad I didn't wait and just paid full price because I really enjoyed the gameplay and the world, and would play it again. There's things to find and cute little moments to experience. The world looks just as good if not better than Cyberpunk imo, and it's a better story and overall game than that, I would've been interested in it from visuals alone too.
They have some perogative to make a game that can't be beaten in the time steam allows you to return it. If there is 0 replay value, and i can still get my money back, I'm gonna do it.
It requires grasping at straws to get the impression that the problem is that it's not "80+ hour RPG with action and enemy mechanics". I reckon it would be a lot better if instead of 3 hours and no challenge beyond mostly just pointing where you want to go, it would be about 10-20 hours with at least basic platforming mechanics. That's not an unreasonable expectation even if it's a small studio.
They are a small developer from France that just made their first game, and they put the actual effort to not only release a finished product but something with inherent value that stands out from the rest of the crowd. The beauty of the game is like that of moving painting, it is beautiful to explore with enough brain teases to keep you engaged. As someone who doesn't have the time or energy anymore to play massive open world games or multiplayer online this moody and original game has peaked my interests and actually made me want to boot up my PS4 for the first time in years. And I would like to support developers like who made what they did with scraps and actually did something they loved (since the team had many cat owners). 30-40$ actually helps small businesses that need to pay their employees whereas buying cheap products from massive corporations while offering more content for your dollars gives them overt economic power and incentivizes longer games. These big games have tons of weak content and do not justify the price tag. Stray isn't addictive nor does it swallow up 100s of hours of a person's life, but maybe that's a good thing.
Yea I just don't agree that 'you don't need to pay for it' - it's a fun little game that serves as a mildly-interactive art gallery with cutesy things. Judging games by length as value isn't my norm, and it doesn't feel like it applies here. I had plenty of smiles and 'aww that's adorable' from the game - which is all I wanted from it. If I don't pay for it by simply watching others play it, there's less of the game's vibe and more of whatever the person you're watching. Sitting, chilling, and vibing through a beautifully bleak city with barely-noticeable difficulty is an experience I appreciate. Support the devs and show them the experience is appreciated.
That last bit is kinda my problem with it. It feels like an experience, not a game. That's fine if you're into that sort of thing, but I like my games to be games.
@@Risenshinenfall I mean that's also fair, but what that means to me as a critical thesis from a games reviewer such as this is not "you can just watch someone else play it" so much as "this has a target audience, and if you aren't them, look elsewhere". One fails to acknowledge the game's success as what it is while the other recognizes it as a specialized piece of media which will appeal to people of a certain ilk, without insinuating that skipping out on the interactivity loses nothing or that it isn't worth buying period, which was the main idea I don't like seeing presented so early in the review without additional preamble. Certainly, this kind of game is not as engaging on a mechanical level, but it's very much the sort of thing to let people escape to a different place for awhile. The distinction between what constitutes a 'game' verse an 'experience' I think will vary widely enough for people that the usefulness of sweeping statements which presume a certain amount of difficulty or complexity is required before something is worth your time is somewhat lost to the point of doing the broader audience a disservice.
@@Risenshinenfall Telltale Games? *I do ever wonder if the argument of full Let's Plays/No Commentary Longplays does, in fact, take away from the desire to play such story-focused games as The Walking Dead (2012), Batman: The Telltale Series and The Wolf Among Us, since they can easily be enjoyed by merely watching them on UA-cam, something that simply can not be said for the same about such gems of games like Minecraft, Death Road to Canada, Stardew Valley, Terraria, Hades, Enter The Gungeon and plenty more video games of that nature?*
"Support the devs and show them the experience is appreciated" ONLY IF IT WAS ACTUALLY APPRECIATED I didnt appreciate it as much and clearly neither did Luke. Why is it wrong to share that opinion?
All the takes are pretty valid, expect for the main argument - not buying it. Sometimes people just want wholesome/cozy games and we need to allow them to exist.
This 100%. Stray was for me a reminder how much I enjoy linear, 10/12h games filled with heart and great atmosphere. This game is such a great contrast to bloated AAA crap that studios are feeding us nowadays.
Lol these "arguments" are hilarious, I'm keeping them handy for the next time I want to defend a terrible game. This game sucks, get over it. You can still like cats and hate this game.
@@yourmomssaidicouldhavemyun2590 except it really doesn’t. There’s a reason why people play this game and give it great reviews, an no it’s not because people are Reddit Soyjacking because cat game. It’s a nice, atmospheric, chill experience you can dive into for a couple hours to relax. Why does it need to be more than that?
You can gain the same cozy experience from this whole watching a let's play, whether narrated or not. The point of content creators playing games is to intrigue the viewer into buying the game because both parties would then gain and there is more to experience, but Stray doesn't provide that.
@@Schizm1 you might want to give Marvels Guardians of the Galaxy a go if you like games like that you say you do.. yes its AAA game but, its linear sround 15 hours if you take your time, it has heart, it has atmosphere, it has great characters with great dialoque and overall is just a super fun time..
I get the feeling that if you played this game in the mindset of just playing it instead of for review purposes and trying to do everything, you would have enjoyed it more. From what I've seen about the game, it feels like its a chill sit down game people play in a comfortable setting not for a critique.
From a non-reviewer standpoint, I completely agree with his views. I both bought and watched the game, and there was no difference between the two experiences. The have games doesn't provide enough to require purchasing.
@@LiveEnd06 i get that view where you want to be actively participating in the game instead of just button pressing and watching the game do everything for you but people have different tastes ig
@@LiveEnd06 I agree when you look at anything past the charm of playing as a cat the game doesn't offer anything that you won't get from watching it and it was a great game to watch
@@Akechifan To each their own, but I watched a first-hour stream that was thoroughly engaging and made me want to play it myself, so much fun I actually watched it twice (put it in the background while I painted). I watched a different stream that sped through the same chapters twice as fast, engaged very little with what the first streamer had, and made the game look superficial and pointless as heck. I’m so glad I saw the first streamer first, since it’s someone with my same game-playing sensibilities.
@@LiveEnd06 Telltale Games? *I do ever wonder if the argument of full Let's Plays/No Commentary Longplays does, in fact, take away from the desire to play such story-focused games as The Walking Dead (2012), Batman: The Telltale Series and The Wolf Among Us, since they can easily be enjoyed by merely watching them on UA-cam, something that simply can not be said for the same about such gems of games like Minecraft, Death Road to Canada, Stardew Valley, Terraria, Hades, Enter The Gungeon and plenty more video games of that nature?*
Stray has been one of the most enjoyable gaming experiences of 2022 for me. It was cute, whimsical, and weirdly nostalgic; it’s so disappointing to see Luke and others rally against such a lovely product and it’s developer. Like many in the comments, I look forward to buying the physical release and feel comfortable recommending others to do the same where finances permit :)
It's a game with a lot of charm and i had fun watching it on twitch but I'll never need to buy it cause I'm literally missing out on nothing since the gameplay looks like a nothing burger to me. I'll play it if I upgrade my ps plus since why not it would be free.
You can get the exact same experience from watching someone play stray. $30 is a lot of money to some people, if I'm gonna spend it, I wanna make sure I get enough out of it. One 4 hour playthrough isn't enough for me to justify $30. So I watched ray narvaes jr
strongly disagree, hell, I’m actually going to buy the physical game just to support the developers and annapurna, this might actually mean something bigger down the line. The love put into this is undeniable, giving love back is the best way to send the message to them if you liked it! Love you Luke, but it really doesn’t seem right to tell people not to buy a beautiful game that does so much right.
Agreed! If you want more of this type of content, made with more available budget, throw money at them. I am full for supporting original and fun stuff
I feel u but I kinda agree on not buying this game after hearing how easy and mindless it is. I would play this game had It been more challenging. It's nice that it's different but it would be boring for me to play, so maybe next time
I definitely agree with giving devs money when they do good work but for me, this is just not it. I definitely agree with him that majority of experience this game offers can be achieved by watching it being played by someone else. Devs like Team Cherry or Supergiant games are much more deserving of my money. Hell, it's not even about the type of game because this is not even the best game that Annapurna has involved with. They published freaking Outer Wilds man and this game does not come near that.
I'm glad to see everyone disagreeing with "don't pay for the game" in the comments. SUPPORT THE DEVS! Unless you burn through/ binge countless of games and you just need a gap filler and don't really care for what Stray brings to the table, then pay for the game.
@@siddharthshishulkar8992 He literally titled this video "Don't buy it...." like what an utter tool. I'd like to see this jadrool say" Just pirate any Ubisoft game."
@@MrIloveyouAli It's his opinion though and he's allowed to say that. There's nothing wrong with what he's doing. If it was not an indie studio or any other AAA studio like Ubisoft then people would have not mind. I don't think these people realise that Annapurna isn't a scrappy little developer. They have been involved with several highly received indies in the last couple of years. And it's not like he's completely slamming the game, he said in the beginning that the game is good but doesn't necessarily mean that it will appeal to every gamer. He's just playing the other side and while the title is a bit harsh but as I said, what he's saying in the video is not wrong
@@siddharthshishulkar8992It's his opinion, you are right. It's a god-awful one, but it's his. Annapurna is the publisher. The developers are BlueTwelve Studio. That's why the little robot in the game is called B12. I just feel for Luke to actively tell people not to buy this game is so low. He's a critic, he's supposed to critique the game. Based off of his critique, we, the audience choice whether to spend our money or not. I'm not the only one. Look at all the other comments. Luke reeeeeaaalllly missed the ball on this one.
@@MrIloveyouAli First off. I don't think his opinion is bad. It just doesn't apply to everyone but it does apply to me. I agree that he shouldn't have said that the game isn't worth 30$ tho because that's just false. Sure it's not Hollow Knight but people who like cats or like small and short experiences likely won't care.
I really don't think most people are gonna rush through this game. People who buy it are well aware that this is a chill and relaxing game for you to enjoy as much as you possibly can. For me, it took 7 hours of talking to every NPC and getting to know the world to finish it. Every scenario tells a story and there are little details everywhere to keep you wondering what could have happened there. This is really a game for people who don't really wanna get to the end of it, but enjoy the journey. And I think it should be reviewed from that perspective.
It's really interesting how two of my favourite UA-camrs for reviewing games (Luke Stephens & Skill Up) both respect the game and had varying degrees of fun with it; but sit on complete different sides when recommending it or not. Both review vids are great and break the game down in lots of detail. I probably won't get it because it's not really my sort of game. But I can appreciate how it will probably provide a good 4-5 hours of chilled out fun in a great looking world. Worth $30? I personally think it is. EDIT: seeing such a strong "support the devs" sentiment in the comments is great. So much so that I'm gonna buy this game as well, if only to support a small company that I want to see create more stuff. You've convinced me boys & girls
I can watch multiple free stuff on cable tv to get that exact experience. 30$ for a 4 hour game with next to none replayability is definitely not worth it...
It's about the value not the game quality. A large number of people won't like to pay 30$ for a 4 hour game. So it's worth to acknowledge atleast. I'm actually surprised that he's the only one talking about this
This game is only 3 hours long if you speed through it, ignoring the npcs, and not soaking in the world at all. It took me about 9 and I only completed about 80% of the memories.
That is still overpriced for 30 bucks. The game like like 6-7 hours for 100% for someone that isn't just milking the hours. People are milking it 1. because its good 2. Because they know deep down it is over priced and want the most out of it.
@@gizmobrooch8577 Well considering the overwhelmingly negative responce to this video and the overall love for this game from critics and normal ppl alike, your opinion is clearly in the minority. It seems around 5 hours for a well polished game with no extra monetary BS is well within what people deem "worth it".
A game with no micro transactions, no annoying bugs or glitches, no grinding or absurd game mechanics, that is beautiful and chill, with a smooth gameplay and overall nice story, and it's still not worth it? Because it's too easy, not re-playable and short ? I can get it if people find it too expensive for what it is but it definitely deserves my money more than any recent Assassin's Creed.
cod prolly has far more passion put into it. By all the contract workers who are wanting to get into game design more. Passion does not excuse shitty price points. Good games don't excuse shit pricepoints. People are freaking out you prolly are one of them as almost all gamers are freaking out about games becoming 70 bucks. These games that are 70 bucks often have like 100 hours of gameplay. Yet that gets trashed, but 30 bucks for 5 hours gets praised. Sure its a good game. Good games can still have terrible pricing.
@@gizmobrooch8577 yep ur not educated those £60 games are not 100 hour most of them are just micro transaction garbage however some of them like rdr2 or ffvii i would argue are worth the £60 however this game is defo worth £25 imo infact even cheaper then it should be which is a fact
Is this whole angle and the "don't buy it/unnecessary to play" schtick really necessary? Not every game needs to be some industry changing opus. Stray is a fun, wholesome and harmless game. The kind that will make tons of people happy. Not sure why it's necessary to encourage people to not get it. Seems needlessly contrarian
Yeah but it's also a matter of being wise with your money. Blowing 30 bucks on a 4-5 hour game because Reddit is having a soyjak meltdown over it because "ZOMG A CAT!!!!"
i feel like critiquing this game for it's lack of "gameplay systems" or whatever else is missing the point entirely, it's about just going along with the ride, just vibing along with the cat for a mostly light-hearted relaxing time being emersed in this strange new world, it's not out to really challenge you. it's like critiquing Journey for it's lack of challenging gameplay when it's very clear that's not what it's trying to do.
this whole *don't pay for it,play it when it's free* issue sounds a lot like those dudes that buy a game on Steam,play it and refund it because it was under 2 hours and they could get their money back. If 30 bucks is in your opinion too much,then all the power to you. Don't play it. You don't need to play every game out there but going and saying yeah,play it for free if you can or not at all feels like you don't want those developers to make money on this...
OR, and hear me out, you can buy it because it's an amazing game, a breath of fresh air in the sea of bloated, open world AAA crap, made by a small studio that could use your support.
@@schmucknorris2672 it seems contrarian to reply to someone's comment calling the game amazing and then interejecting you own opinion to discredit it. Also if you want a larger scale game that is really good made by the same devs then go play Outerwilds
@@schmucknorris2672 you are overly angry for no reason, everyone loves this game. Sorry you’re the odd one out. I’m serious like I’m genuinely sorry for you because this game is amazing and it sucks you’re such a stick in the mud about it.
OORR here me out. You can wait till it drops into price cuz we shouldn't support games that are 5 hours long being 30 fucking bucks lmao. Any other game would have been shit on, but since it has a cute cat. It gets praised. The game is good sure, but good games can still be over priced as hell. Just look at Metal gear solid ground zero. Amazing game, but even at its 20 buck price point now. it is vastly overpriced.
Journey, Abzû, Gris, Sayonara Wild Hearts, they're not exactly Super Meat Boy, they're chill, short games, earned tons of awards and nominations and their developers deserve to be paid for their work. Stray goes right in that category. Not everything needs to be an open world Soulsborne clone to deserve recognition... and your money.
In the sea of copy and pasted open worlds and predatory live service games, finally a studio delivers an imaginative and novel game that is unique and interesting and you tell people not to buy it? We have to reward small developers for delivering a solid experience. We have to put our money were our mouth is and tell the rest of the industry that this is what we want. A game that was made with an artistic passion, a game that has a soul.
This video really seems like your disagreeing just to look different. The game isn’t meant to be difficult or complex, it’s a simple relaxing casual game with a great story and world. For me i always buy games cos i usually go back and play through multiple times. Plus that just shows i support the devs especially with This game, In hopes of a sequel of sorts with more money thrown at it. If you like Stray do what you want.
I want a sequel and maybe even one after that but I think that one more stray where he gets back to the others is all I want or maybe even a dlc like with the last of us where it continue the story
@@uekvowzkaebbzuvrgipqxhemmwbhe nah Its a nice chill indie game with some really dope music and vibes. To be fair i got it off of ps plus so i didnt pay for it but i would have if it wasnt. Its a quality game and the trophies are actually pretty fun to go for
I loved this game. It felt great that i didn't have to worry about missions, loot, and upgrading etc. Your goal is to just get from point A to B with several puzzles , escape rooms, and stealth in between. Also, it's the first game I played that didn't have a map, and while I didn't like that at first, it made me pay attention to my surroundings more while adding some additional game time. Plus, the lore exceeded my expectations and has become one of my fave games to speedrun. SPOILERS The game actually felt like a Resident Evil game to me since you start in the city, then sewers, then end up at a clean high tech lab.
Insert the Office meme - *You know what? im going to start paying for it even harder* This was a dangerous and shameful mindset to spread being an influencer in the gamer community What a preposterous suggestion, i have the PSplus and even so payed for a copy of the game to support. Now a thing i wouldn't spend a cent on is AC Valhalla, Doesn't have 1% of the Heart Stray has, i downloaded and forced myself to try it, uninstalled the day after. SUPPORT THE DEVELOPERS WHO ACTUALLY MAKE GAMES WITH A SOUL
Bro i got far cry 6 and just beat the first island because it got so complex and my brother said im not even close to being done! Ill most likely play it soon because after this game im getting interested in story games again
@@PassportGaming 70 bucks is about the same pricepoint on the amount of hours, as this cat game has. xD. 70 bucks is super overpriced though for like a 15 hour game. Just like 30 bucks is just as over priced for a 5 hour on average game. Sure if you play stupid slow you can get 12 hours... but you can also play last of us super slow and get 30 hours. Idk how people can trash a game with had an equal amount of passion put into it, with the same hour to price range. Yet support another game that's literally the same amount of passion and hour to price range. OH wait people get braindead when they see cute animals xD
You praised The Order 1886, which sold for 60 dollars, is 6 hours, and mainly consists of cutscenes. But now a 4.5 hour game comes out for half the price and is mostly gameplay but people shouldn't buy it? Stray has a decent amount of replay-ability and is actually priced very well for what you get. When you go to the theater you spend at least nine dollars on a ticket, then the money for snacks and stuff, you easily spend almost if not a whole 30 dollars just for one person. Stray is a fun game that's just a nice story to get through with good mechanics. Not every game has to be an industry breaking RPG with 7,000 hours of gameplay in order to justify having a price.
Bought this game, and would buy it again if I have to. This game may be short but it’s beautifully made. Better than most of the $60 games nowadays. Edit: Stray is supposed to be a chill game. I had a chill time playing this game. A good game to take your mind off things from all the chaos. It may not be for everyone just like how Elden Ring is, but you can’t deny the fact that Stray is a beautiful game. Gotta pay credit where credit’s due. So, let’s not bash Stray and just let it be as it is. The devs have worked hard on this. Unlike Stray, you can say goodbye to your Ubisoft games/DLCs that you can’t keep even thought you bought it. Lol
What $60 games are you talking about lol and I had fun with the game but it would have been a waste of $30 if I actually bought it instead of playing of ps plus since there are so much better games with lower prices too.
so a $30 mindless cat game that ends in 2 hours is worth $60 to you when games like hollow knight exist that can be bought for $10 and are lengthy 100+ hour experiences that don't get boring and are good in several aspects that stray sucks at and are just as good in aspacts that stray excels at.
I think $30 is a decent price, and it's certainly going to come on sale some point in the future for anyone who's short on cash. But I got a good 12 hours or so with it, taking my time exploring the world and getting 100% completion. For those 12 hours, I was never bored or felt like I wasn't having a good time. I've certainly spent $60 on games that delivered less. It's not gonna blow you away with anything, but it's certrainly worth your time (and in my opinion, well worth the relatively cheap $30 price).
Exactly! And for Luke to say “hey guys, even though it’s $40 cheaper than other games and still a good time, fuck that and pay for PS Plus!” Like don’t screw the devs man.
I think almost everyone is gonna disagree with you. Your main argument is just not morally right, you can't just tell people to not buy without giving a proper problem within the game . It's extremly obvious how much effort and work has been put in this game and it's an amazing experience no matter how long it is or if it's not complicated. The simplicity of the game is what makes it special.
How is that even morally right or wrong? You seem sensitive. COD has more passionate man hours than this game (ruined by the publisher). Tet cod is still terrible. Passion doesn't = buy. But good to know devs can scam you by making a 10 hour game with a dog next time and charge 50 bucks xD. literally other games have been far better than this game for the same price point. Yet got shit on at launch for being 30 bucks for the same length of a game. Plus you kinda sound sensitive saying he is morally not right. It was neither good or bad. By this logic you are morally wrong for supporting companies selling over priced games. Which will come back to bit you in the ass. Ever since CASE POINT from dead rising (5-10 bucks on launch for like 5 hours), companies have been slowly turning that price point for 5-8 hour games into 30 bucks... And it is because of people like you.
@@gizmobrooch8577 Developers being rushed to make new COD games every year or so doesn't sound very passionate to me, especially when it's basically the same game every year. Or maybe the reason games are starting to cost more for less is due to greedy AAA studios trying to suck everything they can out of their consumers while rushing games out before they are even finished but nooo, not at all, it's people supporting indie devs of course!
I got it with PS Plus. It's easily one of my favorite games this year. As someone who doesn't really care for platformers, Stray was refreshing. I'm going to buy the physical copy when it comes out next month.
I'm going to go blow 30 bucks on this game because I want to play it and it seems like it be really relaxing to play I shall be one with my inner cat meowing at everything and knocking s*** off of shelves
So many wholesome people on the devs side. Love to see how a lot of people understand the importance of paying money for these smaller scale games. Supporting games like this is the step towards removing the tedious open world ubisoft like games and hopefully having a return of creative and fresh games made with actual passion. Well done comment section
What the f**k! In a world of evil publishers churning out garbage after garbage, we NEED to support every single developer that still makes an honest gaming experience like Stray... You saying don't buy it is directly contributing to us getting generic garbage only from mainstream publishers in the future! SUPPORT THE F**KING DEVS AND APPRECIATE THEIR WORK AND THE GAME'S ORIGINALITY!
Stray is quality. 30 dollars is worth it, unlike most 60 dollar AAA games out there. Case in point: AC Valhalla. LMAO at you saying that the game puzzles are mindless.
Well... I'd say 90% of the comments lol. Some seem like miserable people who hate cats and other just say it's a boring game. Well it's their opinion, it's easy not to care about them.
I'd like to point out the 10% sale is not necessarily that the publisher is not confident in the game, it is a marketing tactic used quite a lot on Steam for indies and AA games on the past few monthes.
I believe it was the Cuphead devs that said they intentionally priced their game a bit more expensive than other popular indies at the time like Stardew valley for example because A: they believed their game was worth the price tag and B: they knew they'd be putting it on sale quite often so people could still catch it on sale if they weren't sure or couldn't afford it. Devs nowadays include sales in their plans, and it's not a sign that the game isn't selling.
This is such a chill game, and it's exactly what was expected from the marketing. And for that reason, I recommend it. Definitely not a one night game for me.
Actively disencouraging people to support a small game studio despite the refreshing atmosphere and simplicity (which you mentioned) looks reeeaaaally bad on you Luke. I don’t know why you have to argue it that way. Could have just said ‘it’s overpriced’ or even better, ‘up to your gaming preference’
Yeah 💯💯💯, like I get what he's saying, but there's no harm in supporting a small indie studio doing their thing when we throw endless money at mega companies that churn out bloated open world games. You put it perfectly, way better than I could ever articulate. Even tho I'm not a fan of Stray, it kinda has its place in the gaming ecosystem, meant to be a chill relaxing game not some random loot grind and there's gamers who are gonna absolutely enjoy it, whether or not to buy it will just end up being on each individual gamer's preference rather than Stray not delivering on any promises they made.
What's pretty sad is that because there's an ad on this video he can't take it down or change it. Because this video really should be taken down and replaced for an honest review and less of a "hot take, y'all are wrong" kinda video.
I really enjoyed this game. Loved the atmosphere and the music was fantastic. I didn’t go into this game thinking it was gunna be a game changer I knew exactly what it was it’s a Zen game a game to relax to. Best part about it too is that it was a complete game. It’s was finish on launch. Half if not most game aren’t even done when they are released. I do say 30 is a little much but I’ve paid 60 and got far less content then this game gives you.
It was entirely a game changer tbh. It’s something new and fresh. Games are getting so boring it’s just the 10th next edition to some already known game it’s so refreshing to see something genuinely new!
yeah like if you want to say games arent worth it for the money go attack 60 dollar nintendo switch games or the sims which is literally 80 DOLLARS for the game and an extension/add on (ex: cats and dogs) which most people get for some reason
I got this game for free on PSN but if i didn't have that. I would have made this a curiosity buy, which i do from time to time. I say it is well worth the purchase. The game is short but for me do get 100% it was 12 hours, i think that is worth the price. The gameplay was straight forward, levels were interesting, story was neat, atmosphere was great & music was really damn good. I just hope in time that you don't come back to make another video titled "I was wrong" not because changing your mind is bad thing but because it's starting to look like a trend.
Luke when The Order: 1886 is 6 hours for 60 dollars: "Wow, they did something INCREDIBLE" Luke when Stray is 4.5 hours for 30 dollars: "Not worth it lol"
@@siddharthshishulkar8992 A six hour game with two hours of gameplay was better than the 4.5 hour game that was a majority gameplay for half the price, got it.
@@matthewcooper4248 Yep and that's the point man. Value is subjective. He's is discussing Stray because that game is indeed shorter than the norm and yes this was also discussed with The Order: 1886
Luke gonna disagree with you dude. Unique games that are fun even for one run is a good thing. I'd suggest people should check out games that while not setting the world on fire did something Unique and did it in a way that delivered exactly as advertised, unlike last of us part 2...or no man's sky (in the beginning)....or fallout 76...if it's on sale I say why not buy it? It looks fun, plays well and looks beautiful
@@sexylightskinboah kept Abby a secret from the audience and made it seem like a continuation of Joel and ellie story but then was like fooled you play as his killer now oh and she's insert name of lgbtq representation (despite the fact that this is an apocalyptic story of doing shady shit to survive and identity politics has 0 place in that world).
@@sexylightskinboah The Last of Us 2 is a wonderful story about how you kill a franchise by prioritizing subversion and shock over logic and structure.
@@ninja1man4u nah homie you bring up woke shit a lot of people will dismiss the valid points you make, like a bad story. Even without the identity politics it'd still be bad
I'm with everybody else here, playing Stray is completely different from watching it. How many times do we get to play as a cat in a game? That alone should be enough reason to play, but for me personally exploring the world was even more of a highlight, since it's so interesting and atmospheric. More so, getting a chance to explore it through the perspective of a cat is something I found extremely fun and fulfilling. Climbing a building to get through a window or go through a tight crack in an alley will never get old for me. And the simplicity of the gameplay never concerned me. After all, cats are masters of movement and jumping is like walking for us, so that simplicity reflects how it really feels like for them I think.
That really sounds like fun. I'm considering on buying the game soon. Also, I remember Murdered Soul Suspect you can also play a cat in certain segments in the game.
good to know, if I ever make a game. I can put passion into a short title, just because it has a super cute animal and good graphics. Yet people bitch about 70 buck games, that are over 100 hours long that are just flat out better.
@@siddharthshishulkar8992 why not do both? $30 is not a high asking price at all for what you get with Stray. Think of everything else you get on a weekly basis… you go to a restaurant and pay for two meals plus a tip, you’re looking at $50-$60 at least only for a single meal and 1-2 hours of experience. There’s no reason to come out and straight up tell people “don’t give the creators of this game money”, and it’s made worse by the fact that he even says the game has good qualities and is worth your time, but you should try to get it for free. I’m sorry but that just seems kinda scummy. There are lots of people who will enjoy this game, and the studio deserves its flowers for making a nice, unique, relaxing experience with no microtransactions, loot boxes, battle passes… just a nice experience you can dive into for a few hours.
@@vsf_dave811 Look man, it's very subjective because everyone play games for different things. It's different kinda hobby for everyone. So yeah, I'm not saying what you are suggesting is wrong. I'm saying what he's saying in the video could be the case for a lot of people and something worth talking about. I was the same thing with even Elden Ring. The first thing every good reviewer said that it's not everyone and then proceed to the review.
@@siddharthshishulkar8992 It's not like they are asking $60 for the game, because if that was the case then it becomes unreasonably priced. The game is worth its $30 (and I think you can even get it for 20 at steam if you get the regular version) price tag. It is not expensive seriously. I personally think it's great value for a game.
Buy ubisoft most boring game ever AC Valhalla, but don’t buy games from indie studios. I am developer myself and its really depressing seeing how people expect software to be free. Not everyone is big corporation that sells your data to advertisers. Software is peace of art, and this game offers something different and unique.
For a UA-cam gaming content creator you can sometimes be blind. I think the creators did a fantastic job creating this game. I think this was their first game. As gamers we should support developers that have this type of love and passion for their games. I believe that if you didn't play as a cat this game would be no where near as popular. The gameplay is basic as hell but the developers did a fantastic job with the environment and graphics of the world. Your videos could have an impact on people feeding their families so you saying not to buy it is disrespectful in my opinion.
He's awful. So much negativity and click bait. Contrarian for the sake of having a hot take whilst discouraging people from supporting indie developers making unique, heartfelt content.
If you are someone who only plays AAA games, you might not be able to appreciate this game. If you enjoy playing chill indie games at all, you will like Stray. Personally, I enjoyed hanging out in the game for 5-6 hours instead of rushing through it and it was a good time. I enjoy a “mindless” game to play in between playing other more challenging games. When I was struggling against a boss in Elden Ring, I would take a break and go play Katamari Damacy for a while. It’s good to mix it up.
Stray was completely worth it for me. Simple but extremely fun few hours. I had more fun the 7 hours i played stray than the 30 hours I've played sunset overdrive.
I think the difficulty in this game is perfect. Not every game needs to be Elden Ring or whatever. I want to play a nice, easy, relaxing game after coming back from work. I personally don’t enjoy difficult games and I’m not going to play them. I think it goes the same way for easy, casual games. If you don’t enjoy easy games just don’t play them. Let’s stop acting like difficult games are better and let people enjoy the side of gaming they prefer. Not everything has to be a challenge
He wasn't arguing that the game should be difficult. Just that not even allowing the player to jump when they want to, is oversimplified. I would agree. That turned me off from wanting to get this game.
I love your videos, but I REALLY dislike the fact the thumbnail has "don't buy it" in it. I understand if you don't think its an essential game to play, but having that in the thumbnail is pretty harmful for the reputation of a game that is simple yet good and a game a lot of people loved.
Luke my man you're a great guy and ive enjoyed your videos for a while and you have some real gems under your belt, but i think you're focusing a little too hard on taking the overly nit picky contriarian stand-point recently. Im all for people voicing their honest opinions especially if they go against the established grain, although the way you've been going about critique over the past while seems disingenuous and uninformed. But who cares as long as hate-clicks pay the bills right?
You’ve put it perfectly. I feel the same way about his current content. This, the Elden ring and horizon review have all baffled me. He used to praise and gush about games for ages which, was wholesome. Now it’s tear a game apart for 3 hours for the sake of being a contrarian.
@@TheSubconscious022 thanks, it’s been pretty gratifying seeing others voicing the same concerns when I’ve had my own for a while. If he finds there’s not a lot to gush about that’s okay but every negative point he tends to make right now is based on complete nonsense rather than legitimate criticism. He’s not going to have much of a dedicated audience left by trying his best to attract randos wanting to disagree with his obviously curated opinions.
@@swan3067 I don't think he's curating his opinion, I think he's just in a really negative headspace or just really can't see the forest for the trees. Look at his Kingdom Come review. He spends 2 hours absolutely destroying that game over having a bad combat system, "I love it. But let me tell you again how bad the combat is... But I love it. But let me go back to that terrible combat. But I really love it though. But the combat..." He just grabs one nitpicky thing and can't let go, even on games he ACTUALLY claims to enjoy and wants you to play. I don't think I heard him say one good thing about that game that he claims to love in the 2 hours he spoke about it. But I know eeeeeeeeverything about how bad the combat is.
@@bluestarkiller yeah nah you’re right, he often struggles to see the big picture and latches onto a single element or thought he can wring as dry as possible.
Idk if it's cheaper for you but where I live, unless you go on discount day, a night at the movies is 30-40 bucks for anywhere between an hour and forty minutes to 3 hours, all of which is a one time viewing. This is 30 dollars for a game that I very much enjoyed over 5 and a half hours and I didn't even find everything so I can still go back to each chapter and maybe get an extra hour to 2 hours of playtime. And I can have my friend come over and play it or play it with family.
I actually really liked how easy the story was, and how simple the controls were. I think that having a easy short quality game for a cheap price is totally worth it.
Adding more disagree here! This game is phenomenal. I finished this 3 times. You can actually aim for the platinum trophy which is actually fun and challenging. The main point is actually to solve puzzles, it’s not an action games. It doesn’t need to be like Elden Ring that you randomly jump off the cliff. A bit pricy yes, but considering how much effort the developers put effort into this game as an indie developers. We should definitely pay for it.
The game was a fun cat game that had an interesting twist. Beautiful locals, solid enough story to push me forward, wasn’t too long which after playing games like ac Valhalla, it was nice to not be trapped. If you review the game for what it is, it’s a 9/10 and should be recommended for full price or ps plus. The experience is worth the money Edit: bro said he’d recommend as dusk falls because of gp but not the one of the most watched games on yt of the year. I know he mentioned ps plus but with adf he emphasized gp while stray it was just small mentions of it on ps plus. Still worth the 30 imo even though I did spend it(I planned to tho until it was announced for ps plus)
Already bought it and I’m going to buy the physical copy. I want to support this team because they delivered a perfect game, it’s fucking incredible! The story, the world, the atmosphere, THE CAT! Masterpiece of a title.
@@FlobsterforLobster to you. What about people who don't like linear story based platformers? Or who don't like cats? To them, they have no reason to purchase the game. While it's great at what it does, it's an incredibly niche game that, while popular atm (because it's apart of that playstation plus thing) after a month or so, all talk of the game is gonna subside. It has no staying power.
@@huskycruxes7232 when a game strives for what if intends to be and does it perfect, it’s considered a masterpiece. Longevity, ps exclusive, that doesn’t have any factor on what the game is trying to be.
@@FlobsterforLobster it's not ps exclusive. But if you want to herald a game as a masterpiece you'd think it'd be a game that has an good and memorable story that will leave people talking. It's a catformer. That's it. If you're not into either of those things the game has absolutely nothing going for it. It's good at what it wants to be but heralding it as a masterpiece in the gaming industry is really stupid. It might be a great game. But it's not game of the year. Idk why you're defending the game this hard. All I'm saying is calling it a masterpiece because you like it seems silly. When you measure a game the community's feedback and staying power is just as important as what the developers wanted the game to be. You can have a great game, but without the community around its bound to die
Pretty low shot if you ask me, you ask for patron support to get these videos out faster and of better quality I think an indie company has the right to ask for a little bit of money for something that’s new, looks good, is fun and is decently polished.
What's a bad take? Are you just latching on to one point and ignoring all the praise he gave? The 4 hour length and lack of replay value doesn't justify the 30 dollar pricetag to most people, I'd rather spend twice that on an RPG that I can play for hundreds of hours and not get bored.
@@TheSubconscious022 He probably gave it that title to bait people into watching the review where he actually praises the game on what it does right. Just because they're a small dev team that doesn't mean they can't make a game longer than 4 hours that isn't mindless and actually has some replay value to it. Yes some people enjoyed the game for what it is but others would've preferred a different experience, nobody's opinion is any less valid because it's subjective.
I got this game for free off of ps plus and I wholeheartedly recommend playing it. You can get a decent amount of hours out of it if you take your time playing through the story and even more if you get all the trophies/achievements. If you go into this game expecting a 60 hour long experience like Red Dead Redemption 2 you’re not going to enjoy it. This is a wonderful experience about being a cat.
Exactly 💯, it's not meant to be treated like a bloated open world grind style game. It sits in it's nice comfy niche kinda like what Kena did last year
I can't disagree more with your statement regarding the experience being the same if you play the game or if you watch a streamer. That's just denying what an interactive videogame is. Experiencing the game (any game, for that matter) is 100% better (and different) than watching someone else play it. And Stray isn't different.
idk man. kind of a bad take, this is a game where i absolutely reccomend buying it. these devs knew what game they wanted to make and they made it. and it's beautful, i would definetly support their art by buying it
''you shouldn't pay for'' right, because of how much time, effort, and work went into this game. certainly not the kind of youtube i'd watch in the future.
Stray had something I don't see in very many games since Half-Life. It's what I like to call, "the touch of valve". It's hard to explain but when you put THIS amount of detail into your linear games, it just immerses you so much more. Also, I feel like everyone is missing the point of the game while focusing on the cat. Cat + cyberpunk was nothing more then a hook. What they were going for was the perfect protagonist to act as a lens so the player can be immersed in the game. By focusing on the "cuteness" of the cat you're completely disregarding the reason as to why you're a cat as opposed to a human. Literally, I have not played a game like this since half-life. Clearly, the game is short so the devs could make a detailed game within their budget, and dang was that a good 5 hours. I'd rather an amazing, breathtaking 5 hour game then a boring slog of a 50 hour game. Support the devs so Stray's sequel can be leagues better. I will stand by my words: these devs are the next valve.
I’m really happy to see everyone disagreeing. This is now one of my favorite games and I’m personally going to spend extra money to get the collectors edition of it. Especially in hopes of a second game being released or even just seeing what the devs of this game have to offer in other aspects. This game is so beautiful relaxing and interesting and offers so much to be enjoyed. It’s been a long time since I’ve fallen in love with a game like this. It’s definitely worth purchasing ❤️
Not everyone wants to play hard-core games. A short game with easy puzzles doesn't need to be free to be worth it. I'm having a ton of fun with Stray myself. It doesn't need to be hard to be a fun game.
Luke: good job, helping out the developer on this one. I mean, they produced a quality product and probably don't deserve the modest $30 per sale copy, right ??
Why should he recommend his audience you buy something he found to not be worth it? He could just say nothing, but i'm not telling a grown ass man what he can and can't say.
@@Pontif11 There's a difference between not recommending the game and actively telling you to not buy the game and instead play/watch it for free. He's free to recommend or not recommend whatever he wants but encouraging your audience to not buy it and just play/watch for free is only going to hurt the indie devs. The problem is he's treating this like it's some AAA game from a studio with more money than we will see in our lifetime, when it's actually an indie dev studio who needs the support to keep making games. It just seems mean to tell people to not support an indie studio who made a good game (he said so himself) that he liked.
I don't think the $30 asking price is too high for this game. As an indie game developer, I was able to see a LOT of things most people don't see because they just don't have that experience. TL;DR: There are several factors to this game that show the developers took their time and carefully crafted this world into a fun and immersive experience that everyone can play and just relax with. Now that said, allow me to get my soap box out. All the models are chock full of little details that make them feel alive, the robots are rigged perfectly so that their animations make them move like robots. The cat's rigging and weight painting is amazing because cats are very flexible creatures and there is very little clipping or warping, especially when you consider the fur. The environment is painstakingly detailed that each area we explore likely took weeks upon weeks to craft in such a way that when we played it, we felt this was a realistic place. None of the individual apartments and homes we went into were copy pasted in anyway. The layout was different for every single shop/ home. Each place had clutter and not often the same clutter depending on the home. Each area you went to, you remember because it was so different. Then you have the physics of the objects around. The cans, the things we push off, the things we pick up and put down. The lighting to give us this feel of being in a perpetually dark environment, but still having enough light in most instances where we didn't need to rely on the flashlight all the time. The sound design was also flawless. The creatures have eyes that follow the cat with every movement (which is easy to program with the creatures only having one eye, but its still a neat touch). And there are soooo many other things that we just DON'T see or think about. Each object we are able to jump on either had a prompt grouped with the item or had to be MANUALLY placed on every single thing we are allowed to jump to. Regardless of which it was, the various things that we are able to jump to had to be carefully placed so that we the players could believe that the cat could jump to. This meant that either they had to meticulously place the object, play test the jump, edit the object, play test it again, then move on, or they had to go through each area and find every single jumpable thing to make sure everything was right. If they guessed each space, then kudos to them because I didn't come across anything that didn't seem like an unbelievable jump. Are there problems with the game? Sure. I agree that I was taken out of the immersion of the game a few times because I was trying to solve problems like a cat. Best example is one area there is a vent that is too high for the cat to jump to. I went over to the vent and started meowing in hopes that the NPC would hear me and lift me up to the vent. When that didn't work, I had to work the problem out like a human and move the barrel nearby to jump up on it. Did this negatively impact my experience, a little. I did find much of this game to be a bit of a stretch on how a cat would think and act, but that didn't mean I didn't enjoy my experience with the game. I'm tired of this "Its so short", "Its easy", "Its gameplay is restrictive", and so on being the big factor in not buying games. No one considers how much work, time, and money went into these games anymore. While I can't say for sure, I would almost bet that the developers had a limited budget on what they could do (which would mean not adding in many factors to the game such as the NPC's being able to hear us, working out a free-roam type game style and the physics that go behind it and so on) so what they did do was created an experience and ensured that the vast majority of the bugs were squashed before launch. Remember when games did that? Have a functional product upon launch that didn't have to have update upon update in order to have the game functioning and playable? Another factor to consider on the "its easy" and "mindless" is this isn't a From Software game. This isn't Monster Hunter, this isn't Assassins Creed, this isn't Halo, this isn't whatever game out there that presents to you a significant challenge in working out how to climb a building or deal with multiple enemies at once, or problem solve. This is a game where you play as a cat. This is a game where you are meant to be immersed in the world, the story, the characters, and metaphors, and to where you do what cats do - explore. You are being faced with cat problems, not people problems. You are being asked to move your playable character around and 'see' the world through a cats eyes. You are a tiny animal in a world of robots and nasty creatures, not a human in a world with Lovecraftian / mythical monsters that are gigantic. And the biggest factor is that not everyone wants a game that is challenging, requires a lot of focus, demands your brain to keep track of things at all times. This is a chill game. Its a game to go relax in. A game where you can just unwind from a hard day's work in the few limited minutes you have to yourself. It's a relaxed pace (most times), and has quirky enough characters for people to enjoy. There is a surprising amount of people who just want games like that. I know one of my friends says he can't play Monster Hunter because there are too many things you need to be aware of, keep track of, buttons to press, and animations to learn for each individual monster in order to read their attacks. He says the series stresses him out. And you know what. Thats fine with me. He loves Stray because he can take his time, relax, be immersed, and just enjoy. And you know what, I love Stray too because games like Monster Hunter do get overwhelming or (with the end game in mind here) the game play loop gets so repetitive and boring that it becomes a chore, but you still need to do it because there are monsters gated off at certain level caps in order to get the full experience (looking at you Scorned Magnamalo and Ruiner Nergigante needing an MR 100 to fight). So to call a game "not worth $30" is a bit of a slap in the face to the developers and pointing out some of the "mindless" and "restrictive" game play may also be insulting to casual gamers who don't WANT that more complex experience. It's highly irresponsible and could have just been worded in a way that goes "If you are someone who enjoys a more complex and challenging game, you may consider watching this on a stream or trying it for free. This is a game more designed for casual players who want a more immersive story experience and a change of perspective." Out right saying "Don't buy it" though is a highly biased opinion, one which you're allowed to have, but is not an ideal viewpoint when you are someone 278,000 people watch to gain an understanding of what is good and bad in a game. Telling people what to do and what not to do isn't an ideal place to be in because it unfortunately puts you in a stand point where your opinions should be taken with a grain of salt. It's like IGN telling Pokemon fans that Pokemon Sapphire / Ruby are lower in rank because there's too much water.
The game is 100% worth 30 dollars And i think its disrespectful to not support these developers who made a wonderful Fun game Not to mention unique and creative Is it game of the year compared to god of war or elden ring no But its an amazing videogame for the fun it brings Its simple fun
Complaining that this is mindless is like complaining an mmo is grindy. I think we all knew what we were getting into and the feedback is overwhelmingly positive. Might be indie of the year imo. A nice change of pace that the industry needed
Maybe this game is short but so are poems. And that game is precisely that. A small piece of art with one of the best visuals in a video game that I've ever seen, a great world and amazing storytelling for the budget they had. It's so beautiful through its simplicity. Besides you need to support this kind of games to show there's still room for indie developers and that they are able to create masterpieces if they get an opportunity and, of course, the publisher's money.
I bought it and after playing it I'm glad I did. I got more than my money's worth. So much love was poured into this game, the devs earned every penny and I'd happily buy DLC if it had the same quality and soul as the main game
It's cowardly of you to change the title without at least acknowledging as much in the details. Real lack of integrity here. Either stand by your take, or come out and admit it was poor taste and clarify how you feel about supporting small studios. From the comments, it appears that nearly everyone disagrees with you telling people explicitly not to support the studio and dev. That's a heartless move. At the end of the day, it's clear people are going to go out of their way to support the devs anyway. You may have discouraged a lot of potential revenue for decent folks who work hard while you reap the views and engagement. I'm proud of your community for wanting to do the noble thing and you should be proud too. Saying as much would be a good PR move. I'm going to vote in the only way I can and unsubscribe.
Wow yeah no comment or even a short video on this. I've been checking back on to see the latest comments and saw yours. It interesting to see such support.
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bad take Luke. but i respect your honesty. keep it up
Buy this and support the devs.
Stop buying Ubisoft garbage.
>Calls a horseshit game like Origins "still amazing"
>Tells you to not buy an amazingly unique and cheap game...
This channel lol
@@emanuel81111 Telltale Games?
*I do ever wonder if the argument of full Let's Plays/No Commentary Longplays does, in fact, take away from the desire to play such story-focused games as The Walking Dead (2012), Batman: The Telltale Series and The Wolf Among Us, since they can easily be enjoyed by merely watching them on UA-cam, something that simply can not be said for the same about such gems of games like Minecraft, Death Road to Canada, Stardew Valley, Terraria, Hades, Enter The Gungeon and plenty more video games of that nature?*
@@MasterLPG the last of us two is super story focused no one is playing it purely for the gameplay, so you dont really loose out on much by watching a full stream, issue here is luke doesnt critise other games by the standard hes put this one up to otherwise he woukd have told us not to buy TLOUS2 in his review of if but he didnt. This take of his just seems weird.
Id agree with the general premiss some games you can just watch and not loose out on, but this take from luke just comes off hypocritical.
I usually agree with your reviews mostly but this and the “The future of Assassins Creed is bright” absolutely lost me. This dev team deserves the money and trust, while Ubisoft doesnt.
But he got the Assassin's Creed chair for it. Funny how he changed his tune from "Valhalla sucks" to "It's all great guys!" right after that chair.
@@bluestarkiller I dunno, I still want to think the best, after we’ve gotten so much in-depth and great commentary from Luke. I guess a free chair is a reasonable reward. I’ll hope it didn’t come with strings attached.
Valhalla is godawful. Booted it up and I was like “hey pretty cool”, then I fought my first enemy. I deleted it soon after lol
@@SPQRKlio let us hope. But the timing of that chair and the immediate change in gears from "New AC games are garbage and are ruining the franchise" to "Guys guys.. it's all good!" was... interesting. And not in a good way.
Yup
I think the problem is....people have lost the fact that if a developer does a good game they need to be rewarded for doing the right thing, and that means giving them money so they can continue and Stray treats customers with respect and I feel they need to reap the rewards
Yes
It’s not just on the consumers though. It starts with hundreds of other gaming companies wanting to do nothin but siphon money from the population to the point where mediocre product is the norm and honestly the goal for a lot of companies.
@@careyanderson6567 they would not be incentivized to do that it players valued quality over quantity. Sadly video games induce a lot of gambling and marketing tactics like FOMO and percentage chances to make big bank. Battle passes are so big because people know that sick looking knife won't be there a month from now.
Us players gotta be better than that.
@@careyanderson6567 the goal of any company is to maximise the profits for the investors. Until shitty games stop generating better return on investment with a lower risk than
good games, it won’t change.
I guess Luke missed the point in this.
I bought this to play with my 5 year old son and 12 year old daughter, it will probably get at least 2-3 playthroughs by that alone. Support the developers, quality is quality!
💯
Sorry mate. Your kids may like it but bo adult could possibly enjoy. It’s boring as hell. Hate it
mgs ground zero was quality. I bet youd not wanna support that game though since its like 4 hours or 5 hours for 30 bucks. Except you actually get something far better
@@grahamkelly8662 nobody asked but ok
@@grahamkelly8662 Speak for yourself. I am an adult and I loved the game. I have a pet cat myself and I am a cat lover so this game spoke to me, and it was a no-brainer purchase.
I play my games anywhere from maybe 2-4 hours a week, if I'm lucky maybe a little over an hour a day, stray was fun because after a long day of work it was relaxing and mindnumbing. I think it's hard to feel that when you're job is to play games as a living. That's just my take on it.
Everyone saying it took them a sitting to get through it. It took me 3 days to get through and I didn't even get every side quest.
@@bluestarkiller Me too, taking my time and poking into everything and being rewarded for interacting with the world and the gameplay at the cat’s level. I can’t imagine, for instance, not completing the musician side quest. It’s one of the few games I’m determined to 100%.
Same here brotha, took me a week actually but that's cause I was taking a day off here and there, it was fun but I agree not worth 30$, that's a lot of bones
I disagree, there is something completely different about experiencing the world yourself and watching someone else play it.
The gameplay is the exploration area is very cozy.
I paid for it on my PS5 (because I want to support the devs) and I have no problem with that. I also played through fire watch and paid for it.
I turned off the jump prompt and it improved my experience instantly.
I paid $30 and I don't regret it... enjoying every single minute of it, I'm actually on my second walk-through.
I will wait for it to come to gamepass. I have too much of a backlog at the moment.
I'd support the devs if they made a game that was better value. Otherwise I'm just encouraging game developers to make short games.
The game is trásh, so many much better games for the same price
See, was this not the whole argument gamers had with publishers over let's plays/livestreams years ago, that playing the game yourself and watching someone play the game are 2 inherently different things, Devs were concerned such things would affect sales because people could just watch the game and not buy it themselves... it was a pretty big deal at the time and eventually was resolved in such a way as we now get to have let's plays/livestreams.
Now this dude wants to say "nah don't buy this game just watch someone play it online" way to undermine that whole thing.
This is exactly the type of game you should buy and pay for. It's by an indie team that worked really hard and needs/deserves it more than half the developers you endorse on this channel. It's not even expensive...
This comment needs to be highlighted.
Telltale Games?
*I do ever wonder if the argument of full Let's Plays/No Commentary Longplays does, in fact, take away from the desire to play such story-focused games as The Walking Dead (2012), Batman: The Telltale Series and The Wolf Among Us, since they can easily be enjoyed by merely watching them on UA-cam, something that simply can not be said for the same about such gems of games like Minecraft, Death Road to Canada, Stardew Valley, Terraria, Hades, Enter The Gungeon and plenty more video games of that nature?*
Yeah, but, not rewarded.
After watching Jackson Galaxy play the game, saying that making a cat with its small actions like the ears and whiskers twitching, tails flicking, its hard. And it takes a lot of effort for player immersion to the point you wont even mind the small details.
Art and experience has a price. An indie dev team who took years to make a cat game should get their due
Wow, I HAVE to go watch Jackson Galaxy play and comment on Stray. Thanks for mentioning that.
Telltale Games?
*I do ever wonder if the argument of full Let's Plays/No Commentary Longplays does, in fact, take away from the desire to play such story-focused games as The Walking Dead (2012), Batman: The Telltale Series and The Wolf Among Us, since they can easily be enjoyed by merely watching them on UA-cam, something that simply can not be said for the same about such gems of games like Minecraft, Death Road to Canada, Stardew Valley, Terraria, Hades, Enter The Gungeon and plenty more video games of that nature?*
The game is an absolute joy to play through. It's filled with moments that really show you how much love went into every little detail. Sure, the jumping mechanic isn't as fluid as it could be (and yes, you can only jump on certain marked platforms), but that makes sense given that the main focus of the game is to explore, interact with the world, and solve puzzles. Timing your jumps is an added challenge that would only take away from the overall experience in my opinion. It isn't 80 hours long, but again, that isn't a necessarily a bad thing. Most people who are going to buy this game want something cute (that isn't a rage inducing, stressful chore), and that can be played on weekends: not a grind-fest. I think Stray is worth every penny, and the developers should be applauded! Game of the year so far for me.
i have to disagree, this game was made with so much love and care, and just because its not a 80+ hour RPG with action and enemy mechanics doesnt mean you shouldn’t pay the dev team. They worked just as hard to create a beautiful game and especially as a small studio as they are. This game is define worth $30. The mindset you have is exactly why small studios struggle, because you see it based on price instead of the journey and story it’s telling
The game has no replay value, you can have a short game and still want to come back to it. Based on the amount of hours it takes to beat this game it would mean they think their game is worth around $7 an hour with no reason to come back. The issue isn't that they shouldn't be compensated but the value in the market matters too.
If this didn't have a cat in it, would anyone give a shit? Probably not.
@@skram9245 There's plenty of short games with little to no replay value - beyond those really dedicated to it - that are worth £20+ even with the absence of a cat. I was going to wait to buy Stray but I caved because I'd been waiting for its release since I first heard about it at E3 years ago, and I ended up thinking that I was glad I didn't wait and just paid full price because I really enjoyed the gameplay and the world, and would play it again. There's things to find and cute little moments to experience.
The world looks just as good if not better than Cyberpunk imo, and it's a better story and overall game than that, I would've been interested in it from visuals alone too.
They have some perogative to make a game that can't be beaten in the time steam allows you to return it. If there is 0 replay value, and i can still get my money back, I'm gonna do it.
It requires grasping at straws to get the impression that the problem is that it's not "80+ hour RPG with action and enemy mechanics". I reckon it would be a lot better if instead of 3 hours and no challenge beyond mostly just pointing where you want to go, it would be about 10-20 hours with at least basic platforming mechanics. That's not an unreasonable expectation even if it's a small studio.
I paid $30 and I don't regret it... enjoying every single minute of it, I'm actually on my second walk-through.
They are a small developer from France that just made their first game, and they put the actual effort to not only release a finished product but something with inherent value that stands out from the rest of the crowd. The beauty of the game is like that of moving painting, it is beautiful to explore with enough brain teases to keep you engaged.
As someone who doesn't have the time or energy anymore to play massive open world games or multiplayer online this moody and original game has peaked my interests and actually made me want to boot up my PS4 for the first time in years. And I would like to support developers like who made what they did with scraps and actually did something they loved (since the team had many cat owners).
30-40$ actually helps small businesses that need to pay their employees whereas buying cheap products from massive corporations while offering more content for your dollars gives them overt economic power and incentivizes longer games. These big games have tons of weak content and do not justify the price tag. Stray isn't addictive nor does it swallow up 100s of hours of a person's life, but maybe that's a good thing.
Yea I just don't agree that 'you don't need to pay for it' - it's a fun little game that serves as a mildly-interactive art gallery with cutesy things. Judging games by length as value isn't my norm, and it doesn't feel like it applies here. I had plenty of smiles and 'aww that's adorable' from the game - which is all I wanted from it. If I don't pay for it by simply watching others play it, there's less of the game's vibe and more of whatever the person you're watching. Sitting, chilling, and vibing through a beautifully bleak city with barely-noticeable difficulty is an experience I appreciate. Support the devs and show them the experience is appreciated.
That last bit is kinda my problem with it. It feels like an experience, not a game. That's fine if you're into that sort of thing, but I like my games to be games.
@@Risenshinenfall I mean that's also fair, but what that means to me as a critical thesis from a games reviewer such as this is not "you can just watch someone else play it" so much as "this has a target audience, and if you aren't them, look elsewhere". One fails to acknowledge the game's success as what it is while the other recognizes it as a specialized piece of media which will appeal to people of a certain ilk, without insinuating that skipping out on the interactivity loses nothing or that it isn't worth buying period, which was the main idea I don't like seeing presented so early in the review without additional preamble. Certainly, this kind of game is not as engaging on a mechanical level, but it's very much the sort of thing to let people escape to a different place for awhile. The distinction between what constitutes a 'game' verse an 'experience' I think will vary widely enough for people that the usefulness of sweeping statements which presume a certain amount of difficulty or complexity is required before something is worth your time is somewhat lost to the point of doing the broader audience a disservice.
@@Risenshinenfall Telltale Games?
*I do ever wonder if the argument of full Let's Plays/No Commentary Longplays does, in fact, take away from the desire to play such story-focused games as The Walking Dead (2012), Batman: The Telltale Series and The Wolf Among Us, since they can easily be enjoyed by merely watching them on UA-cam, something that simply can not be said for the same about such gems of games like Minecraft, Death Road to Canada, Stardew Valley, Terraria, Hades, Enter The Gungeon and plenty more video games of that nature?*
good to know future companies can overcharge you if its braindead and cute xD.
"Support the devs and show them the experience is appreciated" ONLY IF IT WAS ACTUALLY APPRECIATED
I didnt appreciate it as much and clearly neither did Luke. Why is it wrong to share that opinion?
All the takes are pretty valid, expect for the main argument - not buying it. Sometimes people just want wholesome/cozy games and we need to allow them to exist.
This 100%. Stray was for me a reminder how much I enjoy linear, 10/12h games filled with heart and great atmosphere. This game is such a great contrast to bloated AAA crap that studios are feeding us nowadays.
Lol these "arguments" are hilarious, I'm keeping them handy for the next time I want to defend a terrible game.
This game sucks, get over it. You can still like cats and hate this game.
@@yourmomssaidicouldhavemyun2590 except it really doesn’t. There’s a reason why people play this game and give it great reviews, an no it’s not because people are Reddit Soyjacking because cat game. It’s a nice, atmospheric, chill experience you can dive into for a couple hours to relax. Why does it need to be more than that?
You can gain the same cozy experience from this whole watching a let's play, whether narrated or not. The point of content creators playing games is to intrigue the viewer into buying the game because both parties would then gain and there is more to experience, but Stray doesn't provide that.
@@Schizm1 you might want to give Marvels Guardians of the Galaxy a go if you like games like that you say you do.. yes its AAA game but, its linear sround 15 hours if you take your time, it has heart, it has atmosphere, it has great characters with great dialoque and overall is just a super fun time..
I get the feeling that if you played this game in the mindset of just playing it instead of for review purposes and trying to do everything, you would have enjoyed it more. From what I've seen about the game, it feels like its a chill sit down game people play in a comfortable setting not for a critique.
From a non-reviewer standpoint, I completely agree with his views. I both bought and watched the game, and there was no difference between the two experiences. The have games doesn't provide enough to require purchasing.
@@LiveEnd06 i get that view where you want to be actively participating in the game instead of just button pressing and watching the game do everything for you but people have different tastes ig
@@LiveEnd06 I agree when you look at anything past the charm of playing as a cat the game doesn't offer anything that you won't get from watching it and it was a great game to watch
@@Akechifan To each their own, but I watched a first-hour stream that was thoroughly engaging and made me want to play it myself, so much fun I actually watched it twice (put it in the background while I painted). I watched a different stream that sped through the same chapters twice as fast, engaged very little with what the first streamer had, and made the game look superficial and pointless as heck. I’m so glad I saw the first streamer first, since it’s someone with my same game-playing sensibilities.
@@LiveEnd06 Telltale Games?
*I do ever wonder if the argument of full Let's Plays/No Commentary Longplays does, in fact, take away from the desire to play such story-focused games as The Walking Dead (2012), Batman: The Telltale Series and The Wolf Among Us, since they can easily be enjoyed by merely watching them on UA-cam, something that simply can not be said for the same about such gems of games like Minecraft, Death Road to Canada, Stardew Valley, Terraria, Hades, Enter The Gungeon and plenty more video games of that nature?*
Stray has been one of the most enjoyable gaming experiences of 2022 for me.
It was cute, whimsical, and weirdly nostalgic; it’s so disappointing to see Luke and others rally against such a lovely product and it’s developer.
Like many in the comments, I look forward to buying the physical release and feel comfortable recommending others to do the same where finances permit :)
Counterpoint: Stray is a cute game you definitely need to play. One of my favorite games this year.
Counter counter point. Stray sucks.
@@schmucknorris2672 cool story.
It's a game with a lot of charm and i had fun watching it on twitch but I'll never need to buy it cause I'm literally missing out on nothing since the gameplay looks like a nothing burger to me. I'll play it if I upgrade my ps plus since why not it would be free.
@@Akechifan Since I fucking hate Twitch and would never watch streaming I bought it and enjoyed it like a normal person.
You can get the exact same experience from watching someone play stray.
$30 is a lot of money to some people, if I'm gonna spend it, I wanna make sure I get enough out of it. One 4 hour playthrough isn't enough for me to justify $30.
So I watched ray narvaes jr
strongly disagree, hell, I’m actually going to buy the physical game just to support the developers and annapurna, this might actually mean something bigger down the line. The love put into this is undeniable, giving love back is the best way to send the message to them if you liked it! Love you Luke, but it really doesn’t seem right to tell people not to buy a beautiful game that does so much right.
Agreed! If you want more of this type of content, made with more available budget, throw money at them. I am full for supporting original and fun stuff
By saying don't buy it all that does is tell gaming companies we don't want this stuff. Just continue making generic. Microtransactions games.
I feel u but I kinda agree on not buying this game after hearing how easy and mindless it is. I would play this game had It been more challenging. It's nice that it's different but it would be boring for me to play, so maybe next time
I definitely agree with giving devs money when they do good work but for me, this is just not it.
I definitely agree with him that majority of experience this game offers can be achieved by watching it being played by someone else.
Devs like Team Cherry or Supergiant games are much more deserving of my money. Hell, it's not even about the type of game because this is not even the best game that Annapurna has involved with. They published freaking Outer Wilds man and this game does not come near that.
Allexed sorry but this game does nothing right. It’s absolutely shockingly bad. Worst game on console. It’s shit
I'm glad to see everyone disagreeing with "don't pay for the game" in the comments. SUPPORT THE DEVS! Unless you burn through/ binge countless of games and you just need a gap filler and don't really care for what Stray brings to the table, then pay for the game.
More like "SUPPORT THE GAME IF YOU LIKE THE GAME"
This game is not 30$ to everyone
@@siddharthshishulkar8992 He literally titled this video "Don't buy it...." like what an utter tool. I'd like to see this jadrool say" Just pirate any Ubisoft game."
@@MrIloveyouAli It's his opinion though and he's allowed to say that. There's nothing wrong with what he's doing. If it was not an indie studio or any other AAA studio like Ubisoft then people would have not mind.
I don't think these people realise that Annapurna isn't a scrappy little developer. They have been involved with several highly received indies in the last couple of years.
And it's not like he's completely slamming the game, he said in the beginning that the game is good but doesn't necessarily mean that it will appeal to every gamer.
He's just playing the other side and while the title is a bit harsh but as I said, what he's saying in the video is not wrong
@@siddharthshishulkar8992It's his opinion, you are right. It's a god-awful one, but it's his. Annapurna is the publisher. The developers are BlueTwelve Studio. That's why the little robot in the game is called B12. I just feel for Luke to actively tell people not to buy this game is so low. He's a critic, he's supposed to critique the game. Based off of his critique, we, the audience choice whether to spend our money or not. I'm not the only one. Look at all the other comments. Luke reeeeeaaalllly missed the ball on this one.
@@MrIloveyouAli First off. I don't think his opinion is bad. It just doesn't apply to everyone but it does apply to me.
I agree that he shouldn't have said that the game isn't worth 30$ tho because that's just false. Sure it's not Hollow Knight but people who like cats or like small and short experiences likely won't care.
I really don't think most people are gonna rush through this game. People who buy it are well aware that this is a chill and relaxing game for you to enjoy as much as you possibly can. For me, it took 7 hours of talking to every NPC and getting to know the world to finish it. Every scenario tells a story and there are little details everywhere to keep you wondering what could have happened there.
This is really a game for people who don't really wanna get to the end of it, but enjoy the journey. And I think it should be reviewed from that perspective.
💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯
Finally someone else who took 7 hours to finish this. I swear people don't know how to play games these days.
I played 9-10 Hours and still don't have all memories or missions- (i think im only missing 1 or 2 missions)
It's really interesting how two of my favourite UA-camrs for reviewing games (Luke Stephens & Skill Up) both respect the game and had varying degrees of fun with it; but sit on complete different sides when recommending it or not.
Both review vids are great and break the game down in lots of detail. I probably won't get it because it's not really my sort of game. But I can appreciate how it will probably provide a good 4-5 hours of chilled out fun in a great looking world.
Worth $30? I personally think it is.
EDIT: seeing such a strong "support the devs" sentiment in the comments is great. So much so that I'm gonna buy this game as well, if only to support a small company that I want to see create more stuff.
You've convinced me boys & girls
When a lack of curiosity killed the gamer. This isn't an RPG or grand adventure dude.... it's a simple focused narrative experience. It's great.
Yas
I can watch multiple free stuff on cable tv to get that exact experience. 30$ for a 4 hour game with next to none replayability is definitely not worth it...
@@Player-dw3pe you can watch a telltale game so I don't think that matters
@@theirishpotato6588 Yeah but these are completely two different games lmao.
It's about the value not the game quality.
A large number of people won't like to pay 30$ for a 4 hour game. So it's worth to acknowledge atleast. I'm actually surprised that he's the only one talking about this
This game is only 3 hours long if you speed through it, ignoring the npcs, and not soaking in the world at all. It took me about 9 and I only completed about 80% of the memories.
That is still overpriced for 30 bucks. The game like like 6-7 hours for 100% for someone that isn't just milking the hours. People are milking it 1. because its good
2. Because they know deep down it is over priced and want the most out of it.
@@gizmobrooch8577 Well considering the overwhelmingly negative responce to this video and the overall love for this game from critics and normal ppl alike, your opinion is clearly in the minority. It seems around 5 hours for a well polished game with no extra monetary BS is well within what people deem "worth it".
A game with no micro transactions, no annoying bugs or glitches, no grinding or absurd game mechanics, that is beautiful and chill, with a smooth gameplay and overall nice story, and it's still not worth it? Because it's too easy, not re-playable and short ? I can get it if people find it too expensive for what it is but it definitely deserves my money more than any recent Assassin's Creed.
A lot of passion was put into this game and definitely it's way cheaper than going out on a friday night, don't see a problem buying it.
a lot of passion is very overstated
@@Sindelisback Trust me I'm a very passionate gamer, just kidding it's just my opinion.
Going out on a Friday night and ripping some lines with the boiz is expensive
cod prolly has far more passion put into it. By all the contract workers who are wanting to get into game design more. Passion does not excuse shitty price points. Good games don't excuse shit pricepoints.
People are freaking out you prolly are one of them as almost all gamers are freaking out about games becoming 70 bucks. These games that are 70 bucks often have like 100 hours of gameplay. Yet that gets trashed, but 30 bucks for 5 hours gets praised. Sure its a good game. Good games can still have terrible pricing.
@@gizmobrooch8577 yep ur not educated those £60 games are not 100 hour most of them are just micro transaction garbage however some of them like rdr2 or ffvii i would argue are worth the £60 however this game is defo worth £25 imo infact even cheaper then it should be which is a fact
is well known that the game is short but the quality and the history are good enough to reward the developers with a full-price purchase IMO.
The history? It doesn't seem like it has anything to do with history.
@@KristianKumpula I was thinking the same thing 🤣
@@KristianKumpula I think they meant the lore of the story and world.
Is this whole angle and the "don't buy it/unnecessary to play" schtick really necessary? Not every game needs to be some industry changing opus. Stray is a fun, wholesome and harmless game. The kind that will make tons of people happy. Not sure why it's necessary to encourage people to not get it. Seems needlessly contrarian
Facts
Couldn’t have said it better !
it's a gimmick that doesn't do it's own uninspired and overpriced demo well enough to even justify it
dunkey's video puts it perfectly
Yup I'm like why you gotta insult game devs who went out of the box and tried something refreshingly different. I hope it gets a sequel
Yeah but it's also a matter of being wise with your money. Blowing 30 bucks on a 4-5 hour game because Reddit is having a soyjak meltdown over it because "ZOMG A CAT!!!!"
Stray is an alright 7/10 game, but it has one thing going for it - a soul, crafted with love for the artform
It is at best a 5
@@fookinkoont 5 is rough my man
i feel like critiquing this game for it's lack of "gameplay systems" or whatever else is missing the point entirely, it's about just going along with the ride, just vibing along with the cat for a mostly light-hearted relaxing time being emersed in this strange new world, it's not out to really challenge you.
it's like critiquing Journey for it's lack of challenging gameplay when it's very clear that's not what it's trying to do.
this whole *don't pay for it,play it when it's free* issue sounds a lot like those dudes that buy a game on Steam,play it and refund it because it was under 2 hours and they could get their money back.
If 30 bucks is in your opinion too much,then all the power to you. Don't play it. You don't need to play every game out there but going and saying yeah,play it for free if you can or not at all feels like you don't want those developers to make money on this...
OR, and hear me out, you can buy it because it's an amazing game, a breath of fresh air in the sea of bloated, open world AAA crap, made by a small studio that could use your support.
Then make a better game. Stop acting like we OWE studios anything. Do your job and I will support your product. Not my job to support shit.
@@schmucknorris2672 it seems contrarian to reply to someone's comment calling the game amazing and then interejecting you own opinion to discredit it. Also if you want a larger scale game that is really good made by the same devs then go play Outerwilds
@@schmucknorris2672 you are overly angry for no reason, everyone loves this game. Sorry you’re the odd one out. I’m serious like I’m genuinely sorry for you because this game is amazing and it sucks you’re such a stick in the mud about it.
OORR here me out. You can wait till it drops into price cuz we shouldn't support games that are 5 hours long being 30 fucking bucks lmao. Any other game would have been shit on, but since it has a cute cat. It gets praised. The game is good sure, but good games can still be over priced as hell.
Just look at Metal gear solid ground zero. Amazing game, but even at its 20 buck price point now. it is vastly overpriced.
Journey, Abzû, Gris, Sayonara Wild Hearts, they're not exactly Super Meat Boy, they're chill, short games, earned tons of awards and nominations and their developers deserve to be paid for their work. Stray goes right in that category. Not everything needs to be an open world Soulsborne clone to deserve recognition... and your money.
In the sea of copy and pasted open worlds and predatory live service games, finally a studio delivers an imaginative and novel game that is unique and interesting and you tell people not to buy it? We have to reward small developers for delivering a solid experience. We have to put our money were our mouth is and tell the rest of the industry that this is what we want. A game that was made with an artistic passion, a game that has a soul.
This video really seems like your disagreeing just to look different. The game isn’t meant to be difficult or complex, it’s a simple relaxing casual game with a great story and world. For me i always buy games cos i usually go back and play through multiple times. Plus that just shows i support the devs especially with This game, In hopes of a sequel of sorts with more money thrown at it.
If you like Stray do what you want.
@Adam Hughes Of these two overhyped, mediocre fucking games I have ever played, I would chose to do a second playthrough of Odyssey over Elden Ring.
The real problem is the price tag, this should be a free mobile game or a tech demo
I want a sequel and maybe even one after that but I think that one more stray where he gets back to the others is all I want or maybe even a dlc like with the last of us where it continue the story
@@uekvowzkaebbzuvrgipqxhemmwbhe nah Its a nice chill indie game with some really dope music and vibes. To be fair i got it off of ps plus so i didnt pay for it but i would have if it wasnt. Its a quality game and the trophies are actually pretty fun to go for
@@uekvowzkaebbzuvrgipqxhemmwbhe this game is far more than just “a tech demo” lmfao
I loved this game. It felt great that i didn't have to worry about missions, loot, and upgrading etc. Your goal is to just get from point A to B with several puzzles , escape rooms, and stealth in between. Also, it's the first game I played that didn't have a map, and while I didn't like that at first, it made me pay attention to my surroundings more while adding some additional game time. Plus, the lore exceeded my expectations and has become one of my fave games to speedrun. SPOILERS The game actually felt like a Resident Evil game to me since you start in the city, then sewers, then end up at a clean high tech lab.
Insert the Office meme - *You know what? im going to start paying for it even harder*
This was a dangerous and shameful mindset to spread being an influencer in the gamer community
What a preposterous suggestion, i have the PSplus and even so payed for a copy of the game to support. Now a thing i wouldn't spend a cent on is AC Valhalla, Doesn't have 1% of the Heart Stray has, i downloaded and forced myself to try it, uninstalled the day after. SUPPORT THE DEVELOPERS WHO ACTUALLY MAKE GAMES WITH A SOUL
No matter if it’s gameplay, environment, story, I play games for immersion, and this game nails that.
Based
💯
Can definitely say I felt better about spending $30 on this than $60 on far cry 6
Or $70 for last of us remake
Bro i got far cry 6 and just beat the first island because it got so complex and my brother said im not even close to being done! Ill most likely play it soon because after this game im getting interested in story games again
Yea same dude
@@PassportGaming 70 bucks is about the same pricepoint on the amount of hours, as this cat game has. xD. 70 bucks is super overpriced though for like a 15 hour game. Just like 30 bucks is just as over priced for a 5 hour on average game. Sure if you play stupid slow you can get 12 hours... but you can also play last of us super slow and get 30 hours.
Idk how people can trash a game with had an equal amount of passion put into it, with the same hour to price range. Yet support another game that's literally the same amount of passion and hour to price range.
OH wait people get braindead when they see cute animals xD
You praised The Order 1886, which sold for 60 dollars, is 6 hours, and mainly consists of cutscenes. But now a 4.5 hour game comes out for half the price and is mostly gameplay but people shouldn't buy it? Stray has a decent amount of replay-ability and is actually priced very well for what you get. When you go to the theater you spend at least nine dollars on a ticket, then the money for snacks and stuff, you easily spend almost if not a whole 30 dollars just for one person. Stray is a fun game that's just a nice story to get through with good mechanics. Not every game has to be an industry breaking RPG with 7,000 hours of gameplay in order to justify having a price.
Bought this game, and would buy it again if I have to. This game may be short but it’s beautifully made. Better than most of the $60 games nowadays.
Edit: Stray is supposed to be a chill game. I had a chill time playing this game. A good game to take your mind off things from all the chaos. It may not be for everyone just like how Elden Ring is, but you can’t deny the fact that Stray is a beautiful game. Gotta pay credit where credit’s due. So, let’s not bash Stray and just let it be as it is. The devs have worked hard on this.
Unlike Stray, you can say goodbye to your Ubisoft games/DLCs that you can’t keep even thought you bought it. Lol
Based
What $60 games are you talking about lol and I had fun with the game but it would have been a waste of $30 if I actually bought it instead of playing of ps plus since there are so much better games with lower prices too.
@@sexylightskinboah dude who are you simping for are you just commenting on everyone's comments who disagrees with Luke?
Bruh, what 60$ games are you playing?
so a $30 mindless cat game that ends in 2 hours is worth $60 to you when games like hollow knight exist that can be bought for $10 and are lengthy 100+ hour experiences that don't get boring and are good in several aspects that stray sucks at and are just as good in aspacts that stray excels at.
Yes Luke, shit on the little indie studio by telling people not to buy it, but continue to shill for ubisoft. You're on the right track there bud.
I think $30 is a decent price, and it's certainly going to come on sale some point in the future for anyone who's short on cash. But I got a good 12 hours or so with it, taking my time exploring the world and getting 100% completion. For those 12 hours, I was never bored or felt like I wasn't having a good time. I've certainly spent $60 on games that delivered less. It's not gonna blow you away with anything, but it's certrainly worth your time (and in my opinion, well worth the relatively cheap $30 price).
Well said, Sully
Exactly! And for Luke to say “hey guys, even though it’s $40 cheaper than other games and still a good time, fuck that and pay for PS Plus!” Like don’t screw the devs man.
Right? This dude acts like the game is $70. It’s cheaper than some handheld games and extremely well realized
I think almost everyone is gonna disagree with you. Your main argument is just not morally right, you can't just tell people to not buy without giving a proper problem within the game . It's extremly obvious how much effort and work has been put in this game and it's an amazing experience no matter how long it is or if it's not complicated. The simplicity of the game is what makes it special.
How is that even morally right or wrong? You seem sensitive. COD has more passionate man hours than this game (ruined by the publisher). Tet cod is still terrible. Passion doesn't = buy. But good to know devs can scam you by making a 10 hour game with a dog next time and charge 50 bucks xD.
literally other games have been far better than this game for the same price point. Yet got shit on at launch for being 30 bucks for the same length of a game.
Plus you kinda sound sensitive saying he is morally not right. It was neither good or bad. By this logic you are morally wrong for supporting companies selling over priced games. Which will come back to bit you in the ass. Ever since CASE POINT from dead rising (5-10 bucks on launch for like 5 hours), companies have been slowly turning that price point for 5-8 hour games into 30 bucks... And it is because of people like you.
@@gizmobrooch8577 Developers being rushed to make new COD games every year or so doesn't sound very passionate to me, especially when it's basically the same game every year.
Or maybe the reason games are starting to cost more for less is due to greedy AAA studios trying to suck everything they can out of their consumers while rushing games out before they are even finished but nooo, not at all, it's people supporting indie devs of course!
I got it with PS Plus. It's easily one of my favorite games this year. As someone who doesn't really care for platformers, Stray was refreshing. I'm going to buy the physical copy when it comes out next month.
I'm going to go blow 30 bucks on this game because I want to play it and it seems like it be really relaxing to play I shall be one with my inner cat meowing at everything and knocking s*** off of shelves
I know you already finished it 😂😂
@@Luhiner actually still haven't played it
I can tell just from your comment that you’re going to get a good experience from this game, which really rewards that approach. Beeeee the cat.
It’s worth it if you don’t expect it to be the greatest game ever made or anything. Well worth the $30 and the story is surprisingly engaging
So many wholesome people on the devs side. Love to see how a lot of people understand the importance of paying money for these smaller scale games. Supporting games like this is the step towards removing the tedious open world ubisoft like games and hopefully having a return of creative and fresh games made with actual passion. Well done comment section
cod probably has more wholesome members making the game. :^)
So in conclusion it means we need to play it
What the f**k! In a world of evil publishers churning out garbage after garbage, we NEED to support every single developer that still makes an honest gaming experience like Stray... You saying don't buy it is directly contributing to us getting generic garbage only from mainstream publishers in the future! SUPPORT THE F**KING DEVS AND APPRECIATE THEIR WORK AND THE GAME'S ORIGINALITY!
Bruh just because it's an indie game you like doesn't mean everyone else does
Stray is quality. 30 dollars is worth it, unlike most 60 dollar AAA games out there. Case in point: AC Valhalla.
LMAO at you saying that the game puzzles are mindless.
Yeah and AC Valhalla isn't really recommended by anyone either. And the puzzles are quite surface level.
I swear disagreeing with this guys opinion is something the entire comment section can agree on.
Well... I'd say 90% of the comments lol. Some seem like miserable people who hate cats and other just say it's a boring game. Well it's their opinion, it's easy not to care about them.
I'd like to point out the 10% sale is not necessarily that the publisher is not confident in the game, it is a marketing tactic used quite a lot on Steam for indies and AA games on the past few monthes.
Kinda scummy tbh feels illegal
I believe it was the Cuphead devs that said they intentionally priced their game a bit more expensive than other popular indies at the time like Stardew valley for example because A: they believed their game was worth the price tag and B: they knew they'd be putting it on sale quite often so people could still catch it on sale if they weren't sure or couldn't afford it.
Devs nowadays include sales in their plans, and it's not a sign that the game isn't selling.
Did you expect this game to be some groundbreaking masterpiece? Of course it’s going to be easy, it’s not meant to challenge you, it’s meant to be fun
Challenges can be fun
This is such a chill game, and it's exactly what was expected from the marketing. And for that reason, I recommend it. Definitely not a one night game for me.
Actively disencouraging people to support a small game studio despite the refreshing atmosphere and simplicity (which you mentioned) looks reeeaaaally bad on you Luke. I don’t know why you have to argue it that way. Could have just said ‘it’s overpriced’ or even better, ‘up to your gaming preference’
Yeah 💯💯💯, like I get what he's saying, but there's no harm in supporting a small indie studio doing their thing when we throw endless money at mega companies that churn out bloated open world games. You put it perfectly, way better than I could ever articulate. Even tho I'm not a fan of Stray, it kinda has its place in the gaming ecosystem, meant to be a chill relaxing game not some random loot grind and there's gamers who are gonna absolutely enjoy it, whether or not to buy it will just end up being on each individual gamer's preference rather than Stray not delivering on any promises they made.
@@TheOnlyTaps thanks mate! all agreed with what you said there as well :)
What's pretty sad is that because there's an ad on this video he can't take it down or change it. Because this video really should be taken down and replaced for an honest review and less of a "hot take, y'all are wrong" kinda video.
Finished it a week ago
In summary it's a nice relaxing game
And you'll enjoy it and if your a cat lover you'll love it even more
I really enjoyed this game. Loved the atmosphere and the music was fantastic. I didn’t go into this game thinking it was gunna be a game changer I knew exactly what it was it’s a Zen game a game to relax to. Best part about it too is that it was a complete game. It’s was finish on launch. Half if not most game aren’t even done when they are released. I do say 30 is a little much but I’ve paid 60 and got far less content then this game gives you.
It was entirely a game changer tbh. It’s something new and fresh. Games are getting so boring it’s just the 10th next edition to some already known game it’s so refreshing to see something genuinely new!
yeah like if you want to say games arent worth it for the money go attack 60 dollar nintendo switch games or the sims which is literally 80 DOLLARS for the game and an extension/add on (ex: cats and dogs) which most people get for some reason
I got this game for free on PSN but if i didn't have that. I would have made this a curiosity buy, which i do from time to time. I say it is well worth the purchase. The game is short but for me do get 100% it was 12 hours, i think that is worth the price. The gameplay was straight forward, levels were interesting, story was neat, atmosphere was great & music was really damn good. I just hope in time that you don't come back to make another video titled "I was wrong" not because changing your mind is bad thing but because it's starting to look like a trend.
Luke when The Order: 1886 is 6 hours for 60 dollars: "Wow, they did something INCREDIBLE"
Luke when Stray is 4.5 hours for 30 dollars: "Not worth it lol"
That was better than Stray tho
@@siddharthshishulkar8992 A six hour game with two hours of gameplay was better than the 4.5 hour game that was a majority gameplay for half the price, got it.
@@matthewcooper4248 Yep and that's the point man. Value is subjective. He's is discussing Stray because that game is indeed shorter than the norm and yes this was also discussed with The Order: 1886
@@siddharthshishulkar8992 Way to miss the point entirely buddy.
@@matthewcooper4248 Whatever keeps you happy man
Luke gonna disagree with you dude. Unique games that are fun even for one run is a good thing. I'd suggest people should check out games that while not setting the world on fire did something Unique and did it in a way that delivered exactly as advertised, unlike last of us part 2...or no man's sky (in the beginning)....or fallout 76...if it's on sale I say why not buy it? It looks fun, plays well and looks beautiful
Tlou2 is miles better than this game wdym by not delivered?
@@sexylightskinboah kept Abby a secret from the audience and made it seem like a continuation of Joel and ellie story but then was like fooled you play as his killer now oh and she's insert name of lgbtq representation (despite the fact that this is an apocalyptic story of doing shady shit to survive and identity politics has 0 place in that world).
@@ninja1man4u I think you need a brain replacement dude.
@@sexylightskinboah The Last of Us 2 is a wonderful story about how you kill a franchise by prioritizing subversion and shock over logic and structure.
@@ninja1man4u nah homie you bring up woke shit a lot of people will dismiss the valid points you make, like a bad story. Even without the identity politics it'd still be bad
I'm with everybody else here, playing Stray is completely different from watching it. How many times do we get to play as a cat in a game? That alone should be enough reason to play, but for me personally exploring the world was even more of a highlight, since it's so interesting and atmospheric. More so, getting a chance to explore it through the perspective of a cat is something I found extremely fun and fulfilling. Climbing a building to get through a window or go through a tight crack in an alley will never get old for me.
And the simplicity of the gameplay never concerned me. After all, cats are masters of movement and jumping is like walking for us, so that simplicity reflects how it really feels like for them I think.
That really sounds like fun. I'm considering on buying the game soon. Also, I remember Murdered Soul Suspect you can also play a cat in certain segments in the game.
good to know, if I ever make a game. I can put passion into a short title, just because it has a super cute animal and good graphics.
Yet people bitch about 70 buck games, that are over 100 hours long that are just flat out better.
It kinda sucks that you’re telling people not to give their money to a smaller game studio that made a genuinely good game but maybe that’s just me
He literally told you to buy games from other indie/lesser known studios at the beginning.
That doesn't mean it's worth that cost. And that's what he is evaluating and yeah I'd give to someone like Team Cherry in terms of value.
@@siddharthshishulkar8992 why not do both? $30 is not a high asking price at all for what you get with Stray. Think of everything else you get on a weekly basis… you go to a restaurant and pay for two meals plus a tip, you’re looking at $50-$60 at least only for a single meal and 1-2 hours of experience. There’s no reason to come out and straight up tell people “don’t give the creators of this game money”, and it’s made worse by the fact that he even says the game has good qualities and is worth your time, but you should try to get it for free. I’m sorry but that just seems kinda scummy. There are lots of people who will enjoy this game, and the studio deserves its flowers for making a nice, unique, relaxing experience with no microtransactions, loot boxes, battle passes… just a nice experience you can dive into for a few hours.
@@vsf_dave811 Look man, it's very subjective because everyone play games for different things. It's different kinda hobby for everyone. So yeah, I'm not saying what you are suggesting is wrong. I'm saying what he's saying in the video could be the case for a lot of people and something worth talking about. I was the same thing with even Elden Ring. The first thing every good reviewer said that it's not everyone and then proceed to the review.
@@siddharthshishulkar8992 It's not like they are asking $60 for the game, because if that was the case then it becomes unreasonably priced. The game is worth its $30 (and I think you can even get it for 20 at steam if you get the regular version) price tag. It is not expensive seriously. I personally think it's great value for a game.
Buy ubisoft most boring game ever AC Valhalla, but don’t buy games from indie studios.
I am developer myself and its really depressing seeing how people expect software to be free. Not everyone is big corporation that sells your data to advertisers.
Software is peace of art, and this game offers something different and unique.
Based
For a UA-cam gaming content creator you can sometimes be blind. I think the creators did a fantastic job creating this game. I think this was their first game. As gamers we should support developers that have this type of love and passion for their games. I believe that if you didn't play as a cat this game would be no where near as popular. The gameplay is basic as hell but the developers did a fantastic job with the environment and graphics of the world. Your videos could have an impact on people feeding their families so you saying not to buy it is disrespectful in my opinion.
He's awful. So much negativity and click bait. Contrarian for the sake of having a hot take whilst discouraging people from supporting indie developers making unique, heartfelt content.
If you are someone who only plays AAA games, you might not be able to appreciate this game. If you enjoy playing chill indie games at all, you will like Stray.
Personally, I enjoyed hanging out in the game for 5-6 hours instead of rushing through it and it was a good time. I enjoy a “mindless” game to play in between playing other more challenging games. When I was struggling against a boss in Elden Ring, I would take a break and go play Katamari Damacy for a while. It’s good to mix it up.
Stray was completely worth it for me. Simple but extremely fun few hours. I had more fun the 7 hours i played stray than the 30 hours I've played sunset overdrive.
I think the difficulty in this game is perfect. Not every game needs to be Elden Ring or whatever. I want to play a nice, easy, relaxing game after coming back from work. I personally don’t enjoy difficult games and I’m not going to play them. I think it goes the same way for easy, casual games. If you don’t enjoy easy games just don’t play them. Let’s stop acting like difficult games are better and let people enjoy the side of gaming they prefer. Not everything has to be a challenge
That is so true
Totally agree with you. Some of the best games out there are not difficult at all. Not every game needs to be challenging to be good.
He wasn't arguing that the game should be difficult. Just that not even allowing the player to jump when they want to, is oversimplified. I would agree. That turned me off from wanting to get this game.
Rational view "hmm yes, it is a cute game but is it a good game?"
Me "Bad man say no to kitty game, smash bad man with rock!"
What the actual fuck? 😂
SMASH
I love your videos, but I REALLY dislike the fact the thumbnail has "don't buy it" in it. I understand if you don't think its an essential game to play, but having that in the thumbnail is pretty harmful for the reputation of a game that is simple yet good and a game a lot of people loved.
Wow, did he honestly have it say that in the thumbnail?
I'm glad he changed it but he's still a jerk for doing it in the first place.
Luke my man you're a great guy and ive enjoyed your videos for a while and you have some real gems under your belt, but i think you're focusing a little too hard on taking the overly nit picky contriarian stand-point recently. Im all for people voicing their honest opinions especially if they go against the established grain, although the way you've been going about critique over the past while seems disingenuous and uninformed. But who cares as long as hate-clicks pay the bills right?
You’ve put it perfectly. I feel the same way about his current content. This, the Elden ring and horizon review have all baffled me. He used to praise and gush about games for ages which, was wholesome. Now it’s tear a game apart for 3 hours for the sake of being a contrarian.
@@TheSubconscious022 thanks, it’s been pretty gratifying seeing others voicing the same concerns when I’ve had my own for a while. If he finds there’s not a lot to gush about that’s okay but every negative point he tends to make right now is based on complete nonsense rather than legitimate criticism. He’s not going to have much of a dedicated audience left by trying his best to attract randos wanting to disagree with his obviously curated opinions.
Exactly, getting a big head. Not that it was a stretch to begin with.
@@swan3067 I don't think he's curating his opinion, I think he's just in a really negative headspace or just really can't see the forest for the trees. Look at his Kingdom Come review. He spends 2 hours absolutely destroying that game over having a bad combat system, "I love it. But let me tell you again how bad the combat is... But I love it. But let me go back to that terrible combat. But I really love it though. But the combat..." He just grabs one nitpicky thing and can't let go, even on games he ACTUALLY claims to enjoy and wants you to play. I don't think I heard him say one good thing about that game that he claims to love in the 2 hours he spoke about it. But I know eeeeeeeeverything about how bad the combat is.
@@bluestarkiller yeah nah you’re right, he often struggles to see the big picture and latches onto a single element or thought he can wring as dry as possible.
Bought it, played it, not a single regret.
Idk if it's cheaper for you but where I live, unless you go on discount day, a night at the movies is 30-40 bucks for anywhere between an hour and forty minutes to 3 hours, all of which is a one time viewing. This is 30 dollars for a game that I very much enjoyed over 5 and a half hours and I didn't even find everything so I can still go back to each chapter and maybe get an extra hour to 2 hours of playtime. And I can have my friend come over and play it or play it with family.
I actually really liked how easy the story was, and how simple the controls were. I think that having a easy short quality game for a cheap price is totally worth it.
Adding more disagree here! This game is phenomenal. I finished this 3 times. You can actually aim for the platinum trophy which is actually fun and challenging. The main point is actually to solve puzzles, it’s not an action games. It doesn’t need to be like Elden Ring that you randomly jump off the cliff. A bit pricy yes, but considering how much effort the developers put effort into this game as an indie developers. We should definitely pay for it.
The game was a fun cat game that had an interesting twist. Beautiful locals, solid enough story to push me forward, wasn’t too long which after playing games like ac Valhalla, it was nice to not be trapped. If you review the game for what it is, it’s a 9/10 and should be recommended for full price or ps plus. The experience is worth the money
Edit: bro said he’d recommend as dusk falls because of gp but not the one of the most watched games on yt of the year. I know he mentioned ps plus but with adf he emphasized gp while stray it was just small mentions of it on ps plus. Still worth the 30 imo even though I did spend it(I planned to tho until it was announced for ps plus)
Already bought it and I’m going to buy the physical copy. I want to support this team because they delivered a perfect game, it’s fucking incredible! The story, the world, the atmosphere, THE CAT! Masterpiece of a title.
Idk if I'd say masterpiece. It's a cool game sure, but a masterpiece? Seems like a stretch.
@@huskycruxes7232 when a game strives to be something and does it flawlessly it’s a masterpiece. This game breathes perfection
@@FlobsterforLobster to you. What about people who don't like linear story based platformers? Or who don't like cats? To them, they have no reason to purchase the game.
While it's great at what it does, it's an incredibly niche game that, while popular atm (because it's apart of that playstation plus thing) after a month or so, all talk of the game is gonna subside. It has no staying power.
@@huskycruxes7232 when a game strives for what if intends to be and does it perfect, it’s considered a masterpiece. Longevity, ps exclusive, that doesn’t have any factor on what the game is trying to be.
@@FlobsterforLobster it's not ps exclusive. But if you want to herald a game as a masterpiece you'd think it'd be a game that has an good and memorable story that will leave people talking.
It's a catformer. That's it. If you're not into either of those things the game has absolutely nothing going for it. It's good at what it wants to be but heralding it as a masterpiece in the gaming industry is really stupid. It might be a great game. But it's not game of the year.
Idk why you're defending the game this hard. All I'm saying is calling it a masterpiece because you like it seems silly. When you measure a game the community's feedback and staying power is just as important as what the developers wanted the game to be. You can have a great game, but without the community around its bound to die
yeah this is why the game industry is going downward dont pay 30 for an indie game with creativity and quality but dump money to the eas and ubisofts
Pretty low shot if you ask me, you ask for patron support to get these videos out faster and of better quality I think an indie company has the right to ask for a little bit of money for something that’s new, looks good, is fun and is decently polished.
This is a bad take imo. Not every game is a MUST buy, but people want to buy this because its chill, unique etc.
What's a bad take? Are you just latching on to one point and ignoring all the praise he gave?
The 4 hour length and lack of replay value doesn't justify the 30 dollar pricetag to most people, I'd rather spend twice that on an RPG that I can play for hundreds of hours and not get bored.
@@PepeLa_ nope
@@PepeLa_ the “one point” is the title of the video. Kind of a big negative thing to throw out for a small dev team but hey.
@@TheSubconscious022 He probably gave it that title to bait people into watching the review where he actually praises the game on what it does right.
Just because they're a small dev team that doesn't mean they can't make a game longer than 4 hours that isn't mindless and actually has some replay value to it.
Yes some people enjoyed the game for what it is but others would've preferred a different experience, nobody's opinion is any less valid because it's subjective.
I got this game for free off of ps plus and I wholeheartedly recommend playing it. You can get a decent amount of hours out of it if you take your time playing through the story and even more if you get all the trophies/achievements. If you go into this game expecting a 60 hour long experience like Red Dead Redemption 2 you’re not going to enjoy it. This is a wonderful experience about being a cat.
Exactly 💯, it's not meant to be treated like a bloated open world grind style game. It sits in it's nice comfy niche kinda like what Kena did last year
@@TheOnlyTaps I also really loved kena, great game.
I can't disagree more with your statement regarding the experience being the same if you play the game or if you watch a streamer. That's just denying what an interactive videogame is. Experiencing the game (any game, for that matter) is 100% better (and different) than watching someone else play it. And Stray isn't different.
TBF, nobody would care about this game if there was no cat. The cat is literally the entire selling point.
And it's worth it.
Honestly I felt it was 30 bucks well-spent.
idk man. kind of a bad take, this is a game where i absolutely reccomend buying it. these devs knew what game they wanted to make and they made it. and it's beautful, i would definetly support their art by buying it
''you shouldn't pay for''
right, because of how much time, effort, and work went into this game.
certainly not the kind of youtube i'd watch in the future.
Stray had something I don't see in very many games since Half-Life. It's what I like to call, "the touch of valve". It's hard to explain but when you put THIS amount of detail into your linear games, it just immerses you so much more. Also, I feel like everyone is missing the point of the game while focusing on the cat. Cat + cyberpunk was nothing more then a hook. What they were going for was the perfect protagonist to act as a lens so the player can be immersed in the game. By focusing on the "cuteness" of the cat you're completely disregarding the reason as to why you're a cat as opposed to a human.
Literally, I have not played a game like this since half-life. Clearly, the game is short so the devs could make a detailed game within their budget, and dang was that a good 5 hours. I'd rather an amazing, breathtaking 5 hour game then a boring slog of a 50 hour game. Support the devs so Stray's sequel can be leagues better. I will stand by my words: these devs are the next valve.
I can't agree more.
I’m really happy to see everyone disagreeing. This is now one of my favorite games and I’m personally going to spend extra money to get the collectors edition of it. Especially in hopes of a second game being released or even just seeing what the devs of this game have to offer in other aspects. This game is so beautiful relaxing and interesting and offers so much to be enjoyed. It’s been a long time since I’ve fallen in love with a game like this. It’s definitely worth purchasing ❤️
Not everyone wants to play hard-core games. A short game with easy puzzles doesn't need to be free to be worth it. I'm having a ton of fun with Stray myself. It doesn't need to be hard to be a fun game.
Luke: good job, helping out the developer on this one. I mean, they produced a quality product and probably don't deserve the modest $30 per sale copy, right ??
Why should he recommend his audience you buy something he found to not be worth it? He could just say nothing, but i'm not telling a grown ass man what he can and can't say.
it's way overpriced. the ps3 classic Journey is much better than this game and it only cost 10-15 dollars 10 years ago.
@@Pontif11 There's a difference between not recommending the game and actively telling you to not buy the game and instead play/watch it for free.
He's free to recommend or not recommend whatever he wants but encouraging your audience to not buy it and just play/watch for free is only going to hurt the indie devs. The problem is he's treating this like it's some AAA game from a studio with more money than we will see in our lifetime, when it's actually an indie dev studio who needs the support to keep making games.
It just seems mean to tell people to not support an indie studio who made a good game (he said so himself) that he liked.
As a cat lover, this is a MUST BUY, however, for every other gamer I'd agree you don't really NEED to buy it but it's a fun and cute time;)
Im not a cat lover and loved it. It's very atmospheric and the pacing of the game is great
Extremely gay, congrats
Best take
not a cat guy at all & it's one of the best games i've played this year
@@zeroualamohamed7775 the gayest, right here
I don't think the $30 asking price is too high for this game. As an indie game developer, I was able to see a LOT of things most people don't see because they just don't have that experience.
TL;DR: There are several factors to this game that show the developers took their time and carefully crafted this world into a fun and immersive experience that everyone can play and just relax with.
Now that said, allow me to get my soap box out.
All the models are chock full of little details that make them feel alive, the robots are rigged perfectly so that their animations make them move like robots. The cat's rigging and weight painting is amazing because cats are very flexible creatures and there is very little clipping or warping, especially when you consider the fur.
The environment is painstakingly detailed that each area we explore likely took weeks upon weeks to craft in such a way that when we played it, we felt this was a realistic place. None of the individual apartments and homes we went into were copy pasted in anyway. The layout was different for every single shop/ home. Each place had clutter and not often the same clutter depending on the home. Each area you went to, you remember because it was so different.
Then you have the physics of the objects around. The cans, the things we push off, the things we pick up and put down. The lighting to give us this feel of being in a perpetually dark environment, but still having enough light in most instances where we didn't need to rely on the flashlight all the time. The sound design was also flawless. The creatures have eyes that follow the cat with every movement (which is easy to program with the creatures only having one eye, but its still a neat touch). And there are soooo many other things that we just DON'T see or think about.
Each object we are able to jump on either had a prompt grouped with the item or had to be MANUALLY placed on every single thing we are allowed to jump to. Regardless of which it was, the various things that we are able to jump to had to be carefully placed so that we the players could believe that the cat could jump to. This meant that either they had to meticulously place the object, play test the jump, edit the object, play test it again, then move on, or they had to go through each area and find every single jumpable thing to make sure everything was right. If they guessed each space, then kudos to them because I didn't come across anything that didn't seem like an unbelievable jump.
Are there problems with the game? Sure. I agree that I was taken out of the immersion of the game a few times because I was trying to solve problems like a cat. Best example is one area there is a vent that is too high for the cat to jump to. I went over to the vent and started meowing in hopes that the NPC would hear me and lift me up to the vent. When that didn't work, I had to work the problem out like a human and move the barrel nearby to jump up on it. Did this negatively impact my experience, a little. I did find much of this game to be a bit of a stretch on how a cat would think and act, but that didn't mean I didn't enjoy my experience with the game.
I'm tired of this "Its so short", "Its easy", "Its gameplay is restrictive", and so on being the big factor in not buying games. No one considers how much work, time, and money went into these games anymore. While I can't say for sure, I would almost bet that the developers had a limited budget on what they could do (which would mean not adding in many factors to the game such as the NPC's being able to hear us, working out a free-roam type game style and the physics that go behind it and so on) so what they did do was created an experience and ensured that the vast majority of the bugs were squashed before launch. Remember when games did that? Have a functional product upon launch that didn't have to have update upon update in order to have the game functioning and playable?
Another factor to consider on the "its easy" and "mindless" is this isn't a From Software game. This isn't Monster Hunter, this isn't Assassins Creed, this isn't Halo, this isn't whatever game out there that presents to you a significant challenge in working out how to climb a building or deal with multiple enemies at once, or problem solve. This is a game where you play as a cat. This is a game where you are meant to be immersed in the world, the story, the characters, and metaphors, and to where you do what cats do - explore. You are being faced with cat problems, not people problems. You are being asked to move your playable character around and 'see' the world through a cats eyes. You are a tiny animal in a world of robots and nasty creatures, not a human in a world with Lovecraftian / mythical monsters that are gigantic.
And the biggest factor is that not everyone wants a game that is challenging, requires a lot of focus, demands your brain to keep track of things at all times. This is a chill game. Its a game to go relax in. A game where you can just unwind from a hard day's work in the few limited minutes you have to yourself. It's a relaxed pace (most times), and has quirky enough characters for people to enjoy. There is a surprising amount of people who just want games like that. I know one of my friends says he can't play Monster Hunter because there are too many things you need to be aware of, keep track of, buttons to press, and animations to learn for each individual monster in order to read their attacks. He says the series stresses him out. And you know what. Thats fine with me. He loves Stray because he can take his time, relax, be immersed, and just enjoy. And you know what, I love Stray too because games like Monster Hunter do get overwhelming or (with the end game in mind here) the game play loop gets so repetitive and boring that it becomes a chore, but you still need to do it because there are monsters gated off at certain level caps in order to get the full experience (looking at you Scorned Magnamalo and Ruiner Nergigante needing an MR 100 to fight).
So to call a game "not worth $30" is a bit of a slap in the face to the developers and pointing out some of the "mindless" and "restrictive" game play may also be insulting to casual gamers who don't WANT that more complex experience. It's highly irresponsible and could have just been worded in a way that goes "If you are someone who enjoys a more complex and challenging game, you may consider watching this on a stream or trying it for free. This is a game more designed for casual players who want a more immersive story experience and a change of perspective."
Out right saying "Don't buy it" though is a highly biased opinion, one which you're allowed to have, but is not an ideal viewpoint when you are someone 278,000 people watch to gain an understanding of what is good and bad in a game. Telling people what to do and what not to do isn't an ideal place to be in because it unfortunately puts you in a stand point where your opinions should be taken with a grain of salt. It's like IGN telling Pokemon fans that Pokemon Sapphire / Ruby are lower in rank because there's too much water.
Definitely disagree. This game has more heart in it than any AAA title I’ve played in the last decade. The devs need to be rewarded for that.
i disagree, projects like these should be supported, i bought it and will buy again if there s a disk release or a dlc
More power to ya
@@co2_os thanks Os
Actually there is a company called Iam8bit that is selling an official collectors edition of stray right now. It’s on preorder.
@@micahroberts3523 45 usd, not bad at all
@@micahroberts3523 This vid gave me the (little) push I needed to preorder. Maybe Luke is playing Jedi tricks on us.
I paid $30 and I don't regret it... enjoying every single minute of it, I'm actually on my second walk-through.
The game is 100% worth 30 dollars
And i think its disrespectful to not support these developers who made a wonderful
Fun game
Not to mention unique and creative
Is it game of the year compared to god of war or elden ring no
But its an amazing videogame for the fun it brings
Its simple fun
I agree 100%
It is better to have short game with good quality than have a stretched out grind
Exactly! Quality over quantity. 👌
I disagree on this one. They put so much love and hard work into this and it's worth the price which is right.
Complaining that this is mindless is like complaining an mmo is grindy. I think we all knew what we were getting into and the feedback is overwhelmingly positive. Might be indie of the year imo. A nice change of pace that the industry needed
Maybe this game is short but so are poems. And that game is precisely that. A small piece of art with one of the best visuals in a video game that I've ever seen, a great world and amazing storytelling for the budget they had. It's so beautiful through its simplicity.
Besides you need to support this kind of games to show there's still room for indie developers and that they are able to create masterpieces if they get an opportunity and, of course, the publisher's money.
Why are people suddenly concerned about the difficulty or price when I didn't hear the same thing about games like Journey, ABZU, Flower, or ICO?
I bought it and after playing it I'm glad I did. I got more than my money's worth. So much love was poured into this game, the devs earned every penny and I'd happily buy DLC if it had the same quality and soul as the main game
It's cowardly of you to change the title without at least acknowledging as much in the details. Real lack of integrity here. Either stand by your take, or come out and admit it was poor taste and clarify how you feel about supporting small studios.
From the comments, it appears that nearly everyone disagrees with you telling people explicitly not to support the studio and dev. That's a heartless move. At the end of the day, it's clear people are going to go out of their way to support the devs anyway. You may have discouraged a lot of potential revenue for decent folks who work hard while you reap the views and engagement.
I'm proud of your community for wanting to do the noble thing and you should be proud too. Saying as much would be a good PR move. I'm going to vote in the only way I can and unsubscribe.
Wow yeah no comment or even a short video on this. I've been checking back on to see the latest comments and saw yours. It interesting to see such support.