[Game Review] To the Moon: Beach Episode

Rating: 🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎🍏

Pros✅ Breaks the fourth wall — multiple times, the characters directly address us, the players, drawing attention to our role as observers and participants. Even the credits are woven into the experience, reminding us that our perspective matters. The final “leave the beach” choice is brilliant — it doesn’t just tell us Eva doesn’t want to leave the dream, it lets us feel it. But reality must still be faced — and perhaps fully cherishing the dream is the best way to honor it.

✅ Storytelling — The “last day” motif lingers from the very beginning, giving every moment emotional weight. Seeing returning characters (even if I’ve forgotten parts of Impostor Factory) was deeply moving. I especially loved the treatment of River, John, and Colin.

• Colin, River’s former desk partner and fellow loner, was once a light that kept her going.

• He remembered her rabbits and platypus; she kept his origami book.

• John's quiet line to Colin — “Thank you for what you did” — was perfect. No drama, no explanation. Just heartfelt gratitude toward someone who was kind to the person you love. That, I think, is love beyond possession.

✅ Memory Beach — no words. Just tears. The way memory, longing, and meaning pass from one character to the next… it shows what games can do that no other medium can.

❌ Honestly, it feels less like a game and more like an interactive story. The main actions are moving and choosing dialogue. But storytelling is a part of gaming — and for what it is, this was a beautiful, high-impact experience.