We now know a fair bit about the next game from the pros at Naughty Dog, but there’s still a lot left to learn about The Last of Us Part 2. One of the most pressing questions about the sequel is – of course – can you pet the dog?
Thanks to the now-viral Twitter account CanYouPetTheDog whether or not a dog is pet-able in a game is one of the biggest questions that the internet wants to know.
Speaking exclusively to GameByte during MCM Comic Con Scotland, Joel actor Troy Baker spoke about the dogs in The Last of Us Part 2, and opened up about the importance of the first game’s doggo.
When asked whether the game will have good boys to pet, or if it’s all the dog enemies shown off in Naughty Dog’s latest trailer, Troy said simply “No comment,” which is a pretty eyebrow-raising answer to the question.
I’ll let you make of that what you will, but personally, I want to know why he wouldn’t answer yes or no…
Speaking of Buckley, the dog who is pet-able in first game of The Last of Us, Troy said: “That was a wonderful thing that we got to do. There’s just a simple moment, not in cinematic but in gameplay, fully owned by player agency to be able to pet that dog, whose name is Buckley. That was a great honour.
“Neil [Druckmann] has experienced loss as well with a dog, and it was one of the things that he used in his writing, as far as like how people deal with loss and how they grieve.
“Even in the midst of that he was kind enough to…he could easily, as the writer, as the director, he could easily have named that dog after his dog and he chose to do it after mine. And I thought that was a really cool gesture by him.”
Awww.
From what we have seen of dogs in TLOU Part 2, they’re a new enemy type that, honestly, looks absolutely terrifying.
Like all the new enemies in the game, the pooches have heartbeats which you’ll need to watch to see if you’ve been spotted by them.
Naughty Dog has confirmed that you don’t have to kill the dog enemies to get by them though, which is great news for animal-loving players.
As for whether or not you’ll be able to pet any of the good boys in the game, it looks like we’ll have to wait and see.
The Last of Us Part 2 launches exclusively on PlayStation 4, May 2020.
Featured Image Credit: Naughty Dog