To The Moon is by the same developer that made Quintessence, Ken Gao and Freebird Games. Quintessence was a great game with a beautiful story and the minor fault of some gameplay elements that could have used some work. However, To The Moon has more talented people involved, a better budget, and is a game produced for the purpose of reaching a larger audience. Will this motivation help improve the already great elements from their last release while also addressing its issues?

Well, I can certainly say that right off the bat, the graphics are certainly better. The game keeps the good, clever, and unique spriting that is in Quintessence, with its well-done characters, beautiful environments, and great special effects. There is one ‘time-saving’ element that is used, however, and that can be seen in some of the miscellaneous people. As the majority of this game takes place in a person’s memories, many people are literally faceless, simply fuzzy echoes. The explanation? They simply weren’t remembered, and this is used in clever ways, especially in a later scene. The sepia filter used for memories works quite well, and once again, is manipulated in clever ways.

To The Moon also avoids the rather silly ‘thought’ close-ups that were used in Quintessence, which failed to display emotion. Instead, it uses one close-up of a sprite during a scene of quiet contemplation. This actually works well, and feels like something out of Final Fantasy Six (also known as Final Fantasy Three here in the states). The other times emotion is heavily conveyed in a cinematic fashion was with the use of wonderfully well made full-fledged cinemas that implemented a still hand-drawn image. It works quite well, and I give props to the artist. All in all, the game couldn’t be any better for an RPGMaker title, and the animations and sprite work are on par with the best of the SuperNES games, like Chrono Trigger. There are plenty of scenes that are just beautiful, and To The Moon has a surprising variety of areas to explore.

The soundtrack is also exceptional, and “To River” is a brilliant theme. On this area, there is not much to discuss. To The Moon simply has good background tracks, and some nice sound effects.

Then comes the gameplay, which is…surprisingly not as problematic as I had expected; I did go in with some preconceptions from my time with Quintessence. The main course of the gameplay consists of exploring for memory links, and then solving a small puzzle to unlock the memento. This isn’t the best, most interactive gameplay, but it works very well, and is quite original in its execution. It gives an air of discovery to the series, and helps encourage the player to slowly learn more. It really amounts to just discovering the next cinema/minor event…but the game wouldn’t work otherwise. If the game was say, oh, a visual novel, things wouldn’t be the same. Not only that, but while I was at first annoyed by the memento switches, as the game went on, and I got better at them, I found them unique, and clever. It was actually fun to solve the puzzles, though if this style of gameplay had gone on too long, I probably would have gotten bored. But, the game is smart enough to know when that is about to happen, and picks that moment to end Act 1, and shake things up. After that, well…no spoilers. But, rest assured, there are enough fun tricks to interest people throughout the entirety of the game.

The story is the key to this game, and, well…it is revolutionary by video game standards. It starts off cute and quirky, and this works well. The game was originally sold as a demo, and this part of the demo works well to draw people in, and keep the player from getting bored. It doesn’t feel like the first bits of the game are lagging in any fashion, the sense of humor works to draw the player in and connect them with the characters. By the time the quirkiness peters off, and the real plot begins, the player will assuredly be hooked, and the game doesn’t pull a single emotional punch. The life of the old man that To The Moon follows is well… beautiful.

There’s enough comedy to add some light moments without ever damaging the drama, and the tragic elements are realistic, and poignant. The storyline makes sense and feels real, and all of the characters come off as relatable with understandable motives. The storytelling at work here is artfully crafted as if for a screenplay for one the best movies never made. To The Moon keeps the details comining until Act 2, and that is when things get REALLY interesting; it will become very difficult to put it down for even a second. The story is so well written and realized that when it does end with its beautiful finale, it will be long before the player is ready for it. There’s even a little scene near the end that makes me long for a sequel.

Final Call: To The Moon made me laugh and it even made me tear up when it began to hit the apex of its emotional story; it really affected me. It is a beautiful game, with an incredible plot, surprisingly fun gameplay, and some of the best sprite work out there in its medium. To The Moon is a game that i am glad I got a chance to play. It’s actually better then many large studio games, and is something I wish more people would play. The way it tells its story is far beyond that of so many major titles out there, that I simply hope the big guys in the business take note as to what can be done and achieved through video games.

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