To The Moon

To The Moon
by Freebird Games - January, 2011

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Available at:
Freebird Games
Amaranth
GOG (DRM-free!)
Steam



Dr. Eva Rosalene and Dr. Neil Watts have rather odd jobs: they give dying people another chance to live. Literally. Using a technology that allows artificial memories to be implanted, the doctors can weave and transform the mind of a patient to help them live the life they wanted to live...

To The Moon follows Dr. Rosalene and Dr. Watts' attempt to fulfill the wishes of a dying elderly man, Johnny. In their attempt to do so, they travel deep through the man's memories, unfolding his curious life story before their eyes. With each step back in time, a new fragment of  Johnny's past is revealed. As the two doctors piece together the fragmented events that spanned a lifetime, they seek to find out just why the frail old man chose his dying wish.

Johnny's last wish is, of course, to go to the moon.

• Inspiring story coupled with a moving soundtrack create an emotionally engaging experience!
  
• Weave new memories for a life that could have been.
  
• Winner of multiple awards such as Wired’s Top 20 Games of 2011, Gamespot’s Best Story of 2011, and IndieDB’s Editor’s Choice Award for Indie of the Year 2011.
  
• Walkthrough (Gameboomers)
  

To the Moon (Adventure/Story RPG)

Can this game be called an RPG? It doesn't really fit. There is no leveling of your character, unless you count discovering new elements to the story, no boss battles unless you count overcoming obstacles to progress... The only true RPG element to this game is the look of the game, using classic sprite-style characters and maps. Nonetheless, I'll leave To the Moon here in the RPG section.

The first thing I noticed about the game was the music. I wasn't in love with the main piano piece, but it was nice enough. GOG included the soundtrack with my purchase, and I have to say that I am in love with this soundtrack! I don't remember hearing all of these songs during gameplay, but I did have to turn off the sound for an hour later in the game (sadly). I could wax poetic about how wonderful the music is, but since this is a game review, I'll move on to that, instead. Suffice to say that the soundtrack alone was worth the purchase price

The game mechanics are easy enough. Use the mouse and/or keyboard to navigate the scenes, and click or hit the enter key to interact. I do recommend the keyboard for basic navigation, since it's a much smoother transition, but that's a personal choice Mousing-over will show you what items and people you can interact with, but you can't depend on interaction points to progress the story. Sometimes you just need to explore.

Like most games of this type, you need to save manually. You have three save spots, so if you wish to backtrack, it's easy enough to do via your save points. There IS an auto-save, so if you totally forget to save, at least you have that to rely on.

To get to the save/exit screen, simply hit the Esc key. Once you've saved, just hit Esc again to return to the game.

Story and cut-scenes cannot be skipped. Of course they can't be skipped, for this game is all about the story! You can click through dialogue if you read fast, but if you are too impatient to read dialogue and watch the story, this game is not for you.

Whatever you may think when you see the title, and the space shuttle screenshot, this is not a sci-fi game. There are no aliens, no Star Trek-esque exploration of outer space... The only sci-fi element is the machine that allows our pair of scientists to enter and change the memories of of the man who has hired them to make his final wish come true.

The game begins and ends with scientist-doctors Rosalene and Watts, a pair whose constant banter adds a much-appreciated levity. Comic relief is a plus, assuming it's not overdone (and in To the Moon, it's not.) The story revolves around Johnny, an elderly man whose last wish is to go to the Moon, though he cannot express why. Rosalene and Watts must take us through his memories, from present time back to Johnny's younger days, in order to implant this wish in his young-self. With the help of the sci-fi machine I mentioned earlier, and based upon public record and his own memories and expectations, Johnny's destiny will, conceivably, "change". It does not change reality, but it does change HIS reality.

Follow Johnny's life backwards, through times that are odd, sweet, touching, irritating, joyful, and fun. There were times that I felt a lump in my throat, times that I laughed out loud, and even a time when I felt an emotion that I cannot describe, for saying more might reveal something about the story that is best to discover for yourself.

As we move through each part of Johnny's story, we need to collect five mementos, which enable us to know him well enough to trigger another jump backwards through his memory. Sometimes it's talking to people, sometimes it's interacting with items, and sometimes it's simply exploring that helps you to gain these mementos. Once gathered, you use them to break the barrier on an item that will lead you further back. Before you can make this jump, you have to prepare the item. Prepping is basically a mini-game (the same kind every time) to help the sci-fi machine get ready for the jump. It's not terribly hard to do - many of them can be accomplished in a minimum of three moves, and the max I saw was six moves. Fear not, for though you cannot skip this mini-game, there is a walkthrough that will walk you right through which buttons to push ::

Sadly, there is one portion towards the end of the game where you have to navigate a corridor whilst things are trying to impede your progress. This scene is going to be difficult for those who have issues with timing and motor skills. I did not think to test whether going backwards (the items will propel you backwards if you hit them) would accomplish our task. It is possible that the devs thought of this issue and made it possible whether you are successful or not. I'm hoping so, but I cannot check for certain until I go back to work on Monday.

To the Moon skillfully wraps you up in a story that evokes deep emotion, and a true caring for its characters. This is a game that you can truly immerse yourself in, best played when you can turn up the sound and apply your full attention. In all, the game lasted four hours for me, and was time well-spent. Definitely worth the full purchase price.