Personally, graphics are far from being what tells me if a game is good or not. Well-written/designed characters and an enthralling story don’t set the deal completely, either. Good performance and enjoyable gameplay are important, but not the most important feature. Those honors are, of course, reserved for being able to pet animals or not.
This much-needed gaming feature has gained more relevance throughout the years, especially with the popular Can You Pet the Dog? Twitter account, which informs of games that include this feature. And since they haven’t answered that specific question for Honkai: Star Rail at the time of writing this article, it’s time to learn if you can pet the dog or not. Genshin still only lets us feed the dogs, but never pet them. Has Hoyoverse learned from its mistakes?
Can You Pet the Dog in Honkai: Star Rail?
Yes, you can pet the dog in Honkai Star Rail… kinda. You’re definitely making sure that he knows he’s a good boy, but we don’t get to see any dog-petting animation. Laaaame.
While visiting Herta Space Station, you can come across a cute little fella named Peppy. You can interact with this friendly small critter where you’ll be prompted to play with it. While you may attempt to train it, it doesn’t look like it’s in the mood for that. Anyway, interact with it and select “Play with it!” to be prompted with the following options:
And petting his head is definitely his favorite option as Peppy joyfully wags its tail in celebration of its long-awaited pets. It doesn’t seem to be a big fan of belly scratches though, but giving it some doesn’t seem to be a big problem. It will still love you at the end of the day.
Related: How to Snap Photos in Honkai: Star Rail
The main issue here is that none of the playing options feature special animations. So yeah, we can pet it. Can we see it? No. At least we’re given some of those stellar Star Rail dialogues which can definitely get you off-guard sometimes. If you enjoy how Peppy’s expression of dismay when you try to train it was described, you’ll love to see those dialogues from opening trash cans around the cities.
But in summary, yes. The dog is pettable. No, there’s no animation, but it’s definitely happy. Good game 10/10 would pet the dog again.
