Episode 192 - Life Isn't Worth Living - To the Moon

Don’t tell anyone, but I always thought they were podcasts. Welcome
back to NOCLIP! Today, we’re going to be talking about To the Moon,
a narrative game focused around learning about characters through
one’s memory. I imagine this description will be quite short,
because there isn’t a lot I can cover without spoiling the plot.
While technically a sci-fi story, the game revolves around one
character’s past, so those elements fall more into the background
during the meat of the gameplay. The result is that despite the
fantastical premise, the majority of the game feels very mundane
which has the effect of making it easier for the player to relate
to the characters in the story, and it’s very effective because the
game operates on a personal level. As you learn more about each of
the primary characters, you can start to see the depth they have
and that characterization and what you think about their actions
and motivations will influence the way you perceive the overall
story. It kind of sounds like I’m just describing how to read a
story, but engaging with this game the way you would a book or a
movie will probably do you better than coming into it like it was
Chrono Trigger. This is an extremely well written story with very
little interactivity, and it’s well worth checking out if you’re in
the mood for something simple. We’re going to be talking about what
being a game brings to the table for this experience, how the game
goes handles its characters, and we speak ill (and not so ill) of
the dead. Thank you for joining us again this week! We’re on the
last of our Mystery May games after this, and it’s so far been a
year for actually covering the games that have been on our list for
a long time. The tragedy of this game, aside from Johnny’s story
itself, is that we waited so long to play it that it feels to me
almost obsolete as a game, though not as a narrative, which still
feels very well written. Did you feel similarly to me, or were you
more engaged due to the interactivity? Let us know in the comments
or over on our Discord! Next time, we ended up rolling a game that
is has been on the list for less time than the other games this
year, but one we’re excited for anyway, Spiritfarer, so we hope
you’ll join us then!