I recommend: Stray (Review)
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- Опубліковано 18 вер 2024
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Much like cats themselves, Stray is possessed of a quiet confidence that makes you both love and respect it. Some PC performance issues aside, Stray is wonderful and I recommend it.
#Stray #StrayGame #StrayReview
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Edited by Austin @ausomehd
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This is cheating, you can't comment first if you can comment before the video is out.
Talks about using a laptop because his PC died, immediately talks about performance issues in a game. COINCIDENCE.
Why wouldn't you just play on the ps5 then once it became obvious it doesn't run well on pc?
@@johndodo2062 Because he was probably given a Steam code, not a PS5 code. For a non-reviewer, that means paying twice. Also it's fair for his review to criticize it for how it runs on PC as many players won't have a PS4/5.
I also don’t like cats 😩…let’s hear what you say.
Isn't it wonderful when a game is treated as a story-telling medium instead of an income generation stream?
Yup, which is why I hope this game gets the support:)
Literally half of the games i bought recently on my xbox were 360 ones, the other half, things like cuphead, nier automata, metro exodus, fuck live service games.
@@gustavohuehue7460 there is a good way to do live service games but it's rare to see it done.
@@gustavohuehue7460 Same. I've basically given up on anything with that term attached to it. I still played through Halo Infinite though. Was good, but I think underwhelming.
@@MagiofAsura The problem is that live-service games attract people with dollar signs in their eyes: it's a service that people will keep paying for (either through subscription or microtransactions), becoming more and more fanatically embedded with each purchase and sunk-cost in time and money. Add in player interactions though friends and guilds and the need to fit in with the "crowd", and it becomes even more addictive. Any business would love such an exploitable consumer base.
Then in story-driven live-service games, there's the need to constantly be building the next "new attraction", the continuation of the story. Keeping a plot engaging over several build-ups, climaxes, and resolutions requires very skilled, dedicated writers over the course of the game's life. It's much easier to skimp on that and throw out whatever keeps the players engaged.
It takes strong leadership and vision applied over a long time to make a live-service game's experience anywhere near as engaging as a single-player game's. Even those that start out well have the ever-increasing chance of their controlling executives being replaced by money-hungry assholes, at which point the whole thing goes down the drain.
There's something admirable about the developers just wanting to make a heartfelt game about playing as cat and making it a good game.
I always had this answer for my friends:
"Why do you find this game fun?"
"Because you are a cat"
"and ...??"
"Well...that´s it, you're a cat and that's fun"
They made a product based around the internets favorite animal. Thats all.
Role playing as a cat in a cyberpunk city, this is a masterpiece.
Limited scope, clear vision,
Not every game needs to be everything and earn ALL the money in the world.
God am in glad there still is some genuine love in game development, not just revenue streams.
Yes but its missing way points and info , Other than that the game is actually adorable lol
"Post-cyberpunk" and the way you explained it in this review is a perfect way to explain the setting in this. It isn't quite "cyberpunk", it isn't quite "Post-apocalyptic", it's both.
I suddenly understood the difference between the two! Cyberpunk is about Despair, Post-Cyberpunk is about Hope!
@@wonkabars6982 Blade Runner and Judge Dredd are not post-Cyberpunk at all, they are Cyberpunk.
@@Yodalemos I retract my statements. You are correct. Have a good day!
@@Yodalemos Psycho-Pass and the Fifth Element is post-cyberpunk.
@@Dracobyte Psycho-Pass, maybe? idk if they ever went through the cyberpubk phase. I would much more quickly describe it as a dystopia. I don't even know how I would begin to describe The Fifth Element, but I'd likely label it as an apocalyptic cyberpunk fantasy.
"4 1/2 hours of walkin' around as a cat in a pretty world"
I mean this is literally all I ever wanted from it.
🐈
This is all it is. And it’s fine. It’s very relaxing.
Cat fights and following the red dot?
@@Aeternum_Gaming Yes this is what we call a speedrun, where you already know the game extremely well and shortcut everything. Yet, as a review of a game this seems not the right place to say … for example that you can finish Skyrim in 30min, right.
I actually checked the running time of some Let’s Plays (most have some repetitions cut out in edit though). Cohh was ~5.5h and he did not go for side missions and was running through the seek and hide part as crazy, he did not take his time, to me it was the fastest way to go through this game and not be called speedrun. Other UA-camrs which were taking it all in were around +7h mark.
The running times that Ralph is mention are often ridiculously short (next game is already waiting), I almost all the time took twice as much. I think he underestimates that he is doing this professional every day, which is not the same as normal people do in their free time and sometimes with a break for days in between.
I was surprised how good this game was. All I need now is a Pitbull game to go with my Dogs and Ill be set
When this game started getting an insane amount of hype I can’t even imagine the pressure the devs faced. I’m glad it’s good!
I don't know I might be wrong here but making a game about a cat going around isn't really a novel idea or really an interesting one
@@Assassin5671000 it’s a great idea.
@@Assassin5671000 game is cat, I like cat, I like game
@@Assassin5671000 I mean maybe but from what I hear skill up saying this game is more then that like world building, level design, sound design, gameplay and little attention to detail all sound pretty solid to me. Also I don't think this game is intended to be the next elden ring or something, it's basically you being a cat going through and interesting world seems like it's doing that pretty well and I'm happy for the devs
@@Assassin5671000 and yet it was never done and hyped the whole gaming community.
Maybe your taste just suck ? Who knows...
The environmental design is absolutely stunning. You get to explore meticulously detailed nooks and crannies from the perspective of a cat and all it all feels so cozy.
The "used" or "lived-in" look of this game makes everywhere look so...cozy....and I absolutely love it.
BTW, you don't like....cats??? Ah...I'm.... speechless!!! 😳
People who don't like cats are low key needy.
I loved some rooms of Clementine's apartment.
One of my cat that died several weeks ago looked exactly like the cat in this game. Watching it sleep and scratch is making me cry. What a perfect time to release this game :”)
@aola wili lol worst timed bot comment ever
@@Yamsareverytasty what
@@yotadinz270 the above comment is a bot that copy pasted another person's comment. Obviously OP is a cat lover and sad their cat died and the comment the bot copied says "fellow non-cat lover". Hope that explains it ☺️
I wish for your cat to rest in peace.
Now I’m crying
I saw two “reviews” of this game posted earlier today from people bluffing about having played the game when they’d only seen the previews. Thanks for posting an actual review after the embargo instead of the algorithm manipulation a lot of other UA-camrs go for.
Yeah I only watch a handful of UA-camrs for reviews. SkillUp, ACG and some other niche content creators. SkillUp is legit
@@Jerler91 ACG is the 🐐
@@Jerler91 ACG is legit too. Don’t know what reviews you’re talking about because I’ve been following this game since reveal.
You misspelled purrview
Oh my god is Evanz! So cool to see ya here in the comment section. Hope you've been well ^^
I wasn't expecting to be emotionally moved by it. It's true that its 'just right' but there was something really moving about that ending. Especially if you take the time to find the little clues and memories. It tells a story if you, the player, are interested in hearing more and I like that freedom in the gameplay.
I'm looking for everything as this is a fascinating little time waster of a game and a great relaxer.
completely agree. the ending made me cry. a simple but beautiful story.
Kinda suspected this one would be great, don't know why, just seems like a charming game with a lot of love put into it.
Annapurna releases good stuff.
@@Envengerx Annapurna is the publisher. Credit goes to BlueTwelve Studio for developing such a wonderful game.
It’s got cats. Of course it’s awesome!
I have been looking forward to this for a while. Mostly as you play as a cat and we have two of them. I’m glad it’s good 👍 will install when I can.
When I see Annapurna publishing a game, I trust it.
We like to joke with "Shill-up", destiny memes, all that jazz but... this review might be one of your most artful. Deliberate, articulate eloquence-- describing feeling, environment. Yes, you covered what it is, what it is not, and all the necessary review info, but this is one of those times I felt like the review script was in and of itself, artful. They can't all be like this, we need cheeky jokes and memes, but damn this was well done.
And all that will still shilling hard on that MSI goodie :D
I think his stuff gets worse and worse, he should go back to laymen with Sam where he was funny
@@maltsutty Nah I like his reviews.
@@maltsutty Nah I like his reviews.
@@renlevy411 fair enough bro I just always get the geeeling he doesn’t play the games and does it all for money. Example : his title of his war hammer preview . He said MIGHT so that he can just not play it when it comes out
I was joking when I saw the trailer, but this game really is an extended episode of Love, Death, and Robots. The devs really saw that one episode and said, “yeah, let’s make a game around that.”
Well, it was a great episode, and it generated a great idea
What show you're talking about?
@@mmorkinism Love deaths and robots lol
@@mmorkinism Love, Death, and Robots. It's probably season 1. I think episode 2 or 3 with the 3 robots vacationing on a post apocalyptic Earth.
@@vancedburner7664 I thought they were referring to the one where there’s a bunch of tomb raiders who open a crypt or something and their cat is just there too as they all get mutilated alien-style
It's so good to see you posting reviews again! When you enjoy a game you string together the most beautiful sentences to describe it. Your writing for reviews is unmatched, and I hope to see more as new games release.
Game of all time, jokes aside this game is what I expected and am extremely happy it lives up to it.
No that’s Maneater
ikr...i was just expecting cat stuff but it had a good story and really heartfelt moments..i know it was done by a small studio so they couldnt do alot but id have loved free roam at the end of the game..plus cat customosation and some other things...but i love it anyway
This review reminds me of your Plague Tale: Innocence one. A solid, well-crafted game where everything just fits neatly together. Consider me sold. Thank you!
That game is streets ahead of this though lol. Fair enough so was the budget lol
@@DEVILTAZ35 I haven't finished it yet, so I won't make up my mind right now. Even then though, they're just different types of games. Both story-driven to be sure, but they have different narrative and gameplay aims. And like you pointed out, one costs 50% of the other. It's difficult to compare the two.
I'm also hijacking this comment for a sort of status update: I'm 3 hours in and I've had almost *no* performance issues whatsoever. As far as I know, all of my settings are at max and it runs like a dream on my PC.
(Specs: AMD Ryzen 7 2700X, 16GB RAM, GeForce GTX 1060 6GB.)
The only hiccup I've had is a momentary game freeze (visual only, sound continued), when I was taking a screenshot with the Steam overlay. That's not exactly good, but it's not as bad as what was reported in this review.
Maybe I was lucky, or maybe SkillUp was unlucky. It's possible I've yet to hit a specific area where he had his performance issues (I think I've been a slower player).
The game also auto-switches input prompts on gamepad or mouse+keyboard detection, which is super nice. On top of *that*, it even correctly detects my Dualshock 4, meaning I don't have my usual "ahh crap, is R1 the bumper or the trigger?!' problem.
This right here is a massive plus for me, and it shows effort on part of the devs. Nice going!
I finished the game today. As usual, SkillUp's review was pretty spot-on! A simple but effective story, puzzles that challenged me just enough, chase sequences where the camera zooms out for an extra thrill.
What this game does best is sheer *atmosphere*. The design of the environments is superb, and so is the soundtrack. If that sounds like your thing, then pick this up.
I still didn't have all the performance issues he had, although the screenshot-freeze problem persisted throughout my playthrough. Interestingly I did encounter a few drops in FPS, and this was after a hotfix that addressed some GPU driver issues. This makes me wonder if my performance was so solid because I...always forget to update my drivers, and so I didn't have to deal with any stuff from a new build.
"I recommend"... Oh thank God. I really need this escape reality gaming trend to continue because reality bites.
i hear you
This is what games are. Escapism. It's quite sad that we cannot find tranquility in life so we seek escape in mediums like this. But life is not the problem. The problem is within ourselves.
"You can escape even more by spending 100 premium cat coins on unique meow emotes"
You're not alone there ❤
@@ThwipThwipBoom truly all we can really ask for.
As a fellow non-cat person, I really appreciate the perspective in this review. I'm not particularly keen on cats, but this game still looks cool as hell.
Same here, I’m a dog person myself. While I can understand the feeling some cat owners have, I do not like cats. Having that sort of perspective let’s me know that it’s not just a cat owner game.
@@ThwipThwipBoom problem is that they’re boring and have no love for their owner like dogs
@@Drip7914 It seems you suffer from 'simple mindedness' and I'm sorry for your loss. Dogs were bred and raised over tens of thousands of years to be 'of service' to humanity. One could say that dogs are, in fact, more boring than cats if we think of a common scenario like....well, let's say you beat your dog on the regular. It will still be loyal, never defend itself. Is that to be admired? Would you say that a person who gets beat everyday like a servant and never defends themselves is someone to be admired? No. On the other hand, you beat a cat, it WILL defend itself regardless of it's love and affection for you (which cats certainly do have, but again, you lack education on this matter). So maybe take the time to understand that every animal is different, but every animal can certainly show affection and even love if they are treated with care and respect. I've had dogs AND cats my entire life and clearly you haven't. The only reason people say "I DoN't lIkE CAtS" is because they have never had a cat themselves and have little to no understanding of them, yet get a cat and find just how affectionate and loving they truly are and whaddaya know, now they like cats. Case in point, just have a look at Christian the lion, raised from a cub by two blokes and then separated from them for years and when reunited, he still remembered them and you can see that love in his behaviour on that day.
Cats like chill people
@@wrangarXXXX nice essay too bad I won’t ever read it 😭 bozo
Buying now. I just needed your title confirmation.
The indirect lighting in this game is amazing... how every object reflects every other and seems to belong there. I wish R3make raccoon city looked like this.
I wonder if that's the main culprit for the iffy performance.
@@ryo-kai8587
Most likely, i mean it's a linear game and other than superb lighting doesn't seem to be pushing advanced rendering tech... The lighting seems like Lumen to me but apparently it's UE4.
@@childofvenus3781 That makes sense. I feel like UE5 has a lot of advancements that would have really helped; not only Lumen, but also Nanite given how many environmental elements seem static.
Either way, no sense in hypotheticals at this point. I just hope they can fine-tune it a bit, because I really would like _at the bare minimum_ a solid 60fps at 1440p out of a 2080ti, and preferably a bit more; that's already like AAA graphics with full raytracing level of low framerate for that card and resolution.
@@childofvenus3781 they baked the lighting
This game looks purrfect
you've been waiting to use that one for forever huh 🤣🤣👌🏾
How dare this not be the pinned comment.
You should’ve followed that with “ I’ll see myself out”
Jesus
That's it, you're fired.
Stray 2...
I love that SkillUp is basically confirming the franchise potential!
Stray 2 would be tight
Man, have been watching skill up for a few years now and I can say with absolute confidence that he is one of the best gaming journalists, if not the best.The reviews have so much thought put into them and are written so beautifully, I have not found anyone who is close to this level.
P.S The post cyberpunk explanation was so nicely put.
He's great, and you might like ACG as well. They're both thorough and fun to watch ☺️
completely agree with this , the writing is always excellent
I highly recommend Mathewmatosis. Arguably the best to have ever done it. He's stopped reviewing games for over a year now but his videos are still essential viewing for any interested in game critique
@@industrialvibes3064 the dark souls one is excellent.
@@AKhardcore1 I like him too, he is more structured and precise compared to skill up, but lacks the nice flow to the reviews. But on the other side , ACG test the games more thoroughly, both are great!
I think this game is gonna join the ranks of Limbo, Inside, and Little Nightmares as a short but memorable experience, this one is also essential for cat lovers like me (BTW, HOW DARE YOU RALPH!)
Thanks for the great review, sad to hear about the PC performance (Unreal engine strikes again), hopefully they can optimize it with future patches.
Man to put it up with those three makes it a must buy.
Yeah, shame UE is always an issue on PC. I'm assuming the issue is the same as most indy games using UE being shader compilation. I have rarely ever seen those fixed though post launch. Really disappointed Epic has still done basically no effort at fixing suck a common blemish with their engine. Even worse with many games moving to UE now with it having default DLSS and ray tracing support.
In my experience from growing up around people that say they aren't fans of cats, I see more often than not that they don't really understand how to approach and interact with them. They can take a bit more patience than people that are used to meeting dogs are willing to give normally. Love both cats and dogs but the communication with each can very different.
Or they could be allergic. Would love a cat but I can't go into a house that owns one, even the one's that are supposed to be ok for allergy sufferers, without sneezing my head off and my eyes start running.
@@stryke-jn3kv Being allergic isn't just not being a fan of cats. Yeah the whole non allergy sales pitch is just a scam.
Or maybe he doesn't like cats.
@@ThwipThwipBoom I believe you, and I agree with you ! But maybe HE does not like cats, like he said. It happens too.
I was a dog person my entire life never owned a cat always hated them but when I moved to nyc having a dog became intensely hard and so my pup went to live with my parents on their farm with their other dogs. I was depressed and drinking a lot just not feeling well and decided to adopt a cat. Needless to say she changed my mind I love her more than the mother of
My child lmao I never knew how loving and sweet cats could be not to mention how fucking funny they are,
Thank you for adding how it runs on the steam deck much apriciated. I'd be nice if you could add it as often as you're able.
^ I've had mixed results with SD performance, so especially for niche games like this a proper report is very helpful
Yeah for sure. Not buying it on pc anymore since the port is poor, but medium settings @40fps w/75% scaling doesn’t seem TOO bad. I think the shader pre compilation is helping it do better on the deck than it may have for a windows pc with the same spec.
I gotta say the game ran really well for me on Linux. I think performance issues are just on Windows
Stray definitely gives a bit of a Ico/Shadow of the Colossus vibe. A stranger in a strange land that is unknown to you. Looks absolutely gorgeous and the concept seems to really work well.
I dont know about you but I also get portal vibes from the world. An underground labyrinth of sterile robots. Also reminds me of the whitebox level in splinter cell conviction, but I don't expect anyone to get that reference.
I was nervous but it's good to hear that it's a success
I mean it sounds like a crap time on PC, so I wouldn't consider that a success if that's your only option.
Shill Up - “I hate cats”
Also Shill Up - *gushes about how dope cats are for 20 minutes*
not letting his personal preferences get in the way of his professional work, just like an ethic person would do
@@YuriG03042
You missed his point. Skill Up contradicted himself.
@@gravityslave6277 I don’t think you understand what TheYuriG was saying…
@@davidreyesjamison1814
I dont think you know what anyone is saying.
@@gravityslave6277 bro, rewatch the opening minutes of the video, and then come back and wise up
Few hours of exploring an interesting world. Sounds exactly like what I want.
Edit: Played it. Absolutely loved it.
Yeah I feel you but idk 30 dollars is a lot for 4 hours in my opinion. Still prob gonna buy it anyway lol
@@comfybaguette No no I think u got it wrong, HE played it for 4 hours but he never said he finished it. So hopefully this game is more like 6-9 hours long :)
@@justinlessel5624 ohhhh ig I didn’t catch onto that. much more excited to play now. thanks for the information!
@@comfybaguette
Technically, Outer Wilds(same publisher) is a ~25 minute game, and many people hail it as one of the greatest gaming experiences of all time.
I see a lot of similarities between Outer Wilds and Stray.
I'm going to trust it.
IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT OUTER WILDS IS, WATCH SKILL UPS REVIEW AND THEN TAKE HIS ADVICE.
@@undeadman7676 lol yeah but that clearly isn’t actually a 25 minute game. it’s a lot longer than that
One of the most atmospheric games I have ever played, its truly beautiful and the sound track is awesome.
Listening to the description makes me think of Ecco the Dolphin. A calm start where you're just a dolphin playing with dolphins, gameplay focused on what dolphins actually do, very little text, and a huge adventure
you say "calm start" but i had nightmares as a kid of the very beginning when you have to jump really high out of the water to trigger the first level
And great music that stays with you long after.
This review has alot of visual spoilers, including some of the final areas of the game. If interested in the game I recommend either listening to the review instead or watching it after playing :) It really is a treat you should go in blind and experience yourself.
I hope they optimize it later on for PC, because I really want to enjoy this one.
For what it's worth, I had barely any problems on PC. A couple hiccups here and there, but nothing like what SkillUp said.
I have a 2080 and had a rock solid 60 fps the entire time on my ultrawide. Not sure if they released a day one patch or not but it performed great.
I have a RTX 2080 with a 5800X, i can play this game on 4K 60 fps everything maxed out on my OLED TV, but with resolution scale at 90%. On my 1440p monitor it's no problem at al
If it's worth anything, I picked it up yesterday and most of the time I'm getting over 100 FPS at 1440p and the highest settings (Ryzen 5 5600X, RTX 3060). Maybe they patched it right away? The very beginning of the game was when it hit the lowest, around 70 FPS.
I remember Matty made a video in January stating his most anticipated games of 2022. In a comment I listed about a dozen games he missed, with Stray being my most anticipated game of 2022. As an old time gamer, I've seen and done most of what gaming has to offer. This game looked to deliver something new, unique, and most importantly, something worth experiencing. Happy to see it seems to deliver on that premise, and after watching this review: Stray is definitely my most anticipated game of 2022.
Cats are amazing, and they are good at telling when a human hates them or not, hence them never approaching you. They are very intuitive. One of the many things to LOVE about cats.
@The Rotten💯 thats crazy, they are just like humans with all kinds of fucked up baggage that needs to be worked through. have you ever worked with rescuing stray cats? even if they want and need help, their lifetime of programming makes it hard for them to ask for it.
I call bs on that one. Whenever I approach any cat, despite having no ill feelings towards them, they run away.
@@lop1652 Ah there's your problem though. You approach them. You are supposed to be still and let them come to you. They retreat when there is a new creature coming towards them!
@@MisterBrimm Interesting, tho when I stand still, they either just look at me with murderous intent or again, run away.
@@lop1652 Well that's a shame.
9:08 Love this bit, Blinx was so good as a kid and it’s come and gone long ago. Glad people still remember
Shill Up putting IGN’s reviews to shame. Your reviews are like story-telling. Well done, mate.
IGN's reviews are a joke. I'll watch Skillup any day of the week!
this game is by far one of best games I've played in a long time. it has emotion and provocative story telling along with next generation graphics and exploration concepts
Agree, been gaming since Atari, this game felt fresh and different!
"Is stray anything more than just jumping on boxes and napping?" a question in and of itself that should sell a million copies of this game!
So glad this has ended up getting great reviews, was a tiny bit concerned it may not hold up across a full game. Day 1 PS++ here we come
I love cats so super biased. Thanks for comment how it runs on Steam Deck, like to hear it in every review if possible 🙂
What a debut title for the studio. It's beautiful, it's original, and it's a straight up video game. I'm genuinely hoping it does well so they can bring in much needed passion in the industry.
we need more games like stray and grounded, love the toy story feeling of being a little character moving around the world
By toy story you mean little nightmare?
I don't think there's another reviewer on UA-cam that is as in love with the art form of games as you are, Shill Up. The way you interpret and translate the devs intentions rather than the outcomes, your attention to each aspect of a game in its service to the intention. Your reviews are the only ones I can watch.
The only downside of this game is that it's short. Nothing wrong with a game being short, but I'm worried I'll love it too much and then it will be gone. In any case, I'll have my cat in the room and use Meow button constantly just to mess with her. ONE MORE DAY!
It has good replayability with the things to find/collect and exchange in the game
@@deferencetodusk yep, I'm already exploring every corner of the slums:D
I'm glad to have a short game after playing games filled with mindless filler.
Love these types of chill indie games, definitely can see myself playing this a lot.
I don't know that I will play Stray but I am ecstatic that a game like Stray exists in 2022 and is more or less respected.
I love napping next to the music guy after I give him a new music sheet and he plays it for us 😌
I miss when SkillUp would let us listen to the soundtrack or sound effects for like 20-30 seconds
I can't wait for this.. I'm so happy to see great reviews dropping for it today.
Fingers crossed it gets a PC patch. I'll pick it up when it runs better.
I love your comment about the hopefulness of rebuilding after the collapse. I feel like we could all use a bit more of that lately. Even if it feels like we're still living through it sometimes.
This game just actually looks amazing. I can't wait to play it.
I got a little choked up when it first zooms out and follows the cats when they're heading to the next area. The visuals are gorgeous and the level of detail that went into designing the cat is impressive. The eye shine is so accurate. This is gonna blow up, the devs should be proud of what they've created. There's definitely gonna be demand for a sequel.
glad to see that my high hopes were not misplaced, can't wait to play it, thanks for the review !
Shill Up - “I hate cats”
Also Shill Up - * gushes about how dope cats are for 20 minutes *
Gotta say, it has probably the most visually appealing world I've seen in a videogame. Every inch of it looks so lovingly crafted and the soft but vibrant colours are just perfect. I hope it becomes a benchmark for linear games in that respect.
Put it on my Wishlist on Steam a month ago and man I had that "This gonna be good" feeling. Guess I wasn't wrong.
Nice, I'm a cat kinda guy and it seems this is exactly what I hoped it to be. Instant purchase! Thanks for reaffirming Shill.
Great review by a terrible not-cat-liking person.
Keep up the great content!
Thx Skill up. I will buy the game now. Tomorrow i don't have to work and i really love games you can beat in a few hours. I still love these Single player linear experience. More Power to those Devs.
One of our cats was adopted from another home and our black Tom was a stray. I love cats and often wonder what adventures and shenanigans they get up too. I am yet to play this yet but know I will love it! 🥰
I started playing this yesterday, up to the first more open section, and had zero performance issues on my laptop's GTX 1060. I was getting between 40-60 fps on all-high settings, so if you were getting worse performance on a much more modern graphics card, it seems like there's definitely been some performance patching happening already. So if anyone's holding off due to performance, I'd say you're probably in the clear now!
Other than that, absolutely great game so far! Shaping up to be one of my all-time favourites in terms of world-building details and atmosphere.
True I was rocking a 3070 and it ran at 60 FPS no drops or anything... its patched or maybe something with his PC not liking that game particular.
@@AirWolf2301 Same here. Never dropped below 60 FPS on 1440p Ultra on a 3060Ti. In fact I capped it at 60 because of the heat we have currently!
I forgot this game was coming out, but I am definitely picking it up. Hope the performance receives a patch for PC soon.
It ran very well for me. 60 fps the entire time on a 2080 with ultrawide
I get regular head/hair washings from any of our 5 cats, daily. I’m gonna love this one. Tomorrow!
The story was imo one of the best stories I have experienced in a while. I just felt the pain of being stuck and being hopeless. I talked with each and every robot to understand their feelings. And the fact that the outsiders and the last human remaining all sacrificed theirselves.
You nailed it on your description, everything was in balance, great job.
Thanks for the info about pc performance! I really appreciate it. I really don't prefer playing games with Unreal Engine 4 because it's so overused, and outdated now.
And these performance issues are always prevalent every single time at launch. So as much as I want to get thus game right now, I will wait on a future patch to fix these issues. Thank you.
I can listen to this dude describe a game everyday, it's so relaxing.
As a cat person, with a love for RPGs and robots, I am beyond hyped for this game.
I knew it! I saw the gameplay videos and immediately bought it on Steam!
Honestly developers need to heavily prioritize performance for a PC game and publishers need to wake up to how much money will be lost unreasonably with low fps. This was a solid buy from me based on the first few minutes. The moment you said you were struggling to hit 50 at 1440p with a 2080ti with lows of 20fps... total deal breaker. No sale until I hear of significant improvement. I'm not expecting every game to perform like Doom Eternal but this is not good enough.
Yes and huge discount is required if this is not the thing
@@Mikx100 nah publishers shouldn’t get into the practice of discounting video games if they’re an unoptimized mess. just leads to lower quality products out there. Wouldn’t play this on pc if it were $5 because it’s about the time and experience of the game not the money spent on it.
a fantastic review as usual. You ability to narrate games, to structure reviews, to share feelings instead of data is getting better every month. Thank you for sharing this. I will never be able to play this game (I'm on a mac) but I enjoyed every single second of this review.
This will finally get my non-gamer girlfriend to play through a full game with me after 6 years of being together.
And for that alone, I'm getting this! It's a bonus that it's a good game too lol
So glad to hear that it’s exactly what I expected and wanted!
such a shame about the performance, but glad to know. System requirements show it should run fantastically on my laptop since you only need a GTX 780 under recommended; hopefully that gets patched sooner rather than later. I wanted to play it while traveling :(
Absolutely MAGICAL experience! I could NOT hold back tears at the end, but not in a definitively sad way. It was a mixture of sadness, fullfilment, nostalgia, hope, and sense of wonder. It's difficult for ANY game to elicit these feelings with their story, let alone barely scratching the 5hr mark. Stray's developers know what story they're trying to tell and they don't take or add anything from it. Every environment, every NPC you meet, every word you read feels well-placed and together, they pull you into this world and nudge you to care for its inhabitants, the collective fate they've endured and the hope they cling to so dearly for a better future. This is a MUST PLAY, even if you are not a fan of cats like Skill Up. Try it, you won't be disappointed.
I hope there’ll be a performance fix on day one. I’m looking forward to play it on my Steam Deck now.
I've been playing it on PC and I'm having a smooth experience. Probably a Day one patch.
Got 60 fps the entire game with a 2080 on ultrawide. Not sure if it was a patch or not but the game runs great now
thanks for the great review. As an owner of 6 cats i look forward to this. (no im not a crazy cat person, its a long story...)
Bro for the first time ever, even if you didn't recommend it... this one was always gonna be an instant cop ngl 😹
I have been following this game since the beginning, it was just a small project of a tiny indie dev called project HK, so glad they finally not just finished the game but made something special
Thanks for the background information. I wasn't able to find much about project HK besides one or two articles from 2016. The game looked well underway at that stage already, so I'm wondering whether you have any clue how long it has been in development? Also how big is the actual team? The articles stated there are 2 teamleads, but I find it hard to imagine a game of this calibre was made by only 2 people.
@@ThefamousMrcroissant the first update of Dev blog was wayyy back from 7 OCTOBER 2015, by then they were already working on it for sometime. At first it really was only 2 guys, and they took inspiration from Kowloon city in HongKong. In 11 APRIL 2017 they finally got funding and started their own company in December that year for just 5 people, then they recruited another one in 2021.
So yeah, with just a few people, it took them more than 7 years to finish this game, such a project of passion.
Just played it for 3h.
A linear, gorgeous game with interesting story and cutest protagonist. This game is full of heart and it's a breath of fresh air among landscape filled with bloated AAA open world games.
How you described your experience with cats is exactly what's great about them. They're not dogs, most of the time they just want to do their own thing or have their private space, more like a roomate then a pet, a roomate you have to feed.
I have a strong bias against dogs so I'm not sure I would've been able to do a review like this for a "dog game", though it's clear there's much more to this game, and it does also appeal to shill up's love for atmospheric exploration/adventure games it seems. Gonna be playing this one on PC once they've improved performance
I only have a strong bias against people... but miraculously still manage to play people games fairly ok.
@@sarcasm-83 that's a bit concerning.
@@Tsugandate Yeaahp.. I'm working on it ;S
A well thought out and executed linear game that completes its story in 4.5 hours? As a parent with little free time this is a dream come true. Will buy this game today. Refreshing to see a game not stretched out to 20 or 30 hours. Kudos.
I feel like if this game gets future updates, one of them will more than likely be a bit of customization for the cat. Nothing big, just different colours and patterns.
I think I have to disagree. If the devs decided not to implement customization at any point across their entire development pipeline, it must be a a stylistic decision I don't see them straying away from. Perhaps they were going for an iconic, subdued look, and want to keep it that way.
@@Outplayedqt True.
Thanks for this review. I have been collecting all the reviews, news and more related stuff with the game. I bet this game will get a sequel or, even better, a franchise.
It's a shame that performance is so bad. Once they fix it I'll definitely pick this one up
Yeah, no kidding. It looks transcendent and incredible to be honest, but I'm gonna play this on exactly the specs Ralph was talking about with a 2080ti at 1440p. Sure, the game genuinely does look amazing graphically, but not even being able to maintain 60fps sounds kinda crazy for that hardware. Hopefully they can optimize it, because I _really_ want to play this.
@@ryo-kai8587 Yep, I wasn't super excited for that game but I definitely had it on my radar. Glad it seems it's a good one. However when I saw it's launching this week I thought that if it run well enough to let me comfortable play it on a 4K OLED on my 2080, like e.g. Kena: Bridge of Spirits I'll get it on launch. Seems like it's not happening so I'll wait for either better optimisation or a significant sale before grabbing it.
I'd expect this kind of performance as it has now if it was an RT game, honestly. So yeah, I'm rather disappointed.
Nerds today are never satisfied
@@capnphuktard5445 What's wrong with wanting my game to be playable
@@capnphuktard5445 Right, apparently we spend thousands of dollars on tech for no reason. If an old V8 truck gets 14 miles per gallon, no big deal. If your expensive, shiny new hybrid get 14 miles to the gallon, that's not okay.
The bottom line is the game looks great, but performance actually seems below what should be professionally expected for such a game-and that's regarding _consistency and stability,_ not simply overall framerate.
the PC fullscreen options were maddening day one, but they had a day one and day two patch, which addressed a lot of issues, including adding more fullscreen options! obviously wish they were there from the start but i’m really happy they added it so quickly. i’m one achievement from 100% on steam, and i’ve been playing probably close to 720 or 1080p and i don’t mind the drop in detail. the world is still beautiful and i had a solid 60 the entire time i went though.
I feel like your point on the goldilocks difficulty of Stray is the perfect counter to people wishing to lower the difficulty of games like Sekiro, Sifu, and Elden Ring. Increasing the difficulty of Stray would be largely missing the point, no?
Stray's temperature is intentional just as Sifu's cruelty is. They are inherent to the game's design.
Sure, the authors are dead, but also, the authors' intentions have value. Else, why experience their art at all?
The music from this sort of reminds me of a mix between Subnautica and ori and the blind forest. Really cool
what i personally find odd about game channels (i like yours btw), is that you benefit from the game itself, ads, free key (early btw, lucky you), still get the hype around certain key and theres no drawbacks unless big bad devs says no. its just a wierd concept to me, i know we all watch etc but still.
the drawback is that the fun of your gaming sessions are sucked out because you have to force yourself to analyze and write down notes and thoughts about the quality of the game and what it's trying to do, and you still have editing and managing your content and making sure you're on a consistent schedule and dealing with monetization issues in a platform known for being unfair and networking with industry connections to be able to have these review codes and outreach in this space which are required in order to be competitive in the games journalism space in order to make you any kind of money but pocket change.
grass is always greener on the other side.
5:21 "That did take meowt of the experience." -Skill Up 2022
I beat the game about an hour ago and I loved it, however the ending left me emotionally unfulfilled. You’ll know what I mean if you beat it.
I actually played in a 1070ti and had no issues with frame drops, I did cap it at 60 though.
I super agree with your review though. The world is so well made and navigating it feels just as good.
Thank you for adding the disclaimer about your feeling towards cats. I was kind of hoping for something similar in Escapist's 3MR that was realised earlier today
A game I would pass on, but seeing it's on PS+ Extra I'll give it a shot.
Hope we see some more Day 1 releases with this success
Eyyy, if I had the subscription would've played day 1.
Stray 2 has so much potential. BlueTwelve's game design is awesome and the world deserves expansion.
Excellent review as always.
A game about being a homeless, hairy, jerk bothering others cause of my own bitterness..... this a college simulator
How your channel is yet to be at 1M sub is beyond me. One of the best review channel on the platform!