To The Moon - PC game

This evening, I read through a game called "To The Moon". It came out last year, available as a download purchase from the freebird games website. Several people I know online bought it and raved about it... but for some reason I didn't pick it up.

Months later, I heard Laura Shigihara perform the one song she wrote for the game on her youtube channel, and picked up the soundtrack through a bundle somewhere. It's a pretty cool soundtrack, the whole thing - not that one song.

I still held off buying the actual game though. The feeling "it'll turn up on Steam, or in a bundle..."; these cheap bundles are almost a curse as much as they are a blessing.

Then, one month ago, one of those people who had raved about the game at its release (a fellow named Jon) gifted me a copy on Steam. :) I had a brief look at it, but it seemed like "I'm not doing this justice right now, I will come back another time" - then I got distracted by something else.

Today, there's an indie bundle released that contains this game, it's the current Indie Royale Bundle - the "Fall Bundle". That was enough to spark my interest again, and I started up the game again.

Four or five hours later, I've finished it, and.... do you know what it's like when you've gone to the cinema and watched a film so powerful that you aren't sure what to do when it's over? That's what I was feeling.

"How do I walk home? Oh wait, I already am home. What do I do now?"

So, here I am blogging.

So, this game..... it looks very much like a retro JRPG in style. SNES era, or maybe Suikoden; that kind of style. Very detailed, very pretty. It's not a JRPG at all, though. It's all storytelling - clicking on objects and walking about, occasional simple puzzles to solve - only a little diversion from that near the end. No scoring, no splitting paths. Just a straightforward story, about journeying through the memories of a dying man and fulfilling his final wish.

Much of it is pretty heavy, some of it is pretty funny. At times, I.... became suddenly aware of my tear ducts. It worked out to be more special than I thought it would be.

If you have around £3 to spare in the next few days, I recommend you pick up a copy with the indie royale bundle - that's less than half the price of a cinema ticket and you're not roped into buying expensive snacks either!