Stray: 5 Minute Honest Review from a AAA Game Dev
VloĆŸit
- Äas pĆidĂĄn 28. 07. 2022
- Disclaimer: All opinions expressed in this video are solely my own and do not reflect the views or opinions of any company I work with.
I LOVE CATS - but does this really live up to this hype? Here's my quick 5ish min review of it! If you've had a chance to play it, let me know what you think! The original version of this video was more like 20 min lol but its because I love to add so much context and examples but I felt like something short and sweet would be better.
đș ABOUT ME
Hi there! My name is Morgan and I'm a game dev (previously Riot Games and currently @ Amazon Games) based in LA! Thanks for stopping by and hope you enjoy :)
đ· SOCIAL MEDIA
âą instagram: @morganling
morganling...
âą tiktok: @themorganling_
www.tiktok.com/@themorganling...
âą twitter: @themorganling
/ themorganling
âą twitch: themorganling
/ themorganling
đžïž PERSONAL WEBSITE
www.morgan-ling.com/
đ SUBSCRIBE
/ @morganling day in the life of a game developer stray download - Hry
Wow the structure of your videos keeps getting better and I like how theyâre engaging right from the start! âșïž
I Just found your channel literally yesterday lol and itâs really inspiring for how I want to start sharing my game dev process, looking forward to more videos âš
Aww thank you! Iâm so glad you enjoy my videos reading this comment made my day â€ïž
I really enjoyed this review and pace of the video. Can't wait for more đ„đ„
Hehe thank you!! â„ïžđ
Cool I like the honest review and its a different take than the normal ign style game review. I'd be interested to see more game reviews!
Glad you enjoyed it! :)
same
Really like this Morgan! Your content has been great
Aww Iâm glad!! đ„°
I love this game! †great review!
Thank you!! đ„°đ»
Love it kind of videos hahaha đ
Thank you!!
There's not alot of decent AAA games these days so... Playing as a cat looks tempting.
Honestly u not wrong haha there are so many examples of fantastic indie games that are just better across that lots of AAA games out there. And I love cats so bad to try this game lol
The cat looks like my boyfriend's cat, super cute! Thanks for the detailed, honest review. Love it - can't wait to see more
When you look at the structure of "Stray", you can see how it was highly influenced by "A Plague Tale: Innocence", also and independent title by a French studio (which now had its sequel with "Requiem"). These games are primarily narrative, using allegorical story telling. They use the gameplay aspect to enable the "viewer" of the story create a stronger bond with the world and the characters to have a much more effective story telling effect, as the observer of the story through the interactive elements becomes more empathic towards the characters and concentrates much more on the details unlike a passive observer of a series of film, who just sits there. I personally like these types of games, because the passive element of just watching something was always a boring aspect of movies and TV series. I would enjoy films like LOTR so much more if I could control Frodo through his journey and walk and explore the world (even through photo mode) and engage in fight sequences. I looks to me that these two French studios have found the right formula: Interactive movies/series using a game as a medium to make the story telling more effective and fun. Modern render engines with its believable, immersive graphics make it possible. Just look at "Requiem" and how believable Amicia in many of the cutscenes is, you have to look twice to notice that she is not a real actor in a live action film but a CGI rendered model. I personally would enjoy movies much more if I could play them instead of just sitting in front of them. This is EXACTLY what I want.
As someone who's gotten too busy with life to play all the great games out there, these reviews are helpful to decide what to get into next for the best experience.
I appreciate the effort you put into this video! As a game dev myself, this makes me want to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of a large variety of games that I wouldnât be particularly drawn towards.
Thanks for the kind words! Yeah I often try games Iâm not the intended audience for, itâs important from a design and product management perspective to be able to make games not for yourself and understand what makes them fun or not for others!
I would agree, I played it for a bit but bounced off. I feel it would have held me longer if instead of having the prompts, it was more free flowing to jump on stuff. Should also have let you fall from stuff, have a soft lock on the edges rather than the hard lock it has.
That being said, it's not my game so I'm sure the devs had reasons to do what they did, it just ended up not working for me gameplay wise, though I did very much enjoy the interactions and scenery.
Yeah I feel like the simple mechanics could be great for a younger gamer audience but some of the storyline contained more adult like elements. The draw and love for cats is strong tho which is why I even rated it as I did LOL
You've grown so much! You are going to go really far with CZcams I can see it :D
Aww thank you so much! Yeah YT is really fun and itâs been nice to use it to connect with others who also love games â€ïž I hope more people get interested in and join the industry someday so we can make it more diverse and compassionate
@@morganling forsure! đ
Nice review.
Which gaming platform did you use?
What would you do to put the " Morgan Charm " on this game, if you could change something.
Iâm about 2 hours into game and overall I am enjoying it. The graphics and atmosphere are amazing but the rigid jump mechanic becomes old.
definitely seems disingenuous, you are not a AAA game dev and you definitely do not make games for a living; you may help people make games/publish games but there is a very clear distinction which you seem to have purposefully omitted
I want to get a game dev job so bad... ahhh but its freaking hard
Yeah itâs still a relatively small industry so it can be super competitive to get in! Sometimes working on your own and creating small games can be hugely helpful in building the right experience (the type of experience companies care about too). Wishing you the best of luck!
You should check out Outer Wilds. I think it nails exploration better than any other game.
To my mind, thoses types of games are more for casuals gamers, immersive is a good point, but i'm not sure Stray have a big replay value
I totally agree with you! I think this appeals more to casual gamers and im someone who totally enjoys casual games but I strongly think of this was not about a cat the rest of the game wouldnât stand on its own. Replay-ability is def low as well which isnât always a bad thing - story driven games in general (there are always a number of exceptions ofc) have lower replay ability than other types of games.
hi, just checking up on you
Just curious, why did you delete your day in the life video.
Iâll be reuploading it! I actually overshared one thing so to be safe Iâm scrubbing that out
Hi. How are you doing?
Hi! Doing well! Hbu?
Mack's WAB channel did a 1st class review compared to this boring mush post.
ur more cute than this kitten...
Impossible
@@morganling i.imgflip.com/48ml05.jpg
quit calling yourself a game dev it's actually disrespectful to people that studied for this line of work.
it's also pathetic that you put it in your title..asking for validation much? your studio hasn't even made a game yet and you call it AAA? ridiculous. Amazon is notorious for cancelling projects, and even fully released games. Those games were also "AAA".. What a joke!
i am just gonna blacklist you i really don't want to see disrespectful people filling up my homepage.
Hi! Sorry you feel that way! In no way was I ever trying to be disrespectful to people who studied to be a game dev but it is what Iâm called within the industry as I do design work. The truth is there are lots of folks in the industry that didnât âstudyâ it formally but learned it along the way like I did. I think both studying the craft formally in school and getting the actual experience from working should both be respected! AAA often refers to the investment put in, from both a monetary and people perspective, and the strong attempt to a certain level of quality (whether they actually get to that bar of quality is a different story). Your totally right Amazon has cancelled projects and so has every big gaming company - we just work to be in a place where that doesnât happen often! :)
If she is developing games then she is a developer. Releasing or not releasing stuffs doesn't matter.
And sorry but what does it even mean "people that studied for this line of work" ? How can you invalidate experience that's gained in a "no traditional way"? I find this approach highly offensive and not right. I am someone who doesn't have a university degree but became a developer (not gaming field tho) through self learning and through my company's willingless to educate and train me. It's 2022 and there is so many ways to get into IT field as long as someone is willing to learn.
It's a really pointless negative comment from your side Nine.
Why the negativity? Morgan is still a game developer and an amazing one, she has also worked at Riot before and that's an amazing accomplishment by itself. You can't put small issues one company has had all on one person too. If you don't like her content then just move on, no need to spread negativity around :/
Here we go, there will always be at least one filled with hatred and misery. Could have just blacklisted without even commenting but first comes the request for attention.
The only disrespect here is you using those who studied game dev in your personal hatred story against someone here.
I see Morgan is being nice up there with a reply explaining her work line to someone with the damaged limbic system and I guess she is not yet aware that youtube toxicity is different.
The little secret is that the crap smell is more intense than of a perfume, thus no matter how much you dress it up or hide it you will be noticed.
This reply is here to say I noticed you.
I feel you. she was reviewing this game as if she was some sort of actual developer at riot who had any part in making the game when she only worked on the monetization aspects. Stray is far better than anything she has made (spoiler: hasn't developed anything)
If the title hadn't stated "Honest review from a AAA game dev" i would say this was a good review though