Yes, you can pet the monsters in Wild Hearts

I can only defend you. There were many reasons that you could believe otherwise. couldn’t pet the animals Wild Hearts.

According to the Monster Hunter Series, this is a monster-hunter.HuntingGame, and not a monsterhuggingnot to be missed). Play as you please Wild Hearts, you hunt down giant monsters called kemono — a Japanese word that translates (roughly) to “beast,” by the way — using swords and hammers and magical mechanisms called karakuri. These monsters are deadly. AnimalsTo terrorize the land and to cut up their bodies for parts.

Some of these cute little guys are adorable in their own way, however. Wild Hearts co-director Kotaro Hirata told The Verge, “We didn’t want the players to feel bad when they defeated a monster.”

“We wanted you to want to fight them,” co-director Takuto Edagawa added.

So that’s what I did.

Image: Omega Force/Koei Tecmo Electronic Arts via Polygon

Broadly speaking, that’s what you’re It is supposed to do in Wild Hearts. You’re not It is supposedTo (be able) to pet monsters during a monster hunting game. And besides, the kemono you hunt are nature-animal hybrid monsters who are bigger than buildings and full of homicidal rage — certainly not the sort of creatures who seem deserving of, or particularly receptive to, pets.

The game does differentiate between “giant” and “small” kemono. You can cut all the parts off of giants, which are major-event hunts. Many varieties of smaller ones, roughly the size of a horse, populate Azuma’s world as you travel. While some of them are indifferent as they pass you, others will attack you if you approach. Call me petty, but that does not put me in the mindset to pet them (the attacking part, not the indifferent part; I have two cats, so I’m quite fond of small, indifferent creatures).

And, frankly, some of the small ones are just begging for a stabbin’. Like the Grassghoul Decapod here — just look at its picture and description:

Image: Omega Force/Koei Tecmo Electronic Arts via Polygon

Absolutely nothing about that says, “Let’s cuddle.”

Now, someone more observant than I am might have noticed that “number petted” stat in the screenshot above. It’s that simple. shouldThat was my first sign that something was wrong. But it wasn’t. It was the rabbit that finally got me to notice.

Well, 16 rabbits, actually.

Image: Omega Force/Koei Tecmo Electronic Arts via Polygon

Nothing about the Gladefruit Hare says, “Fight me, bro,” but I happily hacked through 16 of them. Because that’s what you do in a monster-hunting game And the directors said they didn’t want me to feel bad about it.

Between the 16th to the 17th, meat-filled bunnys, guilt began to set in. I messaged my colleague Ari to say, “Hey, isn’t it weird how you have to kill all the cute animals too?”

Image: Omega Force/Koei Tecmo Electronic Arts via Polygon

He didn’t seem to be sympathetic.

Because, you see, Wild HeartsHe tried to show me how I could keep the small kemono alive, rather than murder them. Twenty. Hours. Earlier. It was hard to see the prompt that popped up in the middle of the screen during the tutorial. It was a reminder of my bloodlust and I chose violence each time.

Image: Omega Force/Koei Tecmo Electronic Arts via Polygon

I still maintain this wasn’t my fault. After I barreled past that particular teachable moment in the first few minutes of the game, it didn’t really come up again. You have to crouch and remain unnoticed for the “pet” prompt to even show up. But there’s not a lot of opportunity for hiding in bushes or stealthy gameplay in Wild Hearts.

And so, I had spent 20 hours obliviously slashing my way through so, so many animals I could have been petting all along — 136 of them across a dozen species.

Image: Omega Force/Koei Tecmo Electronic Arts via Polygon

This is my public confession. Video games have tutorials for a reason. If you rush through them, they will not work. Wild HeartsTutorial made me a real monster.