The terrible summer of Nintendo games that won't let the player pet animals is at an end as Luigi can pet Polterpup during the early segments of Luigi's Mansion 3.
It has been hard for animal-loving Nintendo fans over the past year as so many Nintendo Switch games included pets that could not be interacted with. The developers of Fire Emblem: Three Houses filled Garreg Mach Monastery with an assortment of cute cats and dogs, but Byleth is unable to pet any of them. The base in Daemon X Machina has a dog that cannot be interacted with. Even Astral Chain won't let you pet any of the cats, leaving only the Beast Legion (a huge monstrosity that looks like a Jojo's Bizarre Adventure reject) to be pet.
The people at Nintendo finally wisened up and allowed Luigi to pet Polterpup during the early stages of Luigi's Mansion 3. Polterpup is a recurring character in Luigi's Mansion 3 and it has the power to save Luigi if he drops to zero health -but only if the player purchases Golden Bones from Professor E. Gadd's shop-. Polterpup arrives at the Last Resort Hotel with Luigi and the two hang out during the early stages of the game when the hotel's true nature has yet to reveal itself.
It's possible to interact with Polterpup during this section of the game and Luigi can pet him as they explore his room. Polterpup keeps reappearing throughout the story in Luigi's Mansion 3, but he mostly acts as a guide in areas where players might not know how to proceed. Naturally, the petting opportunities diminish after the opening hour of the game.
It has become a recurring request for players to be able to pet animals in video games with games like Dauntless receiving praise for letting the player pet their dogs. The only question now is whether Game Freak is brave enough to let the player character pet Zacian in Pokémon Sword & Shield even though there is a risk of being disemboweled by the huge sword it carries in its mouth.
Luigi's Mansion 3 is available for Nintendo Switch on October 31, 2019.
Source: Reddit