This review contains spoilers
The game has a good narrative, so the overall playthrough is pretty nice. The John moments are quite enjoyable to see, especially the childhood one where he meets the river.
However, I dislike the ending more than I like it. It's somewhat happy because John realizes his wish, but it's fake. This ending never happened; it's a lie to himself, a life he never lived. I prefer to accept my life as it is rather than have my memories modified.
The game's story is pretty sad because John never understands the truth behind why River likes him and he tells to her the reason of his approach: just a selfish teenager's wish. The peak of the game is not the ending itself but when the player realizes that the folded rabbits are an attempt by River to make John remember their childhood. He couldn't because of the "Beta blockers" medicines, and she never figures that out. This aspect is terribly sad.
I believe the game should focus on the nice moments instead of creating new ones. John's life was sad but had good moments. As Dr. Eva Rosalene said in the game: "The ending isn't any more important than the moments leading up to it," so why fake it all?
At the very least, the game could be more realistic. I think a dialogue in John's last accessible memory would be great. He would remember childhood because Neil and Rosalene "reactivate" it and check what he thinks about it.
However, I dislike the ending more than I like it. It's somewhat happy because John realizes his wish, but it's fake. This ending never happened; it's a lie to himself, a life he never lived. I prefer to accept my life as it is rather than have my memories modified.
The game's story is pretty sad because John never understands the truth behind why River likes him and he tells to her the reason of his approach: just a selfish teenager's wish. The peak of the game is not the ending itself but when the player realizes that the folded rabbits are an attempt by River to make John remember their childhood. He couldn't because of the "Beta blockers" medicines, and she never figures that out. This aspect is terribly sad.
I believe the game should focus on the nice moments instead of creating new ones. John's life was sad but had good moments. As Dr. Eva Rosalene said in the game: "The ending isn't any more important than the moments leading up to it," so why fake it all?
At the very least, the game could be more realistic. I think a dialogue in John's last accessible memory would be great. He would remember childhood because Neil and Rosalene "reactivate" it and check what he thinks about it.
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Chorei como nunca antes. Na infância eu já tinha acompanhado toda a gameplay do Alan e lembro que me marcou bastante, mas agora, com boa parte apagada da minha memória, foi uma experiência mágica, To the Moon pode até ser um jogo simples, mas sua narrativa é uma das melhores representações de arte como videogame, uma história feita com amor em cada um de seus aspectos.
Chorei como nunca antes. Na infância eu já tinha acompanhado toda a gameplay do Alan e lembro que me marcou bastante, mas agora, com boa parte apagada da minha memória, foi uma experiência mágica, To the Moon pode até ser um jogo simples, mas sua narrativa é uma das melhores representações de arte como videogame, uma história feita com amor em cada um de seus aspectos.
This review contains spoilers
Jeez, what a waste of time. Quite possibly the most inconsequential plotline I have ever witnessed in my life. The worst part is the story is THIS close to actually tackling something interesting and that's with whether or not to delete River from Johnny's memories. Our two protagonists delete people at multiple points within the game and discussions as to whether or not these simulated memories count as real people is brought up more than once. So realizing that the obstacle in their goal to create the simulation of going to the moon is River, the woman that Johnny married, is a genuinely interesting reveal. And what I found even more interesting is that the character I took to be more philosophical and empathetic, Eva, was actually far more willing to do such a thing as deleting River rather than the more cynical and uncaring character, Neil. I was disappointed to discover that not only did I have no choice in the matter of whether or not River is deleted, but that the story completely sidesteps this ethical question by just... letting River show up anyway! It's revealed that Eva knew what she was doing all along and simply had a plan to let Johnny have both River AND his dream to visit the moon! Okay... so why the FUCK didn't she JUST. SAY. THAT. Neil at one point tells Eva that she has a communication problem but that is not the same as just not telling someone important information. The reason she doesn't tell Neil this is so we, the player, can be left in suspense during this entire sequence. But it doesn't matter. It is a facade. In fact, the entire story is a facade. I'm sorry, but who cares that this old dude gets to experience going to the moon in his mind before he dies. It's not real! It didn't happen! Johnny's real story is far more interesting and meaningful than the story of giving him a fake life of fulfilling his "dream" that wasn't even really his dream in the first place! He never cared about going to the moon! The point of going to the moon was that River would be there! What really seals this games coffin for me though is that this story had no reason to be told through the video game format. The gameplay is SHIT. Every single section that gets gamey is SHIT. The animations being these goofy fucking RPG Maker things take me out of this very dramatic and grounded story without fail. It's SHIT. This game? Is shit! But I guess a nice old guy died so people at home cried a lot. Sorry, but I just don't get it. Suffice it to say, I think I'll pass on the rest of the trilogy. You have no idea how little I care about the weird mystery of Neil taking painkillers. It's probably just gonna be that he's fucking dying or some shit which is SUPER sad you see because, he's like, a dude we know and he's, like, dying. Truly peak storytelling.