Find your purr-fect gaming partner with PlayStation's greatest cats

People generally love cats, which is probably why so many games have teamed you up with a feline friend - though they're not all the traditional tabbies you'd find lounging around on your sofa. Get a piece of string on standby and prepare to wave it around, as we cuddle up with PlayStation’s coolest kitties.

Dark Souls 2

Sweet Shalquoir. Damn, that’s a badass moniker. Dark Souls 2’s friendly feline shopkeeper resides in Majula, and sells all manner of mystical rings to help your Hollow one out. She’s one of the few beings in FromSoftware’s sequel who doesn’t want to murder the hell out of you, although her steep prices will slash your stash of souls.

Far Cry Primal

Here at OPM, we’re all about celebrating cats of all sizes, whether they’re the dinky household variety that snuggle at your feet, or 600lb extinct brutes with fangs the size of prehistoric bananas. Primal’s sabre-toothed tigers prove to be ass-kicking allies once tamed, none more so than the legendary Bloodfang version.

Dead Rising 2

The WWF must be livid with Ted Smith. Dead Rising 2’s big-boned psycho is the trainer of one Snowflake: a performing tiger that’s forced to share the Yucatan Casino with 700 undead gamblers. Luckily, Chuck can give Snowflake a good home back at the safehouse once Ted bites it. Good kitty.

Final Fantasy 7

Not to be confused with a Youngling-murdering, fallen Jedi, Cait Sith is one cool cat. Well, ‘cat’ is slightly inaccurate. Technically, Cait is a human Shinra exec who remote-controls a tuxedo cat... who’s riding a moogle. Make sense? Anyhoo, Sith appears in other FFs as various summons and allies.

Earthworm Jim HD

Evil the Cat will make you a dog person, even if you aren’t one to start with. This dastardly creature is the personification of hate, ruling over the volcanic planet Heck with an iron fis... um, paw. Being a total git, Evil has filled Heck with spike pits, rivers of lava, and, worse, motivated lawyers. Throw in kitty’s acid-covered furballs, and this is one puss that deserves to be booted.

Sony Cat

Or ‘Toro Inoue’, to his pals. Sony’s Japanese mascot first popped up in virtual life sim Doko Demo Issyo, back in ’99. He’s since cameoed in the likes of Street Fighter X Tekken, and Toro’s even been known to try his claws at journalism, in Weekly Toro Station: a regular PSP news service.

Batman: Arkham City

The average kitty is supposed to rock nine lives, but Catwoman severely pushes that figure in Arkham City. Attempted acid baths at the hands of Two-Face. Brutal botanical encounters with Poison Ivy. Super-greedy, stupidly daring bank jobs. (If you ever get your own spin-off, Selina, we suggest staying in with a saucer of milk.)

Shadow of the Colossus

All right, Celosia isn’t really a ‘cat’, per se. Colossi the 11th may be an elephant-sized rock monster at first glance, but look a little closer, and it’s clearly just a gigantic, frightened feline. Its claws and cat-like movements immediately scream puss, as do its big sad eyes. D’aww.

Gravity Rush

Dusty the cat is a feline phenomenon. Not only does it bestow Kat with the power to control and manipulate gravity, its lush black coat seems to contain a mini solar system – just look at all those gorgeous speckles of light. It’d win Best In Show every time. The game hints that Dusty belongs to the alien Nevi race...

This article originally appeared in Official PlayStation Magazine. For more great PlayStation coverage, you can subscribe here.