To the moon, in it’s unique, reserved weirdness and detached humour, is probably the most Wes Anderson like experience I’ve ever had in a game, if that makes any sense. There’s also a splash of Eternal Sunshine, perhaps a little Paprika or Yume Nikku. I may be giving the impression of a mess of references and styles, but that’s really not how this game feels. Rather you will find here a game with unique style and voice that explores mental illness and mortality with a poetic wit and cast of wonderfully rounded characters. Through it’s genuinely inspired framing device, To the moon tells the tale of a man and his wife who’s shared life is coloured by her mental illness. The imagery of her obsessions and compulsions litter their world, giving the game it’s surreal idiosyncrasies. At first, things like origami rabbits and stuffed platypuses may seem random and meaningless, cheap attempts at dull “quirkiness”. But, like the work of David Lynch at his best, there is a semiotic meaning to everything, a purpose and intention behind all of this. In the details can be found ruminations on aging, on identity, on mental illness, on the tangibility of memory, on the sometimes horrible consequences our actions can have on others; I’m sure every player finds more. While it is true that the game lacks any real gameplay or challenge, I personally found engagement following the game’s reverse plot, picking up on details in the present and following them to their inception, somewhere in the folds of the past. As I said, none of it is random; it’s all thought out, considered. There’s also a wonderful humour to be found, which for the most part fits surprisingly smoothly with the game’s essentially tragic tale of a failed life; a life full of unresolved questions, dark secrets and mistakes born from the best intentions. The creator has described his intention as “an immersive interactive show”, a game that totally focuses on storytelling, practically abandoning gameplay. This may sound unusual, but it creates a piece that engages the player like no other I’ve seen, where the entire immersion relies on your attachment to the wonderfully realized characters. In this game, the story takes complete precedence over every other facet of the design. It is a beautiful experience that I would recommend for anyone, providing they are entirely prepared to shed more than a few tears before the end.
