Opinion: Stray – a cat that hijacked the train
Little red -haired cat is very strong … I drunk, I would say, but we will start with the other.
From setting and atmosphere.Do you love Cyberpank as I love it?
Hardly, since until twenty years I was an absolute opponent of the genre, and the “Runner on the blade” seemed terribly tedious to me. Then something changed and I discovered myself to read the entire classics of Cyberpank and reviewed all the films, as well as studying everything that the world can give me. And then the topics of both the future with his problems and the post-humanity pulled me.
Cyberpanus setting is always a little “retro”. As Dima Kungurov said in his video about why we are waiting (waiting) not the one is not the same cyberpunk 2077, which the developers promise to us (the spoiler-even from the video I was waiting for the one, apparently because he came in to me)-Cyberpank the genre of the deceased. Partially. Last. Who moved back. This is a genre from a retro-futurism group.
He acquires his beauty only when you imagine the future, retreating in mind for five to ten to fifteen years ago. You look at the future as he was seen in the past.
Actually Stray game in such a genre. And this is his aesthetics.The whole world around is empty from people. In fact, history will never tell us directly where people have finally gone. Only about how they built underground cities due to the fact that nature has become too dangerous for them, about how they lived continuing to clog everything around them and, in the end, they did not become. At first those who were poorer.Then even those who held power in their hands.They remained – companions.
Robots and here retro-fluorism-the synonym for cyberpanus with us today, but not at all-enters into his power.
Robots – humanoid figures seem to be with TVs instead of heads. Old such TVs. And the spectrum of emotional “grim” the level of Tamagochi, displayed on these monitors. Companions were once the simplest-the game tells about this-they only cleaned the streets. But we will find them in a completely different phase – in “Melancholy in humanity”.
All robots (except for the guards, but this is “another”) of which we see are trying to imitate people. They wear clothes, got their clothes, learned to consume “energy drinks”, freeze – and wrap themselves in a blanket. Companions have developed intelligence and emotional spectrum. And their imitation of people has gone very far. Very.
They took from humanity not only the best topics – love, friendship, respect, empathy, curiosity, ability to dream. But the worst with more than – cruelty, cowardice, betrayal, depression and what amazes in robots the most: the desire to segregate, limit and build the likeness of the very human society that has already outlived itself.
To the bottom – into slums – at the beginning and our hero falls – a cat without a name. And here he is waiting for the most saturated part of the game in my opinion.
We start the game upstairs – with our brothers.
Here is the atmosphere of pure nature and tenderness – to collect kittens in a basket, walk with kittens through pipes … not for long. Honestly, I would like to extend this segment a little and look at “what remains of the people” also upstairs – this would give the veil of secrets over the questions “how people drove themselves underground” and “what happened to them”. We will not see the answer to both of these questions in the game. So, breaking our heart, developers drop the cat into the slums. And here we first encounter ZURKI. These mutated bacteria, in the past, devouring garbage, and now all living and not living (for some reason only what is moving. The barrels, boxes, standing reinforcements and others are never interested in).
However, the game will compare the word “ZURK” and these creatures are not soon. But you will have to run away from them right away, and then we will find themselves in the slums, where the robots will decide that we are ZURK.The keeper of the city is a little smarter, so they will not drive us away. But they will begin a chain from quests, running around the city, communicating with robots and visits to the “outside” from slums. The slot study section takes somewhere in the game (along with two “sorties” built into it) and reveals the world well, provides both an ENT and charismatic characters, and keeps the dynamics due to the fact that only we are small, quick and dexterous-we can do useful things outside. But. But it begins when we leave the slum in search of the continuation of the path up-to our homeland, to the Catcam-Batans.
And all the good ends.
We are still in a very atmospheric setting, but there will be no more new “wow” in it. Unfortunately. Then everything is banal and simple. We break through the sewer with difficulty and fighting, with a dramatic scene … wow! And we come to the settlement of those who left the slum before.E
This is the first blow under the breath -a boring location is not a design, but by filling -all the robots around are monosyllables, the task is the same -the simplest. Laura is not worth it.Literally we are immediately dragged to the head of the village and he immediately informs us “go further, there is nothing interesting”. Why do you need this location at all? Why did the developers spend time and resources on these models, the scenery but … created essentially a trash of ideas.
It is not far from going to the next location – and this part is not remembered at all. The only thing that is impressive is the subway trailer, which we pass before entering Midtown is the middle city. And not in vain – we still have to steal this trailer.So then it won’t get better. The location has a gorgeous design, the atmosphere, but it is linear like a board. The whole game is linear, and this is an example of “linear linearity”. There are few with anyone in it, there is no verticality – so cool in slums. What is the point of being a jumping, fast and clever cat if you walk on the ground? A pair of diles, contextual pieces and all. But with the filling in Midtown better than in the “Robovynik” (the so -called location in the middle, but to be honest, it is too loud for her). In the plan, of course, a purely plot – the quests sides were not back here again, but there is some “taste” of cyberpan.
Here the city is the way we are used to seeing it in the works of the genre: neon signs are everywhere, and the grayness is hidden a little behind. Technique everywhere. And hackers. Robots at the computer – a separate “ha” of this game. There is even a robot programmer, but even in slums. Without plunging into all spoilers – the brightest part of the game here will be when we have to get out of prison.
This is a real “A Way Out”-the environment of the old and unnecessary prison, the emotional scene of calling to save a friend, stealth sections … Good has been well worked out.
And then, after we steal the train, we will have a section of the name “Why are you here at all? Oh yes – squeeze snot “.
Due to the problem of which I will tell later the final section of the game, also protected by boredom, straight and empty-the worst that it is in it. In these minutes, I literally felt “hey, the game, you are already over, well, enough!”.
The finale … beautiful. The final is really touches the KAT scene of the final thanks to the slums and a brief return to the hopes and stories of the characters from there. The game leaves a feeling of incompleteness. If only because the cat does not meet his brother – but it was precisely for this that he, in fact, went all the way. If this is a hint of continuation, then “such a yourself”.
Having set out the plot here, I refrained from the main spoilers and the “these turns” of the plot. In general, they are unfortunately located in the second half of the game and are often not even able to hook us. First of all, because A game about a cat is actually not a game about a cat.
At the very beginning, we meet the B-12 robot. And there is a problem with him.
Once upon a time, when https://noverificationcasinos.co.uk/vpn-casinos/ the new Disney, the Star Wars trilogy, the topic was that the “little funny robot” is a cliche. And he has two ways – he will either become a mask or an object of boredom and banality. Noticed that nowhere above I do not mention the robot? Everything is true – it is boring, corny and most often even annoying.
We meet B-12 at the very beginning and very little is clear to us by its background. Including – according to the background of the person to whom he belonged to his words. Literally nothing. In addition to the fact that for some reason he made a small backpack for carrying a b-12 robot-thron. True, he did not have pets. Large?
B-12 gives us a flashlight, only nowhere in the game will not be dark enough so that it is needed. He also transfers us the speech of robots – okay, is functionally useful, although in this task there will be a failure. Gives useless comments about the things we find – no clues should be expected from him: in the best case, he will repeat his replica so said according to the plot. Another robot can unlock electronic locks, but there are few of them in the game and it looks slightly “to make” – many mechanisms are opened with levers.
Levers and electronic locks are strangely combined in one setting, and the ability of a cat to use the cyberpank technique is just decided by levers that we successfully jump on the game by the game. They will even give him a useful thing for a while – the Zurkov fighter. But for a short while, quickly overheating and in general, even when they give it-where we will not intend to lock us to explain “how useful this thing is” is mainly even easier without it.
The whole game is trying to convince us that our friend B-12. What should we experience a lot of feelings about it. More precisely, how. In fact, this is the story of the B-12 trip. He is our main character. And the cat is just so that it was tile and it was possible to lie down with a glomer. That’s just the history of the B-12 … empty. Stereotypical. Boring. Poorly served. In fact, he is useless – all his presence could be replaced by another gameplay chip. Often – annoying – when you miss the button and you will listen to its nagging in the third circle. Or when to open a digital castle over the river to him, flying, it is necessary that we – a cat – run in to the location of the full zurki, and not wait for safety until it flies up for three meters. And how he begins to enrage when he finds out his main plot turn! Just deprives us of interest in the already poorly made location!
A bunch of information about why we-player must empathize with him from his lips. That’s just the problem is that all this is told to us and even with text on the screen (the robot is drank). You see?
No hints, reservations or something in the apartment where we found a robot. Or along the way. Yes, and this turn is so banal, beaten, that if B-12 were who introduced himself during his first acquaintance-it would be more interesting to be more interesting.
That he is our “friend” – the robot returns us only once (and then in an absurd situation we were not without his guilt), and the rest of the time we save this robot, we are a cat who would often have cheaper to score for it. Yes, only the game will not give.
Actually, here we reached the gameplay. And here everything is also not “for health”. We are a cat – we have four paws and skills to jump to a height, land on paws … If. In the game we can jump, but not too high. Jump – only to the same height to which. The game will not let us fall – both the jump and the jump are carried out by pressing the button. So even Parkur will not work. The verticality of the locations of which so falls in love with the first part, making it possible to feel like a cat, almost completely disappears throughout the second half of the game.
You can rub about a small number of robots. The reactions are the same. They will not stroke.
You can sleep only on one – closer to the end of the game.
Lying a tangle tederation – you can.
It is stupid to run with a package (by the way, control is inverted from this) on the head – also. But with a jar is no longer possible.
You can’t get into the box! In general, not one to the second half of the game, where it is allowed to do only for the sake of stealth.
There are no glomeruli. There are no mice. There is no one to arrange a powder trap.
You can meow – and that joy – but there is little use from this. A couple of times to be linked and all.
Zurki – naturally stupid bacteria. There are no smart opponents – in the stealth sections the robots are still dumber than the Zurki and we must try very hard to come across them. Literally in front of the robot’s eyes you jump into the box – and that’s it, you are not visible. They forgot about you. And you can simply not hide from them. They very hardly fall into the running cat.
Speaking of running. This is a problem with the Zurki – if you run away from them, then they can cling to the cat. And then they need to be thrown away.
The problem is that in the first time, dropping has no animation. Secondly, the screen begins to blush rapidly, you will die and you need to run, hammer a button, do not crash into groups of ZURKI … And no, absolutely no way to understand what is more priority. Raping goes tight, it’s difficult to run for you are slow from cargo and most importantly nothing is visible.
And yet I put five stars in one of the services this game. Why? I love cyberpunk and since this is an endangered genre – each work is worth its weight in gold. Although I described a lot of minuses above – the game carried me away.
Until the very last episode, I wanted to play in it.
The cat is really touched. And a little like mine.
The theme of AI is disclosed from the unusual side: robots who strive to detect people and miss them, and not enslave, kill, even something else.
This is literally a game for one evening – six hours will take its passage and for games of this category it is made very cool.
Moreover, Stray does not go in full at all even on PS5.So the assessment of the owl is approved.
Is it worth spending money on it? Yes, if you like cyberpunk and cats.If everything described above annoys – yes, but at the discounts.
The best comments
Strange. The first time I hear about this attitude and definition. I-and … in my opinion, the genre has never died. Another thing is that as scientific and technical development, it is improved.
Here retrofuturism is not a deceased, but a genre frozen in time. The only thing that can be done with him is a little pushing aside by himself clearly outdated and already becoming a grotesque entourage, for example, to focus on drama, thriller or action movie, since retro -functionalism can be safely filled with both, and the other and third. But all the same, in fact, the genre will have to fulfill a certain minimum program in order to remain himself, illustrating the view of the future of people from the middle of the last century.
In principle, retrofuturism can not be distinguished in the genre at all, if it were not for its connection with the same atomic paranoia (Hello, Fallout) and other important events of those times. Those events for some have already disappeared in oblivion, for others they are still alive. Therefore, the genre is still alive. And in general, retro -futurism can be put in one series, for example, with the science fiction of the beginning of the past century. All these shots from a cannon to the moon, unprecedented traveling balloons, which were still almost impossible for submarines and other.
Cyberpank is, firstly, a western protest against capitalism, expressed in greedy and unprincipled corporations, and secondly, a gloomy warning about the potentially dangerous consequences of thoughtless technological progress, when the specific invention is more evil than good, but the world tries not to notice this and hide the head in the sand. But in Cyberpunk there is no restriction on the image of a specific period of time. Well, perhaps, entourage with advertising screens and holograms against the background of skyscrapers corporation. When we leave such technologies and development forms, then, maybe, the genre will at least partially die. And so Cyberpank is easily able to improve. And the same Deus Ex is no longer the same as “running along the blade”. I mean, there is no such stupidity as lead gulfs. Yes, in the original novel there is such a thing.
So the real cyberpunk can only die when we can in a stable utopia) Then the genre will be something like a scarecrow about the history passed and overcame. But so far, utopia does not threaten us) unless part of the realities of Cyberpan are getting closer and closer to reality, embodied at least in more or less successful prototypes.
He acquires his beauty only when you imagine the future, retreating in mind for five to ten to fifteen years ago.
Forgot to add why I do not agree. For example, in the works of Cyberpan of past years, the same cyberprotheses were a la T800 hand from the Terminator franchise. In principle, technologically and such a hand in the form of a freely acting prosthesis for many people with disabilities now – literally a dream! But it is in science fiction that such a technology, all these reverent sighs on super -strength alloys of steel and titanium with hydraulics are already outdated. Now scientists have already discovered and even partially demonstrated the possibilities of various kinds of nanotechnologies, and on the network you can read about the development of not ergonomic and compact hydraulics, but about synthetic muscles. Without steel rods, without pistons. And now the authors are riveting updates of the genre with augmentations on such synthetic muscles. But the problems around in those universes remain in general the same and the genre lives.
There is still a mixture with the genre of post -apocalypse, if that. Therefore, that world and empty from people.
Robots and here retro-fluorism-the synonym for cyberpanus with us today, but not at all-enters into his power.
Specifically in Stray, yes, the robots are retrofuturistic, I already talked about the rest. It’s like cacti. At one time, I sorted out different hobbies and in t.h. Diluted cacti. And in one good book an interesting phrase was said about this. Each cactus is a succulent (Google and Yandex to help you not to deliver an offtopic), but not every succulent is a cactus. Also with retro -futurism and cyberpunk.
And then, after we steal the train, we will have a section of the name “Why are you here at all? Oh yes – squeeze snot “.
Wow, how strict and harsh you are! In general, as far as I remember, there is an alternation of corridor locations where you need to run and fight with enemies with the same special flashlight, and locations where you can argue in a spent, without refinements, but chat, find notes, etc.D. And I did not notice any special gaps in this alternation.
Well, in general, all even the most fantastic stories in 99% of cases in one way or another is about people, and it is very conceptual fantasy about another and never about the drama and our problems are rare.
And in general, in my review, I wrote just that. True, there I looked at everything from the other side.
That’s just the history of the B-12 … empty. Stereotypical. Boring. Poorly served. In fact, he is useless – all his presence could be replaced by another gameplay chip. Often – annoying – when you miss the button and you will listen to its nagging in the third circle.
Try to be less categorical.
A bunch of information about why we-player must empathize with him from his lips. That’s just the problem is that all this is told to us and even with text on the screen (the robot is drank). You see?
I-and? There are whole games that are generally and, in principle, are built on the study of notes. Many scold such a present, but the genre, more precisely, the form is alive, which means that there are fans. In my opinion, here it tastes and color. Anyway, as with a choice between a book, film, comics or game, provided that there is a plot in all cases in all cases, a pretty to a particular person.
And it shouldn’t. This is not the game where we must suspect something from the very beginning. And although in fact we can say that GG is B12, but we must play anyway for the cat and to consider the robot to be only a tool for the very denouement, so that then to survive only a slightly less bright reaction than B12 himself, when he found out who was who was who was.
That before he is our “friend” – the robot returns only once to save us (and then in an absurd situation we found ourselves not without his guilt), but the rest of the time we save this robot – we – Kotik
Interesting. In the second review, you find characters whom you can reproach for hardships that fall on the protagonist. This leads to thought)
And in general, everything is logical, because … what can the robot can? Translate something, hack something. His battery is weak and the engine is not in order to cut it straight around, leaving all enemies with his nose. And the cat is like in any way, albeit vulnerable, limited, but mobile. So it turns out that the cat becomes a sort of wheelchair for a robot, not particularly capable of survival and movement.
The game will not let us fall – both the jump and the jump are carried out by pressing the button. So even Parkur will not work. The verticality of the locations of which so falls in love with the first part, making it possible to feel like a cat, almost completely disappears throughout the second half of the game.
Also a little upset. But this is not Assassin’s Creed, which has long been wildly overdoing with the capabilities of Parkuru. Stray – Advencura, in which gameplay and locations are exactly such as to tell the story.
Here’s the very last one about … Here it must be taken into account somehow that Cyberpank is gradually embodied in reality and … The fact that the interests of the masses are changing, but from time to time they return to the well-forgotten old.
Cyberpanus in recently was not enough, because he was and stupidly tired, and some of the projects also caught different diesella and that’s all. Interest in the pipe. And then suddenly, just recently in t t.h. Due to the scandalous release from the CDPR, interest came to life, risen and now it’s not that frantic, but on the contrary, carefully, the genre seems to be trying to return to tops.