16 STORY-DRIVEN GAMES YOU CANNOT MISS! - To The Moon

[Lucafg - Video Games & Art]

To The Moon (2011, Kan Gao)

https://www.facebook.com/videogamesart/videos/1506549399417478/

It is built in 2D using RPG Maker engine and focuses almost exclusively on narration. Story is certainly the reason why the title deserves to be played.
Story is very beautiful and original because of the really mature topics dealt with: death, love, desease, dreams and regrets. There are also sexual metaphors! I'm not absolutely going to reveal the plot, i let you discover it by yourself. Someone finds it too “sugary”, but i find it coherent. The key is how it is narrated. At first glance you would be wondering how a 2D game with a retro pixel art aesthetics could tell a similar story and deeply involve the player too. How can you empathyze with characters drawn with a handful of pixels? That's the miracle of To The Moon. I was skeptical before playing, but I had to change my mind!
There is almost no interaction in To The Moon. You can only move the cute pixelated characters through the 2D map, click on objects and solve few simple puzzles and mini-games not well integrated in the story. There are no voices, you have to read captions and balloons!
The truth is that it's not properly a videogame, it's a crossover of expressive media, a visual novel that makes use of old videogames aesthetics to express cuteness and tenderness. It's definitely a literary/visual artwork full of minimalist poetry, which digs deeply in player's emotions.
Do not miss the equally minimalist soundtrack, built around two musical notes!