MOON. is a game that I seriously respect and that I'm glad to have played despite it being a very, very rough run. Coming from the background of a "classic era" Key fan, someone who was brought into visual novels by the likes of CLANNAD, AIR and Kanon, I wasn't expecting something like MOON. from many of the same minds. And yet, here it always was, their grittiest, ugliest story with some of the most heady themes of self-analysis and redemption in their catalogue. Interesting in particular to come to this after finally completing Subarashiki Hibi, a game with some very similar themes and agreed-upon explicitness of presentation of tragedy.
Well, one of the differences between a game like Subahibi and a game like MOON. is having about a decade and a half of foresight. I haven't played the original Tsui no Sora but I have to imagine even then, there was a lot more clear "purpose" to much of the dark imagery and subject matter than MOON. really has to offer. I do like the Elpod sequences in concept, the protagonist essentially shifting from a self-chastising abuse session of recounting her past behaviors to an acceptance and embrasure. That remains maybe the only sequence in which I felt the sexual and taboo aspects of MOON. began to mean something. With that said though, this game released early still into the golden age of PC eroge, so I'm absolutely willing to believe Tactics may have just been excited to be able to push boundaries in the stories they could tell. I get that.
And for what it's worth, I think MOON. experiments a lot and it's honestly pretty cool when it does. The soundtrack combined with the weird, almost early Megaten like dungeon-y aesthetic provide an experience clearly like nothing else in the team's catalogue. While I do feel that the movement mechanic, in which you select options on the VN's choice menu to navigate around was often more trouble than it was worth, I do have to applaud a few specific uses of it later in the story that felt immersive and genuinely a little off-putting in the intended way. There's also some very cool denpa-like imagery in the last few bits, some of which felt straight out of Tsui no Sora (not to mention the lingering influences of Evangelion all over the game as a whole), and I felt better walking out of that last hour than I did about the game as a whole prior. Wraps up nicely both in emotional resonance and thematic necessity.
So, yeah, take the lower score as my admittance that I don't think the game is very good, nor would I even especially recommend it to visual novel fans at large, but know that I did enjoy my time by and large and walk away excited to check out the other smaller works I missed from these guys prior to finally tackling Rewrite.
Well, one of the differences between a game like Subahibi and a game like MOON. is having about a decade and a half of foresight. I haven't played the original Tsui no Sora but I have to imagine even then, there was a lot more clear "purpose" to much of the dark imagery and subject matter than MOON. really has to offer. I do like the Elpod sequences in concept, the protagonist essentially shifting from a self-chastising abuse session of recounting her past behaviors to an acceptance and embrasure. That remains maybe the only sequence in which I felt the sexual and taboo aspects of MOON. began to mean something. With that said though, this game released early still into the golden age of PC eroge, so I'm absolutely willing to believe Tactics may have just been excited to be able to push boundaries in the stories they could tell. I get that.
And for what it's worth, I think MOON. experiments a lot and it's honestly pretty cool when it does. The soundtrack combined with the weird, almost early Megaten like dungeon-y aesthetic provide an experience clearly like nothing else in the team's catalogue. While I do feel that the movement mechanic, in which you select options on the VN's choice menu to navigate around was often more trouble than it was worth, I do have to applaud a few specific uses of it later in the story that felt immersive and genuinely a little off-putting in the intended way. There's also some very cool denpa-like imagery in the last few bits, some of which felt straight out of Tsui no Sora (not to mention the lingering influences of Evangelion all over the game as a whole), and I felt better walking out of that last hour than I did about the game as a whole prior. Wraps up nicely both in emotional resonance and thematic necessity.
So, yeah, take the lower score as my admittance that I don't think the game is very good, nor would I even especially recommend it to visual novel fans at large, but know that I did enjoy my time by and large and walk away excited to check out the other smaller works I missed from these guys prior to finally tackling Rewrite.
those fucking stairs
I liked it when I played it, I don't know if I would if I played it now. Music is super good and the best part of the entire thing, and there's one part near the end that has nonsensical denpa bullshit which I always love.
For a team's first work and a company's second, it isn't as bad as you expect it to be... conceptually speaking, that is. Moon. starts off with exactly what you wouldn't expect from any of Maeda or Key's usual romps: a setting almost completely devoid of reality and school life, filled with mystery, and most of all, gloomy and bleak. It gives you only hints of whats to come, and it grips you with that alone. It's only then that things start to go downhill for the game, sadly.
The gameplay is introduced to you early on after some introductions for the main trio. No bullshit, it's terrible. I seriously don't even know why it's there, the only reason I can think of is for padding time, and a couple moments where you can get a bad end if you don't take certain actions. There's barely any room for exploration, because you aren't rewarded for exploration. You can walk into rooms and examine every tile if you'd like, though you'll find nothing 95% of the time. And so for a system basically intrisincally tied to exploration for there to be none, you expect unclear destinations, to sort of give a point to the system. But, no, not that too. Corridors are narrow, destinations are usually trivial and spoken by the main character right before you're thrown into the gameplay system. This, coupled with its day-by-day routine system, completely breaks the story, and any replayability it may have had. This, on its own, impeded me from even trying to get any other ending except the True End. So, sadly, this isn't going to be a super complete review, although from what I've read those endings aren't worth seeing anyway.
On that note, the story. Most of it is told in these destinations you're supposed to go, through your traditional sprite/CG and textbox system. You go through Ikumi's routine in the facility, which, as mentioned before, gets repetitive to the point of numbness. The pacing of the story is ruined. What I will say, though, is that the story itself, put in the toughest vacuum possible, isn't bad. It is backloaded to all hell, true, but it has a certain charm that can't be said to be present in the team's next work. But even then, it has issues. The Elpod sections, mainly, are absolutely awful. A great concept that could give way to great character development instead used to further push hentai scenes unto the player all of which are gratitious to the point of annoyance, a running theme with the game as a whole. It can be seen in the game's other hentai scenes, the ones that take place in Class B and C. They try to make this a part of the lore, but the intentions behind them are clear. Which, by the way, all have a weird air of scat and piss fetishes. Not my cup of tea.
So let's say you ignore all of that. There's plenty of characterization in the other sections and bits of the game, right? Well, that's correct... to a certain extent. While the characters are given a fair amount of time to interact and flesh themselves out, they end up with no depth anyway. They are far too simple and one-dimensional from start to finish. Ikumi and the Boy are the only ones I'd say that stray from this a tad, and have chemistry to boot, but what they do have feels cut short. For a visual novel of this size, with this many opportunities, most of their day-to-day lives are spent running through similar dialogue that has been run through a thesaurus, with barely any change.
It's only toward the end that this changes, because it has that "this episodic show is ending so here's your two episode plot finale" NG. Lots of things happen in that ending plot-wise that breaks from their routine. But since it's only "two episodes" you're left with wanting more, not in a "I want a sequel" way but in a "that felt rushed" way. And this extends to the plot as a whole, obviously. They introduce and reveal concepts that aren't really addressed in the best manner, and are ultimately rushed through as well. Good concepts, in fact, like most of the visual novel, that are squandered.
Just like the music and art, too. The music is surprisingly good and catchy even if the overall soundtrack is short and... repetitive. The CGs looks genuinely weird, but the sprite work is good, and it works with the 3D background well.
To conclude: it looks good, sounds good, but ultimately tastes okay, and some bites taste awful. A cake that I can't call average as a whole, but slightly below that.
If it had to be a numerical score: 4/10
Originally published at Limbo Channel as a double review with One ~To the Radiant Season~
The gameplay is introduced to you early on after some introductions for the main trio. No bullshit, it's terrible. I seriously don't even know why it's there, the only reason I can think of is for padding time, and a couple moments where you can get a bad end if you don't take certain actions. There's barely any room for exploration, because you aren't rewarded for exploration. You can walk into rooms and examine every tile if you'd like, though you'll find nothing 95% of the time. And so for a system basically intrisincally tied to exploration for there to be none, you expect unclear destinations, to sort of give a point to the system. But, no, not that too. Corridors are narrow, destinations are usually trivial and spoken by the main character right before you're thrown into the gameplay system. This, coupled with its day-by-day routine system, completely breaks the story, and any replayability it may have had. This, on its own, impeded me from even trying to get any other ending except the True End. So, sadly, this isn't going to be a super complete review, although from what I've read those endings aren't worth seeing anyway.
On that note, the story. Most of it is told in these destinations you're supposed to go, through your traditional sprite/CG and textbox system. You go through Ikumi's routine in the facility, which, as mentioned before, gets repetitive to the point of numbness. The pacing of the story is ruined. What I will say, though, is that the story itself, put in the toughest vacuum possible, isn't bad. It is backloaded to all hell, true, but it has a certain charm that can't be said to be present in the team's next work. But even then, it has issues. The Elpod sections, mainly, are absolutely awful. A great concept that could give way to great character development instead used to further push hentai scenes unto the player all of which are gratitious to the point of annoyance, a running theme with the game as a whole. It can be seen in the game's other hentai scenes, the ones that take place in Class B and C. They try to make this a part of the lore, but the intentions behind them are clear. Which, by the way, all have a weird air of scat and piss fetishes. Not my cup of tea.
So let's say you ignore all of that. There's plenty of characterization in the other sections and bits of the game, right? Well, that's correct... to a certain extent. While the characters are given a fair amount of time to interact and flesh themselves out, they end up with no depth anyway. They are far too simple and one-dimensional from start to finish. Ikumi and the Boy are the only ones I'd say that stray from this a tad, and have chemistry to boot, but what they do have feels cut short. For a visual novel of this size, with this many opportunities, most of their day-to-day lives are spent running through similar dialogue that has been run through a thesaurus, with barely any change.
It's only toward the end that this changes, because it has that "this episodic show is ending so here's your two episode plot finale" NG. Lots of things happen in that ending plot-wise that breaks from their routine. But since it's only "two episodes" you're left with wanting more, not in a "I want a sequel" way but in a "that felt rushed" way. And this extends to the plot as a whole, obviously. They introduce and reveal concepts that aren't really addressed in the best manner, and are ultimately rushed through as well. Good concepts, in fact, like most of the visual novel, that are squandered.
Just like the music and art, too. The music is surprisingly good and catchy even if the overall soundtrack is short and... repetitive. The CGs looks genuinely weird, but the sprite work is good, and it works with the 3D background well.
To conclude: it looks good, sounds good, but ultimately tastes okay, and some bites taste awful. A cake that I can't call average as a whole, but slightly below that.
If it had to be a numerical score: 4/10
Originally published at Limbo Channel as a double review with One ~To the Radiant Season~
This review contains spoilers
This bit of writing contains general spoilers about MOON. (1997) i recommend completing the game first before reading.
MOON. (1997) is a visual novel/text heavy adventure game by TACTICS. The game was made by a group of people who would later end up forming Visual Arts/Key. Original Game releasing on the 21st of november 1997.
I decided to read this game because I had the idea that it would be a fruitful experience to read the Visual Arts/Key games in order, to see a kind of progression of sorts. This isn’t my first project by them though. But you can expect more posts about the other titles too!
I had this kind of expectation of how Key games would be given my previous experiences such as Planetarian, Clannad’s anime, Kanon’s visual novel and its adaptations. Though I must say that MOON. Really blows away what you might have expected from what Key is in particular known for. Moon. is a very dark horror/ero game that ends up expressing some very meaningful themes and ideas while also being very thrilling and crushing to read.
On a thematic level MOON. is about uncovering and pulling apart our pasts and finding ways to deal with them so through that we can find peace and move forward with our lives. To come to terms with the things we’ve done. To accept the wholes of ourselves. Most elements of the game heavily feed into these thematic ideas and can be grasped by most readers. It’s also the kind of themeing I feel particularly emotionally resonating. So I could feel myself get really close to Ikumi, Yui, Haruka, Youko’s stories. Dealing with your own past and coming to terms with the wrong things you might have done is something very powerful. But it’s not easy, not easy at all. The game ends up being a very hollistic experience with how all the elements end up colliding with eachothers.
MOON.’s setting mostly takes place in the FARGO building which is completely cut off from any light or outside interference besides new members and supplies coming in through its singular entry/exit path. This setting ends up defining the tone very well. Its a kind of claustrophibic sensation. The same grayish walls everywhere, the same grunts with the exact same outfits. It’s a really sensation deprived place. The actual map and “movement” mechanic we move through ends up evoking this same kind of dreadful, claustrophobic feeling as we click through its many similar halls. I’v seen writers say that this “movement” mechanic is something that is just used for “time padding” which I think is quite wrong. I think the option to move around is really there to provoke this deeper immersion in the atmosphere. I am willing to admit however that the system could have used some more bite. Some more things to check out. But again maybe that would clash with the sensory deprevation element. The way the break-out from this enclosed space is handled at the end is super cool too. Because of the long time we spent inside the building, with just these gay walls and the memories we inspect, the actual end of the game feels so gratifying. To finally touch that beautiful air again..
Of course the atmosphere is not just defined by its art direction and movement mechanic… its also really heavily defined by its music. MOON. Features a mixed soundtrack that ranges from pure piano instrumentals to heavy electronical mixes with a kind of mechanical sound to it. I feel like I really enjoyed the music and it’s so good in fact that I like listening to it outside of the game as well. Its groovy and its incredibly tense and mysterious.
A lot of the scenes have really high quality direction. A staple of that high quality direction has to be the day 12 bad end, where Ikumi is mind broken into forever staying a young child. Forever locked to that memory. In this scene there is a switch over to a kind of pastel, color pencil like image. A cg that kind of has the feel of those old postcard memories. Its soft tender and painful in that way. Many really memorable VA performances such as the doppel ikumi scenes by Ruru or the final fight with Youko scene by Kodama Satomi..
Just a wonderful game all around. I’d definitely call it one of my favourite visual novels. I had a stellar time.
This was originally posted here on my blog: https://unlimitedblogwork.wordpress.com/2023/06/26/scattered-thought-on-moon-1997-by-tactics/
MOON. (1997) is a visual novel/text heavy adventure game by TACTICS. The game was made by a group of people who would later end up forming Visual Arts/Key. Original Game releasing on the 21st of november 1997.
I decided to read this game because I had the idea that it would be a fruitful experience to read the Visual Arts/Key games in order, to see a kind of progression of sorts. This isn’t my first project by them though. But you can expect more posts about the other titles too!
I had this kind of expectation of how Key games would be given my previous experiences such as Planetarian, Clannad’s anime, Kanon’s visual novel and its adaptations. Though I must say that MOON. Really blows away what you might have expected from what Key is in particular known for. Moon. is a very dark horror/ero game that ends up expressing some very meaningful themes and ideas while also being very thrilling and crushing to read.
On a thematic level MOON. is about uncovering and pulling apart our pasts and finding ways to deal with them so through that we can find peace and move forward with our lives. To come to terms with the things we’ve done. To accept the wholes of ourselves. Most elements of the game heavily feed into these thematic ideas and can be grasped by most readers. It’s also the kind of themeing I feel particularly emotionally resonating. So I could feel myself get really close to Ikumi, Yui, Haruka, Youko’s stories. Dealing with your own past and coming to terms with the wrong things you might have done is something very powerful. But it’s not easy, not easy at all. The game ends up being a very hollistic experience with how all the elements end up colliding with eachothers.
MOON.’s setting mostly takes place in the FARGO building which is completely cut off from any light or outside interference besides new members and supplies coming in through its singular entry/exit path. This setting ends up defining the tone very well. Its a kind of claustrophibic sensation. The same grayish walls everywhere, the same grunts with the exact same outfits. It’s a really sensation deprived place. The actual map and “movement” mechanic we move through ends up evoking this same kind of dreadful, claustrophobic feeling as we click through its many similar halls. I’v seen writers say that this “movement” mechanic is something that is just used for “time padding” which I think is quite wrong. I think the option to move around is really there to provoke this deeper immersion in the atmosphere. I am willing to admit however that the system could have used some more bite. Some more things to check out. But again maybe that would clash with the sensory deprevation element. The way the break-out from this enclosed space is handled at the end is super cool too. Because of the long time we spent inside the building, with just these gay walls and the memories we inspect, the actual end of the game feels so gratifying. To finally touch that beautiful air again..
Of course the atmosphere is not just defined by its art direction and movement mechanic… its also really heavily defined by its music. MOON. Features a mixed soundtrack that ranges from pure piano instrumentals to heavy electronical mixes with a kind of mechanical sound to it. I feel like I really enjoyed the music and it’s so good in fact that I like listening to it outside of the game as well. Its groovy and its incredibly tense and mysterious.
A lot of the scenes have really high quality direction. A staple of that high quality direction has to be the day 12 bad end, where Ikumi is mind broken into forever staying a young child. Forever locked to that memory. In this scene there is a switch over to a kind of pastel, color pencil like image. A cg that kind of has the feel of those old postcard memories. Its soft tender and painful in that way. Many really memorable VA performances such as the doppel ikumi scenes by Ruru or the final fight with Youko scene by Kodama Satomi..
Just a wonderful game all around. I’d definitely call it one of my favourite visual novels. I had a stellar time.
This was originally posted here on my blog: https://unlimitedblogwork.wordpress.com/2023/06/26/scattered-thought-on-moon-1997-by-tactics/
Most INSANE pornochanchada ever
This is a 0-star game. There's not a single good thing about this other than the initial concept presented at the start of the game.
Everything after that is completely irredeemable dogshit bordering on nonsense, with characters that don't make sense, a plot that doesn't make sense, and it all leads to a semi-ok scene at the end, before it somehow manages to become even worse in the last five minutes.
There's no point in even addressing the "click arrows to navigate the same corridor" gameplay because with or without that, it doesn't change the steaming pile of shit that this game is, and even though I can't stand Maeda and KEY, I'm glad they never did something this fucking bad again.
Everything after that is completely irredeemable dogshit bordering on nonsense, with characters that don't make sense, a plot that doesn't make sense, and it all leads to a semi-ok scene at the end, before it somehow manages to become even worse in the last five minutes.
There's no point in even addressing the "click arrows to navigate the same corridor" gameplay because with or without that, it doesn't change the steaming pile of shit that this game is, and even though I can't stand Maeda and KEY, I'm glad they never did something this fucking bad again.