This was probably one of the most moving story-driven games that I have ever played. To the moon tells a beautiful story about a man on his deathbed who's dying wish was to go to the moon. The role that you take on in the game is of two doctors who are here to grant that wish by accessing his brain and altering his memories to make him believe he has been to the moon. But altering Johnny's memories isn't as plain sailing as some of there other cases as he has a dark past and some memories have become inaccessible which forces the doctors to make the decision; fulfill the wish and send him to the moon but compromise Johnny's life in a scenario which could lead him to never meeting his late wife.
Through the 5 or 6 hours of gameplay we travel back through Johnny's memories uncovering the stories of him and his wife River as they learn of her medical condition and also why she is so very obsessed with making paper rabbits. We follow their life so closely that it is heart breaking when the dilemma of whether or not to send him to the moon appears the game manages to make you feel so close to the characters that you want to be the one who has the final say in what he decides to do and whether or not he can stay with River; but sadly you can't. And this, leads to one of the most beautiful but so heart wrenching ends to a game that left me in tears as I was able to experience pure story writing genius.
Probably one of my only criticisms of this game for me is that it probably shouldn't have been a game. Although that may sound weird what lets it down is the mechanics. It is very boring. The game itself is very dull as you have a limited environment to move around and you can only move and click on certain objects. It's not like you even have free rein on what you can click on; the mouse cursors changes as you hover over certain objects making finding them incredibly easy. Along with this the most excitement in the game is when you get to ride a horse around a small paddock but then again, not the most exciting thing in the world.
But this is not the reason you buy this game. Yes, the gameplay is incredibly dull, boring and repetitive, but the story is so rich and captivates you to continue playing, and the gorgeous sound track that accompanies it creates such an amazing atmosphere that invites you to keep going and eventually get Johnny to the moon.
As it was such a beautiful game, that was so driven by the story it felt only silly not to look at it for Context of Practice as I wanted to look at games that had the ability to tell a story, but with it's environment as well. This is a game that does do that as well, but in a very minimalistic way, we we Johnny go to certain places in his past that all seem to have a connection with River but also with the stars, and he is not happy unless he is in a place like this. The storytelling them comes when we see where he has build his house. On the cliff, in the middle of nowhere, but he is able to see the stars and it is an environment that is familiar to both him and River, which is what they always wanted. It is probably not the best example of how storytelling can be used in an environment sense, but in terms of story it is definitely one of the most beautiful stories told in a game in a long time.
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