Stray - Switch Review
"Regardless of the platform you play on, Stray is the cat’s meow"
As a self-proclaimed cat lover, I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that Stray, BlueTwelve Studio’s feline adventure/exploration game, was coming to Switch. In Stray, you play as an unnamed orange cat who gets separated from their family, falling into the Dead City. You come across strange creatures and roam through tight alleys, over rooftops, and down into the sewers of this dying, neon-lit, encased cybercity in order to escape and be reunited with your family on the Outside.
Along the way, you meet a new friend. A cute, friendly drone called B-12. They agree to help you escape if you help them recover their lost memories. Throughout the game, as you explore the city and talk to the local robots, you will collect more and more of B-12’s lost memories, slowly unravelling the mysteries and secrets of this lost civilisation.
The Good
There is so much that I could say about Stray. Honestly, it was one of my favourite games that I played in 2024. From the quirkiness of playing as a cat to the way the locals all seem to have distinct personalities to the art design. Everything was an experience to remember.
Starting with something that the Switch version is arguably lacking compared to the versions on other systems: the art. It is truly breathtaking, and I personally spent so much time just trying to take it all in like a tourist on vacation. The atmosphere it creates really makes you feel like you’re physically inside of a dystopian cybercity on the brink of collapse. The contrast of the bright neon signs reflecting on a dark and damp alley. The total lack of sunlight and next to no plant life anywhere to be seen. The local robots live their normal lives in a well-worn, if not dreary, world. Not to mention the beautiful supporting soundtrack that elevates the sense of futuristic wonder. It is all done so well that I felt truly immersed and invested in this world from the start.
The attention to detail in Stray is inspiring. You are able to do so many purr-ely ‘cat-like’ things in this game. Such as scratching rugs and doors, bumping yourself against the locals’ legs, knocking things off edges of tables or shelves, taking cat naps in scenic locations, and of course, meowing. Now, of course, some of these actions are required to progress the story. However, you are able to do them all at will, and the local NPCs will have reactions when you do so near them.
Which brings me to the next thing I adored about Stray. The charm of how organic it feels to simply exist as a cat in a strange new world. The charm of how the NPCs react to you, a new strange creature that they might not have ever seen before. For example, when you bump into someone’s legs like a cat does when they want attention, their faces change from their neutral face to a screen that shows a heart. That small attention to detail is adorable!
The last thing I’ll bring up is the interesting way that this game tells its story. Obviously, since the main character is a cat and cannot speak, telling a story through conversations is a little difficult. So, instead of telling it strictly through conversations, you also go around recovering B-12’s memories. As you recover more and more, you start to learn more about their past and in turn, more about the Dead City and its inhabitants. Slowly unravelling the secrets of this world as you retrace B-12’s steps.
TL;DR
- Immersive atmosphere/worldbuilding
- Interesting storytelling
- Attention to detail
- Beautiful sound and art design
The Bad
Coming from playing Stray on the PlayStation 5, the sheer difference visually and performance-wise on the Switch is the most apparent. Overall, the game plays well enough, with occasional yet annoying frame rate drops during the more intense moments where there are many things on the screen at once. Frame rate aside, the graphics are also a considerable downgrade compared to other systems. It’s not the ideal way to play the game, but it is absolutely playable. So, if you only have a Switch, I would still recommend playing it. However, if you have access to other systems, I feel like the experience would be better there.
TL;DR
- Performance and visual downgrade compared to other systems
Final Score: 8/10
Having come from playing Stray on the PlayStation 5, you can tell that the Switch version tests the system’s limits from time to time. If you don’t mind the visual and performance downgrade, playing on the Switch is fine. Though I would wholeheartedly recommend playing on another platform to get a deeper experience of what the game has to offer graphically. Regardless of the platform you play on, Stray is the cat’s meow, and something I feel everyone should experience playing at least once.
Thank you for checking out our Stray Switch review, thank you to Annapurna Interactive (via Five Star Games) for providing the review code and thank you to our Patreon Backers for their ongoing support:
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