Topic: PlayStation 5 --OT--

@KilloWertz
Totally, I'm not averse to it or anything, I didnt think it looked bad I just wasn't blown away by anything I saw or heard and was therefore surprised at how much people were anticipating it as a big deal. Like you say, if it reviews well I'll probably keep it on my radar as well.

@sorteddan I agree, I think the hype is a tad overblown and likely the announcement of it coming “free” to the service day 1 helped to boost its anticipation in the community. I think the Sony fandom look to it as a large boon in the race to keep up with the Jones’s over on GamePass. So it being the first release day inclusion has boosted the hype.

Overall, I imagine it will be pretty good though. It does sound like a creative and unique set-up. And I definitely give extra points to games that innovate or try something new.

Of course, no one really knows and the game may end up being a boring clone of every other game we have just with a photorealistic cat protagonist. But on the surface it looks unique.

But I am not a cat person either. Completely perplexed as to why people love them. And why cat people can’t just have one or two and have to have 15. So weird to me.

But I’m sitting on the fence about the game and waiting for reviews. If they light it up on the review scores then I’ll probably plop down the upgrade fee to play it on PS Extra. Maybe.

@sorteddan You play as a cat. Cats are cool.

Personally with Stray it just looks a bit different to the norm. And you play as a cat. Not sure what people have got against anyone being hyped for any game? I don't get the appeal of tons of games but leave people that enjoy them alone.

We always had cats and dogs in the household when I was growing up, so anything that highlights them get bonus points to me. Of course, that is not the be all and end all, if the game ain't any good I won't be playing it.

@JohnnyShoulder
I certainly didn't mean to suggest I was against anyone being hyped for the game, or any game for that matter. I was just looking for someone to explain what it was specifically that they were looking forward to about it.
So far all I've heard back is that it's a unique character and/or its going free day one. Which is fine, like I've said earlier I thought maybe I had missed out on something that some of our more attentive members may be more clued up on.

@sorteddan sometimes something just perfectly surfs the zeitgeist like Kelly Slater… It reminds me a bit of how excited everyone was for Biomutant prior to its release. Absolutely no shade to those excited… and I’m hoping it turns out great (as I do all games)… but apart from the fact that it’s from the Annapurna stable, I personally don’t currently see a great deal hang your hat on (and that’s from someone who loves cats).

@sorteddan I kind of got the impression that its 'Graphically' pretty and like most 'pretty' games, there is certain hype. It doesn't matter if the Game-play, story etc is strong or weak, first impressions matter and I feel that this is very much the case with this. The way the environment looked and some animations too sold the 'hype' for this.

I'm not saying Stray will have a weak game-play loop or Story, but that the visual artstyle is what contributes a LOT to the hype of a game prior to release. None of us know how it 'feels' to play and whether or not its 'engaging' enough to make us want to finish the game. Its also benefits from Sony's marketing and an 'exclusive' too.

Personally, I think graphically it looks quite impressive but nothing about the Game-play loop, Platforming around as a cat and the 'mystery' of why its world is populated by all 'robotic' humanoids doesn't intrigue me enough to want to spend money on discovering the answers. I'd rather put that money towards other games coming soon or maybe buy 'sale' games...

Its almost always the case where a game gets a lot of hype because of some CGI or carefully edited together collage of Game-play, Cinematic, theatrical camera angle, CGI and buzzword laden trailer and when it finally releases, the Game-play, story and even the Visuals in some cases don't live up to the hype. So much hype for Quantic Dreams 'Star Wars' announcement - just a CGI trailer and an idea of what era its set in - nothing really to get hyped for yet. However, a good first impression creates a lot of hype and I really do think that sometimes, people look at the 'visuals', get taken in by the artstyle and that stays with them until release, reviews or some other trailer/information impacts that - things like visual downgrades, F2P/NFT/MTX/Lootboxes, overly expensive pre-orders, lack of clarity about the game-play, poor reviews etc can all impact that hype.

Each to their own of course and as we all have different interests and preferences, I'm sure that some will absolutely love Stray and others will not. There will be some that complete the game at least once, and others that may only play an hour or so before moving on.

The way I look at it is I have a 'limited' amount of time to play games and EVERY game is competing for my time (some for my money too). Whether its AAA or Indie, 1st or 3rd party, brand new or 'playable' on my current hardware (via BC, Streaming or local), they are ALL ultimately competing for my time. If Stray interested me more than all the other games I have access to on PS5, Series X or PC (the Hardware I have set-up), then I'd buy it because I want to play it 'more' than anything else. However, if I have 5 games in my backlog, several other games of interest in Game Pass/PS+ etc and my 'limited' game time is completely filled, then I am not wasting money on something I am not likely to play - at least not until I have played 'everything' else that interested me more...

@BAMozzy Yeah, I think you described what for me happened with Forspoken. When I saw the earliest artwork, screenshots, and minimal gameplay they released I was so hyped. I counted it as my most anticipated PS5 game over and above HFW, Ragnarok, etc. But then we got to see more and the character dialogue came across so bad and the game world started to seem bland and my hype quickly took a nosedive. So I think there’s some strategy when marketing to show just enough, but not too much. I think human nature is we tend to be more curious about things that have a level of unknown mystery to them and we give some products the benefit of the doubt even when we don’t know what the full game is going to be. I think we all do it to an extent, because these things are all individual and subjective.

Don’t know how true this is but VGC just tweeted that PlayStation owners will be able to play through Stray for free this week, even if they don’t have a paid PS Plus subscription.

Sounds a little too good to be true but who knows?

Edit. In addition to the tweet, just found the article.

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/playstation-owners-c...

@colonelkilgore The title is definitely clickbait - all they mean is you can apparently get a 7 day free trial for any PS+ tier if you're new to the service.

@Voltan ahh makes sense. I was in no rush anyway… think I saw a few posts about people wanting to play it at release though, so thought it might be of interest.

How dare some people look forward to something that you aren't.

😒

People have different tastes, end of. Oh and cats are awesome.

My lady is pawing the ground for this one, pun intended

Reviews are now in and it seems Stray is pretty well received 8s and 9s what I've read so far. Looks like the hype was about right. As it's a fairly short game and I've still got a month left on PS+ extra I will probably end up giving it a go.

@Voltan Is that from the Disney film The Aristocrats? Loved watching that as a kid.

@Voltan The Aristocats is a top-tier Disney movie.

I'm glad Stray seems to have turned out to be pretty good, but it will have to wait. Not being able to pre-order it and pre-load it is pretty dumb. Not knocking Inscryption, but it's pretty nuts that you can pre-order that, but not what has turned out to be a fairly big indie exclusive. If I could have pre-loaded it overnight tonight, I would have considered getting it since I just wrapped up Uncharted 4 tonight, but I'll just play one of the other games I have installed already next instead. Stray doesn't release until 11 AM EST, and I'll be at work, so oh well.

@KilloWertz I’m going to assume it’s a PS Store quirk due to it being added day 1 to PS Plus that means you can’t pre-order. Seems about right knowing what a mess the PS Store is.

@KilloWertz @nessisonett yup, I'm pretty sure it's to prevent people with PS+ (or ones who might consider getting PS+ rather than buying the game) from accidentally buying it.
Either way, the game's out now.