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Quick Note: The following article contains some spoilers for the main plotline of 2008’s Xbox 360 game Fable II. No other mentioned games are spoiled.
I love a good animal companion in a game, and I think that many more games should implement this as a mechanic.
The popularity of titles like Pokemon and Palworld proves that I’m not wrong, and yet something like ninety nine percent of modern big budget video games ship without any kind of fun little animal friends in them. That’s a very serious statistic backed up by years of research.
Microsoft, back in the days before they were a soulless machine that shut down studios for breakfast, leaned hard into the animal friend idea in Fable II. Most of the game’s marketing centered around its dog companion, and how he would accompany you throughout the entire adventure. His AI was touted as the next big thing in gaming. He could participate in combat, find hidden items, and intelligently run along the path beside you throughout the game’s world — in part by sneakily teleporting when the camera wasn’t focused on him, just like Elizabeth in Bioshock Infinite.
The dog in Fable II was also sadly used as a key element in the plot to tug on your emotions and inspire you to vengeance…
