Despite the fact that the game is set in an ambiguously distant future, the folks at BlueTwelve have managed to put together an incredibly realistic cat simulator.

In all seriousness though, as a lifelong cat owner/fosterer/befriender who's spent more time around cats than most, the sound effects, body language and little quirks of cat behaviour are just spot on - combine that with some quality storytelling, and I was invested faster than I thought was possible. I've played games with intricate stories where you get to personalise every aspect of the individual you're playing, and while those are great experiences in their own right, this is the first time a game's gotten a strong emotional reaction out of me in under half an hour of gameplay.

The story itself is charming and heartwarming, and manages to convey emotion incredibly well considering that most of the character roster has limited facial expressions and communicates through a language not spoken by the player.

My only complaint about the game is that there isn't more of it. My listed playtime is going to be off on account of having played some of it in offline mode, but even with doing my best to go through every dialogue and look through every nook and cranny, I'd put my guess of total playtime somewhere in the region of 15-20 hours. Which isn't bad (and they were hours well spent), but I would definitely have loved to see more - if someone ever puts together a 60-something hour open-world RPG in this style they will absolutely get my money; then again, if someone gives me 20 more hours of Stray-like experience they can also have my money; I need more story-rich games centred around adorable, semi-chaotic critters, is what I'm saying.