History WebVideo / CatastropheCrow

!!Catastrophe Crow shows examples of the following tropes:

On August 19th, 2021, according to Adam Butcher, it appears that [[https://twitter.com/AdamButcherFilm/status/1428296040311099393?s=20 the ARG is over]]. However, Butcher [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBBgPVYz7hQ finally released the game]] on April 26, 2024, with future updates planned. The game can be played [[https://opuslegacy.itch.io/play-catastrophe-crow here]].

* JustifiedTitle: The game actually does depict a catastrophe, specifically [[invoked]][[CreatorBreakdown the creator's own breakdown]]. It's implied this was [[InvokedTrope invoked]] by the creator himself, as the game was previously given the [[invoked]]WorkingTitle ''Crow 64'', before the ensuing [[invoked]]DevelopmentHell took its toll on him.

On August 19th, 2021, according to Adam Butcher, it appears that [[https://twitter.com/AdamButcherFilm/status/1428296040311099393?s=20 the ARG is over]]. However, Butcher [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBBgPVYz7hQ finally released the full game]] on April 26, 2024. The game can be played [[https://opuslegacy.itch.io/play-catastrophe-crow here]].

On August 19th, 2021, according to Adam Butcher, it appears that [[https://twitter.com/AdamButcherFilm/status/1428296040311099393?s=20 the ARG is over]].

* DarkReprise: The title theme is played again after the player [[AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent plays as a crow with glasses]], but sounds deeper and melancholic.

''Catastrophe Crow'', or ''Crow 64'', is an AlternateRealityGame centering around the eponymous unfinished game for the UsefulNotes/Nintendo64, made by Adam Butcher, known for his WebVideo/InternetStory video.

* AllForNothing: What the game's development amounted to; it's all but stated that Manfred Lorenz made the game with his daughter in mind, and later cryptically told a developer, "[[UnusualEuphemism the player is gone]]". Even when bankrupt and without staff, he continued to work on the game... right as the UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube was released, signaling the end of the Nintendo 64 era.

* WholePlotReference: A (possibly) haunted game meant to be played by the daughter of the lead developer? Aren't we talking about ''VideoGame/NanashiNoGame''?

* HauntedTechnology: [[ImpliedTrope Implied]], but nowhere near confirmed to be the case with the ''Catastrophe Crow'' game.

* DontGoInTheWoods: The Forest Level, which also happens to contain some of the game's spookier elements.

* DrivenToSuicide: Apparently Manfred, but it's quickly revealed that he's still alive in some fashion.

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** In "Catastrophe Crow N64", the hallway the computer in has the same dead end at both ends once Mr. Crow enters it.

* DecoyProtagonist: Despite Adam Butcher being the presenter of the original video, he isn't mentioned in any of the other videos, and even falls quiet a few minutes before the end of the original video and is never seen in any of the other videos.
* {{Deuteragonist}}: In some videos, Mr. Crow is seen using a mirror in the forest level to swap to a secondary crow character who's smaller and doesn't have a bandaged wing, thus gaining the ability to glide by flapping its wings. A conversation with the elder crow in "Let's Play Catastrophe Crow! 64 – [=Ep1=]" implies that this second crow is based on Manfred's other child, a son named Nils.

* DontGoInTheWoods: The Forest Level, which also happens to contain some of the games spookier elements.

** In the same video, various magazine scans which flesh out the game are shown.

** Zig-Zagged with Nils Lorenz, who is not mentioned once in WHAT HAPPENED TO CROW 64 but becomes a major character afterwards.

* MindScrew: Even the previews show that even before ''Catastrophe Crow'' entered [[invoked]]DevelopmentHell, things were weird.

* WhenTreesAttack: A development document reveals that the trees are actually ''hostile'' (complete with an eyeball). This fact makes gameplays featuring the forest level such as [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImhNwENFZjQ these]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RktfCzZd8Q two]] even more unsettling than they already are.

The first [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irEb9TS9yEk video]] initially presents itself as a documentary of ''Catastrophe Crow'', a game by the notorious perfectionist Manfred Lorenz. As the video goes on, it becomes increasingly clear that the game is no ordinary piece of software. The ARG is continued through a multiple videos on various channels.

* AllForNothing: What the game's development amounted to; it's all but stated that Manfred Lorenz made the game with his daughter in mind, and later cryptically told a developer, "[[UnusualEuphemism the player is gone]]". Even when bankrupt and without staff, he continued to work on the game... right as the UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube was released, signalling the end of the Nintendo 64 era.

* FirstEpisodeTwist: The first video, "WHAT HAPPENED TO CROW 64", leads viewers to believe the game's title is "Crow 64", when in fact this was merely the WorkingTitle. The actual name of the game - and series - is revealed later in the video, when the game boots up for the first time.

** In "WHAT HAPPENED TO CROW 64" when Mr. Crow falls down the stairs, all the textures briefly changed to that of a brain scan.

* JustifiedTitle: The game actually does depict a catastrophe, specifically [[invoked]][[CreatorBreakdown the creator's own breakdown]]. It's implied this was [[InvokedTrope invoked]] by the creator himself, as the game was previously given the [[invoked]]WorkingTitle ''Crow 64'', before the ensuing [[invoked]]DevelopmentHell would take its toll on him.

* HauntedTechnology: Implied, but nowhere near confirmed to be the case with the ''Catastrophe Crow'' game.