History WebVideo / Petscop

* TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers: The pause menu shows Resume Game, Options, Pets, and [[BreadEggsMilkSquick Book of Baby Names]]. Its content isn't revealed until Petscop 24, where it's revealed to be [[spoiler:a list of beta testers]].

* DisguisedHorrorStory: ''Petscop'' is a fictional LetsPlay series wherein Paul plays what starts as a fun [[ObviousBeta (albeit unfinished)]] game about collecting pets and finding them homes, with a colorful environment called the Gift Plane, happy music, and overall looking every bit like the kid-friendly time-waster that was so common in the [=PS1=] era. There are a few hints of something off (like the fact that the pets are scared of the PlayerCharacter), but it seems harmless. Until, that is, Paul enters a cheat code in Roneth's room. The music [[SuddenSoundtrackStop suddenly stops]], and Paul ventures outside Even Care to find not the peaceful-looking Gift Plane, but a darker, mysterious new world called the Newmaker Plane. From then on, ''Petscop'' moves to a dark and twisted story involving themes like child abuse, references to the tragic [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candace_Newmaker Candace Newmaker]] incident, and cryptic events that increasingly seem like [[spoiler:[[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou Paul himself]]]] is a key figure in.

''[[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZKQv0ZFHpeIUkOtNjtq4KA Petscop]]'' is a series of Website/YouTube videos chronicling someone's bizarre experiences with a mysterious and unfinished UsefulNotes/{{PlayStation}} game known as the titular ''Petscop''. The first video was uploaded on March 12, 2017.

** HalloweenEpisode: Petscop 16 was released to Youtube on 10/31/2018, which is Halloween. Despite its short duration, its content was quite disturbing.

** Petscop Soundtrack was uploaded on American Thanksgiving, 2019. On Twitter, Tony thanked everyone who had followed the story to its completion, and released the soundtrack to Youtube and Bandcamp in return.

* BreatherEpisode: Petscop 21 is simply a recording of Care playing the game and "dancing" around in-game. It turns out that the video [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8F-S1MT-QdM syncs up]] with the Music/AceOfBase song "The Sign." Considering the [[WhamEpisode numerous lore-heavy episodes released on the same day]], it's definitely a relief.

** In Petscop 9, the big present appears. Instead of censoring the box itself, what's censored is the giant, red, upside-down, spinning pyramid that comes out of it; the object seems to disturb Paul, who [[{{Main/PrecisionFStrike}} makes this evident]]. [[spoiler:Petscop 20 revealed the pyramid had Care's icon on it.]]

** In Petscop 1, Paul's note describes how to "walk downstairs and, in the bottom, turn right instead of proceeding" to become a "shadow monster man." Paul ignores this, instead repeating a cheat code to enter the Newmaker Plane. Eight videos later, [[spoiler:Paul finally tries the original instructions in the entrance to the lower level of the barn and becomes a [[{{LivingShadow}} shadow monster man]], allowing him to progress into the windmill]].

* TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers: The pause menu shows Resume Game, Options, Pets, and [[BreadMilkEggsSquick Book of Baby Names]]. Its content isn't revealed until Petscop 24, where it's revealed to be [[spoiler:a list of beta testers]].

** [[spoiler:As the series goes on, the player character in the "DEMO" recordings starts to precisely mimic Paul's earlier actions. The first obvious example is in Petscop 9: in the first scene, the demo player lowers the number on the treadmill with the exact same timing that Paul pulled the petals off of the giant daisy in Petscop 2. The demo deviating by lowering the count to -1 gives Paul the hint he needs to catch Care NLM. Later, Paul realizes that mimicking what the green-headed man does helps him make progress, but he also starts falling into new loops that he doesn’t seem to recognize...]]

-->'''Paul:''' We're still not done, because we still have whatever is over here. Or not. Okay.

--->[[spoiler:'''Marvin:''']] Thanks. [[spoiler:[[PreAssKickingOneLiner Here. I. Come.]]]]

* RedHerring: The real-life [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candace_Newmaker Candice Newmaker case]] is referenced a few times early in the series. While it originally led many to view the game as re-exploring the child abuse involved in that case, it became clear by Petscop 11 that the series was more of an exploration of the damage done to children by adoptive and ex-parents who treat them more like objects than people, and that all Newmaker references were merely easily digestible allusions to fill in the hidden game's setting. [[spoiler:Though Marvin's ultimate plan, at least, seems to revolve around "rebirthing" Care into Lina.]]

-->'''Paul:''' Well, it could have changed between then and 2004. [[spoiler:After 2004 my mom had it, purportedly.]]

!!Tropes excusive to ''Giftscop'':

** The phrase "good grief and alas" is a reference to ''Daisy-Head Mayzie'' by Creator/DrSeuss.

** In Petscop 21, the movements of Guardian (presumably controlled by Care) [[http://www.youtubemultiplier.com/5cbce5a2ef662-petscop-21-vs-ace-of-base-the-sign.php perfectly sync up with]] "The Sign" by Music/AceOfBase. The video's description even consists solely of the song's title.

--->'''Note Writer''': I'm calling you [[spoiler:Belle]] because that's who you are. You might be confused as to what happened. [[spoiler:I was overeager before, and started calling you Tiara prematurely.]]

--->[[spoiler:'''Roneth's description''': Because he's younger, he gets to learn from all of Toneth's mistakes. That's why he always looks both ways.]]

* MisbegottenMultiplayerMode: While the game does have online multiplayer, there is very little interaction between players, besides being able to see each other.

* AntiFrustrationFeatures: The original Petscop often forced Paul to wait long amounts of time in order to trigger certain events (e.g., visiting a room in the Child Library, entering the cellar door, going through the tunnel to the school). Giftscop allows the player to bypass these by entering certain commands corresponding to events, allowing the events to trigger without the wait.

** You can't move and use P2 to Talk at the same time (except with the /say command). Currently there is no controller support except through [=Joy2Key=], so there's no Port 2 to speak of - you instead "switch ports" using the Tab key.
** If you use a custom character, it will show for you in regular gameplay. Paul never saw his own pyramid head design outside of Room Impulse.

* ShoutOut: One of the playable characters is [[VideoGame/{{Undertale}} Sans]].
* UnintentionallyUnwinnable: Generations 1 and 2 have no pause menu, no generation-changing events, and no way to exit Even Care, so if you load an Even Care save in one of those generations, you can't get back to the Newmaker Plane without switching generations or manually loading the scene through the console.
* VirtualPaperDoll: You can play as effectively ''any'' character you can want. Every character is just a png file with a four-frame walk cycle and an idle sprite for each direction (plus a sprite for the "early" character design used in floor 2 of the school), and you can simply make and use your own.

* BodyMotifs: Eyebrows are very focused on throughout the series. Paul even changes Care’s face in the Child Library for the sole reason that, “Eyebrows seem to be important.”

* SurpriseCreepy: ''Petscop'' is a fictional LetsPlay series wherein Paul plays what starts as a fun [[ObviousBeta (albeit unfinished)]] game about collecting pets and finding them homes, with a colorful environment called the Gift Plane, happy music, and overall looking every bit like the kid-friendly time-waster that was so common in the [=PS1=] era. There are a few hints of something off (like the fact that the pets are scared of the PlayerCharacter), but it seems harmless. Until, that is, Paul enters a cheat code in Roneth's room. The music [[SuddenSoundtrackStop suddenly stops]], and Paul ventures outside Even Care to find not the peaceful-looking Gift Plane, but a darker, mysterious new world called the Newmaker Plane. From then on, ''Petscop'' moves to a dark and twisted story involving themes like child abuse, references to the tragic [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candace_Newmaker Candace Newmaker]] incident, and cryptic events that increasingly seem like [[spoiler:[[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou Paul himself]]]] is a key figure in.

[[caption-width-right:350:Petscop's title screen]]

* NoPronunciationGuide: For a very long time, viewers did not know how "Petscop" was officially pronounced. [[spoiler:Petscop 22 was the first time Paul actually said the game's title out loud.]]