To the Moon
$9.99 - just the game
$12.49 - game and soundtrack
$4.99 - soundtrack
PC, ~70MB (~240 with soundtrack), 3-5 hours game time
http://store.steampowered.com/app/206440/?snr=1_7_suggest__13
http://freebirdgames.com/to_the_moon/
I'll say this first: get the soundtrack! Even if you're not interested in the game, get the soundtrack. If you buy the game, get it with the soundtrack. The music is so gorgeous; wonderful piano tracks. The fall sale is over but put this on your wish list for the upcoming smissmas steam sale!
What if, while on your deathbed, you could have any wish or desire fulfilled? What if you could relive that alternate life in your mind before you die? That's the job of Drs. Eve Rosaline and Neil Watts. They go to their client and change their memories before they die to reflect their wish or desire. Their client: an old man named Johnny who lives in a mansion on a cliff next to a lighthouse, and he wants to go to the moon.
Now no one knows why he wants to go to the moon, not even Johnny himself. In order to implant this desire to go to the moon the pair need to travel back through his memories to his younger self and implant it then. They also cannot simply just jump back that far, they have to go back in steps from significant moments in Johnny's life. As they travel back they see the events that shaped his life, and many suprising mysteries. When they finally get to young Johnny and figure out most of the mysteries encountered from the later memories the Drs. face a moral dilemma: after seeing and discovering so much of Johnny's life are they doing the right thing to change it?
The story is excellent, very well written. I played the entire game in one sitting because of it. You won't want to stop, you must continue to see what happens next. The story is one of the main reasons you really ought to buy this game. It isn't all serious, there are many bits of comedy thrown in to keep it from being monotonous.
The other is the music. As I mentioned earlier, get the soundtrack. One way or another get the soundtrack. The piano pieces in this game are beautiful. The music plays very well with the story, it gets you to really feel what is going on. Together the music and the story make this one very powerful game.
The graphics are akin to a high end 16-bit game. Like Chrono Trigger or Final Fantasy VI, but better graphics. They don't detract from the game, instead the graphics seem to pay homage to that era of gaming.
The only downside to this game is the gameplay. While it is classified as an RPG, it really is more of an interactive novel. And really that's how this game should be. You can't have this game be the way it is and have elements of combat and magic and levels. There are a few interactive environments and some very light puzzle solving. A moment or two of actual action sequences. Other than that it is all point and click. Rather boring, and the puzzle elements are really only there to keep it from being just a movie or a "click and read". Though it would make an excellent movie!
Even though the graphics aren't OMG lifelike and the gameplay is really only there to keep it from being just a novel or movie, one really ought to get this game. The story is very strong, and the music will move you. Just try to not cry. Buy it now while it's on sale, or wait for a bigger sale. Either way this a must play! Don't forget to pick up the soundtrack also!
And here's an example of this game's music. This motif is played in different forms throughout the game, and is beautiful.
