Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is a bad game because you can't pet the dog
Unforgivable, really.
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Sorry to break it to those of you who haven't tried it out yet, but no, you can't pet the dog in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Look Nintendo. I've got a bone to pick with you, and yes, the pun is very intended. I don't think every dog that appears in every game needs to have the option to let me pet it. But there are some incredibly good boys and girls in Breath of the Wild, and you didn't give me the option to pet them. And now, what do I find the first time I met the most wonderful dog at one of the numerous stables across Hyrule in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom? I still can't pet it! What's up with that Nintendo? Are these dogs not deserving of a light pat on the head, or even a small scratch?
Petting the dog in games has become quite a trend in recent years, in no small part helped by the Twitter account Can You Pet the Dog? And yes - it did share the awful fact that you can't pet the dog in Tears of the Kingdom. Scrolling through Can You Pet the Dog's tweets will show you all manner of games that let you pet, hold, or interact in some other way with various types of creatures, dog or not. The account is mostly just a bit of fun, but has also become a good way to find out about lots of games you might not have otherwise heard of.
Most importantly though, the popularity of the account (it has more than 500,000 followers at the time of writing) speaks to the fact that a lot of players want to have interactions in games that are more than just swinging a sword or shooting a gun. And sure, swinging a sword is more fun than ever in Tears of the Kingdom thanks to the wacky ability that is Fuse (which we can show you how to use right here). But still, I'd like to pet the dogs, Nintendo.