Games of the Year 2022: Stray

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Stray was both amazing and a disappointment for me at the same time.  This is a great example of a game being a mixed bag for me.

The part that's amazing about Stray is the fidelity of the cat.  The animation, sound, behavior, motion capture, interactions, and everything having to do with being a cat are executed incredibly well.  This is probably the most well realized cat in a video game ever.  Every time I got a chance to just be cat-like I was having a great time.

My disappointment comes from the gameplay.  The trailers made me think this was going to be some kind of cyberpunk setting platformer game but instead it's just kind of an adventure game.  There's nothing wrong with adventure games but they're just not my favorite.  In terms of adventure games I've liked over time, this one is high up the list... but the genre just doesn't click with me very much.

If you're an adventure game fan that is also a cat lover, I can't recommend this game enough.  For me, it ended up in the lower quarter of my running list at number 16 for now:

  1. Elden Ring
  2. FFXIV Endwalker
  3. Citizen Sleeper
  4. The Stanley Parable Ultra Deluxe
  5. Horizon Forbidden West
  6. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge
  7. Pokémon Legends: Arceus
  8. Chrono Cross: Radical Dreamers Edition
  9. Neon White
  10. Halo Infinite
  11. Vampire Survivors
  12. Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin
  13. Cyberpunk 2077
  14. Triangle Strategy
  15. Mario Strikers: Battle League
  16. Stray
  17. LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
  18. Nobody Saves the World
  19. Unpacking
  20. Total War: Warhammer 3
  21. Tunic

I fully anticipate more games coming in above Stray and pushing it down the list further as the year goes on.

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