Bayonetta 3: Even More Camp and Fun

Yes, there has been a lot happening surrounding Bayonetta 3. The recent Bloomberg article did a great job with talking to both parties and showing that there is more to it than what was initially shown. That being said, voice actors absolutely deserve to be paid well for their work and time. I am not disputing that at all. The problem is the former voice actor for Bayonetta didn't really tell the whole truth and it comes across as very dishonest and her dunking on the new voice actor for Bayonetta was weird. The other issue which I feel is a lot bigger is that she's a bigot. It definitely disappointed me considering that for me personally Bayonetta the character means a lot to me as a queer person. Sometimes, life works out that way and we do our best to learn from it and keep pushing forward. Either way, do your best to be kind. Now, let's get on with the review.

I was excited to play Bayonetta 3. I have played the previous two games and absolutely loved them. Right at the start Bayonetta 3 hooks you in with an epic fight happening with Bayonetta and a shadowy monster. This also introduces us to a new character, Viola who is definitely giving off amazing punk rocker vibes. Bayonetta is defeated by the monster known as Singularity and Viola escapes through a world bridge to another universe to find help fighting Singularity. 

The game then shows the Bayonetta we know driving with Enzo and of course Rodin is here too. That's when Viola shows up and everything goes to hell as a bunch of monsters show up called Homunculi. This gives the game a chance to give a fast tutorial on how the combat buttons work, how to witch walk which slows down time, and how to unleash epic attacks on the monsters.

Bayonetta and Enzo together again.

This first fight is a blast. The combat is even better and I appreciated the sheer camp of the game and loved getting to play as Bayonetta again. There's some new moves to learn as the Homunculi are a little more challenging, but it's a great time. 

She's back! 

After the chaos dies down for a time, Viola explains that she's an Umbran witch from another universe and that Singularity has already destroyed many alternate universes. To stop Singularity they have to travel to the island of Thule which acts as a gateway between universes in order to get the five chaos gears to lead them to the Alphaverse where Singularity is. Thus starts the main chunk of the game as Bayonetta travels to these different universes to find the chaos gears. She of course meets multiverse versions of herself and all of them are very cool as they fight alongside her in some moments. The fights themselves are great. I had a lot of fun just hacking and slashing away as well as using some new moves with Bayonetta's guns.

Taking out a giant monster.

Bayonetta has also learned some new moves and added a few more epic tricks. She can now summon demons to fight. She can have up to three in her amulett and some are familiar faces like Gomorrah while others are brand new like a demon train. All of them are fantastic and it added a layer of planning out fights, because each demon brings a different element so I had a good time deciding which one I wanted to use. There are also moments where you can summon a demon in giant form and this was awesome! The kid in me loved that I got to have giant monster fights. They play like rock, paper, scissors as you either attack or defend. These fights were wild and I enjoyed all of them. 

Giant monster fight! 

I did love the customization in Bayonetta 3. Naturally, you get these new things from Rodin at his bar. You can change Bayonetta's guns and accessories. The biggest thing I liked is that you could change the color of her costume, her glasses, and hair. I went with my favorite color, purple. If you have the money, Rodin is ready to sell you all the colors. There are 7 different costumes too, but you need to reach certain points of the game to unlock those. Once you do however, you can choose your favorite costume.

Bayonetta in my favorite color, purple. 

I was delighted to see we got to play as Viola and Jeanne in certain chapters. Getting to play as Viola was a lot of fun. Viola is a bit of a klutz, but that adds to her charm and I found her rather endearing because she's trying so hard and while she may not really show it, she cares a lot. Her fighting style is different from Bayonetta's and she doesn't have a full arsenal of weapons, but combat with Viola is wildly fun. She fights with a katana and she can toss it to summon her demon, Cheshire. While Cheshire can fight on its own, this means Viola can fist fight alongside him and she can't use witch time. Viola is really fast and I really liked her fighting style. It added another great aspect to the game playing as her. I was always happy to get to play as her when I saw it was a chapter with Viola. Cheshire is wonderful because of my love for Alice in Wonderland and Cheshire is my favorite, but also because when Cheshire teams up with Viola they can do some pretty powerful attacks.

Viola and Cheshire are awesome! 

The chapters with Jeanne are a little different because they're side chapters that play as a stealth side scroller. These missions are short and timed so Jeanne has to get through them quickly. Jeanne can use her powers to change form to crawl through vents, swim underwater, and stealthily get rid of Homunculi enemies in order to get to the elevator undetected. These are a lot of fun and I really liked playing as Jeanne in these. There are four of these side chapters with Jeanne and I enjoyed them. I just wish there had been a few more of them with her. 

Jeanne takes out a boss in her chapter.

The story for Bayonetta 3 is interesting and I was fully invested because of the great gameplay and the introduction of a standout character in Viola. I did like seeing Luka again too because he seemed to be more a part of this story than a side character. Without spoiling, I do understand why many are upset with the ending of Bayonetta 3. I'm saying this as a queer person, Bayonetta has very much brought me a lot of queer joy. I'm pansexual and seeing how much camp and cheeky fun the games have brought, genuinely makes me happy. Did I love the ending? Not really because it made me sad and it felt a little rushed. I do understand the valid concerns about queer baiting in regards to the ending. However, I will say as someone who is in a hetero presenting relationship, it stings a bit seeing once again the bi/pan erasure from some of the people speaking those concerns. I know that my relationship is not queer because I'm married to a man, but I myself am still very much queer. That is the part that bothers me. The idea that if a bi/pan person is in a hetero presenting relationship we're suddenly "not queer enough" or "not really queer" and it's something that I know I have had to fight against for a very long time and still have to fight against, and I'm tired. Other than that, I agree the ending could have been handled differently and while it's not a perfect ending, I do think it leaves some things open ended for the possibility of another Bayonetta game. 

Overall, I loved Bayonetta 3. It brought even more camp and fun. It brought back more of the over the top fights I love, added a cool new character, added the best giant monster fights, and of course showed off those sweet dance moves as only Bayonetta can. I had the best time with all of it. 

What a fun time! 

*Bayonetta 3 is available to play on Ninendo Switch

*Join our community on Twitch as we play games and discuss mental health: https://www.twitch.tv/mothergamer

Strawberry Vinegar: A Cute Story About Friendship, Love, And Good Food

 *Note: I received a game code for the Nintendo Switch for my honest review of the game. Thank you to Ratalaika Games for the game code.

Strawberry Vinegar is a visual novel that introduces us to the main character Rie Sakuraba and her parents. Right away, I noticed how cute and colorful the artwork is. Rie explains a lot about her family and she comes across as a bit cynical which is a little surprising considering she's a ten year old kid, but it works well with the flow of the story. Rie's parents seem to be opposites and yet their dynamic works and the story shows a beautiful love between the two. As we get to know Rie, she narrates and explains that she's very much an introvert. Rie doesn't really talk to her classmates and doesn't seem to be friends with anyone and Rie insists that she likes it that way, but it seems there may be more to it than that and this may be a way of Rie protecting herself from disappointment and hurt. 

Rie's parents.

It isn't long before the story introduces Licia, a little demon girl who appears in the family kitchen eating the cookies Rie just baked. Licia really likes human food and demands that Rie keep feeding her delicious food for a week or she'll reap her soul. This brings up a funny conversation with Rie not believing Licia at first and a debate about how much a soul is actually worth. Even funnier is how Rie's parents just accept all of this at face value and somehow convince themselves that Licia is from Norway. 

Licia and Rie meet.

The story is a nice slice of life slow burn and it also celebrates eating food together. The artwork for the food is incredible. Each dish looks beautiful and tasty. Rie's description of the food complements how amazing all of it looks. There were a few favorites of mine in there and it definitely made me hungry. That storytelling of how food can bring us together and how it tastes better when we share it with the people we love and care about.

All the yummy food! 

I love the interactions between Rie and Licia because it shows quite well how the two girls are so different and yet find common ground through food. Licia is trying these dishes for the first time and Rie finds herself actually having fun and discovering the power of friendship and love. 

Licia and Rie at a festival.

The other locations shown in the game like a festival are done really well and very pretty. The artwork for the whole of the game is vibrant, cute, and really brings this visual novel to life. Each area shows off the different dishes and that is where the artwork really shines. It brought back my own happy memories of sharing food with my family and friends.

Delicious dango.

The music for the game is nice and sets the mood for each scene. While Rie does heavily narrate which can cause the story to drag a little in places, I didn't mind because the main characters and side characters are likable and charming. There's wonderful bits of humor and heartwarming moments that add to the layers of the story beautifully. 

Delicious omurice.

Ultimately the story is about Rie and Licia and how their friendship blossoms and becomes something more. I love that it happens slowly and organically and in a way that is age appropriate for both girls. The story and art shows a lot of love for the characters which I really appreciated. I loved them all and found myself smiling often at all the lovely moments they had with each other and enjoying every bit of the story itself. Strawberry Vinegar is a cute story about friendship, love, and good food that is absolutely worth your time if you love visual novels and a great first visual novel for first timers. 

Licia and Rie having a cute moment. 

*Strawberry Vinegar is available to play on the following platforms: Steam, Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4, and Xbox One

*Join our community on Twitch as we play games and discuss mental health: https://www.twitch.tv/mothergamer

Mothergamer Plays Ooblets

 Ooblets starts off with a cute introduction about how your character moves to Badgetown where there are adorable creatures called Ooblets. The character design is really nice with a variety of skin tones, hair styles, and hair colors. You can also choose an outfit for your character and there is a lot to choose from.

Designing my character. 

Badgetown is a nice town with a community that is down on its luck. The mayor of Badgetown explains this and introduces you to the four Ooblets clubs : Mimpins, Peaksnubs, Frunbuns, and Mossprouts. This gives you a chance to choose which club you would like to join and gives you a starter Ooblet. For myself, I went with Mossprouts and got a Shrumbo, a cute mushroom Ooblet. You also get an abandoned farm with a house you can live in. This gives you an introduction to the farming aspect of the game which is easy to follow and rather fun. 

Then you get introduced to your first dance battle. The explanation is that rather than fight Ooblets have dance battles. The dance battles are fun and are easy to follow because it's designed like a simple card battle. Each move costs a dance beat and you have a set amount of points to earn. The dance squad that gets to that amount of points first wins the dance battle. This is how you get new Ooblets because when you defeat them in a dance battle you get a seed from them which you can plant on your farm. You grow the Ooblet and when it's ready to harvest you get a new Ooblet to join you. 

Dance battles are fun!

I really enjoyed the farming in Ooblets. It's relaxing and it provides the crops you need to recruit new Ooblets and offers materials and ingredients for crafting. Cooking is another thing you can do in the game and it encourages you to keep up with this by getting new recipes from the town wishing well and various quests. This also gives you food and drinks that you consume to replenish energy because farming things cost energy. Your Ooblets can help with farming too once you build them a little house called an oob coop and you can upgrade these to make them bigger so they can house more Ooblets and give them seeds to plant, water, and harvest. It's another fun layer to the farming in the game. 

The Ooblets help out on the farm.

You can have up to eight Ooblets following you as you go about your day and you can give them accessories too such as a witch hat or a cute parasol. There are about forty five different Ooblets to collect and all of them are wonderful and adorable. I loved the myriad of all the types of Ooblets. For each species of Ooblets you have three types of that species; normal, unusual, and gleamy. Gleamy would be like a shiny in Pokemon. All of them in design are very cute. 

Ooblets in hats!

Farming and dance battles are not the only thing you can do in Ooblets. The main goal in the entire game is to help improve Badgetown. You of course also can and should make friends with the people living in Badgetown. They give you various quests such as repairing a hot air balloon or bringing them a specific item they ask for. This earns you gummies which is the currency in Ooblets as well as items they gift you. 

Helping out a friend.

There's fishing in Ooblets and it's pretty easy. As long as you have bait, you just stand and fish and get items from fishing ranging from crafting materials to gummies. There's other towns to visit too and this is also how you find more Ooblets. Each town has their own variety of Ooblets and as you discover each new one it gets added to your Ooblets almanac. The different towns have their own unique style and themes, all of it very cute.

Doing some fishing.

As you upgrade buildings, expand your farm, and find more recipes this unlocks more items and story quests. My personal favorite was the dance barn because this unlocks daily dance tournaments which are a lot of fun and give nice rewards. You can participate in the dance tournament once each day and they are three rounds. The first two rounds give you wishies which can be used at the wishing well to receive items and when you win the third round you get that day's reward. It's worth your time to do it because you get things like oob coops and some nice outfits.

Dance barn time!

There are some things that I wish Ooblets would address. One thing was the music and sound settings for the game. While they can be adjusted, I found that every time I started the game I would have to adjust the settings to where I had them. It resets every time and that is a bit frustrating. Inventory space is a finite item. I kept running out of space even with having the biggest size backpack and having a ton of storage chests. I kept having to buy more storage chests and because everything, yes everything is used for crafting, cooking, farming, and more it became very cluttered and I would have to spend a tedious amount of time organizing everything to make it fit. There were a couple of game crashes which was a bit frustrating because it meant I had to restart from where I left all over again. 

The good news is that there have been several patches that have fixed a lot of bugs and the crashing issues so that definitely helped to improve things a lot. Overall, I love Ooblets. It's cute and fun, with a nice relaxing vibe and a great whimsical art style that tells a good story.

Ooblets is great fun!

*Ooblets is available to play on the following platforms: Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One

Join our community on Twitch as we play games and discuss mental health: https://www.twitch.tv/mothergamer

Mothergamer Plays Bear's Restaurant

 *Note I received a game code for the Nintendo Switch for my honest review. Thank you to Odencat for the game code. 

Bear's Restaurant starts off right with a trigger warning explaining that there are themes and situations that may be sad and upsetting. I appreciated that a lot because while Bear's Restaurant looks like a very cute game it is more than that. It is a game about death, dying, and memories we have of those we have lost. The game is very much story driven and is about the experience. You play as a cat that works in a restaurant with a bear. This isn't just any restaurant though. Bear is the chef for the dead and creates their last meal which happens to be their favorite meal when they were alive. 

Bear creates a last meal for the dead.

Cat assists Bear in the restaurant and Bear shows Cat around the area which is a train station where the dead wait for the train to Heaven. Here, Cat can talk to some of the people there and ask them probing questions that give some insight into their lives. When Cat is done talking with them, she receives a memory shard from the person.

Cat and Bear at the train station. 

Before Cat goes to sleep she can watch the memory shard of the person and it gives some insight into who they were and how they died. That second part is very sad, but each story is very well done. This also shows Cat what their favorite dish was as she sees their memories. She can then give this memory shard to Bear who makes the meal in no time and as the dead enjoy their favorite meal, they fade away peacefully from the restaurant chair they were sitting in. 

Cat sees a memory. 

There are light puzzle elements to Bear's Restaurant, but the main focus is absolutely the story and the journey Cat and Bear are on. There are questions that come up such as who is Bear and who is Cat? How did Bear and Cat come to be at this afterlife restaurant? These questions do get answered as the story progresses and it is beautifully told showing the regrets that people can have and how they can come to terms with life not always being what they expected. 

A beautiful area in the game. 

The pixel art style in the game is lovely and works with the storybook elements of the game. Although the story is sad it is also heartwarming as it shows that the power of love is an incredible thing and that the people we love live on in our hearts and memories. Bear's Restaurant isn't very long; I finished it in three hours, but in that short time it tells a good story. 

Cat among the stars. 

*Bear's Restaurant is available on the following platforms: Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PC, and Mobile

*Join our community on Twitch as we play games and discuss mental health: https://www.twitch.tv/mothergamer

Mothergamer Plays Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising

 I am a huge Suikoden fan. I love the Suikoden series, especially Suikoden II which is so good that I have played it more times than I can count. When I heard about Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes, I was curious and excited especially when I heard that the creator of the Suikoden series himself Yoshitaka Murayama was collaborating with the developers on this. Then I saw their spin off prequel Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising and saw exactly what they meant about the series being a spiritual successor to Suikoden. There was no denying that familiar Suikoden art style that I have always loved, so I picked up Rising and started playing. 

There are some differences with Rising and that makes sense because it's a new series with a new story and world building. For one thing it's a 2D action side scroller format instead of turn based battles. There's a brief tutorial that explains the combat as you get into your first fight and it was easy to follow and fun. 

Learning the combat. 

Rising introduces us to the main character CJ who arrives in the town of New Nevaeh determined to be the best treasure hunter she can be and have a grand adventure. The town is recovering from an earthquake that happened several months ago and this introduces the fetch quests and the stamp card. CJ can bring the townspeople things they need such as building materials, ingredients, or items from monsters. All of these help to rebuild the town and CJ does get money, items, and a stamp for the stamp cards. It's a smart way of level grinding in a way and some of the fetch quests do have a mini story with them, some amusing and others heartwarming. I was never bored doing any of them and had a good time hacking and slashing my way through various areas.

I wanted all the stamps!

The entire point of the town is to be the home base for CJ and companions she meets who become party members as the story continues. Each party member has their own set of skills and there is a fun dynamic where they can do link attacks which can absolutely destroy enemies if you time them right. You can also swap between characters during battle using their unique skills according to what the flow of battle demands. I used CJ the most, but I absolutely loved Garoo because he had some pretty powerful attacks. I was also amused by how often he and CJ would argue back and forth and Garoo would give in and just do what CJ demanded. It showed a great friendship and a lot of humorous moments. 

Garoo was very cool. 

As the story continues you unlock more areas and the town gradually gets rebuilt and you get to see how it changes. The shops are set in their own areas like the smithy and armor shop on one street and the magic and items shop on another. There are definitely some great nods to Suikoden besides the art style, like having to sharpen your weapons so they're more powerful or the use of runes. The runes had a bit of a new twist to them with the fact that you can put the runes in rune lenses and different runes give different effects. I thought that was really cool and tried out different runes to see what worked for my play style. 

There are runes in this series too!

I was never frustrated with the game play of Rising at all. I did appreciate that I could set the game to the easy setting so I could just enjoy the story and have a good time with it. Exploring areas to fight monsters, getting materials for upgrading things, and finding all kinds of treasure was a blast. The link attacks add that extra punch of style that made me want to keep playing because I was having so much fun. 

Having fun fighting a rock monster.

There are some fantastic creative boss fights as well. They do get a bit harder as you go, but nothing that was so difficult it would frustrate me. These blended well into the story and I wanted to know what would happen next. The story itself is interesting and gives you a good introduction to the world of Eiyuden Chronicle and some of the characters that will be in Hundred Heroes. I personally liked the combat style and enjoyed the fetch quests because the game rewards you with some really nice upgrades and rare items that definitely help improve weapons, armor, and skills. 

Oh, hello monster tree.

The game itself overall isn't very long, about twelve hours to finish. I loved every bit of it and it made me really hyped for Hundred Heroes. Rising did a great job with introducing us to this new series and the characters that will be a part of it. There are so many beautiful nods to the Suikoden series and it really feels like a precious gift to the many Suikoden fans. I can't wait to hang out with CJ and her friends again in Hundred Heroes as well as seeing what the next adventure brings. 

Taking a break from adventuring.

* Eiyuden Chronicle Rising is available to play on the following platforms: Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S

* Come join our community on Twitch where we play games and discuss mental health: https://www.twitch.tv/mothergamer

Gibbon: Beyond The Trees, A Beautiful Game With An Important Message

 *Note: I received a free game code for the Nintendo Switch for the game for my honest review. Thank you to Future Friends Games for the code.

Gibbon: Beyond The Trees hooked me in right away with the beautiful artwork that looks like a watercolor painting come to life. I also loved the sounds of the jungle and the singing of the gibbons. The sounds blend together perfectly. There were so many lovely details right at the start right down to the tutorial showing how to move your gibbon so you can swing through the trees, run, and slide as you play through the side scrolling of the game. 

Learning how to move.

The game plays like a storybook which I love introducing the little family of gibbons traveling through the jungle. I loved the artwork in this game because it's very well done giving a sense of being immersed in their world as you swing through the trees. It took me a bit to get used to moving at such a fast pace and I failed a lot of jumps, but I didn't mind so much because I was enjoying the game.

The gibbon family travels together. 

The music for the game is excellent as it changes according to the setting and tone of the story mixing well with the gibbon songs and jungle sounds. The landscape changes as you move showing how vast the jungle is and each area is quite pretty with the artwork. I found myself in awe of how much detail was in each area because it added to the wonderful elements of the game.

Another beautiful area in the game. 

The big thing about Gibbon: Beyond The Trees is it's not just a beautiful game. It comes with an important message about the exploitation of gibbons, climate change, deforestation, and how it is vital that we do everything in our power to work towards protecting our planet. The game does this in a powerful, thought provoking way with the gradual changing of the landscape showing more metal, fire, and scorched earth. The sounds change also with more clanging and city sounds showing how each thing affects the ecosystem. 

Deforestation upsets the balance. 

There are less trees to swing from as the landscape changes to towns and cities. It's all part of the story and because the game does such a good job of simply showing through art how each thing affects everything I was emotionally invested in the story and understood the message they were sharing with everyone. 

Swinging through a town. 

Gibbon: Beyond The Trees is not very long, but honestly it doesn't need to be because it gets the message across very clearly. The storybook elements and gameplay work together perfectly to show that we have the power to change things if we work together. This is absolutely a game that is wonderful and should be played by everyone because it shows quite well how art can be powerful and get us to think about the things that matter. That in itself is an amazing thing. 

A beautiful and powerful game. 

The team that developed and worked on the game also showed at the end ways to spread awareness and how we can help. They also have it on their website which you can check out here: https://www.gibbongame.com/gibbons.html Together, we can evoke change. 

*Gibbon: Beyond The Trees is available on the following platforms: Steam, Nintendo Switch

*Join our community on Twitch as we play games and discuss mental health: https://www.twitch.tv/mothergamer

Stray: A Purr-fectly Great Game

 When I saw Stray, I knew I was going to get the game. Getting to play as an adorable cat in a futuristic dystopian cyberpunk city setting and exploring was totally my vibe. The settings for the game are easy to work with. I was able to turn subtitles on and adjust the camera settings as well as the audio. Once that was set up, I was ready to dive in. Stray starts by showing a group of four adorable cats outside in what looks like an abandoned building with leaves and leafy vines everywhere. I was immediately drawn in by how beautiful this setting was. 

A beautiful view with cute cats. 

This also introduces you to the game controls with the star of the story; a cute ginger tabby. The game shows you how to move around, how to push things with your paws, and how to meow. Yes, there is a meow button and I laughed with delight at the cute meows from the cat. I ran around for a few minutes just yelling, "I'm a kitty!" because that's the level of joy the game brings right away just letting you be a cat. 

Ginger kitty with a cute black kitty. 

After the initial introduction, the family of cats leaves their home and go exploring. This shows you how to jump and move along ledges as well as drinking water from puddles. As the ginger cat travels with their family, a mistimed jump causes the cat to fall and get separated from its family. I gasped when it happened because it's a shock and I felt sad for the cat. I was also relieved when I saw the cat was okay and then started exploring where the cat fell and this is where Stray's adventure really begins. I was fascinated by noticing that there were buildings that looked abandoned and then as I kept exploring I saw that it looked like a dead city. Here were shops and apartment buildings, but where were all the people? I then saw a surveillance camera and meowed at it. I was stunned when the camera moved in a nodding motion if to say yes. As I moved across rooftops and alleyways, I kept finding more surveillance cameras and meowing at them and each time the camera nodded. String lights lit up indicating a direction the cat should go in. I was intrigued by this mystery of who was controlling the cameras. 

Little cat in the big city. 

That question was soon answered upon meeting a little drone robot, B-12 who acts as a translator for the cat and also reads signs and notes to give the players ideas about the surroundings as well as clues about what happened to the city. B-12 floats along while the cat wears a little saddle pack that carries B-12 when they're not active. I found the city wasn't totally abandoned as we met humanoid robots known as Companions. Each one was different and seemed to model themselves after a variety of humans ranging from guardians to musicians to cute little grannies. 

I didn't even know eating anyone was an option. 

I really liked the first area because I could just explore and talk to the various Companions and do a few fetch quests here and there like finding sheet music for a musician Companion. I liked the freedom that Stray gives you with exploring because it let me take my time with the game and just enjoy doing cat things like knocking things off shelves or curling up in a cinnamon roll position and nap. I also made friends with many of the Companions who really seemed to like their new feline friend. I of course did some of the story things along the way because the goal was to get back to the surface and Stray very smartly makes that objective easy to follow while making that freedom of exploration accessible. 

Just taking a cat nap and listening to the music.

That's not to say things don't get intense once in a while. As the journey continues we find very scary robots that look a bit like giant ticks called Zurks. The music would get a little spooky and I knew I would have to run from the Zurks or be eaten. I failed that a few times and poor ginger kitty met an untimely demise. The story does explain the Zurks as you go, but finding them in an area always made me wary on how I moved and figuring out ways to outrun them or avoid them. Luckily, they aren't everywhere so a few terrifying Zurk moments here and there, but then back to exploring and being a cat having their best adventure. 

Ugh, Zurks. They're the worst. 

As I kept exploring and moving the story along, I was impressed by how unique each area was. The attention to detail with the style and art is incredible. I also loved that each place had really thought about places cats could climb, lounge, and jump. The movement of the cat was fantastic and I could tell they had really studied how cats move and behave with every jump, meow, and sprint. There were moments where I had fun being a little ball of chaos like jumping up on a table and knocking things off or scratching up a couch. I also enjoyed simply stopping and gazing at the scenery. There are so many great things to look at in Stray.

I love this area. It's so cool! 

The story for Stray itself is interesting and I found myself invested in wanting to know what would happen next and figuring out where to go. When I finished Stray, there was this feeling of wow, what a great game. It hit all the right notes for storytelling, but also a beautifully endearing joy of getting to simply be a cat. I loved those moments of the game best, where I could take a nap with a Companion friend or interrupt a Mahjong game by jumping on the table. I loved that the game gave me so many opportunities to just be a cat. I loved everything about Stray because of these elements and I'm so glad I played it. Once you're finished, you can go back through each chapter and pick up any achievements you missed which is really nice because there was a nap achievement I wanted and got for my little cat friend. The game itself isn't very long. If you're playing for only the story, it's about five to six hours. If you want all the achievements it's about seven to eleven hours. For $30 that's not bad. For me, Stray was a purr-fectly great game and I loved being a cat. 

Sometimes you just need to curl up and nap with a friend. 

*Stray is available on the following platforms: Steam, Playstation 4, and Playstation 5

*Join our community on Twitch as we play games and discuss mental health: https://www.twitch.tv/mothergamer