To The Moon and Interactive Narratives

To The Moon is the most powerful game I have ever played. As I went through this incredibly affecting and stunningly powerful tale of love, loss, and redemption I found myself near to tears several times. That beats the previous record held by Mass Effect 2 of me being momentarily sad when Tali's father dies. To The Moon features outstanding writing and one of the greatest musical scores I have ever heard in any medium. To The Moon also was made in RPG Maker. It's simplisitic and often poorly drawn sprite graphics might turn away more visually minded gamers, but To The Moon is an incredible example of a game whose graphics don't make or break the experience. Unfortunately, the gameplay also is largely inessential to the experience. And herein lies my problem with To The Moon. The "game" part of To The Moon borders between boring and downright bad. The only real gameplay present outside of walking around the environment to progress the story, is a simple flip puzzle where you have to flip squares on a grid to create a picture. It's incredibly simple, easy, and boring. By the third or fourth puzzle I just wanted to finish the damn thing and get back to the story. And I began to question how big of a problem this was.

To The Moon doesn't even have the excuse of games like The Walking Dead that the interactivity comes from making story choices. To The Moon has a linear narrative. The question is, really, would To The Moon work better as a visual novel? If the gameplay does nothing to enhance the experience, and, in fact, hinders it in several situations, why have gameplay at all? It's an interesting question and one that many people will argue over. For my money, a good game narrative is one that works best as a game. It's the type of narrative that is either enhanced through gameplay, or makes some sort of commentary on the game you are playing. A great recent example is Spec Ops: The Line. The story in Spec Ops was linear, but it forced the player to question the nature of modern military shooters and their sense of bravado. It is a story that would be an average movie, but because it is a game it works incredibly well. To The Moon gains nothing from being a game.

All that said, I have to return to my original statement that To The Moon is the most powerful game I have ever played. It is something that makes me pause. The recently deceased Roger Ebert said that games couldn't be art because of their interactivity. He said that the author of a piece needs to be able to direct the experience of the person entirely for the piece of art to have its intended effect. Looking at many of the non-linear narratives in gaming, I can't say that the story itself has been enhanced by non-linearity. It gives the player greater agency, and a sense that he or she is truly having an effect on the world. But as far as telling a compelling story goes, most of these stories would be as good or better without the interactive element. At the end of To The Moon a character makes a choice. It was a choice that could have been left to the player. But in doing so, the developers would have had to forsake the powerful ending that was the perfect conclusion to this tale. In letting the character make their choice without player input, the game was able to keep their motivations hidden, and the result is something that makes this story as amazing as it is.

So I guess the question on my mind is, is it possible to create an interactive story that has the same effect on the player as a linear story does? Or, is the addition of player agency a compelling enough reason to ignore the lower quality narrative? It's a question I am curious to explore and I'm curious to hear what all of you think about this. Regardless of my feelings that this "game" is much less a game and more of a visual novel, I would highly recommend it to anyone who values story in their games. This is the most powerful story ever told in a game. It combines a great premise with realistic dialogue and a musical score that is worth listening to over and over long after the game has finished. In fact I am listening to it as I write this blog. If you need action, excitement, or challenge in your games then stay away. This game isn't for you. If, on the other hand, you are willing to put aside the weak gameplay to experience this incredible story then please do so. It is worth your time and your money and will affect you like few other games you have played.

@raven10 said:

While yours is a valid perspective, I think the argument that the gameplay elements are relevant to the narrative could be made. Also, for me, the music was fundamental to the emotional connection (it was composed by the actual game writer iirc).

@jimipeppr: The music was excellent. I'm curious what arguments you might make about the gameplay being important? Recently we had games like Gone Home and Papers, Please that worked almost solely because they are games. I didn't feel remotely the same about To The Moon.

I found the act of finding the objects/places that Johnny had specific memories of (and that linked you to the next memory) was kind of a neat way to uncover the story. It was also an effective use of repetition for some satisfying payoffs that came later (like when you learn what the paper rabbits symbolize and their purpose).

The same effect could be achieved in a non-interactive way so I get that the argument is pretty weak (especially if you're comparing it with Papers, Please). I'm just saying that some of the gameplay elements worked for me, otherwise, yes, this "game" is really just a great story with fitting music.

I just finished it. It took four and a half hours, and wow, it was really great. I didn't know it was on Steam... If it was from release, I don't know why I didn't play it. I either thought it wasn't, or my laptop couldn't handle it. Sorry for the 'necro', then again, there aren't many posts here... Honestly, while you could argue they aren't really much of a game as they are a way to tell a story (To the Moon more so), this and Valiant Hearts are the games this year that really moved me the most, though I just wish I played this when it came out.

I really need to get to this game. It's been on the back burner for a while now and I could use something like it right about now. Didn't occur to me until now that it was made in the Rpg maker. Usually that would be an upfront deterrent for me, but given the praise I think it's only fair to give it the benefit of the doubt. I know it's a year old, but good read.

@themanwithnoplan: It only takes about four and a half hours to complete, and really, it's largely just clicking your way through. It's definitely one of those games some people would or could argue that it's 'not a game', but whatever, it's great nonetheless. You should play through it and just get it out of the way. Gameplay wise it isn't much, but story (and soundtrack) wise it's fantastic.

@themanwithnoplan: This is one of the few games made with RPG Maker that I would 100% recommend to people who love great stories. The gameplay might as well not exist, but there are few games out there anywhere near as powerful as To The Moon.

@ntm: I'm always glad to see more people experience this gem of a game, if you want to call it that. I still listen to the soundtrack regularly a year and a half later. I don't know if it was always on Steam, but it definitely has been for at least a couple years. The good side about playing this now, though, is that you won't have to wait as long as the rest of us for the next game in the series, which is a spinoff, or for the full fledged sequel.

Am I the only one who got bored thirty minutes into this "game"? This is coming from someone who loved the hell out of Gone Home too.

@themanwithnoplan: Want a free copy, I think I have one still, PM me.

@l33t_haxor: I can safely say that you were not the only one. Even those who love To The Moon openly admit it is not for everybody.

@raven10 said:

Yeah, for sure. The story it tells is ultimately pretty cool, but it's got a pretty deliberate pacing to it, the introduction when you first arrive at the mansion (before you explore the guy's past) goes on kinda long, and the two quasi-narrator characters are always really jokey, causing the tone to careen wildly all over the place. Also, if you aren't a millennial, the sequence where it super directly references Animorphs probably makes no sense to you.

Not for everybody, but worth giving a shot because the story payoff is pretty great. See an illustrated account below of myself reacting to the final quarter or so of the game:

@dwigtk: Thanks duder :), but I already have a copy.

@bisonhero: I had totally forgotten about Animorphs, but I remember reading them when I was a kid. I forgot about it so much I had to question if it was even real at first. I checked Google and remembered. It was a nice surprise actually. I also didn't know the answer to the question, so I checked Google, and the girl in the game said I could have just checked Google. I also like, and think it's not necessarily unique to see the mix of jokes from some characters, juxtaposing the drama from others.

@l33t_haxor: You should finish it and see how you feel, even if you dislike it in the end, then alright. It's understandable why you wouldn't be into it thirty minutes in...