Thoughts on To the Moon? Made in XP

[VitaliaDi]

If you haven't played this game: warning potential spoilers ahead.



I have a friend who loves this game so much he's played it more than once and sent it to me and watched me play it. It also has an
Overwhelmingly Positive rating on Steam out of all 30,000+ reviews.

However,
I couldn't even finish it and I got through a good amount of it. I thought the main playable scientists characters were cringy with their rude interactions with each other (especially when I'm pretty sure they were meant to be a couple? That's what I remember anyway). I thought it has some pretty assets and a few unique playing points but for the most part it was a normal playthrough. The story was slow and frustrated me. Part of it I'm sure was because I was expecting more of a game than an interactive story, which is what To the Moon really is.

But I think people like it mostly because it was a love story and included a girl with some form of autism(?). I appreciated the time travel in the game and the main husband and wife characters. The unfolding of the story was sentimental, but the game wasn't for me.

Did anyone else have strong feelings towards it one way or the other?

 

[lianderson]

It's a great RM game, but I couldn't play through it for similar reasons.

 

[Shaz]

and sent it to me and watched me play it

You mean he's bought you a version as a gift, right? Because if he just gave it to you without buying it, that would be piracy

 

[VitaliaDi]

You mean he's bought you a version as a gift, right? Because if he just gave it to you without buying it, that would be piracy

Unrelated to the discussion but yes, it was through Steam.

 

[SepulcherGeist]

Haven't played it but if the reviews are overly positive they're overly positive. Even if the game isn't for you, you have to respect that it made a grand effort to be original. Sometimes you need things that aren't your usual to keep your gaming experience well-rounded.

 

[VitaliaDi]

@SepulcherGeist I agree. And it's impressive how it got so much attention and I commend the makers for that. The game wasn't for me, but that doesn't mean it wasn't for other people, as shown by the overwhelmingly positive reviews.

 

[rue669]

I thought it was a great game. It didn’t give me all the feels that others felt but it was definitely an emotional, story-driven game and I think many game developers can learn from the game in how to craft and direct a scene.

 

[onipunk]

I played through it with my partner and it hit us both in a place we weren't expecting. I'm autistic, so I was seeing the difficulties of being autistic playing out in front of me. She was seeing the difficulties that can come with being in love with someone on the spectrum, seeing the need for patience, and understanding. It brought us closer together as a couple, allowed us to understand what the other person has to go through on a daily basis, and most importantly that the autism and difficulties don't define the relationship. I have a different perspective on it to most because it's reflective of my real-life situation - but it nails what that situation feels like on both sides of the relationship. I haven't found another piece of media period that nails what being autistic feels like in the way To The Moon did. Saying people just liked it because it had an autistic character feels reductive and honestly dismissive of the work the developers did to portray autism with respect and accuracy, and such reductiveness diminishes the desire of autistic people to see themselves represented accurately and in a way that doesn't define us by our disability. To The Moon did that, and that's why it's special to me and my partner.

 

[VitaliaDi]

@onipunk Oh wow, I can see a little better now how it is appreciated with a review like that. I'm not autistic, though I have friends who are, however the game didn't touch me at all like that because it seems I'm not so close to the subject matter.
The biggest issue for me was the main science characters. They were distracting to me. However, from a different lens I understand the game can be very beautiful.

Thanks for the eye opening insight

 

[StaticUndertones]

The aspergers aspect of the game didn't really have an effect on my view of the game, because I thought that River's problems were a little more ambiguous than that. It wasn't exactly about the relationship either, or the puzzles, the fact that it's a battle-less game. It was the fact that it was such a beautiful idea. Everyone longs for something in their life, sometimes something that can't be expressed in words. The idea that your longing could be fulfilled before you die is something that all people hope for. It wasn't like the graphics/gameplay/whatever else was perfect, but it is a beautiful game because it's a beautiful idea.

 

[Eric_SD-RPG-Studio]

I played it when it coming out. It's all about story with minimal gameplay. More like a visual novel. One of the most successful RPG Maker projects of all-time.