The Best Video Game Animals - Cats, Dogs, and Dragons We All Love!

Table of Contents

• The Best Video Game Animals - Cats, Dogs, and Dragons We All Love!
• Dogmeat, Mabari, or maybe Amaterasu?
• Bears and Okku
• Pets that could study philology
• Jurassic creatures in non-Jurassic times
• It's hard to name you, but you're cute anyway

Bears and Okku

The game based on the movie Brother Bear was not a success on par with the animation, and few people remember it today. Although it hasn't conquered the market, it performs quite well in its genre so far. Sure, the graphics are a bit lacking, and the mechanics seem rather archaic, but you can really get attached to Koda. Especially when you remember the original movie.

Angus from Night in the Woods is a completely different story. Although the game's character designs might suggest that this is a production for kids, the story it tells is a material for quite a remarkable, mature novel. Presenting individual characters as humanoid animals is an excuse to tell a serious story. Angus is one of its heroes. Although it looks like a smartly-dressed resident of the forest, it remains perhaps the most empathetic bear in the history of electronic entertainment.

Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer proved to be an add-on that surpassed the base game in many ways. Not only can the main plot hardly be called trivial, but the companions simply smash the genre framework, becoming real virtual friends of the player for several hours. One of them is Okku – a bit of a god, a bit of a ghost, but mostly just a bear. Proud, powerful and loyal. While unlikely to be reduced to the role of a comforting teddy bear, it helps in battle and provides protection for the team. And it's hard to believe that some of the players are sacrificing him to add the One of Many to the team. The best proof of how unique this character is, is the fact that even though I went through Betrayer's Mask several times, I never gave up on Okku. This bear really doesn't deserve that!

Game birds and land birds

Untitled Goose Game is a game that evolved from a stock image, and became quite famous mainly thanks to its absurdity and very intuitive gameplay, and became a hit of late 2019. The titular goose is naughty, feisty, and incredibly cute. The building of the player-bird relationship begins as soon as the animal clumsily tries to move anything with its beak. It's cute. And so different from anything we've seen before. What's significant in context of this article, is that the bird doesn't have to be alone – if we play in co-op, our companion is another goose.

The bond between the protagonist and their animal may not be the first association that comes to mind in case of Assassin's Creed . However, such a complete series could not miss this gameplay element. Ikaros is the eagle of the game's protagonists, Kassandra or Alexios. The Greek warrior has an unusual bond with the bird – thanks to an ability called "eagle vision" they are able to see the world through its eyes. So, not only was it merged with the main character gameplay-wise – some atmospheric cutscenes were also added. It is simply impossible not to get attached to Ikaros.

Big birds were the main opponents of the comforting ghost Ori in both parts of the series. The little (until some point, at least) owl Ku that appears in part two not only bridges the story between the two games, but also works really well as a companion. With her ability to fly, Ori can move faster and reach higher places. Sure – the game has only a few such fragments, but it's enough to appreciate the small Ku. And if we add to that the dramatic struggle for her health and life, we already have a recipe for a perfect tearjerker. Or featherjerker.