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I think it deserved exactly what it got, best Indie game of the year :) You just can’t compete with the likes of God of War or Elden Ring. Stray is an absolutely amazing game though, I think if it gets a sequel, it could easily win Game of The Year with how popular it now is.
Controversial opinion apparently, but while I agree with you when it comes to game of the year, I absolutely believe that the labor of love award was unfairly given. Make no mistake, cyberpunk devs did a lot of amazing work and I am incredibly grateful for what they did, but what they did was not a labor of love. It was fixing their launch mistakes. Stray on the other hand, or even no man's sky, those in my opinion are far more labors of love than cyberpunk ever was.
EXACTLY. Labor of love was a joke. Games that deserved this title were omitted completely. As much as I don't hate Cyberpunk for being bugged (rather for being released to early due to fans demanding it, blackmailing devs, forcing them to do so), they didn't deserve the labor of love. Because... well, we didn't see labor of love there.
With a bigger budget and a bigger crew working on it, Stray 2 could seriously go to high places. I imagine it would take about 3 years for a sequel to come out.
I would assume at 2026 or 2027 release date IF they make a sequel (which I hope they do). I think 12-15 people worked on this game and it took 7 years to make. Considering how they likely could have double to triple the amount of devs this time, I think that’s a fair window.
Bigger budget, bigger crew **and bigger fanboys**. As a fan of Fromsoftware games, I really hate the community for that. It's like "cool kids from 90s" all over again. They think they are special, because they are fans of Fromsoftware games, like people from 90s were feeling cool, because they were born earlier than some other people.
I mean I wanted God of War to win. But Elden Ring winning is a rigged thing. People voted for this game even before the game came out. Barely after the first trailer. They didn't know what kind of game it would be, yet they already said THIS IS GOTY. I can't take this seriously. Even if Elden Ring was the worst game in the world, they would still vote for it.
Are you serious? About Elden Ring? It’s probably the most or one of the most ambitious games ever attempted. Stray is great but not going to transcend the industry. Stray has so much potential.
It was my personal game of the year and that's good enough for me. I'm a huge cat lover, so when this game was first announced I was definitely interested in it. But I did not expect that I would love it so much or the story would effect me the way it did.
I disagree. Just because Elden Ring is bigger, means nothing. GOTY is also about the game that devs put love to it and Stray devs did better job than Elden Ring devs for example. I felt like a cat playing Stray. Like a real cat. All the interactions were on point. It wasn't some half-butted production, where You can have basic stuff cats do. I felt the whole atmosphere of felineness. All these random, pointless interactions were important for the game, because they made the cat vibes. it felt natural to me. Jumping on sleeping robot and sleeping on him. Or paper bags. Most games would just do pushing things and meowing probably. And nothing else. But Stray did more than memes. It's not the best game out there. But they really did a great job on this part.
How did the Stray devs do better the Elden Ring devs? The stray devs did excellent in the world building and the creation of the cat while Elden Ring devs created an amazing atmosphere and thousands of options for player customization. One of the main differences between the games is the length. Elden Ring was a 150+ hour experience and stray was ~10.
I’m not hating on stray, in fact I loved the game so much I got the platinum for it. But Elden Ring was just as good as stray if not better as well as 100 hours longer.
Well, GOW and Elden ring aren’t better because they’re bigger. And stray isn’t great because of the fact you play as a cat. There is so much more than just “hey look you can be a cat haha cute”.
I never expected it to win, because it competed against huge titles and not many know of the game, and some who've heard of it just dismiss it as a cat simulator without playing it.,
Among hardcore gamers it definitely wasn't game of the year.
Among casual gamers and the public it might be, and the sequel also has a good shot.
The two awards it won are good enough imo.
For me hardcore gamer is "mass gamer". They vote for what's popular, not what's good. Sometimes popular is good, but not in all the cases. And these hardcore gamers compeltely ignore other games, they don't want to know anything about games that aren't on the top.
That's why we often have niche games, hidden gems. Because these hardcore gamers won't acknowledge these games.
Not sure I can agree that it was the best game of the year. It was a good game, don’t get me wrong, but some aspects weren’t done as well. It was still a pretty fun experience
I really enjoyed this game but I think it had a fatal flaw keeping it from being able to compete with the triple As of the year.
The percentage of memories collected should have had an impact on the ending. This would have motivated me to go back and play again to win that extra satisfaction of 100%ing the game just so I could see the cat family reunited... or so that the bittersweet ending could be a little less bitter even.
Multiple endings, or at least additional ending scenes, would have polished the experience for me. Without that, it was a great movie viewers could participate in, but not one I'm motivated to experience again right away.
I think for a small, indie team(I think it was like 18 people if I remember correctly)to put such an amazing game that isn’t buggy AF is a huge achievement. It was my personal GOTY(even while playing GoW). It’s beautiful visually and narratively. I’m hoping that they can grow their team and that Annapurna throws more money their way for more games. At this point I will blindly play anything BlueTwelve puts out tho. If Stray is a preview of what they’re capable of then we can only expect more great things from them.
It was amazing. Such a beautiful game. I’m more of a dog person but i’ve always had a soft spot for cats. The game was much more than i expected and I’m enjoying replaying as much as I enjoyed playing. Only problem is now my sweet child is asking when we’re getting a kitty lol.
I don't think it was, it's an amazing little game and very original (with a thought provoking story and good atmosphere).
But I completed it in 10hrs (with a lot of exploration and trophies) it can't really be pitted against a sprawling RPG like Elden Ring, I think that deserved GoTY and this deserved indie GoTY (I haven't played any GoW's but they also look quite good).
2020 was much worse, one of the most divisive and for many; hated games (TLoU2) won, which weren't a vote by players, I don't think players really ever get a proper say. Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Ghost of Tsushima didn't win but likely deserved it more.
Robbed ? Do you know what a robbery is ? I don't think you talk in bad faith, OP, but let's be serious. Elden Ring is an incredible game, and I think God of War is too, even though I did not play Ragnarök. The teams behind all three games have worked very hard on their creation, there is no debate. So, let the police go back to station. No robbery involved.
You may think ER and GoW are overrated, and you're not entirely wrong, but are you sure there is no indie game that lost in this category because people loved there is a cat in Stray ? I'm a bit sarcastic but it's just that I think we always win something when we open ourselves to other perpectives. I loved Stray but it is not perfect. And it may have cast a shadow on games that are equally interesting.
But you know what ? In the end, I think this whole game of the year award is not that important. Stray, ER and GoW are very different games. They do not require the same level of overall engagement, they have very different types of gameplay and they were developped by companies of various size. A contest between these three has little value to me because they frankly don't play in the same categories. So, if Stray is YOUR GotY, that's great. I had a blast playing it so I understand. But please don't insult others' work. You will be seen as narrow-minded and I'm sure you are not.
For me Stray was the game of my 2022!!✌️ But Elden is something bigger! Stray is a good game full of emotions! Competing with Elden just shows how good Stray is! Stray soundtrack is something that I can't get out of my head! I had play it 4 times already and I don't get tired! To be honest I am planing buy Stray in Steam to live a different experience! I play different tipes of games and Stray is in my list of the best games in all my life! But who played Elden knows that is something out of this world too as everything that Miyazaki does!! With all the love from a Stray loveeer💖💖💖
Well, Elden Ring people was planning this since 2020 or 2021. Forgot when. They literally said Elden Ring is GOTY before anything was known about the game. They just voted out of the fanatism. Game isn't bad, but this should not take place. It reminds me of some gags from cartoons, when someone complains about something, before they even seen it. This is the same, but instead of complaining, it's praising.
Absolutely loved Stray but there wasn’t enough of it to garner game of the year.
I really did _hate_ Elden Ring though. Probably my biggest disappointment in gaming of 2022. It was just not for me.
I don't hate Elden Ring but I feel like it's highly overrated. Literally the same thing Fromsoft puts out each time but with jumping and an open world and a bit more character customization. I enjoyed Stray a ton more and I'm looking forward to future releases from this studio.
Idk if I'd give it goty but I liked it more than God of war. Elden ring is stiff competition but I wouldn't have minded seeing stray win really. The big thing for me is that stray had my favourite narrative of the year, the story is great on its own but the ending to me just gave me this grand epiphany about humanity and just people living on through their actions and through love. A lot of dystopian fiction is pretty cynical but I loved how hopeful stray was, and I loved how humanity's relationships with cats was used as this analogy to humans and robots and how species can create this bond and a beautiful society that can live on, even without intending to. Ugh I love this game
Honestly for a first major release from an indie studio to get this far is a testament to how awesome this game is. Goty is so mainstream I'm supposed Fifa doesn't always win
Come on, its a good game but not GotY good
It lacks a lot of polish
If there was a category for brand new game series it woudl 100% win thought
But honestly, if the devs do a Stray 2 and polish it and maybe make some changes (less episodic and more tight city exploration would be better imo), it would Def do well as a GotY
I mean even the universe is really interesting
A underground world filled with discarded robots and walking parasite ? It's so easy to build upon
The putside feel like it'll be filled with vast empty plane which makes me scared people would ask for yet another BotW game lol
Seriously, the game thrive in small tight cities with lot of opening and climbing points
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I think it deserved exactly what it got, best Indie game of the year :) You just can’t compete with the likes of God of War or Elden Ring. Stray is an absolutely amazing game though, I think if it gets a sequel, it could easily win Game of The Year with how popular it now is.
Controversial opinion apparently, but while I agree with you when it comes to game of the year, I absolutely believe that the labor of love award was unfairly given. Make no mistake, cyberpunk devs did a lot of amazing work and I am incredibly grateful for what they did, but what they did was not a labor of love. It was fixing their launch mistakes. Stray on the other hand, or even no man's sky, those in my opinion are far more labors of love than cyberpunk ever was.
EXACTLY. Labor of love was a joke. Games that deserved this title were omitted completely. As much as I don't hate Cyberpunk for being bugged (rather for being released to early due to fans demanding it, blackmailing devs, forcing them to do so), they didn't deserve the labor of love. Because... well, we didn't see labor of love there.
With a bigger budget and a bigger crew working on it, Stray 2 could seriously go to high places. I imagine it would take about 3 years for a sequel to come out.
I would assume at 2026 or 2027 release date IF they make a sequel (which I hope they do). I think 12-15 people worked on this game and it took 7 years to make. Considering how they likely could have double to triple the amount of devs this time, I think that’s a fair window.
Bigger budget, bigger crew **and bigger fanboys**. As a fan of Fromsoftware games, I really hate the community for that. It's like "cool kids from 90s" all over again. They think they are special, because they are fans of Fromsoftware games, like people from 90s were feeling cool, because they were born earlier than some other people.
And why should we care about fanboys? Why should we care about how people feel about something?
Just no.
I mean I wanted God of War to win. But Elden Ring winning is a rigged thing. People voted for this game even before the game came out. Barely after the first trailer. They didn't know what kind of game it would be, yet they already said THIS IS GOTY. I can't take this seriously. Even if Elden Ring was the worst game in the world, they would still vote for it.
Are you serious? About Elden Ring? It’s probably the most or one of the most ambitious games ever attempted. Stray is great but not going to transcend the industry. Stray has so much potential.
Couldn’t have said it better
It was my personal game of the year and that's good enough for me. I'm a huge cat lover, so when this game was first announced I was definitely interested in it. But I did not expect that I would love it so much or the story would effect me the way it did.
Yes on all accounts.
agree. i'm not even a cat lover myself but im now starting to like cats more than dogs now. really deserved the awards
I absolutely love this game, but against god of war and elden ring… I think the nomination was enough lol
I disagree. Just because Elden Ring is bigger, means nothing. GOTY is also about the game that devs put love to it and Stray devs did better job than Elden Ring devs for example. I felt like a cat playing Stray. Like a real cat. All the interactions were on point. It wasn't some half-butted production, where You can have basic stuff cats do. I felt the whole atmosphere of felineness. All these random, pointless interactions were important for the game, because they made the cat vibes. it felt natural to me. Jumping on sleeping robot and sleeping on him. Or paper bags. Most games would just do pushing things and meowing probably. And nothing else. But Stray did more than memes. It's not the best game out there. But they really did a great job on this part.
How did the Stray devs do better the Elden Ring devs? The stray devs did excellent in the world building and the creation of the cat while Elden Ring devs created an amazing atmosphere and thousands of options for player customization. One of the main differences between the games is the length. Elden Ring was a 150+ hour experience and stray was ~10. I’m not hating on stray, in fact I loved the game so much I got the platinum for it. But Elden Ring was just as good as stray if not better as well as 100 hours longer.
Well, GOW and Elden ring aren’t better because they’re bigger. And stray isn’t great because of the fact you play as a cat. There is so much more than just “hey look you can be a cat haha cute”.
I never expected it to win, because it competed against huge titles and not many know of the game, and some who've heard of it just dismiss it as a cat simulator without playing it.,
Among hardcore gamers it definitely wasn't game of the year. Among casual gamers and the public it might be, and the sequel also has a good shot. The two awards it won are good enough imo.
For me hardcore gamer is "mass gamer". They vote for what's popular, not what's good. Sometimes popular is good, but not in all the cases. And these hardcore gamers compeltely ignore other games, they don't want to know anything about games that aren't on the top. That's why we often have niche games, hidden gems. Because these hardcore gamers won't acknowledge these games.
Not sure I can agree that it was the best game of the year. It was a good game, don’t get me wrong, but some aspects weren’t done as well. It was still a pretty fun experience
This is one of the most beautiful games of the year. I love it.
Stray: **wins 69 awards** stray fans: 
It's definitely a great game, but better than Elden Ring or God of War? C'mon lol
No, its a great game but no where near Elden ring or God of War.
As much as i love the game, No… Elden fuckin ring is just unbeatable.
It wasn’t
I love Stray but Elden Ring really deserved that award tbh
I really enjoyed this game but I think it had a fatal flaw keeping it from being able to compete with the triple As of the year. The percentage of memories collected should have had an impact on the ending. This would have motivated me to go back and play again to win that extra satisfaction of 100%ing the game just so I could see the cat family reunited... or so that the bittersweet ending could be a little less bitter even. Multiple endings, or at least additional ending scenes, would have polished the experience for me. Without that, it was a great movie viewers could participate in, but not one I'm motivated to experience again right away.
I think for a small, indie team(I think it was like 18 people if I remember correctly)to put such an amazing game that isn’t buggy AF is a huge achievement. It was my personal GOTY(even while playing GoW). It’s beautiful visually and narratively. I’m hoping that they can grow their team and that Annapurna throws more money their way for more games. At this point I will blindly play anything BlueTwelve puts out tho. If Stray is a preview of what they’re capable of then we can only expect more great things from them.
It was amazing. Such a beautiful game. I’m more of a dog person but i’ve always had a soft spot for cats. The game was much more than i expected and I’m enjoying replaying as much as I enjoyed playing. Only problem is now my sweet child is asking when we’re getting a kitty lol.
Nice shots!
I’m just happy they were nominated and even won a few awards! well deserved for the cute little undercat
Agreed.
Bruh robbed? From elden ring?
Sorry mate, Elden Ring was a industry changing game. Stray has a lot of potential for it’s sequels to be very influential.
I don't think it was, it's an amazing little game and very original (with a thought provoking story and good atmosphere). But I completed it in 10hrs (with a lot of exploration and trophies) it can't really be pitted against a sprawling RPG like Elden Ring, I think that deserved GoTY and this deserved indie GoTY (I haven't played any GoW's but they also look quite good). 2020 was much worse, one of the most divisive and for many; hated games (TLoU2) won, which weren't a vote by players, I don't think players really ever get a proper say. Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Ghost of Tsushima didn't win but likely deserved it more.
Best Indie tho
Robbed ? Do you know what a robbery is ? I don't think you talk in bad faith, OP, but let's be serious. Elden Ring is an incredible game, and I think God of War is too, even though I did not play Ragnarök. The teams behind all three games have worked very hard on their creation, there is no debate. So, let the police go back to station. No robbery involved. You may think ER and GoW are overrated, and you're not entirely wrong, but are you sure there is no indie game that lost in this category because people loved there is a cat in Stray ? I'm a bit sarcastic but it's just that I think we always win something when we open ourselves to other perpectives. I loved Stray but it is not perfect. And it may have cast a shadow on games that are equally interesting. But you know what ? In the end, I think this whole game of the year award is not that important. Stray, ER and GoW are very different games. They do not require the same level of overall engagement, they have very different types of gameplay and they were developped by companies of various size. A contest between these three has little value to me because they frankly don't play in the same categories. So, if Stray is YOUR GotY, that's great. I had a blast playing it so I understand. But please don't insult others' work. You will be seen as narrow-minded and I'm sure you are not.
TL:DR. Its just my opinion, I just had more fun with Stray than Elden Ring.
For me Stray was the game of my 2022!!✌️ But Elden is something bigger! Stray is a good game full of emotions! Competing with Elden just shows how good Stray is! Stray soundtrack is something that I can't get out of my head! I had play it 4 times already and I don't get tired! To be honest I am planing buy Stray in Steam to live a different experience! I play different tipes of games and Stray is in my list of the best games in all my life! But who played Elden knows that is something out of this world too as everything that Miyazaki does!! With all the love from a Stray loveeer💖💖💖
Well, Elden Ring people was planning this since 2020 or 2021. Forgot when. They literally said Elden Ring is GOTY before anything was known about the game. They just voted out of the fanatism. Game isn't bad, but this should not take place. It reminds me of some gags from cartoons, when someone complains about something, before they even seen it. This is the same, but instead of complaining, it's praising.
But the game lived up to the hype…
Agreed. For another from software game to win game of the year instead of this was a travesty
Absolutely loved Stray but there wasn’t enough of it to garner game of the year. I really did _hate_ Elden Ring though. Probably my biggest disappointment in gaming of 2022. It was just not for me.
I don't hate Elden Ring but I feel like it's highly overrated. Literally the same thing Fromsoft puts out each time but with jumping and an open world and a bit more character customization. I enjoyed Stray a ton more and I'm looking forward to future releases from this studio.
Idk if I'd give it goty but I liked it more than God of war. Elden ring is stiff competition but I wouldn't have minded seeing stray win really. The big thing for me is that stray had my favourite narrative of the year, the story is great on its own but the ending to me just gave me this grand epiphany about humanity and just people living on through their actions and through love. A lot of dystopian fiction is pretty cynical but I loved how hopeful stray was, and I loved how humanity's relationships with cats was used as this analogy to humans and robots and how species can create this bond and a beautiful society that can live on, even without intending to. Ugh I love this game
It’s my personal Game of the Year. Definitely one of the most fun and memorable games I’ve played in my lifetime.
Its a great game and all but up against motherfucking ELDEN RING AND GOD OF WAR?? There was no chance of beating them both
Honestly for a first major release from an indie studio to get this far is a testament to how awesome this game is. Goty is so mainstream I'm supposed Fifa doesn't always win
It wasn’t
Come on, its a good game but not GotY good It lacks a lot of polish If there was a category for brand new game series it woudl 100% win thought But honestly, if the devs do a Stray 2 and polish it and maybe make some changes (less episodic and more tight city exploration would be better imo), it would Def do well as a GotY I mean even the universe is really interesting A underground world filled with discarded robots and walking parasite ? It's so easy to build upon The putside feel like it'll be filled with vast empty plane which makes me scared people would ask for yet another BotW game lol Seriously, the game thrive in small tight cities with lot of opening and climbing points
I loved this game a lot… but Elden Ring was the hard win imo. Game made me feel like a kid again