[zane]

Originally Posted by Lucien21

Only one question that I was curious about...

Spoiler:

the implication is that she has aspergers syndrome or another condition related to autism. As to what kills her, thats probably cancer or somthing.

[TimovieMan]

Originally Posted by Lucien21

I literally tore through this game in one sitting. (It's now 1:30 am, but I couldn't stop playing it.)

I plan on doing this too. I've bought it, and bumped it forward in my list of games to play - because you're all raving too much.

I'll just have to wait until I can get a 4-hour gaming session in (hopefully somewhere between Christmas and New Year's Eve), because if this game is as good as you guys have been saying, I will want to play it in one sitting...

The only thing was the lack of any actual gameplay. The little that there was was simple and straightforward, but there was times I hankered for more interaction, esp at the end I would have liked the choice or at least influence the choice.

Meh. I don't mind reading and having little influence over the story, as long as that story is good.
This won't bother me at all...

[Martin Gantefoehr]

The game just won Gamespot's Best Story 2011.

Never have I agreed more with a Gamespot decision.

(Did you read Gamespy's review? I pity those guys. They just don't get it.)

[zane]

wow, the thing that really surprized me was that gamespot nominated it in like 6 categories.. including best music and best ending.

[TimovieMan]

Originally Posted by Martin Gantefoehr

The game just won Gamespot's Best Story 2011.

Never have I agreed more with a Gamespot decision.

Originally Posted by zane

wow, the thing that really surprized me was that gamespot nominated it in like 6 categories.. including best music and best ending.

Let's hope for Freebirdgames that this gives them lots of recognition and $$$-moneys for new projects...

[fov]

Originally Posted by zane

wow, the thing that really surprized me was that gamespot nominated it in like 6 categories.. including best music and best ending.

I think it's a solid contender in both of those categories. Amazing music, and the most satisfying "pay-off" ending of any recent game I can think of.

[TimovieMan]

Originally Posted by Monolith

Surprised no one played 'the Mirror Lied' which is free and pretty short yet is a great testament more so than this game that you can still get very emotional.

In preparation for my "To the Moon" playthrough, I downloaded the free games on the site. I started with "Do You Remember My Lullaby?" which isn't really a game but more a 10-minute short story and then played "The Mirror Lied" (for its full 25 minutes). Say about Kan Gao what you will but he can definitely hit the right nerves with his writing. Lullaby made me sad, and Mirror made me both tense and confused (which I guess is exactly what Kan Gao was shooting for)...
If anything, he makes you *feel* and that's a major success...

Originally Posted by diego

Ok, i finished it, and there's a lot of things to say but in a nutshell - games like these make me wish i was a millionaire so i could give it all to inspiring independent developers

I hear ya. The indie-scene is where the real innovation lies.

Also, kids think and speak like kids, adults like adults... a trap into which many bigger projects fall.

Maybe my one point of critique is that I didn't think kids spoke like kids, especially

Spoiler:

in the dialogue between Johnny and River while stargazing at the carnival

. Some of the sentences and words used there were actually quite big for such small children. But that was the only point in the game where I felt like that.

The music is quite nice, like the first one in the woods and River's theme.

Imo, take the music away and the story won't nearly be this emotional. The music plays a BIG part in that, especially the beautiful "For River" song. Kan Gao not only writes great stories but great music as well...

Originally Posted by fov

As far as things happening fast after that, as I alluded to in the review, I didn't really like that once the docs figured out what to do,

Spoiler:

Rosalene goes off and does it and Watts/the player have no involvement. I felt Watts' helplessness and also really liked how he had changed as a character, but I think the ending could have been much stronger if it had been "my" decision, not Dr. Rosalene's, that ultimately led to the happy ending.

.

I agree, but

Spoiler:

I don't feel that it had to be "my" decision. If Dr. Rosalene had explained her reasoning in an agreeable way, I'd simply have followed along. But then again, knowing in advance what was going to happen might have detracted from the impact when it did happen. I hope that sentence is a bit understandable.

I'm not sure what prompted the change but I thought it was a neat touch. In fact several of the items had descriptions that changed over time, I thought those were nice details.

I agree. One's perception of things changes over time. It's great to see that reflected within the game.

Originally Posted by Keregioz

Any thoughts on the final scene

Spoiler:

where dr. Watts takes the painkillers? I kinda thought that he actually somehow was using the machine on himself so he can be together with Eva and had to take the painkiller to be able to remain in this state. Although, I'm not sure it makes any sense... but there was this red flash and heartbeat that was the same when the old man was close to dying. I'm probably reading too much in to it?

Spoiler:

I interpreted it as "he threw the painkillers away". Also not quite sure what the red flash and heartbeat meant, but it was a very cliffhangery ending, so my guess is that Kan Gao has a larger framework in mind concerning this story and he's already showing us glimpses of things to come...

Originally Posted by zane

Spoiler:

my thoughts are this: it definitely suggests the scene is somebodies memory. So it must be the memory of one of the two doctors (unless somebody else watched this from a hiding spot...) Neil seems like the most likely candidate, but it wouldnt surprize me too much of if it was eva somehow. Either way, the implication seems to be in a future game we'l be playing inside the memory of one of the doctors.

Agreed.

Originally Posted by TimovieMan

Thank you for confirming that I'll cry like a baby when playing this...

Will probably get weird looks from the wife again, too...

Well, I actually did spend the better half of the morning crying because of this game. Movies and games and books tend to make me cry easily - contrary to the missus. I don't mind, though, I love a good cry every now and then.

But if there's one thing I'm sure of, it's that "To the Moon" is a testament to life and love. The wife will get an extra big hug when she gets home from work. And "To the Moon" will be responsible...


Merely a few weeks after I've called "999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors" the game of the year, I might have to reconsider...

To the Moon: 4.5 / 5



I'm very happy to see an indie title like getting all the praise it deserves. Kudos to Gamespot and others to rate this so highly. Let us hope it helps to get more games like this released and known...

[fov]

I'm listening to the To the Moon soundtrack right now and it's making me want to replay the game all over again. Especially the ending - what a good ending that was. I have a feeling this is one of those games I'm going to revisit once in a while.