BlueTwelve Studios gave players a game they didn’t think they needed: becoming a cat. Stray is an instant hit since its release in July of 2022. The appeal is even greater with how accurate the details are. You could be so immersed in the game as if you are the cat itself.
The close accuracy is actually inspired by the cofounders’ pet cat, Murtaugh. Similar to the main character of the game, he is a ginger cat that used to be wandering around the city of Montpellier, France.
And the strange diaspora of a domestic fluff of a cat in a post-apocalyptic, cyberpunk city is intriguing. Players and common cat-owners alike are seated for a story told in the eyes of a feline friend.
Stray has straightforward gameplay with vibrant graphics. It captures the realist yet gloomy, post-apocalyptic world in which robots dominate the city and animals such as cats are left to fend for themselves.
A strange yet needed friendship
- The game follows an adventure of a cat separated from his clowder. A city without the presence of humans is definitely not a place for a domestic animal.
- Threats are everywhere, such as bug-like Zurks that digest anything that moves. Good thing cats are quirky enough to run fast, jump high places, and liquid-like to squeeze into spaces.
- Throughout the game, the cat will eventually meet a drone named B-12 and befriends him. The drone states that he is looking for a scientist he used to work with. B-12 is carried from the cat’s back and will serve as the cat’s companion.
- B-12 helps the cat to talk to the robots through the drone’s translation device. It can also interface with various devices. While the cat helps B-12 as a mode of transportation, B-12 accompanies the cat to communicate.
- The two of them journey together hoping to find their way home. They will also meet eccentric robots with human-like behaviors. They explore the nuances of an undercity without those who ironically built it in the name of progress.
- Unfortunately, it is inevitable in the cycle of A Hero’s Journey to struggle. All adventure stories lead to certain sacrifices. Losing a friend included.
Stray’s Heart-Wrenching Ending
- The cat and B-12 find themselves inside the walled city’s control center. The place looks clean and sleek, as if what the entire city must have looked like in the beginning. It is also the only way out of the city, but all doors are locked.
- B-12 hacks into the control room and eventually recovers its memories. The drone apparently used to be a human scientist who witnessed the plague that ended the human race.
- He uploaded his consciousness into a robot body but an error made him stuck in electronic limbo. But the cat’s intervention helped the scientist acquire the drone’s body, B-12.
- B-12 realizes he is the last human alive. And he is willing to do any means to open the city. But his interfacing with the computers injures the drone’s system. Nonetheless, he is ready to risk anything to open the city–his life included.
- He bid goodbye and falls to the floor. The cat cuddles the drone’s body and mourns for his friend. The city opens up and reveals the sky for the first time. A loud declaration of a new beginning.
- Possibly driven by grief, fans are still speculating that our human-in-a-robot-body friend is still out there, somewhere. Data, after all, is never lost.
On grief and friendship: some fans believe B-12 is still here
A thread on Reddit shows a discussion started by SynatraPlays of B-12’s possible fate.
- A number of people support one user’s belief that B-12’s consciousness must have been transferred in the central control room. “The equipment flickering to life right at the last moment hints that B-12 transferred into the City central mainframe right after the drone burnt out and was watching as the cat left. There were also a few walled-off areas in midtown where they might add DLC.”
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- One user also thinks that B-12 is just somewhere inside the system, despite how much he despised it. “That final flicker at the end is like the screens at the beginning, so maybe B12 is gone only in body and he could still be on the system. Either way, they had already made their peace and chose for the world to move on.”
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- A user thinks that the game hinted at a sequel. They would still need B-12’s help and will attempt to revive him. “At some point, you need to go back to retrieve and revive B12 and ask for help from the robots.”
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Everyone can be stray
With Stray, BlueTwelve Studios created a game that captures the appeal of Studio Ghibli‘s animated movies. A compelling narrative about “living” creatures exploring the world without the ones that managed them.
- Despite the absence of an actual human, behaviors, and emotions that were expressed humanize them.
- The premise explores both likeness and differences between humans, animals, and robots. Wherein everyone has gone through similar experiences, and witnessed similar realities, precisely because all of us occupy a single and complicated world.
- It would definitely be nice to have a new story revolving around a strange friendship between a cat and a robot. It would also be nice to see B-12 again. But it is also understandable if he is truly gone, the fans just need time to process their grief.
Whatever BlueTwelve Studios’ decision will be if they consider a sequel, everyone will be anticipating it!
RELATED: Can You Play Stray on Mobile?
Do you think B-12 is alive? How do you think a possible sequel would go? Share your thoughts below! For more content, stay with us, here at Spiel Times.
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