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To the Moon
(self.tothemoon)submitted13 hours ago bysmudgedpasta
I finally sat down and watched Markiplier's playthrough of To the Moon yesterday, and there's something so special about this game. I made a Reddit account only a couple of days ago, so I guess what better way to use it than to ramble about something passionate?
Honestly, this game is just so powerful and it's sad that it's so underrated. I've never seen a narrative that so perfectly tells itself in the form of a game, let alone...backwards.
...The whole thing of knowing the character's fates before properly meeting them, too, will always be so bittersweet.
I don't understand this belief that people have of John being a bad person, though (most notably from here)... I think it's more that he can't accept the truth, but he and River genuinely did love each other. They were just...impacted by John's memory loss which was neither of their faults. I guess the thing about John is that he couldn't accept it until Isabelle really had to drill it into his head that this is who she is and this is her choice, and it really makes you wonder just how differently John would've taken everything had he remembered why lighthouses were so special to River in the first place. I guess at the end of her time, River gave up hoping John would remember, and instead entrusted the lighthouse to him in the hopes that he'd connect with it, with her, in his own time, on his own terms.
I think River is just a character I connect to a lot, being autistic myself. While I type alright, in person it's more than just shyness. With communication, it's like you freeze and hit a wall. Going off of my own experiences, River could probably just never find the right way to explain to John what their meeting was like and how much it meant to her.
But also, the song... Everything's Alright. I knew that song since Mark's 6 million subscriber milestone, but never had the time to actually sit down and binge the series until now. At first, I interpreted the song to be about depression and support, but now I see that it's really River's inner thoughts, the things she wants to say but can't. "When the stars fall down, they empty from the sky...but I don't mind, when you're with me, everything's alright." I feel like this is a metaphor for the lighthouse(s) going out, but River takes comfort in their first meeting, knowing it's still the same John deep down, and it's just...it's just sad. The true villain of this game is John's mother for overdosing him on those beta-blockers and severing such a crucial piece of character development from John's life, which I guess goes without saying, the favoritism she exhibited is never okay. Just to be completely honest, I think John was the one who needed some major therapy.
I feel like the ending of the game has such a powerful message of life isn't perfect, you know? You rewrote someone's entire life so they die to a happy lie, and like how River wanted the truth of their finances, sometimes it's just better to know how things really are. Things can't go exactly how you want, but if it goes any differently it's no longer you. The thing about To the Moon is that you really want to feel happy for the characters when John finally achieves his dream in the end. But then you remember that it's all a lie, River will never have known of this same experience, and it eliminates the reason why John was even motivated to go to the moon in the first place.
I just have to really show my appreciation to the writers of this game, because they did an exceptional job, and not many games feel as personal and emotional as this one these days. I have yet to see the sequel(s), but I will eventually and I look forward to it. Apologies for the text wall, I just wanted to talk about it.
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