[Spoilers] What the actual cucumber, Kan Gao?

[Cyberpunk]

I really thought this would be the grand series finale, but nope. Kinda disappointing that we are being strung along for a couple more years. The fundamental overarching plot is still completely unresolved: The first two games are clearly just a SigCorp simulation as well with either Neil or Eva interfering with each others memories, as established by the fact that Faye appears "IRL" in Finding Paradise. This could be explained within the context of this game however, considering its simulation layer cake. It also explains what Neil needed Faye for, without her he would not have been able to create the "perfect" timeline for his parents.

Still: This doesn't explain ANYTHING about SigCorp Minisode #2 (aside from why Neil is distant to his father). I thought you said you were done with this series Kan Gao?

I played To The Moon shortly after it came out at the age of 16. I'm going to be 27 in a week. When will I finally get closure on this story? If this is really the end, why setup Minisode #2 to begin with?

[TildenJack]

Originally posted by Cyberpunk:

If this is really the end, why setup Minisode #2 to begin with?

Read the thank you sticky. This is not the end of the series. And I don't know why anyone would assume it to be, when the credits clearly show that there's at least one more installment planned.

[Cyberpunk]

It was supposed to be the end though. Feels like walking it back the last minute.

[Reives]

Oh man, I'm sorry it felt that way to you; it certainly wasn't an intention to "string along" with this one. To be honest, I'm kinda surprised -- I was under the impression that with IF (or at least between IF and the comic), it indirectly answered even the question you'd posed about mini-sode 2; or at the very least drew a distinct negative space around it.

I'm gonna think about how to deal with this in the days to come!

[TildenJack]

Originally posted by Cyberpunk:

It was supposed to be the end though.

I don't remember Kan ever saying as much. What he did say is that Impostor Factory would mark the end of an era, which could mean anything. Like the rest of the series playing out completely differently, or being presented in a different style, etc...

[Cyberpunk]

Originally posted by Reives:

Oh man, I'm sorry it felt that way to you; it certainly wasn't an intention to "string along" with this one. To be honest, I'm kinda surprised -- I was under the impression that with IF (or at least between IF and the comic), it indirectly answered even the question you'd posed about mini-sode 2; or at the very least drew a distinct negative space around it.

I'm gonna think about how to deal with this in the days to come!

Oh ♥♥♥♥. Didn't expect you to reply to my outburst. To be completely honest: The last time I played Minisode #2 was in 2019 and the events of the past 1.5 years have done quite a number on me, so it's no longer clear in my memory. I also haven't read the comic yet, so that's also a factor. I still believe that games should stand on their own without requiring the supplementary material (I'm not considering the minisodes to be supplementary). I also do not wish to interfere with your artistic vision since To The Moon and the series it spawned mean more to me than you can possibly imagine. Regardless, I'm still grateful that you took your time to respond. As for addressing minisode #2: Maybe it will make more sense after I replay IF, but from where I stand right now the only thing I can infer is that the meta elements of the previous games are part of the reality layercake, but that was already established or rather implied. I just can't figure out where or *why*.

Also: Minisode #3 when? ;)

[The Fist]

Originally posted by Reives:

Oh man, I'm sorry it felt that way to you; it certainly wasn't an intention to "string along" with this one. To be honest, I'm kinda surprised -- I was under the impression that with IF (or at least between IF and the comic), it indirectly answered even the question you'd posed about mini-sode 2; or at the very least drew a distinct negative space around it.

I'm gonna think about how to deal with this in the days to come!

Hey Kan, loved the game but was hoping you can clear something up unless it will be answered in a future project. Were the versions of the real world in TtM and FP simulations? Because Faye was in the real world during Finding Paradise before she was discovered by Neil and Eva.

[Terminal Velocity]

Originally posted by Reives:

Oh man, I'm sorry it felt that way to you; it certainly wasn't an intention to "string along" with this one. To be honest, I'm kinda surprised -- I was under the impression that with IF (or at least between IF and the comic), it indirectly answered even the question you'd posed about mini-sode 2; or at the very least drew a distinct negative space around it.

I'm gonna think about how to deal with this in the days to come!

No, no. The characters and situations in your games are what sets them apart from the rest because they are deep and relatable to real life's situations. To me, your stories are a journey and not a destination - I like to pretend Im reading a graphic book.

Please keep them coming. Glad to see the ? at the end, I was worried you were considering stopping.

[Epicwindow+-]

hey guess what

you may not even live long enough to see half life 3

but so are we

[Tikilou]

Originally posted by Epicwindow+-:

hey guess what

you may not even live long enough to see half life 3

but so are we

I know we all gonna die (especially when we play theses games and seeing how this life is short), and there is lot of things i want to do before dying. I'm pretty sure i want to play all games related to To The moon, before that, and i'm apparently not the only one ! ^_^

[[NcK]MasterShake|CM]

Isn't this closure in the sense that there cannot possibly be closure in this universe insomuch as has been crafted? It is currently impossible to ascertain what baseline reality is. I don't see how it could ever be verified as not another layer on the stack.

[Mr. Nobody]

In my opinion, the game itself was great. In fact, in many ways I think it's the best in the series.

What I don't understand (and where I think a lot of the disappointment from some people comes from) is what the point of all the misleading information and secrecy surrounding this game over the past few years was (and still is). I still don't actually understand what the point in calling this Episode X instead of just Episode 3 is. I also don't understand the weird vagueness regarding whether or not it's the last game in the series.

It kind of set up this weird expectation where people were expecting some mind blowing revelations and explanations that didn't really happen in the game. In fact, I would argue IF was probably the most predictable entry in the series to date (which isn't necessarily a bad thing).

If you had just told me this was the next episode in the series and left it at that, I would argue this is possibly the best game so far. But because of all the weird secrecy, I kind of had this expectation that there was going to be something crazy and mindblowing. Instead, I got what literally just felt like Episode 3 of the series.

[Tikilou]

Originally posted by Mr. Nobody:

In my opinion, the game itself was great. In fact, in many ways I think it's the best in the series.

What I don't understand (and where I think a lot of the disappointment from some people comes from) is what the point of all the misleading information and secrecy surrounding this game over the past few years was (and still is). I still don't actually understand what the point in calling this Episode X instead of just Episode 3 is. I also don't understand the weird vagueness regarding whether or not it's the last game in the series.

It kind of set up this weird expectation where people were expecting some mind blowing revelations and explanations that didn't really happen in the game. In fact, I would argue IF was probably the most predictable entry in the series to date (which isn't necessarily a bad thing).

If you had just told me this was the next episode in the series and left it at that, I would argue this is possibly the best game so far. But because of all the weird secrecy, I kind of had this expectation that there was going to be something crazy and mindblowing. Instead, I got what literally just felt like Episode 3 of the series.

Marketing & Hype... Nothing more.
Freebird is an enterprise.

[Reives]

Aye, I get how it can come across in that frustrating way. To be honest, in terms of "last (full) game in the series (in a while)", the reason for the vagueness is that I honestly don't know for sure (both the yes/no answer and to what degree). To give a definitive answer would actually be the misleading choice. There are a lot of factors in play that should become more apparent in the coming years, so I wanted to be careful.

Regardless, there are definitely more stories to tell given the structure of the series, so I wanted to keep the options open.

Which leads to the other thing: Episode X is because IF is a bit of a meta story in terms of the series, even perhaps in terms of the chronological order it places in. I wanted to distinct that from the numerical episodes, which is reserved for (potential) future stories of "normal" patients with SigCorp doctors, as were To the Moon and Finding Paradise. If one day we were to continue on in one way or another, the alphabetical vs numerical episode markers would actually help with expectations.

But aye, the vagueness of descriptive material for this game was kind of me in a bind. After playing it, some folks appreciated it, some didn't. All understandable. I just tried my best to keep things somewhat surprising, but evidentially it causes some folks' expectation to skyrocket -- which, while unfortunate, I think comes from a place of passion for the series, which I honestly really appreciate.

[Lord_Dracon]

Originally posted by Reives:

Aye, I get how it can come across in that frustrating way. To be honest, in terms of "last (full) game in the series (in a while)", the reason for the vagueness is that I honestly don't know for sure (both the yes/no answer and to what degree). To give a definitive answer would actually be the misleading choice. There are a lot of factors in play that should become more apparent in the coming years, so I wanted to be careful.

Regardless, there are definitely more stories to tell given the structure of the series, so I wanted to keep the options open.

Which leads to the other thing: Episode X is because IF is a bit of a meta story in terms of the series, even perhaps in terms of the chronological order it places in. I wanted to distinct that from the numerical episodes, which is reserved for (potential) future stories of "normal" patients with SigCorp doctors, as were To the Moon and Finding Paradise. If one day we were to continue on in one way or another, the alphabetical vs numerical episode markers would actually help with expectations.

But aye, the vagueness of descriptive material for this game was kind of me in a bind. After playing it, some folks appreciated it, some didn't. All understandable. I just tried my best to keep things somewhat surprising, but evidentially it causes some folks' expectation to skyrocket -- which, while unfortunate, I think comes from a place of passion for the series, which I honestly really appreciate.

Although the game is different, I think it's important to the lore of the entire franchise.

I loved it and I was touched in many moments.

The only thing I missed was playing a little bit with the doctors, but that didn't removed the shine of this game for me.

I hope you continue to make games from this franchise.

And no rush making them. Take your time.