(Copying my Steam review of this game because I'm lazy)

To the Moon is a bad video game and a bad story.

Before you flame me please note that my issues with the game extend past its rudimentary gameplay, poor graphics, and nonexistent settings. Also note that I have played several games similar to To the Moon which I will shout out in my review. If you're looking for a good adventure game, just going off of stuff I've both played and are available on Steam, check out the Ace Attorney Trilogy, Zero Escape: The Nonary Games (999 specifically, as that game is fantastic), killer7, or VA-11 Hall-a, and there are loads of other games I haven't played that seem better than this (Telltale's The Walking Dead, Danganronpa, Firewatch, 428, all of the LucasArts games, etc.). Hell, if you're looking for an Adventure game built in RPG Maker, I'd highly recommend OFF over To the Moon, and that game is free (I have also heard good things about Yume Nikki and Ib, but again, haven't played them)

So let's address the obvious problems everyone already mentions. This game was built in an old version of RPG maker, which means a few things. First off, there are no settings to speak of, so I hope you like playing the game fullscreen with a low resolution, and I also hope you like clunky controls with inconsistent movement speeds. The graphics are also super generic. This isn't even a limitation with RPG Maker, OFF was made in this engine and that game has actual character design and an aesthetic protrayed in its worldbuilding. This is probably controversial, but I don't like the OST, there's a ton of piano songs and while they do provide a moody atmosphere, they largely blend together and don't really have any interesting melodies. As someone who loves video game music and will gladly seek out the music of games I've played, I really have no desire to do so with To the Moon. This is especially hilarious considering one of these piano pieces is a major story element. Once again, OFF had an atmospheric OST, but it was farrrr more unique and compelling to listen to on its own. The gameplay basically boils down to running around a clunky RPG overworld to find certain interactables and solving some extremely basic tile puzzles…hell you don’t even play tile puzzles by the end of the game.

So we're left with one thing: The narrative. The story itself is mostly compelling and has a cool setup: Look through a terminally ill patient’s memories and change them so that they remember themselves being an astronaut and going to the moon before they die. It has a very moody atmosphere and the story at least gives good payoff to the things it sets up. However, the overall tone is suuuuuper melodramatic, like it's actively trying its best to make you sad or emotional because of the music and the events we see the characters go through. But...I honestly don't care about any of that, because the characters and writing are quite poor. The characters are bland as hell and lack much in terms of personality or anything interesting; I can’t recall the names of most of the cast, and I have very little to say about the ones I do remember. While I can tell you about Johnny's life and what he goes through, I can't say anything compelling about him as a person. He uh...likes olives? He wants to go to the moon? His relations to other characters don't matter when they're ridiculously uninteresting: River and Johnny's mother's characters have some good idea but ultimately they aren't enough.

The two leads have personality, but they also totally break the game’s serious tone with some really cringe-y writing that sometimes devolves to just referencing things, and it often becomes obvious that this was an indie game made in 2011 (Doctor Who references? Really?). I know it makes sense narratively since this is just another day of work for them, but it doesn’t make for an entertaining experience. And again, they really don't do much beyond that, they don't have any character relations outside of themselves (not even with Johnny tbh), so I don't really feel anything for either of the two leads. Compare them to some of my favorite characters, Phoenix Wright from Ace Attorney and Gillian from Va-11 Hall-a. They are very silly and entertaining characters, yes, but they also have a number of fun and interesting relationships with other, similarly deep members of the cast (Maya, Mia, Edgeworth, and Larry; Jill, Dana, and many customers and randoms), on top of their own depth like Nick's backstory and his motivations to be an attorney, and Gill's connections with Va-11 Hall-a's themes of coming to terms with your past and focusing on the present. To the Moon's characters just don't have any of that...

At least the story, in terms of the events taking place, is good for much of the game…at least until the climax and ending which are awful. It's both nonsensical and RIDICULOUSLY emotional manipulative. I imagine the devs want you to cry during this sequence, but I was absolutely livid. To get into spoilers....

How the HELL is River the one preventing Johnny from going to the Moon, the loss of his brother and subsequent loss of his memory is the real thing keeping from doing so. There is absolutely no reason for her to have been moved to a later part of Johnny's life, and the fact that your partner REFUSES to explain anything while doing this is, also, nonsensical and only serves to add tension through that chase sequence. And then, they segue into this ]emotionally manipulative disappearance sequence with a disgustingly sappy song...ONLY THEN does the game back-pedal on River's disappearance because of course it does, it obviously wasn't going to commit to rubbing out River, the game just wanted you to cry for a bit. Sigh..,I'm not against emotional story moments, but please don't force it and let it make sense (i.e. 999's S*f* Ending). Not like it would've mattered much in this case since, again, I don't feel much of a connection with these characters to begin with. Also, while I'm on story spoilers, the twist that Johnny has a twin brother is pretty dumb

When I took all of this into account, I realized something…To the Moon has nothing going for it. The graphics are mid, the gameplay is mid, the soundtrack is mid, and they even managed to botch the story. While it wasn’t a straight-up pain to play throughout, I can’t say I came out of this game with a positive outlook.

If you legitimately cried at this game, I'm glad you were able to find an emotional connection that I couldn't. But also, I'm sure there are plenty of other games that will make you cry harder.