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Frankly, since we adopted a real pet this year, we decided to do a notable video game pet retrospective in 2022. To put together a simple motive and a simple, candid article, right? But as we brainstormed, some really existential questions began to emerge about what is considered a pet in a video game.
Should pets have no utilitarian use and be purely aesthetic animal-like creatures that the player needs to occasionally feed and stroke? Probably not. Can they be considered pets if they are also involved in game mechanics? Must be a traditionally domesticated animal to be considered a pet – as opposed to mechanical or ghostly beings?
How intelligent should they be? Because if you’re too smart, it’s the same as a normal NPC or party member, right? Like Tamagotchi, do you have to scoop poop to register as a pet?
With all these questions in mind, the net cast here is pretty broad, agreeing with the blurry lines between traditional notions of reality of pets, mechanics, and characters with an independent sense. From Elden Ring torrents to pet management sims, there’s a little bit of everything here.
