I'm going to say it. You are thinking it. To the Moon is not a game. It's interactive fiction. I guess if you want to dig really deep and get all semantic and deep dive on wikipedia then maybe you can call it an adventure game? It's 100% not an RPG though. It's a little painful to see this on the top of many "Best Games in RPG Maker" lists, but I understand there's no demand for "Best Interactive Fiction in RPG Maker". And, it is pretty cool that something that is not an RPG was made in RPG Maker.
Now that I've got that out of my system I will say that it is an excellent experience and I recommend as a Should Play. I'm not going to break this review into categories this time since many won't apply. I will say a few words about the experience.
To the Moon puts you in limited control of two technicians who work onsite with their dying customers. Their job is to grant the customer a last wish. This is given not by granting a wish, but by altering the customer's memory so that it seems like they have experienced the wish. Pretty cool concept.
It gets even better. The technicians alter the memory by delving into them in a virtual reality setup. You begin exploring recent memories and dig further back in time, investigating when and where to make a change to alter the experiences of a lifetime. These changes need to be made precisely to lead the customer's decisions to their dying wish.
This is where it gets a little hand-wavey and is the only fault in the story. If the whole thing is a simulation, why not just replace all the memories with scripted decisions. Time and time again during the story we are told that none of this is real. There's a weird line between the company's computer making changes and the customer's own brain simulating experiences and it doesn't make sense. It does, however, add to the drama. So maybe suspend some of that disbelief.
I won't go much deeper into the story because I'll start to spoil what makes it great. I will say there are a number of situations that come together to weave the exact events in the customer's life and you slowly discover them as you delve deeper. It's an uncommon story with a perfectly conjured circumstance, but that's what makes stories worth telling.
I rate this a Should Play, even though there's not much play. In fact, the few times you have to solve a puzzle or run through some moving obstacles feel forced and in the way. There's not enough play to make To the Moon a "game". I would rather have just seen the puzzles removed. If this is an interactive story, let's see story!
