Absolutely gorgeous review. I have had no crashes

I am very impressed by the developers intentions of publishing a cat-type game in this clearly frog-type game focused year. a bold, but welcome move!

“If a cat was going to save the world it would either be on accident…. or because It wanted to drink some milk” Possibly the most accurate statement I've ever heard.

Stray answers the question "How do you turn realistic walking into gameplay?" Stray is a successful strand-type game.

My impression of this game is that the devs were originally like "hey let's make a cute little minigame where you're a cat in a cyberpunk city and you just vibe for like an hour or two and there's no plot or anything" but then the first trailer got super popular and Sony offered to give them 80 morbillion dollars and then went "uhhh fuck I guess we gotta try to make a real game now"

Great to see dunkey playing another "stray-type" game

A cat accidentally saving the world because he wants to get some milk is the story we need

As a fun challenge, I tried to get more in the mindset of a cat by setting the language to what I think was Japanese, at any rate a language I couldn't read, and see how far a cat who neither understood nor really cared about what anyone was saying could get. I managed to get pretty far on cat-esque exploring and the occasional directional gesturing of NPCs, right up until the big city, where you get the clothes. It got me thinking, though, something they might have done, had they tried for the non-verbal storytelling approach, was actually made use of the fact that the people are robots with monitors for heads, and flashed up icons of what they want or need. An image of the construction outfit, or the cameras, maybe the bar sign or a robot drinking. Really, why else would they set it up so the people are robots instead of actual people? (That's a legitimate question, I played like 3/4 of the game in things that aren't even real letters, I have no idea what's going on, help!)

The way he jumps and launches his springy spine out is filled with the exaggerated swagger of a young cat

I love how “have had no crashes” is apparently noteworthy for that one guy and not just something that should be expected in a game.

I like how you acknowledge that a lot of people look at Stray and go "oh shit you can play as a cat? 10/10" and cos of that people sometimes focus on how cool the premise is more than what the actual gameplay is like. But at the same time you acknowledge that playing as a cat *is* *still* an incredibly fun concept. And then you take it one step further and actually break down how the game makes you feel like you're a cat: how the simple movement mechanics lets players navigate any obstacle with ease, while the incredibly lifelike animations captures the gracefulness of your movement. Which is why the few jerky animations or visual bugs are so harmful to a game that prides itself on its smallest details. Rock-solid analysis. Yep them's my thoughts. I've always loved how you recognise the good with the bad in order to consistently provide balanced reviews. Its honestly amazing. Thanks for the vid!!

2019: Strand-type game 2022: Stray-type game 2025: Stroke-type game

The game is pretty good! the ONLY thing that bugs me is the need of a lamp when cats can perfectly see in the dark.

Very refreshing that dunkey went against the crowd and actually made a review with reasons for his points instead of "you get to play as a cat so this is GOTY".

Hideo Kojima made a game back in 2019 just to let us have the first Stray type game. Truly, a futuristic mind

I played this game along with my oldest brother. We lost our cat 2 months ago and the cat lived a very very very long life. It was almost 18. She was very social, nice, smart, and a very good cat. I cried playing this game for the first 10 minutes because of how cute it was seeing it interact with the cats and the environment. It really helped with my grief even if I had been happy with her life and that I spent a lot of time with her near the end. I might be biased but I loved this game and I'll always remember that cat through the memories I shared with family and stray. Just a shame I couldn't share it with her.

This game really makes me feel like my allergies are acting up.

To be fair, a character that has no business saving the world, and would most likely do it on accident or because of food, sounds like a perfect description of Kirby.

My only frustration was how it resets progress when you replay chapters such as the Slums but having just finished it, the atmosphere and art design made me fall in love with it

Stray had a really awesome concept, but the moment they started having NPCs speak to you directly and give you quests and tell you about lore was where the game lost me. You don't play a game where the fantasy is to be a cat so you can get exposition dumps and do basic RPG quests for rewards. That sort of stuff should have been incidental and background detail or things you have to put together yourself from hints in the world that the cat doesn't care about, but you as the player would.

I really didn’t expect a cameo from Big the Cat in this game, but I must say it was a pleasant surprise. Thanks Kojima

I'm kinda surprised it took someone this long to actually come up with an idea like this. In a world run by cat memes, cat videos and crazy cat people in general, it's a gold mine, no matter the quality, everyone will love it.

"I can play as a cat 10/10. Also it looks pretty, and being cat fun" You really nailed down the overwhelming positive response people had for this game while ignoring the plenty of flaws that keep this game from actually being a masterpiece deserving of the praise it got

The movement makes sense. Cats can move with such ease and flexibility, I like to think the simple movement buttons are how cats feel about jumping around. It’s easy for them.

I love these dunkey reviews because they are short and to the point, while still being insightful. For a joke-dude he's a really great writer and reviewer.

finally a ball of yarn type game

Technically the cat is just trying to get back to his family, saving the world is totally by accident.

2:33 I had that exam same bug but exep from that the game is very nice and just very calming… except when the little metal eating thing are running after you

Damn this was actually a very spot on review. Surprised he didn't make a complete meme out of this video lmao.

"If a cat were going to save the world it would either be on accident, or because it wanted to drink some milk" Love it.

I loved this one so much! But I do see where the mighty dunk analysis is coming from

thank you for including journey and abzu when talking about games that tell stories through visuals, i honestly thought everyone else forgot about those games

This game really makes you feel the the exaggerated cuteness of an orange cat.

Knack already having a massive impact on the gaming industry its truly a masterpiece.

Yet another great honest and patiently drawn out review by Dunkey and another reason why I’m subscribed

This made me play Abzu, and I absolutely loved it. Thank you Dunkerton

I really love how Dunkey acknowledged the Stray craze because of the cat but also tackled the problems this game had as well. It really shows a level headed review among the hype.

Cat game where he saves the world on accident is actually a dope concept… The cat has his own story line! He just wants to explore the world or go after xyz thing… but along that journey he’s indirectly following mobsters/villains and thwarting plans while accomplishing HIS own goals. It’s exactly what a cat would do

i would have liked it if the cat accidentally saved the world, like if your goal was to just find some milk somewhere and you spent hours trying to find it. by doing so, you would accidentally start fights among robots, press buttons that would lead to battles and the downfall of the dystopian society, all while just trying to find some milk.

On the upside, this video being Stray-related gained a lot more views for Dunkey than his previous videos which is a plus because Dunkey is all about that quality content. Even modders are able to get commissions through Stray. Everybody seems to be winning, even cat charities. The game is enjoyable and I agree, mechanically there's more they could have done.

i feel like the real charm of the game is all the environment design and taking that in from the perspective of a cat walking around on the floor

Now just develop a cat-type souls-like game and watch all the money flow in.

tbh, i was very impressed with the mechanics, because i wasn't expecting any.. I literally thought when i first saw pieces of this game for the first time a while ago, that it was gunna be a silly cat simulator, and having seen no trailer or videos on it, i had zero expectations.. and it creatively pulled out more mechanics and environmental gameplay integrations than i thought i wanted.. also the game had a lot of very cool pop culture easter eggs. There was a Doc and Marty easter egg, the wallpaper in one of the room was the iconic carpet pattern from the shining, there were more but i cant remember.. the game design from characters to environment to music had so much style, and so much drawback to old style games like FF7 vibes. To me what really made the game a masterpiece was the overall style it had. and it was a lot of stuff that needed to work together to make it work, so, so much props to the development team for that, i bet it took a crazy amount of attention to piece everything together.

This is just the beginning of the stray type game genre

Loved the acknowledgement that the presentation was the forefront which lead into the cut corners on animations and lack of voice acting criticisms. Actually a game review 10/10 no crashes

I couldn't help but think that it was really weird for a cat to have such a sense of agency. So I describe the game as, "Cat, but with agency."

I always love your videos, great reviews funny content. Great job

Stray really does a great job of making you *feel* like a cat

Every game reviewer ever: "This game makes you FEEL like a cat."

Even with all the jokes, I am still amazed at how good of a reviewer Dunkey is. Too many people focus on scores or final thoughts, when the writing and being able to properly convey how you feel about certain art is what makes a good review. Good or bad score, both reviews can be good.

Thank you Dunkey for this amazingly lifelike review.

Honestly I had a really good time with stray, exploring tight spaces and areas with a new perspective was really fun, the puzzles were alright I just wish there was more of them, and the movement felt really nice the whole way through. It’s a simple game with a cool world that doesn’t overstay it’s welcome.

Stray - Jumping is automated - A measly 5 hours in length - No accolades to speak of Bubsy 3D - Jumping on platforms requires pinpoint precision, with incredibly tight tank controls - Filled to the brim with a whopping 6 hours of gameplay - Winner of the illustrious Golden X award I think we all know which is the better cat game here

I thought it was really funny how where you jump the cat's like "pilot's license? what for?"

This is some of the best writing I've ever heard from Dunkey (or whoever wrote the script.)

Came here to find jokes and bugs, stayed for the honest to god actual review that actually touches upon the gameplay and doesn't just go like "wow, cat!"

Thank you for saying what I think a lot of other reviewers are kind of afraid to say. Stray has it's charm and looks gorgeous, but the mechanics and puzzles are just so simplistic and limiting. Add on to the fact that this game is 30 dollars for 5 hours (even when you're just wandering around and trying to collect everything) with only a single ending and it's probably gonna be a hard sell for a lot of people.

One thing I'll just say is that the soundtrack is fucking outstanding, i haven't touched stray since the first day for most of the reasons dunkey listed, but that music immediately resonated with me, AND you can meow!

this video broke the algorithm, no matter how many times I watch it, it keeps playing it next on any channel I'm watching.

2:30 You call that a cut corner? That cat just took the whole corner like a boss, 90 degree turn and all.

2:41 Ah, it's great to see Stray took inspiration from the off-screen "animations" in 3D mainline Pokemon games. Very nice.

I always appreciate how you are honest and how you handle your criticisms, you always add the good bits before you go to whatever it is that's bothering you. A lot of people don't realise that actually helps people make a game better, instead of just going "yup, loved this, that, and the other thing, totally no problems at all..." Still a good game though, will play it now.

Damn! Worked like a charm! Thank you soooo much!

This is literally my first indie game i've played through and through, and honestly it was an awesome experience

My tip for everyone: Fully complete every town/hub area before doing the story there. It makes the exploration and puzzles less obvious and in my opinion way more fun.

Great video, I definitely watched it in full

This review is a diamond. I will forever appreciate your objective candor masked by a goofy delivery style.

[Potential Spoilers] The only issue I had with it was that the game seems to rush to a finish once you reach midtown. If midtown was full of sidequests like finding the musician's music, it would have felt much better. The subway sign and naming convention implies there is a third town above midtown but we never visit it, since we only really see the exit and control room there. The game also ends abruptly when you exit the city, and the chekhov's gun idylic beach is nowhere to be seen. You also never meet up with your cat friends from the start, and the scientist never sees the outside again either in what felt like a rather unecessary death. Leaving Clementine behind also felt unecessary. I wish there was a final chapter where you revisit the outsiders, find your cat friends, and you all get together and have a beach party like the end of Banjo Kazooie. Also jingling the keys on the car door to get over a fence was a stupid solution when Clementine helps you over a fence door by jumping on her head like 2 minutes earlier. I was yelling "Just pick me up!!!" the whole time. Same with the flashlight only being useful once or twice and then never again. The puzzles were getting good towards the end (like the battery one) so I wish there were more of them.

I mostly agree but I will say, the game plays a lot more with the setting than I anticipated. At first I thought it would all just be like the first little shantytown you find, but going through the borderline horror game sewers and then ending up in this tokyo/blade runner inspired mid-city was really a nice change of pace and I think the game should get some credit for that. In general though, yes, it's pretty obvious a lot of this game rests on the core premise as playing as a cute cat with a meow button.

Love love love this review. You perfectly articulated my problems with this game. I love the novelty of playing as a cat, but they don’t even fully commit to that aspect, they make the cat another superhero protagonist when none of that was to be expected from all of the promotional material. And every point you made about the gameplay, animations and storyline was great. Good video as always

Love how you listed other games in the genre which have now been added to my cart!

“Theres a meow button.” I’m sold

they really got the tonality of meows perfect. For that, I give it a 10/10

The fact that you can knock stuff off drawers and be an asshole really makes you FEEL like a cat.

What a video bro! Can't thank you! Thank you so much you made life so much easier! enough

"Players of any skill level can slide around with grace". Shit had me weak 😭 💀

This is a game that truly needed more strand type features

Dude is unparalleled in the review game

Another very well articulated review dunkster.

i gon need a multiversus video foh, ts raw asf

Stray really makes you feel like a cat.

He was right about them playing their hand early. The game was so interesting in the beginning but I think they really struggled to keep it that way

Amazing how on point your videos are.

I don't really get the "no easter eggs" part, since most of the fun I had with this game was simply wandering around in the slums and midtown city, trying to find all the memories, music notes, badges, and other items while getting lost in the beautiful soundtrack and atmosphere of the game.

Cat lateral damage is an absolute master piece when it comes to being a cat

I think where this game really excels is in its atmosphere, world building, and pacing. Yes, it is a simple, short game that definitely has “indie” flaws. Flaws aside, I became totally immersed in Stray’s world and the small touches where the game allows you to explore at your own pace really sold it for me. The “catnap” spots you can find where the game gradually zooms out to show you the level design all while beautiful atmospheric music plays felt refreshing and highly enjoyable. I also appreciate that the main reward for exploration were memories/exposition related to the story. While the game would be nice with more cosmetic or materialistic rewards, the memories drew me into the story and really made me want to solve the mystery of the plot, which felt like the correct choice in my opinion.

I find it funny that you made the cat have an angry expression like you’ve talked in other videos.

Wow. You're the best. I couldn't understand what you were saying but I just followed instructions. Thank you so much

I love how despite having criticisms of this game, Dunkey doesn't go out of his way to attack it for being hyped up or anything. He seems to enjoy the whole cat gimmick just as much as everyone else is, but he's also willing to acknowledge that the game has a few problems here and there.

My favorite part of this game is when you leave the cat alone, and it does random cat stuff. The best one is when he gets up on his hind legs, looks straight into the camera, and speaks the only voice acted dialogue in the game: "You should not be here."

Feels like a game only ultra casuals and game journos would genuinely find fun - aka people who dont play video games

I'm catching up on donkey videos, and I'm appreciating the lack of posting a score for games at the end. I think it's a great idea for how reviews of anything should work. Good job donkey.

Probably my favorite part of the whole game was stealing a super valuable battery, sneaking past a bunch of armed drones, then escaping the highly secure factory in a bucket on a pulley system

I’m hoping that with the success of Stray, the devs will continue to update the game and release DLC. They spent a lot of work just making the cat function like a cat, it’s a shame it’s a bit on the shallow end

I actually enjoyed the text boxes and the funky sounds the robots make while talking. B12's "voice" sounds so cute. I was genuinely sad when he died.

I really hope this game has a sequel, or more simplistic games like this come out. This was SUCH a huge fresh breath of air. Really made me feel like I was having an adventure in a video game and I haven't had that feeling in a long time

your issue with the story being narrated through text-boxes was one of the reasons i was skeptical too. i feel like this game could’ve been so much more immersive if you had to piece the story together yourself with clues you find along the way.

This was a well-written, thoughtful review. Thank you Dunkey.

This game is a perfect display of how as long as your game has a certain level of charm and cuteness, casual players will eat that shit up, it doesn't matter how one-dimensional and boring it actually is.

in the details. when you get stuck, roll back to the beginning and start over. The other weay is to focus entirely on one set of commands