While Stray seemed to be a game about being a cat and exploring a cyberpunk-esque landscape in its early trailers, many may have been surprised that this cat's story was far more than expected, and that they would encounter some loveable robot NPCs. With three central locations throughout the game, all having decent vertical traversal, Stray's story, characters, and gameplay are much more extensive, with plenty to explore for collectibles and intriguing worldbuilding. The cities are well populated and almost every robot can be interacted with. In a video game where every character has unique responses and reactions to what players do, finding interesting and fun scenarios throughout the game doesn't take much effort.
[Warning: The following article contains spoilers for Stray.]
Doing cute cat things in Stray is just some of the fun that can be had in the 2022 adventure game. The game revolves around a cat that is separated from its three cat companions and falls into a walled-in city. Traveling through the city, it is over-run by an infectious, florescent orange organism that breeds small, one-eyed creatures that eat everything. A small section of the festering city is not overrun by disease and is considered a safe zone, called The Slums, where robots have been trapped for many years. A group of robots called The Outsiders seek to get to the top of the city in hopes of opening the walls and returning to the outside world.
Although there are many things to be learned from the dystopian cyberpunk city of Stray, there are also tons of character interactions to discover. Many of the robots have their own personalities and special dialogue when players first meet them. Even though most of the conversations are small and only repeat after players first speak with the characters, there are still many lively interactions to be had. Some conversations are purely overheard and not directed toward the player, some are just reactions to what the player is doing, and some are sweet, gentle reminders of humanity in a dystopian world.
Ledoc The Silent Blushing Bot Is One Of Stray's Cutest Characters
This cute bot is the first character players can meet after climbing up Antvillage and entering Midtown. Like many of the cat-like things players can do in Stray, rubbing up against this robot elicits a flushed expression to appear on the bot's face monitor. All bundled up and seated in a makeshift room, Ledoc seems to have a very cozy corner, undisturbed by all of Midtown. Even though Ledoc has nothing to say to the wandering cat, the character's response to the orange tabby's affection is quite sweet.
Stray's Cat Can Cosy Up To A Slumbering Cowboy
While exploring Midtown, players will wander across a robot taking a snooze on a couch. Jumping up onto the bot's belly will startle the character awake, where the bot will look toward to viewer with a question mark on its face monitor. The robot's head will then turn to look at the cat, now curling up to sleep on its stomach, and the monitor will change into a heart symbol. Although Stray shows players want to be annoying critters, this interaction reveals that maybe players also want to be cute critters too.
Reuniting Doc & Seamus Is One Of Stray's Best Moments
Doc and Seamus are both main characters in the storyline of Stray that are met towards the end of the players' adventure in The Slums. Meeting Seamus in the bar with Momo, this robot will tell the player going to The Outside is pointless because his father, Doc, left to find it and never returned. Missing him and wanting to find him, the player works with Seamus to find the location of Doc and reunite father and son.
Reuniting the estranged robot duo is one of Stray's best moments. Doc pulls Seamus into a hug and a shocked Seamus returns the hug, a bright red heart appearing on the robot's monitor. This scene is so heartwarming and one of the cuter interactions in the game.
B12 Is Stray's Adorable Robot Companion
Even though there is no news on whether Stray will be getting a sequel, not having B12 as the player's companion in a Stray 2 doesn't feel right. Bringing life to this little drone at the beginning of the game, B12 is a player's guide through the world of Stray and has many experiences with the player throughout the traversal of the cyberpunk cities. Moments of rescue, triumph, and working together build a strong connection between the two characters and make B12's sacrifice at the end of the game that much more heartbreaking. B12's design is aesthetically cute and tucking itself away in a backpack furthers this robot's charm.
Momo Is One Of Stray's Best Robot Characters
There might be a lot of cool secrets, Easter eggs, and references in Stray but Momo takes the lead when it comes to cute robot friends. Momo is the catalyst character to figuring out how to get to The Outside. Being one of the of The Outsiders, a group of robots trying to get out of the walls of the cities, this robot helps guide players in the right direction to finding the other Outsider in hopes of finding a way out. Players will spend a great deal of time with this bot as they work together to anyone above The Slums and venture into the sewers to find Zbaltazar.
Momo is one of the most expressive robots throughout the game and the robot's dialogue feels the most human. Since Stray's story explains what happened to the humans, dying off long before players fall into the city, Momo feels like one of the closer representations of humans. Particular faces the character makes, interactions with the cat, and dialogue make Momo a very relatable and cute character. When first meeting Momo, he has a downturned mouth and eyebrows, upset over the transceiver not working and this will later shift to a joyful expression when all of The Outsider's notebooks are returned to the robot.
Once players visit each of the locations with outsider symbols and obtain all of Stray's notebooks, returning them to Momo will prompt a shocked expression that shifts to smiling. In the bar, Momo will pat the top of a stool for players to jump onto and then pet the cat's head. There is also a particular line of dialogue when the player and Momo part ways where the robot says, "When you find Zbaltazar and Clementine, tell them I was brave." With the many expressions the character makes, the body language reactions to story beats, and relatable choice of words in the dialogue, Momo is one of the cutest robot friends players get to interact with in Stray.
