A Street Cat’s Tale 2: Outside Is Dangerous Feels Less Harsh

I can’t count how many times I accidentally let the poor, stray kitten die in the original A Street Cat’s Tale game. It was a lot. I felt really bad! I was genuinely terrified the same thing would happen in A Street Cat’s Tale 2: Outside is Dangerous. (That ominous subtitle wasn’t helping!) While it is still very perilous for a formerly indoor cat on their own, I found various quality of life adjustments made it easier for Cinnamon (and me) to adjust to life on the streets.

A big part of this involves how A Street Cat’s Tale 2: Outside is Dangerous gets started, as it offers an opportunity to enjoy more exposition and ease into the game. Much like a certain little kitty in a big city, this cat named Cinnamon accidentally ends up outside. After his owner Hazel moves, he inadvertently naps in a box that is taken away. When he wakes up, he’s alone. It’s then that he realizes he was taken far from home, and some street cats help him adjust to his new life in the big city as he finds his way and perhaps gets back to Hazel.

This initial accommodation is so helpful, both narratively and in terms of gameplay. We get an introduction to Cinnamon, first of all, and a means of better connecting with the character. The first game had a strong start! However, at that point it was more about identifying with a poor baby who lost its mother. Here, the character is better established from the outset. However, it’s even more useful because of the other elements of this execution. After seeing Cinnamon spirited away, we also get a chance to safely practice solving sokoban box-pushing puzzles and learn survival techniques like hunting, scavenging, and sharing with other cats in a safe, controlled environment. This continues with some early quests that also help ease us into the world.

Those are the most obvious quality of life changes! There are so many others in A Street Cat’s Tale 2: Outside is Dangerous that make the game better and more enjoyable to play. For example, you don’t have to pick up items one at a time. This is a godsend for survivability and befriending other cats. You can actually hold on to some and carry them with you. An actual inventory? In a game? What a novel idea! Introducing the cats who will matter to you upfront, as well as some important humans, is also a boon. You aren’t wandering around, trying to find out who people (well, felines) are and where. It’s better structured with its chapters and missions. I felt like I fumbled much more often with the original game, and it isn’t an issue this time around.

Perhaps most importantly, the tone is so much better in A Street Cat’s Tale 2: Outside is Dangerous compared to the original game. I very much felt like in each run, I was nearly guaranteed to flail or fail. It ended up being such a daunting endeavor. Yes, Cinnamon still gets hungry at a fairly steady place and there’s a lot to do here. However, I always felt more optimistic about his odds whenever I played, and the tone of Cinnamon and the other cats also felt more positive than in the original game. 

It’s such a big change that I’d almost say go ahead and play A Street Cat’s Tale 2: Outside is Dangerous first and consider, well, not playing the original game. This is coming from someone who enjoyed it, as perilous as it could be. This new entry ends up feeling so much stronger! Granted, there are connections to characters from A Street Cat’s Tale, so that bonus exists for people who do take a chance on both. However, this one ended up being so much more fun and, given there’s a demo for the PC version on Steam, a lot easier to even see if it vibes with a player.

A Street Cat’s Tale 2: Outside is Dangerous is available on the Nintendo Switch and PC.