See Stray Played In First-Person Perspective
Stray is taking gamers (and cats) by storm and now you can see the game through the eyes of a feline yourself.
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Imagine how annoying it would be if you were a cat, and you’re meowing for your human to feed you, but they’re trying to pet you instead. Luckily, there’s always something valuable or fragile to push off the counter if they didn’t get the hint. The world cats see with their eyes must be an interesting one, and now — thanks to Stray’s first-person mod — we can finally see the world through cats’ eyes.
According to our colleagues at Destructoid, nothing makes the game feel fresh, like looking at it from a new perspective, especially through the eyes of the game’s protagonist, which is exactly what someone did when they modded the recently released Stray video game. The mod, aptly named Stray — First Person Mod, allows gamers to see the game as if they were the protagonist itself (the biological gender of the cat was never established within the game). It’s an interesting take on the in-game world and courtesy of its creator, Jessica Natalia.
The new Stray mode swaps the typical third-person behind-the-back camera mode with one that sits right between Garfield’s eyes — though he’s not the original protagonist of the game, the iconic lazy cat was introduced to Stray via another mod. This allows those in front of the screens to pad, run, jump, and squeeze through numerous obstacles presented in the Stray’s in-game to do so from the cat’s perspective. Admittedly, it’s a new and interesting way to complete the game, provided that you don’t get motion sickness from all the feline parkour present in the game.
All of this makes the world of Stray appear much bigger when seen from the eyes of a small cat, as it portrays the actual picture of just how small the game’s protagonist is in the game’s massive world. This also means that the sense of danger and curiosity take on a completely different feel than normal third-person play, as the saying “curiosity killed the cat” gets a more literal meaning. However, looking upon the world, its robotic inhabitants, and all the colorful environments also adds a new sense of wonder, similar to the one players get when playing Stray normally for the first time.
However, as with all mods, there are a few drawbacks. For example, the game’s numerous puzzles are better suited to a third-person view. Additionally, the cat becomes visible if it moves too quickly or when walking too close to a wall, which makes the camera “drag” or pop out of place. This happens because of the technical aspects of the mod. Instead of deleting the character model altogether, Jessica moved the camera’s placement to where the cat’s head was, which resulted in unwanted camera movement.
These “bugs” are nothing game-breaking by any means and most definitely don’t take away from experience. With that said, the limitations imposed by the protagonist’s first-person perspective do make the mod not recommended for first-time players, as in most cases, it makes seeing the jump prompts difficult and at times impossible to see — making many of the Stray’s jumps a leap of faith. Stray is currently available for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Microsoft PC. Unfortunately for Xbox gamers, the Xbox version of Stray isn’t in the cards yet. But the cats are having a blast with it.
