Petscop, the supposed Playstation 1 game developed by Garalina that only exists in the form of a youtube Let's Play, is not a video game. However, Petscop, the 24 episode Youtube Series that weaves together an expansive horror mystery narrative through gameplay and commentary, is a video game. To watch the videos, to interpret why Paul is doing the things he is doing, both in and out of the game, to try and work out the mysterious nature of Petscop as a piece of software, peeling back the layers of symbolism, working out solutions to puzzles alongside Paul, That Is Playing Petscop.

Really great love letter to classic run and guns like Gunstar Heroes or Contra Hard Corps.

I have one minor quarrel with this game, which is that accessory that gives you i-frames on dodging feels like just, objectively the best one, too good to pass up on, but the actual visual of your character disappearing and reappearing on dodging is difficult to parse and follow in the hectic nature of the fights. Even if this was an intentional trade-off, I don't think making the game harder to follow visually is a fun decision to be making.

Ms. Chalice's kit honestly makes up for this by giving an equally fleshed out kit without the issues of not being able to see your dodge or having to consider what accessory you use, but there are definitely a few attacks in the main game that were not considered with how her parry works. (The card attack in the Bunny fight during the King Dice boss rush is basically unavoidable.)

Still, a visual treat that's a lot of fun to play and I hope it encourages others to seek out more classic Boss Rush Shooters.