Stray

Subsequently, thousands of houses were huddled at the bottom of the concrete pot that Yggdrasil could easily fit. They huddled tightly together, pushed around unceremoniously and, leaning on their neighbors, tried to rise above them. Neon signs lined the narrow streets, a dozen eateries peeked out of every nook and cranny, and worn clothes were drying under the windows.

However, the once busy alleys have long forgotten about children's laughter, old lamentations and passionate arguments. Now they're ruled by oblivion, electric rattling, and dull graffiti that will never come before human eyes. This is because people who have always willingly flirted with death have finally succeeded in this entertainment and wiped themselves off the face of the earth.

However, the nameless city did not completely lose its life. So, adventure “Stray” It starts from an unpleasant accident — a stray cat that catches mice in its spare time and sharpens its claws on the remnants of the wallpaper falls into a garbage pit. There is dampness and darkness all around, the excited meow of furry friends can be heard from above, and the only way is straight into the neon unknown.

It soon becomes clear that the shimmering mist hides not emptiness at all, but a vibrant universe. The fact is that androids have chosen one of the districts of the underground city. They used to thoughtlessly clean up after people and do heavy physical work, but after the last person died, they began to show their independence.

If at first, the once submissive pieces of iron abandoned routine tasks, decades later they began to reproduce the habits of their deceased owners. Some opened a diner, some got into knitting, and the most desperate ones fell into art. After thousands of years, they have formed a fundamentally new form of life, which is nevertheless bound by someone else's heritage.

Along with their behavior, androids have also adopted people's bad habits. Although the new society was limited in freedom from the first days, events became alarming when the discovery of a closet containing police uniforms. This underground realm, which was instantly plunged into a minority dictatorship, knew no hint of anarchy.

Humanity has preserved itself underground for a reason. Either a military conflict that got out of control or a large-scale natural cataclysm made the once flourishing planet uninhabitable. And a city without a name, awarded only a serial number, has been quarantined for many years.

Over the years, androids have learned about the Outside, a blooming garden surrounded by the sea and clouds floundering against the clear sky. But everyone knows perfectly well that this is a pipe dream that leaves nothing but ashes. Those who can't get her out of their heads are sent to prison re-education for several “fleeting” centuries.

But the main character arrived in the digital realm from the Outside. His curious gaze, annoying meow and grimy coat confirm that nature has risen, making fantasies about green forests and warm sunshine no longer so crazy. But not for those whose chips have lost power.

As a result, the cat, whose main task is to return to the surface, gets stuck in a picturesque city, isolated from the outside world and suppressing all dissent. This is an airtight structure that has reached a moral ceiling, and the only way for its inhabitants to move to the next stage of development is to leave the moldy but so hometown streets.

Therefore, a fluffy animal that does not shine with intelligence and can interact with others solely through physical contact becomes a guide to a new reality. With his natural ease and freedom from norms as such, he brings a society of imitating machines out of balance.

The “Stray” gameplay is limited to a minimalistic adventure game in which the key way to communicate with the world and its inhabitants is unhindered movement through space. The main character can jump onto a closet, squeeze into a sewer drain, or go up to the roof of the house, leaving a string of wet marks on the air conditioners and signs. And no one will judge him, because he is an ordinary cat.

In a city bound by self-proclaimed power and an impenetrable concrete shell, a restless beast, for whom there are almost no forbidden places, becomes a burst of freedom. The very freedom that humanity, which became an example for smarter machines, was desperately striving for.

This close intertwining of gameplay and storytelling transforms “Stray” from a fleeting journey through colorful and cozy streets into a full-fledged statement. And this is not so much about the evolution of intelligent life or the value of self-awareness, but about the dangers of conformism, which, at the cost of freedom and the broken destinies of some, provides comfort to others.