Otherworldly Friends

Ask any gamer about memorable animals in video games and you will likely be met with a list so long that it transcends space and time. Fabled animal friends include horses such as Epona and Roach, Link and Geralt of Rivia’s trusty steeds of The Legend of Zelda and The Witcher fame respectively. Of course, the popularity of these ponies likely pales in comparison to that of certain canine companions, such as the much loved Dogmeat of the Fallout series and German shepherd Riley in Call of Duty: Ghosts. Even some birds have a fan following, such as a vault hunter Mordecai’s avian ally Bloodwing from Borderlands and Archimedes the dove belonging to the Medic of Team Fortress 2. However, there is one animal noticeably absent from the spotlight.

Despite their real-life popularity cats have quietly been slinking around in the shadows of games, usually utilised as additional scenery in towns and cities. However, there are some instances where cats have been minor characters, such as Alvina, the huge talking (and surprisingly quite friendly) cat from Dark Souls and perhaps the more memorable Mike Tyson-esque iteration of Tiny the Tiger from the Crash Bandicoot spinoff game Crash of the Titans. Cats as main characters are currently few and far between and are generally more on the anthropomorphic side.

Those who are lucky enough to have had a Sega Genesis may remember the 1993 game Bubsy in: Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind in which the titular feline must regain his record-breaking wool ball collection which has been stolen by aliens. The bobcat’s adventures continued in a further two games, released in 1994 and 1996 before his 21-year hiatus. 2017 saw Bubsy return to our consoles in Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back, revisiting the alien plot from the first game. Unfortunately, in this iteration, Bubsy suffered a similar fate to other rebooted series’ such as Duke Nukem, receiving poor ratings from critics and players alike. Accolade, the creators of Bubsy, were undeterred, releasing the latest installation Bubsy: Paws on Fire in 2019 to a better reception, suggesting there is life in the old (bob)cat yet.

Although Bubsy is perhaps one of the most well-known feline playable characters, he was not the first. The early 1980s saw the release of not one but two different games called Alley Cat, one for the Commodore 64 and the other for Atari, featuring cats named Thomas in the former, and Freddy in the latter. Interestingly, although they are different games, they both have a similar main objective: each cat must reach his love. Thomas must dodge and jump over obstacles while running along wall tops. Freddy takes it one step further, entering people’s houses and completing tasks such as eating fish or catching mice all while avoiding various objects, dogs and unfriendly cats.

Freddy, Thomas, and Bubsy belong to a rather exclusive club of playable cat characters, joined in 2002 by a futuristic time traveller Blinx in a release for the original Xbox called Blinx: The Time Sweeper. Blinx’s anthropomorphic and child-friendly design made him a prime candidate for becoming the mascot of Xbox, but unfortunately, the game did not rise to expectations and the sequel Blinx 2: Masters of Time and Space did little to help poor Blinx. Subsequently, the main character of the Halo series, Master Chief became widely considered as Xbox’s mascot, and Blinx has faded into obscurity, with no new instalments to the series since 2004.

Although there has been a noticeable drought of fully playable main cat characters in games this has been somewhat mitigated by some games having controllable or interactable cat characters. World of Warcraft, arguably the most popular massively multiplayer online role-playing game has always contained collectable kitties which follow the player and a variety of cat mounts to ride and fly on. This was hugely developed in the 2012 Mists of Pandaria expansion with the inclusion of the battle pet system, in which the collectable pets were able to be levelled and used in mini-battles in a rock-paper-scissors fashion. Further expansions saw more and more pets added to the game. The fuzzy followers have proven so popular that there is an achievement to be gained when the player has obtained twenty different cats. Even better, the achievement grants the ‘Crazy Cat Lady/Man’ title to your character. There is, as of writing, sadly no such title available for collecting cat mounts yet.

There seems to a trend of games with interactable cats where main characters are unscrupulous or violent producing the rather interesting juxtaposition of hardened criminals and murderers showing their soft side. Cats can be praised or scolded in Rockstar’s cowboy classic Red Dead Redemption 2 but the player being unable to pet the cats led to an outcry from fans and many online petitions. However, in the Assassin’s Creed series, cats have been pettable in many titles. Cats have an important role in Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey, set in Ancient Egypt. Main character Bayek is often popular with the cats and is able to make a fuss of them, but he cannot pet dogs. This is unsurprising considering cats were sacred to the Ancient Egyptians. Additionally, if the player accidentally (or deliberately if you are a monster) kills cats, the third ‘strike’ will result in Bayek becoming ‘desynchronised’ and the player having to start from the last save.

Taking cat petting simulations to a new degree is Yakuza 6: The Song of Life where hardened gangster Kazuma Kiryu has to help set up a cat café by befriending 19 stray cats, each with their own favourite foods. First, Kiryu has to locate the cats, which can be a difficult feat as sometimes they are nowhere to be found – art imitates life indeed – and then he needs to feed them enough of the food they like to fill their friendship meter. One could argue that this is also peak realism. Once the cats have been befriended, they will reside at the cat café and Kiryu can go and visit them, giving them fuss when they decide he is worthy of attention.

Anybody that had a DS will likely remember the Nintendogs games, where originally only a variety of (admittedly very cute) interactable pups were available. The release of the 3DS and subsequent Nintendogs + Cats game also featured three different breeds of adorable kittens, which could be fed, watered, played with and even bathed just like the dogs. In a similar vein, the PC series of Petz games featured a whole host of cat and dog breeds which were fully interactable, with lots of fun minigames. Even though Petz 5, the most recent addition to the series was released 18 years ago, there is still a bustling community for the games today, with many people customising the in-game breeds to resemble more realistic members of the cat (and dog) world and participating with them in various online shows and activities. The adulation of pet simulations is also prevalent in The Sims franchise, each mainline iteration has its own pet expansion with highly customisable cats and dogs to recreate your reallife furry friend perfectly.

Square Enix’s 1997 spectacular Final Fantasy VII saw the franchise’s first - and thus far only - quadrupedal party member, a young but intelligent animal of a lion-esque species called Nanaki (players will know him better by his experimental name Red XIII). Although whether he is feline or canine is hotly debated amongst fans, his leonine appearance would suggest the former. Debate aside, he is a formidable part of the team, being adept in both physical and magical attacks. As such, long-time fans of the game were disappointed due to his inclusion but lack of playability in Final Fantasy 7: Remake, released earlier this year, though the developers have explained it is because he joins the party so late in the game. However, if you, like me, are a Red XIII fan, do not despair. Some tech-savvy fans have been able to alter the game to make him playable for the short time he joins main character Cloud and the gang. Furthermore, the next instalment will likely see the much-loved four-legged friend as a playable companion.

The cat-dog debate is also present in other games. Generation two of the Pokémon games (Pokémon Gold, Silver and later Crystal) saw the release of 100 new monsters to catch, including legendary beasts Suicune, Entei and Raikou, complete with a tragic backstory. The three initially perished when they were caught in a fire in their home, Brass Tower (later Burned Tower), before being resurrected by the legendary fire bird, Ho-oh. Each represents what happened to the tower, Raikou for the lightning that caused the fire, Entei for the fire which engulfed the tower and Suicune for the rain that quelled the flame. Although colloquially known as the ‘legendary dogs’, many fans have argued that they are more cat-like. Whilst Suicune and Entei could perhaps be considered more dog-like, the jury is truly out on Raikou, which has seemingly taken design inspiration from the tiger. If you are a Pokémon fan you will, of course, recognise there are a number of the (now nearly a whopping 900) creatures that are heavily inspired by cats.

Those only slightly familiar with the series will likely have heard of Meowth, a pokémon resembling the lucky Chinese cats which feature heavily in the anime series as the nefarious Team Rocket's accomplice, with the unique ability to properly communicate with the human characters. In the games, Meowth has also received special treatment and is thus far the only pokémon to have received different catchable forms in three separate regions, each with their own unique morphology. In the latest games, it also received a special 'gigantamax’ form, causing bemusement in fans due to its similar appearance to the ‘longcat’ memes. Other cat-like Pokémon have also transcended into household names. Although Incineroar, a humanoid feline wrestler pokémon was initially met with controversy in the fanbase, its role in both the anime and feature-length film I Choose You, as well as its inclusion in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, helped to cement its popularity.

Speaking of popularity, the latest Animal Crossing game, Animal Crossing: New Horizons caused quite a stir with the inclusion of new cat villager Raymond. Although a number of cat villagers already existed, with many such as Bob, Lolly and Ankha already being popular with the fanbase, Raymond firmly cemented himself as the number one most sought after villager. This is largely to do with his unique heterochromatic business-cat design. Since he is brand new to the series, it is currently difficult for players to get their paws on him. All villagers up until now have devices called ‘Amiibo cards’ which allow players to scan their favourite villagers and put them into their games. The lack of these for new villagers such as Raymond coupled with his popularity has meant that people have sometimes paid extortionate amounts of both in-game and real-life currency just to have him on their islands, which many fans have criticised as being against the spirit of the game and giving the community a bad reputation.

Animal Crossing is just one example of how cats are stalking into the limelight of video games. In the Monster Hunter series, the felynes are small bipedal cats which are usually docile. In 2018’s Nintendo Switch title Monster Hunter: World, the player is accompanied by a felyne called a palico which will aid them in battle. Although the player may only have one palico, they are highly customisable when initially obtained. This coupled with their adorable looks made them extremely popular companions. However, the apex of cats in video games is seemingly about to be reached with the release of the Playstation 5.

Alongside Sony’s official announcement for its newest console, the trailer for a game called Stray was also shown, featuring a nonanthropomorphic cat as its hero for the first time since Thomas and Freddy almost 40 years ago. Although not many details were given away, the cat is shown wandering around a futuristic Hong Kong. The idea itself is not entirely novel, as there is a similar game called Peace Island currently in development, in which the player sees the world through the eyes of nine cats. However, Stray has been in development for quite some time and is set to come to Playstation 5 next year. As such, it will likely pip Peace Island to the post for full release. For cat lovers which worry about the price the PS5 might be sold at, never fear, Stray is coming to Playstation 4 as well.

The history of cats in gaming is long, and the aforementioned felines both major and minor are not an exhaustive list, there are many more catrelated characters and quests ready to be discovered. Whilst not as conspicuous as dogs and horses, with games like Stray being developed and the continued popularity of cat companions, their future in gaming is bright-eyed and bushy tailed.

Composed by,

Thea Mainprize, Undergraduate of Zoology at the University of Aberdeen