Theme Ranger: To the Moon Analysis

This article focuses on Kan R. Gao's independent video game, To the Moon and picks it apart for its thematic value. Let's dive in, shall we? (Spoilers)

I.                    Introduction

A.       I was late to a lot of things, involving the internet, like the rise of YouTube and the advent of independent, video game development. When I heard about the 2011 indie game, To the Moon, I had to play it. I was more than impressed. I was moved. To the Moon isn’t a video game in its traditional sense, but rather an interactive story. Diehard, pro-mechanic gamers would not be pleased with this title. However, if you are someone who appreciates a good narrative, like I do, than this is one to look out for. To the Moon isn’t just a game for our entertainment. The game also exists to tug at our emotions and thoughts, getting us to ponder upon the premise of the story and how it applies to our lives. This is the case with any piece of art or entertainment with a narrative including characters, plot and premise, whether or not that piece of entertainment is a video game or not. Though To the Moon doesn’t shine well in areas of gameplay, the game does narrative quite well.

B.       To the Moon is the fourth game created by Kan “Reives” Gao and the first commercial production released by his development team, known as Freebird Games. The soundtrack was composed by Gao and features the song Everything’s Alright, sung and written by Laura Shigihara. The game was originally released for download from Gao’s website, FreebirdGames.com. On November 1, 2011, the game was released on Steam for Microsoft Windows. In January 7, 2014 the game was released with the Humble Indie Bundle X that made it available for OS X and Linux. It

C.        As stated before, To the Moon weighs heavily on its narrative elements over its aesthetic and gameplay elements. Being a game that was made using the RPG Maker XP engine, the aesthetics resemble that of a 16-bit, 4^th generation game, like Chrono Trigger or Final Fantasy VI.  Again, what sets To the Moon apart from these games is its gameplay. There is no battle system, which the developers go as far as humoring us on this fact, early in the game. Instead, the game’s investigative and puzzle solving elements exist to serve the narrative. That being said, there seems to be little in the game that can be considered “gameplay”, consisting of brief, tile puzzles transitioning between item-searching and narrative segments.

D.       Caution to parental figures who may be concerned about sensitive content. There is a fair use of foul language in the game. However, offensive words are not used so excessively that it seems a preteen wrote the text-based dialogue.

II.                  Analysis (Warning: Spoilers. As a sort of courteous caution, I must inform readers of the nature of this article, despite whether or not it is obvious that it will be touching up on much of the video game’s plot. If you intend to play this game, blind to its narrative, I suggest that you do not read this article. Regardless, I suggest that you do play the game blind, as that is the best way to experience it.)

A.      Prologue

1.       The opening credits pans over a birds-eye view of a country side estate by a lighthouse. For River is played on the piano, by two children, Sarah and Tommy. Dr. Eva Rosalene and Dr. Neil Watts are colleagues who arrive somewhere outside the country-side estate that the opening credits pans over. The two bicker after Neil had ran over a squirrel and crashing the car into a tree. Neil receives a crate full of equipment from the car and follows Eva to the house. Eva knocks at the front door. Sarah and Tommy’s piano session is interrupted by the knock.

1.       Act I “I never told anyone…but I always thought they were lighthouses.”

a.        Lily, Sarah and Tommy’s mother, opens the door to let in Eva and Neil. Eva and Neil are here for Johnny Wyles, the country estate’s home owner. Lily is his maid and caretaker. Johnny is ailing in his bed upstairs and has two days left to live. As his medical Doctor monitors his heart condition, Lily tells Eva and Neil of Johnny’s request. He wants to go to Moon. The player can choose either Eva or Neil. Sarah and Tommy shows the chosen doctor around the house, to find information about Johnny, including Johnny’s book study, the “funny room in the basement” and the Lighthouse located on the cliffy coast, somewhere near Johnny’s house.

b.       Eldest Memories: Eva and Neil explain their services to Johnny. They work for the Sigmund Agency of Life Generation, otherwise known as the Sigmund Corporation, or SigCorp for short. Their job is to fulfill Johnny’s dying wish. To do this, they must travel in backward leaps through his memories to get to his earliest accessible memories. Once there, they will transfer Johnny’s desire to go to the moon, effecting the behavior of his past self and thus resulting a new memory, involving Johnny arriving on the Moon. Eva and Neil continue through Johnny’s eldest memories. Johnny has lived in his house alone, lamenting over the death of his late wife, River and his promise to look after someone by the name of Anya.

c.       Elder Memories: River started acting distant and began producing a large amount of origami rabbits after Johnny had confessed something to her. Johnny and River visited with their friends, Nicolas and Isabelle at a bar and informed them about the land they purchased by the Lighthouse. Neil intervenes in this memory and reluctantly enjoys pickled olives with Johnny. River fell ill to her mental condition, refused medical treatment and at her request, Johnny continued the construction of their house, where can look after Anya. River made a yellow and blue, origami rabbit for Johnny and asked him to describe it. Johnny played the song he wrote for River, For River on the piano, before she died.

d.      Adult Memories: Johnny and Nicolas discussed River’s condition with Isabelle, who has the same condition, as they visited at the library. Johnny and River purchased a couple of books, The Emperor’s New Clothes and an Animorphs volume respectively. Johnny confessed to River his motives behind their first meeting as the two visit near the Lighthouse. At River’s request, Johnny threw her hackey sack towards the Lighthouse and River nearly careened over the cliff, after it. River had her hair cut and produced several, origami rabbits. She asked Johnny to describe the yellow rabbit. Johnny and River visited the Lighthouse and obtained the lighthouse land deed. Johnny explained to River that they can build a house nearby so they can look after Anya, the Lighthouse.

e.        Young Adult Memories: Johnny and River visited Dr. Lee, who diagnosed River of her mental condition, let them burrow his Tony Attwood book and suggested equine therapy. Johnny and River spent time horseback riding at an equestrian ranch. River lamented over a dead rabbit in the road, right before her wedding with Johnny. Johnny and River get married at the Lighthouse. Johnny’s mother gave him Animorphs books as wedding presents and called him “Joey”. Johnny explained to Nicolas that “Joey” is a nickname given to him based on the name of his late grandfather. Johnny and River named the Lighthouse Anya and danced in the aerie, until sunrise.

f.         Teenage Memories: Johnny left his house for school, after his mother referred to him as Joey. Johnny, Nicolas and River spent time in high school. Johnny explained to Nicolas that he doesn’t want to be a “typical kid in a sea of typical people” and wanted to be with River because she is different and that he felt an unexplainable connection with her. Nicolas gave Johnny morale support, before he asked River out on a date to the movies. Johnny and River had gone to the see a movie together. Johnny felt like he was stood up, before discovering that River misinterpreted the concept of “seeing a movie together”. The two spent the rest of the movie sitting next to each other.

g.       Child Memory? : Eva and Neil arrive in a white void that smells of road kill. They discover a black void is separating them from the rest of Johnny’s memories. Neil suspects that his machine is malfunctioning and Eva claims that they can continue to their next step without visiting Johnny’s childhood memories.

2.       Act II “Billions of lighthouses…stuck at the far end of the sky.”

a.        Eva and Neil try to get more information out of Johnny in his latest accessible memory. Neil explains that they are in a simulation of Johnny’s memories created by Neil’s machine. The Johnny they are speaking to is just an algorithm traced from the true Johnny, enough to copy his likeness, but far from complete. Eva and Neil save all of Johnny’s memories that they have accessed. A series of attempts, involving Eva and Neil transferring Johnny’s desire to go the Moon fails, as none of his memories change.

b.      Eva sits at the bench overlooking the Lighthouse and ponders the possibility of a secondary condition preventing Johnny’s memories from changing after the desire to go to the Moon has been transferred. Eva suspects River to be the top suspect as the source of the secondary condition. Returning inside, Eva visits with Lily as Neil makes phone calls to the Sigmund Corporation headquarters.

c.        SigCorp HQ informs Neil that Johnny was administered a large dose of beta blockers, during his late childhood, resulting in memory loss. They send Neil new data frequencies for his machine, so Johnny’s childhood memories can be accessed. Eva and Neil need a trigger for the new data frequencies to work. Since, the last memory Eva and Neil discovered smelled like roadkill, they can use the smell of roadkill to jog Johnny’s memories and access his childhood. Eva receives a sample of the dead squirrel on the road outside, and places it inside a valve container she receives from the car. She discovers Neil’s painkillers and confronts him about it, but he dodges the subject.

B.      Act III “They shine their light at the other lighthouses, and at me.”

1.       Eva and Neil return to the white void and transfer a signal to Johnny’s medical Doctor. The Doctor releases the roadkill odor. Johnny’s heart condition temporarily destabilizes, before Eva and Neil are able to progress. Johnny doesn’t have much time left.

2.        Childhood Memories: Johnny and his twin brother, Joey won prizes at a carnival’s whac-a-mole game. Joey won the toy train that Johnny wanted, while Johnny won a backpack, hackey sack and platypus doll. Johnny ate lunch with Joey and their mother, Martha and scoffed at Joey’s taste for pickled olives. Johnny ran off from Martha and Joey and is acquainted to River somewhere outside of the carnival. They gazed at the stars and created a rabbit constellation and designated the Moon as its belly. River explained to Johnny her vision of the stars being lighthouses who shine their lights at each, and at her, from afar and claimed that she is going to befriend one of them. Johnny and River agreed to meet at the same place every year at the carnival and that should either get lost, they can rendezvous on the rabbit’s belly, i.e. the Moon.

3.       Childhood Memories (Continued): Johnny and Joey spent time in their room, as Johnny scoffed at Joey’s interest in the Animorphs series and his dream of becoming a fiction writer. Johnny complained that their mother prefers Joey over him and that Joey always gets the better toys. Joey countered Johnny and claimed that whatever is his is also Johnny’s, because they are twin brothers. Joey played outside with his soccer ball in the neighborhood street. Joey’s mother backed her car out of the drive way and ran him over, which resulted in his death. Martha went crazy with guilt, gave Johnny beta blockers to make him forget Joey and began mis-identifying Johnny for his dead brother.

4.        Neil pursues Eva into Johnny’s high school memory, opposing her plan to remove River from Johnny’s memories. Eva corrupts the simulation’s construct and sends Neil through a gauntlet of obstacles made out of Johnny’s high school. Neil catches up to Eva, but not soon enough. Eva has River replaced with Joey.

5.       A montage begins showing Johnny’s memories changing, having events involving River being replaced with Joey. Laura Shigihara sings Everything’s Alright as the montage is happening.

6.       Altered Young Adult Memory: After have sending request letters through the mail, Johnny had made it to NASA. His brother Joey, had written a book called To the Moon about his brother’s desire to be an astronaut, but with a sneering tone. Johnny went through several segments of training and Eva vaguely laments about a certain effect to the memory alteration that she was hoping to have happened. Much to Neil’s surprise, Johnny was introduced to River, NASA’s other recruit. Eva states that she didn’t remove River but moved her and was banking on the chance that she would appear in the altered memory. The altered memory is after all, based on half of an archive of facts and half of Johnny’s own perceptions.

7.        Johnny wrote a song called To the Moon, which gained River’s attention. Johnny and River grew closer and closer together during their time at NASA. A lot of that time was spent at the lobby’s piano.

8.       Altered Adult Memory: Martha, Joey, Nicolas and Isabelle stood with a crowd on to watch Johnny and River’s space shuttle launch. By Eva’s request, Neil invites Lily and Johnny’s Doctor into the simulation to watch the launch, as well. “Because one day, I am going to befriend one of them.” Johnny, River and three other astronauts were sent to the Moon in a space shuttle. Johnny and River got their time together on the Moon. The rest of Johnny and River’s life followed after the space shuttle launch.

9.        Johnny’s heart monitor flat lines the moment the Moon appears in the shuttle’s wind shield and as Johnny and River hold hands. An imaginative scene shows Johnny as a child offering the toy platypus to River as a child, before the two spend time together on a log floating in space, an obvious fantasy from Johnny. Roll Credits.

10.   Neil pays his respects to Johnny and River’s graves, next to the Lighthouse. Sarah and Tommy leads Eva to Neil. The Sigmund Corporation headquarters calls Eva, informing her of the next patient. Neil consumes a painkiller before following Eva off screen. Episode 1: To the Moon is concluded.

III.                Synopsis

A.      Characters

1.       Dr. Eva Rosalene and Dr. Neil Watts- Eva and Neil work for the Sigmund Agency of Life Generation, otherwise known as the Sigmund Corporation, or SigCorp for short. Eva and Neil are partners. Eva is the Senior Memory Traversal Agent and Neil is the Technician Specialist. Their job is to grant the dying wish of each of their patients. They can insert a wish-based desire into a patient’s earliest, accessible memories to alter the later memories to fulfill the patient’s dying wish. Eva and Neil use a machine to simulate a patient’s memories, as a space to work with before transferring the results to the patient’s mind. That is what they have done for Johnny.

2.        Eva and Neil (Continued) - Eva and Neil are the playable characters of the game, but are not the main focus of the game’s narrative. They serve as the “outsiders looking in”, who judges Johnny as they progress through his memories, before second guessing their judgements as they learn more about him. Eva and Neil’s opposing personalities have been used to deliver humor to this emotional game, especially considering Neil’s inconsiderate and wise-cracking personality. Aside of their humor relief role, Eva and Neil’s characters seem to serve as a bridge between reality and fantasy. They are doctors and scientists, much like Dr. Lee or Johnny’s medical Doctor, but their services provide fantasies for their dying patients.

3.       Johnny Wyles- Johnny is the main character of the story, as in he is the main focus. The story moves in reverse through Johnny’s life. I believe this is deliberate, to allow the player to judge Johnny and his choices, actions and motives, before questioning those judgements as the plot progresses. There are lot of red herrings in the plot that have us questioning the kind of person Johnny is. Most notably is Johnny’s motives for dating River in high school, which makes him appear to be a radical, individualistic hipster, who sought to be with River for her eccentricities, and not for River herself. The truth was that Johnny felt this cryptic connection with her that neither Johnny, Nicolas, Eva, Neil or even the player could explain until the realization that River was a part of his forgotten childhood. His motive to go to the Moon stems from the time he spent with River when they were children, the same motive only being revived after River’s death.

4.        River Wyles- River is the second, main character in the story. The most notable characteristic about River is her mental condition. No one was aware of this condition, especially Johnny and River, until Dr. Lee diagnosed her as a young adult. The condition would later claim her life. River’s mental condition would be the cause of her quirks, like incoordination, obsessive compulsiveness, a strong rote memory, an overbearing sense of logic and her habit of personalizing such things as lighthouses, stars, the Moon, paper rabbits and her stuffed platypus doll. That isn’t to say that River truly believes that objects and features are sentient. She simply found enough value in them to represent them as people. River’s overbearing logic allows her to acknowledge all too well what is real and what is not, like when River acknowledged the financial situation that would have kept Johnny from building their home, if she would have accepted treatment and lived.

5.        River (Continued) - River seemed to ground Johnny’s desire to be different with her desire to be normal. It is an endearing factor that River tried her hardest to get Johnny to remember his childhood and their true, first meeting. This makes is all the more tragic that it was her death that triggered his initial desire to go to the Moon and not his recovered, childhood memories. What is even more is that River died tragically, while Johnny died happy.

6.        Martha and Joey Wyles- Johnny’s mother, Martha and his twin brother, Joey exist not only to provide Johnny with a tragic backstory, but to also explain his identity issues and his desire to be different. As a child, Johnny wasn’t satisfied with the fact that he had to share everything with Joey, because he was his twin brother. Johnny seemed to just be a duplicate of Joey. After the car accident that claimed Joey’s life, Martha went crazy with guilt and fed Johnny beta blockers to make him forget his childhood and the fact that he ever has a had a brother. What is more is that Martha began misidentifying Johnny as Joey from that point on. Johnny would take on Joey’s place, by adopting his interests, like pickled olives and Animorphs books. This is what made Johnny feel that he was just another typical person, and not his own self.

7.        Nicolas- Being Johnny’s life long, best friend, it can’t be denied that Nicolas had some sort of impact in his life. He seemed to always be there to give Johnny morale support and redirect Johnny when he is overthinking things, like his fear of asking River out on a date, his suspecting River’s behaviors later in their life and his fear of her death. The term “Everything’s Alright” first shows up in the story when Isabelle delivers to Johnny a gift from Nick, a music box playing Everything’s Alright. We later catch Nick telling Johnny that “Everything will be alright” before Johnny asks River out on a date, and later right before the Everything’s Alright montage begins, which is said during the same moment. So clearly, Nick’s character has a significant connection to Laura Shigihara’s song. Nick seemed to always counter Johnny’s romanticized idea of being an individual as well as counter Johnny’s brooding and sometimes selfish thoughts.

8.        Isabelle- Isabelle is Nicolas’s wife. She suffers from the same condition as River does. The library segment in the game explains that since Izzy was diagnosed early in her life, she was able to develop a “guise of social norms”. This is the difference between her and River. River wasn’t diagnosed early in her life, so she didn’t learn to step against the mental condition. Isabelle still admires River for living with the eccentricities that the condition comes with, instead of hiding them behind an act. Isabelle claims that her true self has long been forgotten and that the Izzy that everyone knows is a façade. This mirrors Johnny’s identity crisis. It is also interesting to note that just as Nicolas supports Johnny as his best friend, so too does Isabelle support River.

9.        Lily, Sarah and Tommy- Lily and her two children arrive much later in Johnny’s life, even after River’s death. It can be said that the three did provide Johnny with companionship and comfort after River’s death. Lily, Sarah and Tommy clearly had a big part in Johnny’s life. Johnny couldn’t run the house he built for River by himself, at such an old age. As for Sarah and Tommy, it should be a given that Lily has trouble raising them as a single mother, so it only makes since that they would behave like little deviants. Despite their bratty behavior, Johnny must have felt satisfied to pass down the song he wrote for his late wife, For River to Sarah and Tommy. Lily could relate to Johnny’s loss of River, in that she too lost her husband in times of war. Johnny’s gratitude towards Lily and her children is clear when we learn that he willed the house to her during the end of the game.

10.    Dr. Lee and “Doctor”- Next we have Dr. Lee and the medical doctor, simply named Doctor. Dr. Lee was the psychologist who diagnosed River’s mental condition, after all. Doctor, seemed to be present in the story simply to maintain Johnny’s ailing heart condition during his final days. As doctors- like Eva and Neil- Dr. Lee and Doctor are grounded in logic and realism, which is set apart by the romanticized nature of Johnny’s motives and his altered memories. 

11.   Ted- Last and most certainly least is Ted the squirrel. Ted appeared briefly, early in the game. His involvement in the game was simply to mock any expectations of To the Moon of having a battle system or any other form of gameplay that resembles an RPG, by virtue of the game being made on the RPG Maker XP engine. In a broader since, the Ted scene challenges players to redefine what a video game can be, instead of staying with the typical, one-sided definition. Therefore, Ted was more of a technical character, rather than a thematic one.

B.      Locations, Features and Objects

1.        Johnny’s Country Estate- The house that “never should have been”, as Neil called it. The reason Johnny decided to have the house built in the first place, was all for River, so she can look after Anya, the lighthouse. Tragically, River refused to receive treatment for her mental condition so that Johnny can have enough money to pay off the lighthouse property and the house they were building next to it. She died for the sake of a lighthouse and a land lot.

2.       Anya, the Lighthouse (and lighthouses in general) �" Anya is the only lighthouse we see in the story. The very reason Johnny’s country estate was built, was so River can look after Anya, as if it was a person. That isn’t to say that Anya doesn’t have sentiment with Johnny, as well. (1): “I never told anyone…but I always thought they were lighthouses.” (2): “Billions of lighthouses, stuck at the far end of the sky.” (3): “They shine their light at the other lighthouses and at me.” (4): “Because one day, I am going to befriend one of them.” These lines are mentioned throughout To the Moon and was spoken by River to Johnny, when they met as children. They allude to River of not only identifying the stars as lighthouses, but personalizing them as people who just want to be noticed and have relevance in other people’s lives. The “one of them” that River claims she will befriend, is suggested to be the Moon, the most notable source of light in the night sky. This may reflect how River simply wants to be a positive part in someone else’s life, which could be further supported by her assembly line of origami rabbits that was created for the purpose of jogging Johnny’s childhood memories, with each rabbit representing the Moon and stars in the sky.

3.       NASA, Cape Canaveral and the Moon- Since the game is titled To the Moon, it is clear that the Moon has a symbolic significance in the story. From the very beginning of the story, we learn that the dying Johnny wishes to go to the Moon. In Johnny’s latest, notable memory, Johnny explains that he doesn’t even know why he wants to go to the Moon, that he just has this inexplicable desire to do so. It is only later in Act III when Eva, Neil and the player learn that his motivations of going to the Moon derives from the time he spent with River in his forgotten childhood, based simply on a romanticized metaphor. The desire only revived itself after River’s death. Johnny is a wishful thinker, a daydreamer and a romanticizer and his desire to go to the Moon reflects this. The only way Johnny was able to join NASA and go to the Moon was through a false reality provided by Eva and Neil’s services, which is in itself unrealistic.

4.        Locations and Memories- The many locations in the story serve as places in Johnny’s memories. Some locations, like the carnival, movie complex and the equestrian ranch, serve to represent happy moments in Johnny and River’s life. Other locations, like Johnny’s childhood home, Dr. Lee’s office or Johnny and River’s apartment, serve to represent sad or tragic moments in their lives. Some locations serve as a mixture of the two, most notably being the Lighthouse and the high school.

5.        The Platypus Doll- A yes, this “abomination”, as Neil calls it. This object clearly had a profound significance in To the Moon. It seems clear that the platypus has a strong connection with River. River, being a sort of “strange duckling” in the story, seemed to relate well to the platypus doll. She seemed to appreciate receiving it as a gift from Johnny during their first meeting and had stuck on to it ever since, even ‘till her death. The platypus doll could also represent Johnny’s desire to be different, but he clearly had no appreciation for it, being the sort of second rate prize he won at the carnival, instead of the toy train that Joey won, and the fact that he gave it away to River. He probably even wondered what the deal was with the platypus when spending his life with River later on, after have forgotten his childhood.

6.        The Origami Rabbits- As stated before, these rabbits exist in the story as a result of River’s attempts to get Johnny to remember their first meeting. Each of the white rabbits represent the stars of the night sky. As far as the pure, yellow rabbit and most notably the yellow/blue rabbit, they represent the Moon, as stated before. There really isn’t anything else to say beyond this, save for that River personalized the origami rabbits, just as she personalizes lighthouses and stars.

7.        The Everything’s Alright Music Box- This gift, largely connected to Nicolas’s role in the story, as well as Laura Shigihara’s song, serves to express a way to approach life and the passage of time. Nicolas, throughout Johnny’s life keeps attempting to get across to him that, no matter what, everything will be okay. Nicolas just wanted his best friend to stop brooding, to stop overthinking things and just enjoy life. Maybe it was because he was ruining life for everyone else, especially for River, but who can really tell. Nicolas’s stance, the music box and Laura’s song, serves as a reminder to all of us that even if life has its downs, it has its ups as well. Nicolas just wanted Johnny to stop putting so much emphasis on tragedy and dreamlike desires and start enjoying life for what it is.

8.        The Backpack and Hackey Sack- Just as the platypus doll, Johnny won these two items at the carnival and gave them to River. The hackey sack seen in the middle of the story, when Johnny confesses to River why he asked her out in high school. I am not too sure why River told Johnny to throw the hackey sack towards the Lighthouse or that she immediately attempted to leap after it. It is safe to assume that this was her first attempt to get Johnny to remember their first meeting. As for the backpack, well, it lingered in Johnny and River’s life just as long as the platypus doll had, and has suffered the wear-and-tear of time, just as Johnny and River, a reminder that time never stops and that life on Earth is limited.

9.       Picked Olives- All through Johnny’s life, he has shown to have this bizarre appetite for pickled olives. This is just another side effect of Johnny’s identity crisis. Originally, Johnny was disgusted by pickled olives. It was Joey, his brother, who had a strange appetite for the stuff. It was only later, after Joey’s death and the removal of Johnny’s childhood memories that Johnny developed a taste for pickled olives. A nod to this is presented in one of Johnny’s teenage memories, where a jar of pickled cucumbers is present, a deviation of the usual, pickled olives that Johnny eats later in his life.

10.    The Other Mementos and Memory Links- There are numerous other mementos that appear in Johnny’s life, aside from the platypus doll, the origami rabbits, the pickled olives, The Emperor’s New Clothes and the Animorphs series. The blue umbrella, Dr. Lee’s office lobby clock, the lighthouse property deed, a batch of purple flowers, Joey’s soccer ball, Joey’s toy train, and Joey himself were all involved in not only serving sentimental influence in Johnny’s life, but as ways for Eva and Neil to travel through his memories, via simulation. Objects and features, like the grandfather clocks that don’t tick, a box of plane paper sheets or even Johnny’s paintings serve to mark minor points in his life.  That isn’t to mention the events in Johnny’s life in which To the Moon revolves around.

C.      References and Other Notes

1.       The Sigmund Corporation and Sigmund Freud- As stated before, Eva and Neil work for a company called the Sigmund Corporation. This is a nod to Sigmund Freud, who was an Austrian neurologist and is the pioneer of psychoanalysis. Through psychoanalysis, Freud developed free association and discovered transference and established its role in the analytic process. Transference is the effect characterized by the unconscious redirection of emotions from one person to the other. Freud’s analysis of dreams as wish-fulfilments provided him with models for the clinical analysis of symptom formation, the understanding of the mechanics behind repression and the elaboration for his theory of the unconsciousness. Transference, wish-fulfilment, symptoms, repression and the unconsciousness are common elements in To the Moon.

2.       River and The Emperor’s New Clothes- River’s favorite book is The Emperor’s New Clothes, a book that she read often in her life. The book was written by Hans Christian, the same author responsible for the original tale of The Little Mermaid. The Emperor’s New Clothes is a children’s story about an emperor who hires two weavers to create an outfit so extravagant, that those who are either unworthy of their positions or are just “hopelessly stupid” can’t see the clothing. In reality, the weavers wove for the emperor absolutely nothing. The emperor, his subjects and citizens keep up the pretense that he is wearing a glorious outfit, when they are all aware that he is completely naked. One child, not understanding the need to keep up with the pretense, points out the bare truth, pun intended. The idiom “emperor’s new clothes” developed from this popular children’s story, which means “no one believes, but everyone believes that everyone else believes”.

3.        River and The Emperor’s New Clothes (Continued) - River states in the library that she appreciates the story in her adult life for different reasons than when she was a child. As a child, River could have related to the child who differentiated from the adult’s perspectives, in that she too is different. When River grew older, River must have appreciated the story for the child’s sense of realism, as she has matured to accept the reality of her life. The idiom may also be relevant in that as Johnny dreams, romanticizes and overthinks things, River sees things for what they truly are.

4.        Lighthouses and Lighthouse Symbolism- Lighthouses have been involved in human culture for a long time, and have been depicted to represent a variety of ideas. I shouldn’t fail to mention that lighthouses are spoken of to represent the guiding light of Jesus Christ, in the Christian faith, or that the Great Lighthouse of Alexandria is considered to be one of the 7 Ancient Wonders of the World. Aside from those obvious points, lighthouses have been depicted to symbolize state pride, municipal pride, safety (especially maritime safety), sight, illumination, navigation, guidance, public good, heroism, heraldry and even negative representations like isolation, mystery and eeriness. To the Moon follows the trend of the personification of lighthouses in fiction, such as in the children’s book The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Bay. A widely told folk myth tells the story of two captains whose ships are in a collision course with one another. Each of the captains radios in for the other to change course, with one captain ending the conversation with “I’m a lighthouse. It’s your call.”

5.       Johnny, Joey and the Animorphs series- In To the Moon, we learn that Johnny took up Joey’s interest in the Animorphs books after Joey’s death. Animorphs books were a series of books for teenagers and young adults written by K.A. Applegate. Each book focused on the perspective of one of the five, main characters, who each can transform into specific animals. One special case, was Toby, whose default form was a hawk, but could transform into creatures such as rabbits and hares. The book series focused on themes such as horror, war, dehumanization, sanity, morality, innocence, leadership, freedom and growing up. To the Moon focuses on some of these themes, such as morality, innocence, freedom and growing up.

6.        Johnny, Joey and the Animorphs series (Continued) - That aside, Joey’s interest in the Animorphs books inspired his dream to become a fiction author. Sadly, he could not realize this dream, due to his childhood death. By way of their mother’s, Johnny took up Joey’s identity and his interest in the Animorphs books. The sci-fi nature of the Animorphs story can reflect the romanticist desires of both Johnny and Joey. As stated before, Joey’s dream of becoming a famous writer never came true. So too is Johnny’s desire to go to the Moon, a romanticized dream. It was only by way of Eva and Neil’s intervention that Johnny can realize his wish to go to the Moon, and with it Joey’s accomplishments as a writer. However, even this was a fantasy presented to Johnny through his altered memories.

7.        Tony Attwood and Asperger’s Syndrome- Dr. Lee diagnosed River of her mental condition during her young adult life. He let Johnny and River borrow a book about River’s condition that was written by Tony Attwood. Tony Attwood is an English psychologist who lives in Queensland, Australia. He is known for writing several resource papers and books about Asperger’s Syndrome. The reference of Tony Attwood determines the River’s mental condition- which the game has cleverly avoided naming- is Asperger’s Syndrome, AS for short.

8.        Tony Attwood and Asperger’s Syndrome (Continued) - This reference explains where all of River’s quirks comes from. Isabelle also has AS, but she has coped with it differently that River has. As River was diagnosed late in her life, she adapted to live with her quirks. Isabelle was diagnosed when she was a child, so she learned to put up a “guise of social norms”. Isabelle both pities and admires River and explains that the Isabelle that everyone knows is an act and the true Isabelle is long forgotten (this could reflect Johnny’s identity issues). River has learned to cope with the condition and stay true to herself, but has suffered more from the effects of AS and from social discrimination.

9.       United States Space Camp- In Act II, Neil poses as a NASA spokesperson as to inspire the teenage Johnny the desire to go to the Moon (which fails). Although, the United States Space Camp isn’t referenced directly in To the Moon, I do believe that the topic is relevant to Johnny. The U.S.S.C. is owned and operated by Alabama’s Space Science Exhibit Commission’s U.S. Space & Rocket Center. The camp runs educational programs that promoted space, science, engineering, aviation and exploration. These programs seemed to be popular in the 1990s. How many kids do you think wanted to go to the space camp? A lot. How many of those kids do you think went on to become astronauts for NASA? Most likely, very little. Whom of those astronauts do you think have been to the Moon? None of them. The only individuals to have landed on the Moon are Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. That is considering that the Apollo 11’s 1969 landing actually happened…Relax, I’m joking. My point is, Johnny’s wish to go to the Moon can be further represented as a romanticist’s dream. Though, people do live to be astronauts, they are few, and of the few, none of them have ever set foot on the Moon.

10.    Beta Blockers and Painkillers- Two types of medical drugs are referenced in To the Moon: beta blockers and painkillers. Painkillers, otherwise known as analgesics are the simpler of the two drugs, being over the counter drugs used to relieve pain, but can be abused. The game’s narrative hints at the fact that Neil has been and is abusing this drug. Beta blockers are a stronger, prescription drug, prescribed to those who have had heart attacks, to prevent future heart attacks and to manage cardiac arrhythmias. This drug is also known to also be abused, especially by those who use it to decrease their anxiety problems. Martha administers a large dose of beta blockers to Johnny- who has had no history of heart problems- when he was younger, after Joey’s death. For no explained reason, the beta blockers caused Johnny to forget his childhood memories, and as a result Joey as well (and the young River by auxillary). Beta blockers have been known to cause mental side effects, such as dizziness, abnormal vision, hallucinations and nightmares…but not memory loss. It is rather curious of Gao to involve a drug in his story that has no history of causing memory loss…unless the beta blockers triggered a stroke, which in turn caused Johnny’s memory loss. If this is the case- and I am only theorizing- that would make Johnny’s childhood even more tragic than if there was no stroke involved.

11.    Olfactory Organs, the Limbic System and Memory Recall- As a sort of fun fact involved in To the Moon, Neil exposes to Eva and Lily that smell is the most effective sense for memory recall. This is apparently due to the fact that the olfactory organs are directly connected to the brains’ limbic system, the part of the brain responsible for processing memories. This factual info was used to explain the sort of McGuffin used to solve Johnny’s memory loss.

D.      To the Moon Soundtrack

1.        It can’t be denied that Kan Gao and Laura Shigihara did a phenomenal job on the game’s music. That is no joke. Just listen to the soundtrack and tell me, they didn’t do an excellent job. The music helped to serve the premise of the story. Tracks like Born a Stranger, Lament of a Stranger and even Beta-B helped to drive in the serious and tragic events in Johnny and River’s lives. Tracks like Moonwisher, Anya By the Stars, Take Me Anywhere, The World’s Smallest Ferris Wheel and Once Upon A Memory helped emphasize the beautiful moments in Johnny and River’s lives. Let’s not forget about For River/To the Moon and Everything’s Alright, the two themes that had the most influence in the story. The best thing about these songs is the fact that they were all, for the most part, played on the piano. It is as simple as that. To the Moon didn’t need rock ballads, rap songs, dub step or even epic orchestral pieces to portray its story, which is absolutely beautiful, if I dare say so myself.

2.        For River/To the Moon- Obviously, being the main theme of the game, this tune has great influence in the story. It literally was a part of the story. Johnny wrote and titled For River, for River, as she lie dying in bed and later taught Sarah and Tommy the song in honor of her. The game is clearly about Johnny’s life, but For River helps emphasize the fact that River was involved in a large part of Johnny’s life, and that this was just as much her story, as it was his.

3.        Everything’s Alright- While the rest of the soundtrack had no vocals, Everything’s Alright did. The lyrics were sung by the song’s writer, Laura Shigihara and helped deliver Nick’s message to Johnny through the music box. It especially had an impact in the narrative of the story, when Laura finally sings the song during the montage that marks the changes in Johnny’s memories. Seeing videos of people playing through this moment in the game, proves that this song has great emotional impact in the narrative, and it has become the most popular of the songs from the game. This could help emphasize that even if Johnny’s life could have gone one way or the other, whether or not he had his twin brother, Joey, or his love interest, River, he could still take life “moment for moment” and enjoy it for what it is. But one tragic reality regarding Johnny’s altered memories still remains. Everything’s Alright seems to drive home that lingering truth through its lyrics, with each part of the song being in the perspectives of Johnny and River, respectively. Please observe (or go listen to the actual song):

4.        Part I: Short steps. Deep breath. Everything is all right. Chin up. I can’t…step into the spotlight. She said…I’m sad…somehow without any words. I just…stood there…searching for an answer. When this world is no more…the Moon is all I see. I’ll ask you to fly away with me. Until the stars all fall down…and empty from the sky…but I don’t mind. If you’re with me, than Everything’s Alright.

5.       Part II: Why do…my words…always lose their meaning? What I feel. What I say. There is such a rift between them. He said…I can’t…really seem to read you. I just…stood there…not knowing what I should do. When this world is no more…the Moon is all I see. I’ll ask you to fly away with me. Until the stars all fall down…and empty from the sky…but I don’t mind. If you’re with me, than Everything’s Alright.

6.        Get it? This song may seem to express, both perspectives of Johnny and River, but it is based on Johnny’s altered memories. River never got to experience the memory of spending time with him on the Moon. It does however, mention the fact that Johnny forgot his childhood memories, which are a part of his true set of memories and that River dedicated half of her lifetime to jogging his memories and failed.  Johnny died happy, recognizing a lie, while River died unhappy, knowing the truth.

E.       Personal Impact

a.        I know it is silly of me to involve this in my synopsis, but this game was designed to impact its players emotionally, through characters who were more relatable and less farfetched. I am sure this game has impacted other players personally, as it did me. I am sharing this out of relevance to the game’s impact. My first mention regards the starry, night scene with the young Johnny and River. This scene largely reminded me of a time when I went to a church camp called Tiger Mountain, with my church group and my family. I met someone there, who had to be my first legitimate crush/love interest in my life. I remember simply playing with her, walking along a dirt road with her and most notably watching the stars with her…but I didn’t remember her face, voice or name….The portrait memento she gave me would soon go missing from life. It is a moment of my life I would never get back. Johnny and River’s first meeting reminded me of a time I won’t get back, especially considering that Johnny’s childhood memories would be wiped from his mind and he would have to meet River all over again.

b.       Another point I wanted to make was regarding River and Isabelle’s Asperger’s Syndrome. As much respect that I can give, I have met several people in my life who were oddballs, like River and seemed to be a little off to many people, such as myself. They all share River’s traits that are associated with AS, but that could also mean that they could have any of the other forms of autism, as well. One person I got acquainted with online was especially peculiar. He personalizes The Little Mermaid mermaid characters, just as River personalizes lighthouses, stars and origami rabbits. The guy literally dedicates his life to his role-plays to give the mermaid characters their desired, human lives, as if they were actual, real people. Now, I can’t say whether or not he has AS, but his personality largely resembles River’s passion for objects and features. What’s more is that people like the Little Mermaid guy seem to gravitate towards me, while other people downright reject them. It is important to recognize people like this, who have conditions similar to that of River’s, as people. They are people who want to be involved in other people’s lives just as much as anyone else. I believe To the Moon made a very good point in driving that truth home.

F.       Thematic Conclusion

a.        Finally, after all of the analyzing and all of the details involved in the synopsis, we can get talk conclusively about To the Moon’s themes and premises. It is clear from the moment we learn about Eva and Neil’s job and how they mean to serve Johnny, that this was a story about life and the passage of time. Life isn’t perfect and neither are the people affected by life. No matter what happens, we can’t go back and change things, as Eva and Neil have done for Johnny. We just have to take life “moment for moment” as Eva would say.

b.       If I may quote him, Markiplier, who had played To the Moon in a Let’s Play series asked his audience “If you could change your life, would you? And if you did, would it even matter?” He continues by saying, (not word for word)-bear with me here- “I’ve had a lot of troubles and hardships in my life, but I don’t let them count against who I am. I wouldn’t change it, because where I ended up…I imagine that a lot of you people are struggling with certain situations, because you are experiencing them right now, as opposed to them being passed events that you have already moved on from. Just know that going back and changing something and making your life better is never even an option. That is why this game rubbed me the wrong way. This whole game is based on the idea that even if you could change who you are today, it’s all fake. It can’t be done, no matter how hard you wish it to be true. If you are struggling through a situation right now, I just want you to know that as bad as it can be-and I can’t imagine how bad it can be for some of you- know that you have choices right now that can change things for better or worse. Remember that it’s going to affect who you will be, not who you were or what you decided in the past. You can decide right now who you are going to be in the future. That is what really matters. Cherish what you have, because that is what is important. You can lose it at any moment. I wish I could have done more things in the past, but I wouldn’t change it, because I am who I am.”

c.        Aside from that, To the Moon emphasized the opposing ideas of recognizing what is real and aspiring or imagining what can’t be done. The game may not be saying to not aspire to be someone more than who you are, or not strive to achieve your goals or to have a better life. I don’t believe that at all. The game also reminded us of what is real and knowing our limits, our pros and cons, our successes and failures, as well as our achievements and mistakes. One may also say that the game emphasized on the importance of having people to share your life with. Don’t ever think that you have to go through it all alone. Know that, there is good times and bad times in life and that we need to embrace all of it. The moments in our lives, whether they are good or bad, make us who we are.

d.       To the Moon has touched the hearts of several people, even people like Markiplier and myself. That is why I wanted to analyze it. It may not have the usual gameplay elements that you would see in most other games. You don’t even have to call it a video game. I would completely understand that (just don’t call it a “walking simulator”). Just know that To the Moon is a beautiful piece of art and a remarkable interactive story that deserves recognition.

Author's Note

This is the first analysis I have written and plan to write more in the future. Please let me know what I need to improve on, such as spelling, grammar, sentence structure, paragraph structure and the broader structure of the summary, analysis, synopsis and conclusion.