The year 2023 was a good year for videogames, but if those videogames don’t have adorable animals in them, then WHAT’S THE POINT?! No, I will not explain why I’m in your house, but I will explain to you the 11 best videogame fur (some of these animals may not have fur) babies of the year, listed unranked in the order of their respective games’ release dates. It’s been a tough year; you owe it to yourself to ooh and aww over the cutest, bravest, and all around best videogame animals of 2023.
Sommie in Fire Emblem Engage
There are a bunch of great ways to interact with animals in videogames, from traveling to battling alongside them, but one of the best ways is to just have a little area where they can be a cute ‘lil guy you can pet, feed treats and vibe with. Fire Emblem Engage’s Sommie falls into that last category, as you can change how he looks, feed him and give him lots of pets. You can also train and fish with him!
Homer in Forspoken
Look, Forspoken may not be winning many game-of-the-year awards, but at least it has cute cats. There are a lot of, some might say too many, quests where you follow a cat and it leads you to some goodie. However, it’s the cat you own at the start of the game, when Frey is living in New York City, that most captured our hearts. There’s not anything special about this cat, other than it being your cat and therefore being the most special cat of all. Before being transported to the game’s fantasy setting, Frey gives her cat, Homer, away to a judge as she isn’t able to take care of him anymore. However, you can choose to be reunited with your buddy if you choose the “bad” ending, being transported back home and dooming the world of Athia.
Hewie in Resident Evil 4 Remake
This one is a furry friend that’s captured the hearts of game-players since 2005, but he got a major league glow up along with the rest of the game he’s in with 2023’s remake Resident Evil 4. His name isn’t confirmed to be Hewie, but because of how similar he looks to the dog of that name in the game Haunting Ground, many fans have decided that’s his name. If you help him out of a trap he’s gotten into (and why wouldn’t you??!), Hewie will return the favor and help you out of a bind in a future boss fight.
Dondons in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is full of wonderful creatures, but most of them are recycled from the previous game, Breath of the Wild. One of the game’s few new friendly animals, however, are the Dondons. These docile animals look a lot like the enemy Dodongos from previous Zelda titles, but these ones just hang out and can poop out useful ores if you feed them luminous stones!
Oatchi in Pikmin 4
Pikmin has always been about its little guys, and, sadly, the constant sacrifice of said little guys. Pikmin 4 gave us a new buddy who’s a lot tougher, and also a good bit more useful than the average flower-based critter. Oatchi the space dog can both run tasks for you while you’re otherwise indisposed, and also be controlled directly by you, letting you access spaces your Rescue Corps member can’t fit into. He remains ever cheerful and boisterous, like an outer space hybrid of an alien plant and a St. Bernard.—Garrett Martin
Halsin in Baldur’s Gate 3
…This is the guy who turns into the bear you can fuck.
Okidogi in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet: The Teal Mask
Instead of a new Pokémon game this year, we saw two DLC episodes added to last year’s games Scarlet and Violet, The Teal Mask and The Indigo Disk. Unlike a brand new game, there aren’t hundreds of new ‘mons to collect, but there are a few! Fortunately, one of those is Okidogi, who looks like that meme of the dog with the buff human body. You know the one. He’s so silly, but we love him even more for it.
The moth in Cocoon
This year had fewer games where you play as the animal throughout the entire game, but the excellent puzzler Cocoon stepped in to fill that need. You play as what looks like a little moth who can’t fly, but can walk around with four orbs that also serve as portals to other worlds. We never get concrete answers on what this moth is doing, why or even what its name is, but the mystery just adds to the atmosphere.
Everyone’s elephant forms in Super Mario Bros. Wonder
Super Mario Bros. Wonder is delightful for a series of reasons, but one of them is one of the game’s new power-ups, the elephant forms! These power-ups allow Mario and friends to transform into the long-trunked creatures, which Bowser—and the rest of us—are big fans of.
Fido in Spider-Man 2
Spider-Man 2 is full of great side quests, but one of the best is called “Monster in Queens.” You meet an elderly, blind lady who says she can’t have a seeing-eye dog because she’s allergic to dogs. She reports a monster that’s been wrecking her home, so Spidey sets out to investigate. He finds the culprit to be a robot dog that was abused (can robots be abused? we say they can if they’re dog-shaped) by Kraven’s cronies and is about to maul Spider-Man’s face off before his friend, Ganke, uploads hundreds of dog videos to the robot’s memory. This of course instantly programs it to act like a friendly dog, not only stopping its rampage but also allowing it to be a seeing-eye dog named Fido for the elderly lady.
Ballast in Jusant
Jusant, a game almost entirely about climbing, is a very isolating game. As you ascend the central pillar, you see lots of settlements and old notes and letters from people who used to live there, but everyone but your player character is gone. That is, except for Ballast, a small, squishy little buddy who hangs out on your shoulder. Ballast is entirely made of water, something the rest of the game’s world seems to lack, and has an important connection to the game’s plot we won’t spoil here. He also makes adorable little squeals that can affect the world, but they affect our hearts the most.
Joseph Stanichar is a freelance writer who specializes in videogames and pop culture. He’s written for publications such as Game Informer, Twinfinite and Looper. He’s on Twitter @JosephStanichar.