[Aptorian]

I just finished this game and thought the game deserved a thread of its own.

To those who've never played the game "To the Moon" is about a dying mans last wish. He wants to go to the moon. In this story, we have the technology to go into peoples memories and change them. The story revolves around two scientists attempt to fulfill the mans last request.

The game was made using the RPG maker program and is, in terms of production, a relatively simple or rough product. However, if you can get past the 16 bit style and the clumsy controls, the game is a great experience. Both in terms of storytelling and the music.

Few games manage to impress me with their stories, something I think is really important for the gaming experience. I can easily say that To the Moon was one the best experiences I can remember having with a video game. Right up there with games like Gone Home or Journey.

Go buy it. It's around 6 hours long, pretty linear gameplaywise and well worth the time and money.

I was delighted to learn earlier that a sequel is coming out in November.

Anyone else played the game and liked it as much as I did?

This post has been edited by Apt: 24 January 2015 - 02:30 PM

[Defiance]

Played it 2-3 years ago and loved every minute of it. It has one of my favorite endings. The hand extending...god, I tear up just thinking about it.

The story not only engaged me with its expert blend of mystery, tragedy, love, humor, sadness, etc., but it also succeeded in making me reflect upon my own life and dreams. I also appreciated the story's honesty - it was a tale about people with believable flaws and shortcomings. The nature of Johnny and River's relationship makes you desperately want to fulfill Johnny's dying wish.

I didn't know there was another game coming out. That's great to hear. If it's even half as good as the first, I'll still love it.

This post has been edited by Defiance: 25 September 2014 - 08:50 AM

[Studlock]

Inexplicably my friend somehow has 121 hours in this apparently 6 game on steam. That's basically beaten the game 20 times. Just downloaded.

[Aptorian]

Defiance, on 25 September 2014 - 08:47 AM, said:

Played it 2-3 years ago and loved every minute of it. It has one of my favorite endings. The hand extending...god, I tear up just thinking about it.

The story not only engaged me with its expert blend of mystery, tragedy, love, humor, sadness, etc., but it also succeeded in making me reflect upon my own life and dreams. I also appreciated the story's honesty - it was a tale about people with believable flaws and shortcomings. The nature of Johnny and River's relationship makes you desperately want to fulfill Johnny's dying wish.

I didn't know there was another game coming out. That's great to hear. If it's even half as good as the first, I'll still love it.

Story discussion

Don't read if you haven't played the game.

Spoiler

Even though the twist with "the lady scientist trying to erase the relationship between River and Johnny only for it to turn out she actually made it perfect", was predictable, I was on the edge of my seat. Just when we found out how River and Johnny actually met, and how well they fit together, it is almost taken from Johnny. That made my heart plummet just when it had reached an emotional high, only for the game to reunite the couple. Absolutely great way to toy with the players expectations.

The way Johnny's final moments coincide with the fulfillment of his last wish, made his death a celebration. Something full of joy rather than sadness. That really stuck with me. Even as the heart monitors beeping merged with the soundtrack. Really superb ending for the game.

[D'rek]

Great game. Definitely had me sobbing a couple times. The soundtrack is amazing, it really intensifies the emotional beats all throughout.

Though it took me like half an hour of random wandering to beat that damn horse level.

[cerveza_fiesta]

I won't have time to play it for sure, but I read the plot. It does sound like a good story - very similar to the movie "eternal sunshine of the spotless mind". Loved that movie and memory-hopping system that drove the plot.

It's a super effective mechanism I think because it's something we can instantly relate to. Distant childhood memories and "what would have happened if I had ......[insert scenario].....?" thoughts are common to all of us.

[Aptorian]

Just finished "A Bird Story". It's not the sequel that I was hoping for but rather a sort of inbetween story, while Ken Gao the creator, is working on the real game.

It's a story about a boy who saves a wounded bird and about the relationship he has with it.

It took less than 90 minutes to play through it but it was a hell of a ride. Much like To the Moon, A Bird Story feels emotionally draining. There's no dialogue in this game. It's all told through images and music and it makes the story feel both weird and heart wrenching.

Story spoilers

Spoiler

I was never sure where the game was going. At first I though it was going to be some kind of socio-realistic story about a kid who is neglected. Then as I realised it was just about the kid and the bird I began to suspect it might be about the kid coming to grips with the loss of a loved one since his mother is never there and the father is gone, yet the mother has a bed for two. None of that turned out to be relevant.

And yet I still feel like the game was trying to tell me something. Where To the Moon's strangeness could be explained by the nature of memories, in this game it felt like a dream. Like this was an interpretation of something else. The fact that you're never sure what the game is doing both made the game feel like more and less than a game.

Since it appears that this is simply the first chapter in a life story I am curious to see where it goes next. What kind of person does the kid grow up to be? What will the bigger game focus on?