To The Moon

As many have already stated, there really is scarcely any gameplay to be found within this "game." It could best be described as a console-style RPG that had virtually all the gameplay stripped out of it, leaving you with just walking, clicking through dialogue, and occasionally clicking on random objects to advance the plot. Basically, imagine someone played through FF6 and decided to make an entire game out of the part where Celes tries to kill herself. Which is not necessarily a bad thing.... But it does create another issue. Aside from Planescape: Torment, there are really very few games out there whose writing is strong enough to support the whole gameplay experience by itself. Game mechanics are tremendously useful at reinforcing narrative elements (as in Planescape) or simply helping the player elide weak spots in the writing itself. Goofy dialogue is much more readily forgiven when you're in the midst of awesome game-play. When you strip everything else away, any flaws in the writing and story-telling are laid-bare to the world. So you'd better bring it.... So does To the Moon bring it? Mainly yes. When all is said and done, this is an engaging, memorable, and touching experience. It's also a somewhat amateurish one - though that itself is a rich source of its charm. Clearly the makers poured a lot of love and themselves into the game. They also poured a lot of maudlin sap. The sense of melancholy that permeates the game can at times be oppressive, and you get the feeling that the one goal the makers had when they set out to create the game was to make the player cry at all costs. Nevertheless, if you don't mind a game almost physically reaching through the screen to consciously jerk at your tear-ducts, and don't mind the fact that there really isn't much game to actually be played, then you'll find To the Moon to be well worth the few hours and dollars it takes to experience it.

To the Moon was a strange experience. I wanted it to be so much more, but was happy enough with what I got. Visuals : 3/5. The graphics scream SNES era Final Fantasy, albeit with a cleaner and nicer look. They're nothing special, just nice to look at. The locales that you'll visit are few, it makes the game more intimate (which suits the subject matter), but also more visually boring. Sound : 3/5. Once again, the music is ... nice. The main theme has a memorable melody that you'll be humming after playing. Other than that, the soundtrack was far from the emotional masterpiece I've read it was supposed to be. These days, even indies games of questionable quality often have killer soundtracks. TtM does ok, but its music is not too original nor that memorable when detached from its context and story. Gameplay : 3/5. You probably already know that there's practically no gameplay to speak off. I won't take any points for this, because clearly, it's intended to be that way. Wether it's a good choice is a different matter. Playing a game where you have the illusion - or maybe the hope - that your game choices matter in a story which is all about being able to change the past seems curious and contradictory ... Until you realize that in the end, the story is ultimately about giving the dying patients the illusion that something changed, while it really didn't ... So, genius or just annoying? Make up your own mind about that. Story : 4/5. The game delivered in this category, as expected. In the end, it was the story of two people failing to understand one another, a bittersweet meditation on what it really means to be "someone", to have an identity and memories. However, after following through this excellent story, this fascinating grey world became entirely black and white with a seemingly out of place happy ending which resolved every problem without actually adressing it. The sappy ending can ALSO be viewed in a meta way, however ...

Everyone should try...

Great non combat rpg, buy it. Also, you might cry

In two words: tearfully beautiful