To the moon

To the moon
Studio	Freebird Games
Publisher	Freebird Games Lace Mamba
Senior Developer	Kan "Reives" Gao
Erstveröffent- lichung	Windows: November 1, 2011 OS X, Linux: January 7, 2014 Android, iOS: May 12, 2017
platform	Windows , macOS , Linux , Android , iOS
Game engine	RPG Maker
genre	Adventure computer role-playing game visual novel
Subject	Science fiction
Game mode	Single player
control	Mouse , keyboard
system advantages preconditions	Windows 98+ CPU : PC 800 MHz Intel Pentium III RAM: 512 MB Hard disk: 100 MB Graphics card: DirectX 9.0c compatible
medium	Download , CD-ROM
language	German
Current version	1.1
Age rating	USK PEGI
PEGI content rating
information	http://freebirdgames.com/

To the Moon (in German as: To the Moon ) is the fourth video game Kan "Reives" Gao and the first commercial production of its independent video game company Freebird Games . The game was released on November 1st, 2011 and is an adventure game with role-playing elements that was created with the RPG Maker . On September 8, 2012 the game was released on Steam . The originally English game has so far been translated into German, French, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Korean, Polish, Portuguese and Turkish.

action

Note: Due to the mixing of chronologically backwards and forwards connected (linear) scenes, the chain of events in the game differs from the one shown here.

To the Moon is futuristic . The company Sigmund Corp. offers a technology with which one can create artificial memories and implant them in the customer. However, this service can only be accepted by people who are on their deathbed and who do not have long to live. The reason for this is that the artificial memories conflict with the real ones and it would lead to cognitive dissonance if the patient were to wake up.

The two employees, Dr. Eva Rosalene and Dr. Neil Watts are tasked with fulfilling Johnny Wyles' wish for life . This is very simple: He wants to go to the moon. However, he does not know what makes him want this. To make this possible for him, the two doctors have to insert themselves into an interactive summary of all memories and travel backwards through Johnny's life using "mementos". With each important memory segment, they learn more about the patient and what brought him to his current position in life:

Johnny grows up with his twin brother Joey . During this time he meets his future wife River at a fair. They look at the night sky together on a cliff and agree to meet at the same place next year. If he were to forget, Johnny jokes, they would find themselves on the moon. After Joey dies in an accident, John is given beta blockers to help overcome the tragic loss. The drug ensures that all memories are not deleted, but are disconnected so that they can no longer be accessed. His mother, who caused the accident with the car, could never recover from it and now and then calls her only child by the name of the deceased. John meets River again at school without realizing that they already know each other. He's obviously interested in her, but mostly for selfish reasons. Because he does not want to be with an average and thus boring person, because he is afraid of being average himself. River, who is solitary and acting weird overall, is the perfect choice for him, but only because she is different and not for her own sake. Later it turns out that River has Asperger's Syndrome , which explains her peculiarities in behavior and communication. The two get married anyway and build a house next to a lighthouse, where the wedding took place. River falls ill in the middle of the construction phase. The medical bills pile up and River decides to abandon her treatment to leave enough money for the house. After her death, she is buried directly at the lighthouse. John now lives alone in the big house, together with his housekeeper and their two children.

When, after some difficulties, the doctors reach his childhood, they try to insert into him his desire to travel to the moon. The purpose of this is that once the wish is implemented, Johnny's mind will create memories of a new life based on that wish. In addition to this original plan, Rivers appearance and the accident are completely removed, because "he can always look for a new river [...] but his brother only exists once." In the alternative life, Joey becomes an author, Johnny an astronaut . River joins them during his training and they both fly to the moon together. At this point the alternate lifeline ends as the real Johnny dies in the sickbed. The memories after this time remain unchanged to the real memories, with the exception that Joey is there and the building of the house (with River and Joey present) was completed.

The game ends with Eva and Neil standing at Johnny's grave, which was buried next to his wife's. A call makes both of them rush to a new assignment. After Eva ran ahead, you can hear a thunder and a red light appears fleetingly; both occurred during the mission and indicated Johnny's critical condition. Neil takes one of the pain pills from the company car and leaves too.

successor

→ Main article : Finding Paradise

While a reference to a sequel was given in the epilogue of the first part, Freebird Games announced on August 22, 2012 that a second part of To The Moon was planned. The sequel will revolve around a new patient, but some well-known characters will return, such as Dr. Watts and Dr. Rosalene. The sequel is titled Finding Paradise and was released on December 14, 2017 for download on Steam.

Before that, a short story was published that takes place in the same world and serves as a prelude to the actual episode 2. The title of the short story is A Bird Story (in German about: Eine Vogelgeschichte ) and the game was released on November 5, 2014.

A third part, Impostor Factory , is announced for the end of 2020.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack for To the Moon has received critical acclaim. It was composed and played by Kan Gao. The soundtrack was released on November 4, 2011 via Bandcamp and contains Laura Shigihara’s own theme song . It comprises 31 tracks and has a total length of 53:05 minutes.

1. To the Moon - Main Theme [04:56]
2. Between a Squirrel and a Tree [01:18]
3. Spiral of Secrets [01:06]
4. For River - Piano (Sarah & Tommy's Version) [02:58]
5. Bestest Detectives in the World [01:15]
6. Too Bad So Sad [00:08]
7. Teddy [00:42]
8. Uncharted Realms [01:08]
9. Having Lived [01:21]
10. Moonwisher [02:10]
11. Born a Stranger [01:41]
12. For River - Piano (Johnny's Version) [01:39]
13. Lament of a Stranger [01:05]
14. Everything's Alright (Music Box) [00:40]
15. Moongazer [02:15]
16. Anya by the Stars [02:15]
17. Take Me Anywhere [00:59]
18. Warning (AKA best track ever) [00:09]
19. Beta-B [01:06]
20. World's Smallest Ferris Wheel [00:35]
21. Once Upon a Memory [02:25]
22. Once Upon a Memory (Piano) [01:35]
23. Laura Shigihara - Everything's Alright [03:25]
24. Everything's Alright (Reprise) [00:58]
25. Tomorrow [02:10]
26. Launch [01:57]
27. To the Moon - Piano (Ending Version) [05:15]
28. Eva's Ringtone [00:04]
29. Trailer Theme - Part 1 [01:43]
30. Trailer Theme - Part 2 (feat. Laura Shigihara) [01:49]
31. Trailer Theme - Part 2 (Instrumental) [02:00]

Development & Publication

The game was created with the RPG Maker XP by Enterbrain . The story was written by Kan Gao. Graphics for the game were created by Gao, Alisa Christopher, Gabriela Aprile and Van Setia Putra. An official trailer was released on YouTube on August 6, 2011 .

On November 1, 2011, the English original was offered for download on the official website for a fee. A German translation was published on March 28, 2012. On July 6, a retail version was published in the United Kingdom and Ireland . A German retail version of the game will be released on August 31, 2012 by Lace Mamba . The retail versions of the game also contain a CD with the official soundtrack.

reception

To the Moon received mostly positive reviews, with emphasis on the story and the music. The game received an average rating of 81% on Metacritic and 82.59% on GameRankings .

In 2011 To the Moon received the award for the best story on GameSpot , thus winning against Portal 2 and Xenoblade Chronicles, among others . To the Moon was also nominated in the categories of “Best Music”, “Most Memorable Moment”, “Best Dialogues”, “Best Ending”, and “Song of the Year”. It was also the top rated 2011 PC game on Metacritic.

Die Zeit wrote about the game: “'To The Moon' has no tempo, no fights and is actually not a game. Nevertheless, it can do one thing excellently: tell a moving story. "

In 2016 To the Moon was nominated for the category "I don't cry, I'm just looking at something" at the Steam Awards.

filming

In May 2018 it was announced that an animation film adaptation is currently in development. Gao is involved in writing the script. The film will be a joint project in which Japanese companies are mainly responsible for the production and the Chinese company Ultron Event Horizon mainly for the financing. It is not known which Japanese companies will produce and animate the film; Gao assured, however, that these are large companies. The exact budget for the film is unknown, but is believed to be above the budget for the Japanese animated film Your Name. - Yesterday, today and forever lie.

Web links

• Official website

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Freebird Games: A Bird Story In: Homepage . August 25, 2014. Retrieved August 25, 2014.
2. ↑ To the Moon 3 - Trailer & Steam Page. Retrieved December 3, 2019 . 
3. ↑ To the Moon <OST>. In: Bandcamp . Retrieved August 24, 2012 . 
4. ↑ To the Moon - Announcement Trailer # 1. In: YouTube . August 6, 2011, accessed August 24, 2012 . 
5. ^ To the Moon Reviews. In: Metacritic . Retrieved August 22, 2012 . 
6. ^ To the Moon Reviews. In: GameRankings . Retrieved October 17, 2019 . 
7. ↑ Best Story. In: GameSpot . December 19, 2011, archived from the original on October 1, 2013 ; Retrieved December 19, 2011 . 
8. ↑ Best Music. In: GameSpot . December 19, 2011, archived from the original on October 1, 2013 ; Retrieved December 19, 2011 . 
9. ↑ Most Memorable Moment. In: GameSpot . December 19, 2011, archived from the original on October 1, 2013 ; Retrieved December 19, 2011 . 
10. ↑ Best Writing / Dialogue. In: GameSpot . December 19, 2011, archived from the original on October 1, 2013 ; Retrieved December 19, 2011 . 
11. ↑ Best ending. In: GameSpot . December 19, 2011, archived from the original on October 1, 2013 ; Retrieved December 19, 2011 . 
12. ^ Song of the Year. In: GameSpot . December 19, 2011, archived from the original on October 1, 2013 ; Retrieved December 19, 2011 . 
13. ↑ Jason Dietz: The Best Videogames of 2011 (PC). In: Metacritic . December 23, 2011, accessed January 10, 2012 . 
14. ↑ Patrick Beuth: "To The Moon" - a game that doesn't want to be. In: The time . November 28, 2011, accessed August 24, 2012 . 
15. ↑ Marcel Kleffmann: The nominated games for the first "Steam Awards" have been determined. In: 4Players . December 20, 2016, accessed January 1, 2017 . 
16. ↑ Alice O'Connor: To The Moon becoming an animated movie. In: Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved May 18, 2018 . 
17. ↑ Kan Gao: To the Moon - Animated feature film confirmed on YouTube , May 18, 2018, accessed May 31, 2018.