YMMV / Petz

• Fanon Discontinuity:
  • Petz 5 never existed. Expect to be very left out of adopting petz out to the more specialized/mature bulk of the Petz Community if you use P5, because not only are P5 Petz incompatible with P3/4 games, but everybody just hates it. It's gotten to the point where some Petz forums have separate sections just for Petz 5 adoptions because of the incompatibility problem, and that's not where all the good hexes are. On the other hand, it is still enjoyable if you don't care about the other games/hexing.
  • Basically anything with the Petz label that came out after Petz 5 does not exist at all.
• Gateway Series: Of all things, Petz serves as a gateway for many fans to learn how to use hex editors, as well as learning the basics of game modifications.
• More Popular Spin Off: The Petz initially started out, in part, as a loose spin-off to Ballz, being a game developed by the same team, recycling effectively only its unique pseudo-3D methodology of using pre-rendered spheres to "model" a dog and use it for a pet simulator, instead of creating humanoids for a fighting game like Ballz did. While Ballz is generally considered interesting from a historical standpoint, Petz is the one that stood the test of time, getting its own spin-offs and hosting an active community decades onward.
• Periphery Demographic: You'd be surprised how many people in their teens and 20's play this game, and even more how many players were encouraged to learn how to use hex editors because of it.
• Realism-Induced Horror: For a Casual Video Game aimed at children, the series is surprisingly blunt about the topic of animal neglect and abuse. In addition to caring for their pet, players are also capable of harming their pet by shaking them, throwing them, yelling at them (with microphone support), misusing the spray bottle, and denying them food or water. If this becomes too severe, pets will run away, unable to be selected ever again. This is an aspect of the series that horrifies fans, to the point where they've created banners decrying this playstyle.
• Self-Imposed Challenge: Breeding lines of "selective breeds", like tamsins (Dalmatians with Mutt patches), hounds (Great Danes with Dalmatian ears), and MPCs ("Meezer-Pointed Calicoes", Calico mixes with Siamese points), just to name a few.
• Suspiciously Similar Song: In Petz Dogz Fashion, there is a song that plays during a frisbee minigame which sounds similar to the theme from The Simpsons.