We need to talk about that dog you can’t pet in ‘The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’

It’s release day for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, meaning gamers everywhere have been getting somewhat nostalgic for the last several hours. Debuting in Japan in 1986, followed by the United States and Europe in 1987, the franchise is an iconic piece of gaming history. As fans began their next adventure with Link and Zelda, they quickly happened upon an adorable four-legged friend, but there are some mixed emotions about the sweet pup’s involvement in the big game.

With websites like Does the Dog Die? and Twitter accounts devoted to finding out if you can pet the dog in various video games, it’s safe to say that we’re all pretty massive lovers of man’s best friend. There’s nothing like coming home after a long day to see your dog wagging its tail, happy to see you; there’s no love any loyalty like that of your pet, so when gamers realized that they couldn’t pet the obviously excited and begging for affection pup, they were upset — to say the least.

You cannot pet the dog in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom pic.twitter.com/dAxQCnKF5X

— Can You Pet the Dog? (@CanYouPetTheDog) May 12, 2023

In fact, many are demanding that Nintendo fix it immediately.

Fix it @NintendoAmerica

— The Dude (@Sneegsnag) May 12, 2023

The hard-hitting question is: why give us a dog if we can’t even pet it? Where is the joy in seeing this adorable dog lay on its back waiting for belly rubs if we can’t even give them?

So those’s 10/10’s were a striaght up lie then pic.twitter.com/7ftv4a8XMT

— kevin kanawaty (@kanawaty_kevin) May 12, 2023

No petting the dog, no buying the game — sounds about right to us.

You just convinced me not to buy it, no petting, no money

— WolfSky78 (@WolfSky78) May 12, 2023

This fan tried to find the bright side, and while you can’t pet the dog, they discovered that you could run around it, and there’s a lovely thing that happens when you do! If you’re lucky, the dog might give you treasure after you feed it, so it’s not totally a write-off.

This fan wondered if reviewers knew about the lack of one’s ability to pet the dog, noting that it should have knocked a point off; the response they got from a literal chicken nugget made the conversation even better.

You can scroll through pages upon pages of comments that prove that it’s morally wrong not to allow us to pet the dog when playing Tears of the Kingdom. Fans are demanding an update or rework in the system somehow, and they will be patiently waiting to see how they make this total gaffe into something worth writing home about. Until then, if you need us, we’ll be giving our dogs all of the belly rubs — because they deserve them.