Review: Stray is a PlayStation Plus essential

videogameschronicle.com:

There must be a lot of pressure that comes with developing an Annapurna Interactive game.

The publisher has become renowned for having something of a Midas touch when it comes to picking the finest indie titles and elevating them to instant classic status.

French developer BlueTwelve signed a deal to make Stray for Annapurna before the publisher had even released a single game, and in the six years that followed it’s watched as a steady stream of hits has poured out.

What Remains of Edith Finch. Gorogoa. Florence. Outer Wilds. Sayonara Wild Hearts. Neon White. Not even rare misses like Twelve Minutes have harmed the reputation of one of the games industry’s most consistent and creative companies.

Now that it’s time for Stray to join the Annapurna library, we’d imagine it must come with added stress – what happens if this is one of those rare misses, a combo breaker that blemishes a sparkling record?

Fortunately, BlueTwelve needn’t worry. Far from it, in fact. Not only is Stray another fantastic Annapurna-published title, it’s one of the best releases from the publisher to date.

Stray puts you in the shoes – well, the furry skin – of an unnamed stray cat, which is enjoying what appears to be a post-apocalyptic wilderness when the game opens.

“Not only is Stray another fantastic Annapurna-published title, it’s one of the best releases from the publisher to date.”

It’s a gorgeous initial environment to explore, but there isn’t much time to enjoy it because when an old pipe gives way the cat plummets down an enormous chasm and finds itself in a sewer which leads to a mysterious city. Can the cat make it out of the city and get to the surface again? Well, that would be telling.

For a protagonist the cat is somewhat lacking in