To The Moon (A Sort-Of Review)

 
      I've literally just finished playing this game and really needed to share this with everyone.

     'To The Moon' is a game that really made me wish I knew how to cry. I was close, and I sort of tried, but I'm not entirely sure how. The game takes between three to four hours of play and is preferably done in one session as while there are gameplay elements the focus is solely on the story.

     The cut-scenes are broken up throughout the game and solemly stretch on too long, giving the balence between watching and having to control something quite perfect to not break the feel of the game. Amongst the pixelated art style, it consists of mainly point and click based pixel hunts that are not difficult and each piece of information you find adds further to the story - beyond this the main interaction is a couple of mini-games and very basic puzzles that are very easy to figure out when you get used to them - overall, there was only one small part of the game that I wasn't sure about and that's simply because it felt slightly out of place after a very emotional scene, but I digress.

     I'll be sure to avoid spoilers, because I demand that you go and play this game when you're able to. This is honestly a game anyone could play as it doesn't require skill, as I say, it's mostly a story. The premise starts a bit into the future when people have the ability to go into your mind and manipulate your memories, which is used as a profession so that people on their death beds can 'have any wish granted to them' by changing past memories so that their life (in their head) took a different course. Personally, I'm not sure how I feel about this concept, as I put a lot of value into real life - but that's the idea.

     So in the game, you play as two scientists who have been given a patient of a man who barely has days to live and he wants his wish granted to go 'to the moon'. From there you regress through the man's memories, using special items to travel further back - as a result you get to see the man's real memories play out in reverse order. Very slowly, you really start to get involved with the characters and the old man's story really becomes both emotional and interesting. Herein lies the problem, the game peeks at about three quarters through the game, there is a heart breaking scene where you string all of the pieces together in your head and it's really just...wow.

     As far as stories go, I've scarce seen a better executed story unravel and I was with it longer than a film but less so than a book. Between the emotions there is some humour, fun characters and 4th wall breaking, to keep you as interested as possible. So to anyone who has a heart, I strongly recommend this game. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go and lie down in a dark room for a while.

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  Ciao for now!