I just found out that you can't pet the dog in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom so now I'm never playing it

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Zelda with dog
(Image credit: Nintendo)

The release day for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was supposed to be a happy one, but that joy has been shattered now that I - and other fans - have discovered that you can't pet the dog in the Breath of the Wild sequel. 

As highlighted by the best account on Twitter, @CanYouPetTheDog, you actually can't pet the dog in Tears of the Kingdom. I can't say I'm too surprised really, as the answer was the same in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, but it's still heartbreaking to hear. 

To make it even worse, Can You Pet The Dog shared a gif of Link standing next to a dog, and the four-legged friend is practically begging for a belly rub. I can't. 

Since it's become pretty much expected to pet the animals in games these days - everything from The Last of Us, Destiny 2, and The Witcher 3 featured some kind of pettable pet - Zelda fans are not happy with Nintendo, to say the least. 

"Refunding the game. I can't believe this, I'm literally crying and shaking rn," one player said on Twitter. "How on earth did it get such good reviews then?" another asked. "I demand a dog petting patch, Nintendo," another fan ordered, and my personal favorite: "And Ganondorf is supposed to be the bad guy?"

If you put the dog debate to the side, Tears of Kingdom is actually a pretty good game. Don't just take our The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom review for it though, as the game's incredibly high Metacritic score also makes it an instant GOTY contender.

About to jump back into Hyrule? Take a look at our Zelda Tears of the Kingdom tips before you get started. 

Hope Bellingham
News Writer

After studying Film Studies and Creative Writing at university, I was lucky enough to land a job as an intern at Player Two PR where I helped to release a number of indie titles. I then got even luckier when I became a Trainee News Writer at GamesRadar+ before being promoted to a fully-fledged News Writer after a year and a half of training.  My expertise lies in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, cozy indies, and The Last of Us, but especially in the Kingdom Hearts series. I'm also known to write about the odd Korean drama for the Entertainment team every now and then.