To the Moon - one of those games that are commonly regarded as works of art. And the truth is - if art is primarily intended to cause strong emotions, to find a sincere response from the viewer or the reader, the creation of the studio Freebird Games coped with its task for two hundred percent.
This small game, outwardly reminiscent of the usual indie made on RPG Maker, caused thousands of people to shed tears - so strong and emotional was the story of how the employees of the Sigmund corporation create artificial memories in the minds of their dying patients and give them one more chance live life, having fulfilled your last desire. Three years later came a small prequel A Bird Story, but a full-fledged continuation came only now, six years later. And it turned out simultaneously and similar, and unlike the original.
In fact, when you talk about how touching and tearful the story was in To the Moon , I personally find it hard to resist and not say - it was such a conscious manipulation of the feelings of the players. Two doctors from Zygmund are trying to realize the last dream of the dying Johnny - to fly to the moon to see there with his long-dead wife, because once, as a child, they agreed to meet exactly there if they lose each other. Agree, even a simple description of the plot causes tearful urge.
Kan Gao (Kan Gao), author of To the Moon, almost immediately torpedo sensitive players with the deaths of Johnny's close ones, personal dramas and tragedies. But you can not call this manipulation cheap either - there was a competently constructed intrigue with a catharsis decoupling, melancholic music, many interesting details and even excellent humor. Well, how can I resist?
But in Finding Paradise everything is somewhat more complicated. The game does not try to immediately cause you to cry, but raises more serious questions about what is happiness and what makes a person happy, about the regrets that we experience in our lives, about whether it's worth changing something, about the difference between reality and expectations, about loneliness and so on.
Eva Rosalyn and Neal Watts, the same doctors from the company "Zygmund", a new client - who is dying (and actually in a coma) Colin, who could be seen in A Bird Story boy, letting paper airplanes. So, Colin, unlike Johnny from the first part, lived a long happy life - and what is his last wish, really does not know himself.
He says this to Eva and Neil personally, when they use their superstructure to plunge into his head and into his memories. It seems that everything has come true - he was a musician, then a pilot, he married a beloved woman who gave birth to his son. Still, Colin is worried about something, does not let him go quietly, so our doctors should carefully study the memories and change them so that they can help the client.
In the process it turns out that in his life there was another girl with whom Colin was familiar with early childhood. This, of course, is the main nerve of the story of Finding Paradise . The gun, which the entire first act hangs on the wall, attracts attention, but does not shoot, in the second and third babahaha so that it does not seem too little - with the ability to intrigue and surprise Kana Gao still everything is in order.
Another thing is that before this culmination and denouement is still necessary, relatively speaking, to sit out in the hall. It is clear that fans of the creativity of Freebird Games will endure in any case, and the very possibility of getting up and going will be taken for an act of blasphemy. But the beginners, those who come here, not having experienced the pre-magic To the Moon , there may be problems and questions.
The fact is that the first chapter is very tight. Where the last game was almost immediately death, tears and drama, in Finding ParadiseThe first four hours (or even five), we observe rather banal things. The heroes travel through Colin's memories, see how small he was, how he met his neighbor, who became a best friend for many years, how he studied music, how he became a pilot, how he met his future wife, how he proposed to her, how they flew on a honeymoon ...
So, anyway, it seems, when you once again in a circle collect key fragments of Colin's memory and activate in the mini-game (now this is a variation on the theme "three in a row") important core memories to go on. Yes, it is diluted with arcade inserts in the style of QTE and excellent humor (one parody of "Godfather" at the airport is worth it!), But nevertheless the feeling of tightness does not leave.
In addition, it begins to seem that you have already figured out the main intrigue of this story. After all, in Finding Paradisewe move according to the patient's memories not in a strict chronological sequence corresponding to different periods of his life, but interspersed, jumping, for example, from early childhood into old age or maturity and back. So we immediately see a more complete picture of Colin's life and roughly understand what everything seems to be going to.
However, the gun, which shoots in the second act, turns everything upside down. You begin to understand that without the long first chapter, the effect would not have turned out so strong.
And everything has ceased to be so banal. Especially since Kana Gao's fantasy is revealed on the new - here and horror, and some parodic arcade inserts in the spirit of Japanese RPG, fighting games and scrolling. Humor in Finding Paradise in general at times more than in To the Moon . Plus some purely gikovskie jokes, references to the "Godfather", then to superhero comic books with the breaking of the "fourth wall".
All this, as they say, dilutes suspense, makes history, on the one hand, less concentrated on tears and drama, and on the other - more diverse. But in any case, the final still makes you experience a shock - perhaps not so strong, turning the soul inside out, as in To the Moon , but more conscious, subtle and adult in nature.
Rate: 9.5 /10
Play this game if u haven't :)
Nice review, someone I know recommended this game