Ok, so there wasn’t really a Skyrim LP. Suffice to say, I’ve played the game out by now, and I didn’t feel like doing one before because of some family issues. That is also why I haven’t posted recently.
However, I haven’t just been playing Skyrim. While it took up quite a bit of my time, I also found a bit of time to play To the Moon, a small 4-hour indie game by Freebird Games. And, by god, was the story great. I very nearly - very nearly, mind you - cried at the end. I did get some sniffles.
– Minor Spoilers Below. –
“To the Moon” - very clever. You already know what the ending is going to be. There are even pictures of rockets blasting off on the homepage. But, really, the game is not about the ending. It’s the journey, the choices the characters make, the themes inside - is it really our place to change events in the past, even if it’s not the past we’re changing, just a pseudo-past, and even if everything works out OK in the end? This stuff takes a lot of rumination.
The story is absolutely moving. The “moving backward in time” mechanic was just great, and in the middle, when Dr. Rosalene does her big twist thing by removing one of the big characters and the montage plays - you know what I’m talking about if you played the game - I just sat there, took my glasses off, and put my head in my hands, listening to that song by Laura “unfairly-known-only-as-the-zombies-on-your-lawn-singer” Shigihara. (Warning - by listening to the song you agree to have your ears assaulted by small angels.) The game had some ridiculously powerful moments, that cannot be denied. I would have said it was perfect, if only one thing would have been changed…
The dialogue. Oh my god, why, why Gao Kan - or is it Kan Gao - why would you put a character like Neil in the game? This is my biggest, hugest, bearish complaint: the dialogue in the game simply did not add up with the themes and tone presented. Neil Watts, one of the characters in the game, makes jokes at every single opportunity - none of them made me laugh, either. I simply kept thinking to myself “oh my god, shut up Dr. Watts.” Some said Neil grows on you - it was a little of the opposite for me. He was ok in the beginning. It was a little amusing when he fights a squirrel. But in the middle of the story, when you’re uncovering Johnny’s deep secrets, his soul-touching past?
I’m not saying that something serious has to be completely serious, all the way through, period. Humor has its time and place. But just about the entire way through the game, there is never a stop to the slapstick antics and wisecracks. It has a bit of Homestuck-syndrome; Homestuck, at its root, is a humorous story, made for entertainment. I mean, really, just look at the header to the MSPA website. It’s supposed to be funny. However, there are times when the story gets real serious, and more than a little bit sad. Many of those times, Andrew Hussie, the creator, screws the moment up by trying to keep the story lighthearted. Such a thing immediately detracts from the impact of the scene on the audience.
Anyway, back to To the Moon. Now, I haven’t mentioned any of the gameplay. In truth, the game would have been better served if it had been produced as a movie. The gameplay elements do not add anything. However, that is not to say they detract. They’re just simply… there. They never get real annoying. Sometimes it’s even enjoyable, such as when you get the “ideal” score on the memento flip-puzzles. I think, though, that they were simply added because the producer thought they needed to be there - it’s a game, after all.
Some people said the game made them cry. I did not quite get there. I just can’t shake the feeling that To the Moon would have been so, so much more powerful had it reconsidered some of the choices it made in dialogue. I really hope that Gao/Kan Kan/Gao will remake the game, or get a movie deal, or something, and rework the characters. I still say, though, you should give To the Moon a play, if for nothing else but to experience the pure emotional release that it gives. I suggest you play it all the way through, without stop. Lock yourself in a room for four and a half hours. If it’s close to meal time, bring food with you. Let your friends and family know you won’t be around for a little while. Put your cellphone out in the hallway, disconnect your internet, fire up the game and just… enjoy it.
Anyways, it’s winter break now, and I’ve got some time to do random stuff. Time to dive into OpenGL for real.