I wonder how long its going to take me to get through all the reviews for the games I got during the Steam summer sale. Its probably better not to dwell on that right now though, especially since I have games from the last Steam summer sale that I haven't even played yet. Ok, so, what was I doing again? Yeah, sorry. I'm talking about 'To The Moon' today, a wonderful little emotional experience that should bring most people to their knees when they play the game.
'To The Moon' is an indie game that was developed and published by the tiny team over at Freebird Games and is exclusively available on the PC platform, although you can find it on all operating systems (Windows, Mac OS and Linux).
The game if I can call it that while being a strong experience lacks a number of features that give it real depth when it comes to being a game. I would feel much more comfortable calling it an interactive story, which isn't a dig at it, I genuinely feel that interactive story needs to be a new genre of games as there are many titles that would fall under it with 'The Walking Dead' games and the 'The World Among Us' being the most prominent that come to mind right now. I'm definately opposed to this game being called a role playing game for example since its missing a lot of what I regard as being key features in role playing games such as class development and actual use of the characters beyond just moving them around. That is nethier here or there, this isn't a point against the game though, I just wanted to make it clear what kind of experience to expect from it and I can definately assure you that it is a very powerful experience thanks to the help of its other elements.
The aethetic choices in the game were quite inspired in my opinion. Despite their simplicity both the graphics and music contribute immensely to the experience of the player in the game. The music more so than the graphics, as I caught myself on more than one occassion actively being shaken by a scene in the game almost entirely by the music. I was more than impressed by the fact that the music almost entirely came from the small team over at Freebird Games. The graphics on the other hand didn't have such a strong effect, the very simple style resembled most gameboy advance games and that isn't a bad thing, but it did take away from the gravitiy of the situation the game was trying to convey, it was just a bit difficult to take the game seriously sometimes. It should be noted that the ablum from the game is being sold seperately from it, but I gave it a second listen and didn't see that strongly about it. I think most people actually have a strong draw to it due to how the music was paired with the narrative.
The narrative is far stronger than the rest of the game combined. Or at least it is in my opinion. The general premise of the game is that there is a company that has the technology to alter people's memory artifically but due to the accute rip from reality a lot of stress is put on the brain, as a result this process can only be done on people who are literally at deaths door. This capacity is sold by the company as a service allowing people to fullfill their deepest desires right before they die so that they leave the world with a huge sense of self satisfaction, albiet a false sense of satisfaction. The premise alone could legitimately be written into an Oscar winning movie, something dramatic and emotional and very focused on the frailty of the human condition. It would definately be tons better than inception which is the last movie I remember that tried to base its premise of memories and ideas. I'm rambling now, getting back to the game. You start the game as two colleagues from the above mention company going to a clients house to alter his memory and fullfill his last wish to go to the moon as he sits in his deathbed being care for by his in-house care giver. From there you are taken on a very emotionally powerful ride through this old man's life uncovering momments of joy, anger, sadness, surprise and trauma. Along the way you are going to come across many a twist in the story and you will be genuinely confused about who you should really be emphathizing with as it all unfolds in front of you. I don't really want to mention any specific since I would not want to spoil anyones experience of the game. All I can say is that the narrative is extremely powerful.
"To The Moon" is very much a game that is a greater than the sum of its parts. Individually I don't think they are uniquely powerful in anyway. But as a whole this game is brilliant. Its a well put together experience with the narrative and music really capturing you and taking you on an adventure as you go through the world and story in the game. This is a game I really can't reccomend enough and I assure you that you will have some kind of emotional response. My response from the game, was that I actually had to stop the game maybe a third of the way through and call my mother. I just felt compelled to do it, and I'm pretty sure anyone who plays the game is going to get a similarly strong reaction to the game.
The game if I can call it that while being a strong experience lacks a number of features that give it real depth when it comes to being a game. I would feel much more comfortable calling it an interactive story, which isn't a dig at it, I genuinely feel that interactive story needs to be a new genre of games as there are many titles that would fall under it with 'The Walking Dead' games and the 'The World Among Us' being the most prominent that come to mind right now. I'm definately opposed to this game being called a role playing game for example since its missing a lot of what I regard as being key features in role playing games such as class development and actual use of the characters beyond just moving them around. That is nethier here or there, this isn't a point against the game though, I just wanted to make it clear what kind of experience to expect from it and I can definately assure you that it is a very powerful experience thanks to the help of its other elements.
The aethetic choices in the game were quite inspired in my opinion. Despite their simplicity both the graphics and music contribute immensely to the experience of the player in the game. The music more so than the graphics, as I caught myself on more than one occassion actively being shaken by a scene in the game almost entirely by the music. I was more than impressed by the fact that the music almost entirely came from the small team over at Freebird Games. The graphics on the other hand didn't have such a strong effect, the very simple style resembled most gameboy advance games and that isn't a bad thing, but it did take away from the gravitiy of the situation the game was trying to convey, it was just a bit difficult to take the game seriously sometimes. It should be noted that the ablum from the game is being sold seperately from it, but I gave it a second listen and didn't see that strongly about it. I think most people actually have a strong draw to it due to how the music was paired with the narrative.
The narrative is far stronger than the rest of the game combined. Or at least it is in my opinion. The general premise of the game is that there is a company that has the technology to alter people's memory artifically but due to the accute rip from reality a lot of stress is put on the brain, as a result this process can only be done on people who are literally at deaths door. This capacity is sold by the company as a service allowing people to fullfill their deepest desires right before they die so that they leave the world with a huge sense of self satisfaction, albiet a false sense of satisfaction. The premise alone could legitimately be written into an Oscar winning movie, something dramatic and emotional and very focused on the frailty of the human condition. It would definately be tons better than inception which is the last movie I remember that tried to base its premise of memories and ideas. I'm rambling now, getting back to the game. You start the game as two colleagues from the above mention company going to a clients house to alter his memory and fullfill his last wish to go to the moon as he sits in his deathbed being care for by his in-house care giver. From there you are taken on a very emotionally powerful ride through this old man's life uncovering momments of joy, anger, sadness, surprise and trauma. Along the way you are going to come across many a twist in the story and you will be genuinely confused about who you should really be emphathizing with as it all unfolds in front of you. I don't really want to mention any specific since I would not want to spoil anyones experience of the game. All I can say is that the narrative is extremely powerful.
"To The Moon" is very much a game that is a greater than the sum of its parts. Individually I don't think they are uniquely powerful in anyway. But as a whole this game is brilliant. Its a well put together experience with the narrative and music really capturing you and taking you on an adventure as you go through the world and story in the game. This is a game I really can't reccomend enough and I assure you that you will have some kind of emotional response. My response from the game, was that I actually had to stop the game maybe a third of the way through and call my mother. I just felt compelled to do it, and I'm pretty sure anyone who plays the game is going to get a similarly strong reaction to the game.
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