"Wow, Pokeni's new galgame! Is it worth getting? The PV looks pretty good."
"My opinion is that it's worth a try."
"This should be Pokeni's only work in the second half of this year, right? If I don't get it, I'll feel a little regretful."
"Ah... time really flies. Was Pokeni's last galgame LL?"
"Don't even mention it. Just thinking about LL, I still feel so sad.
When I played LL, when the daughter left, it really hurt. It was the kind of pain where my entire heart felt ripped apart.
I couldn't sleep well.
But then, when I dreamed at night, I would wake up laughing, only to find my pillow wet after waking up, realizing I had been crying."
"Hahaha, you'd better be talking about tears."
...
There were many discussions online about whether "to the moon" was worth buying. Some thought it wasn't, because from its performance at the Tokyo Game Show, to the moon seemed too ordinary.
Some thought it was worth it, after all, it's a Pokeni work, and it's a galgame, and the PV was quite well made.
Pokeni's galgame is a recognized myth in the industry.
No matter whether others would get it or not, Furukawa Hirozawa was definitely going to get it.
He was now considered a loyal fan of Pokeni.
From the earliest onmyoji, he was attracted by Pokeni's unique story-driven and tear-jerking galgame style, and it has been that way until today.
One can only say that once you enter Pokeni, it's as deep as the ocean.
Sometimes he regretted it because galgames are generally niche, so the price is relatively high.
What's even more heartbreaking is that Pokeni's galgames also have the reputation of being heart-wrenching.
Pokeni's galgames truly have a magic to them; every time you experience one, you feel heartbroken, wishing you could kill the Producer and send Pokeni razor blades.
But then, if there's no Pokeni galgame for a long time, you'll actually miss it.
It's truly a contradictory feeling.
...
On November 24th, Pokeni's "to the moon" was released on time.
Furukawa Hirozawa immediately went to his familiar Golden Finger game store and bought the game.
The store owner skillfully packaged it for him, put it in a bag, and wished him well.
"Welcome back next time, I hope you have a pleasant weekend."
"Goodbye."
Furukawa Hirozawa had a beaming smile on his face, but inwardly, ten thousand grass-mud horses galloped past.
With Pokeni's games, you still want to have a pleasant weekend?
That's not possible, okay?
...
After returning to his residence.
Furukawa Hirozawa found his PS console, inserted the "to the moon" disc, and started the game.
The first thing that appeared on the screen was the Pokeni logo, which he was incredibly familiar with:
[POKENI]
[Every game is a new experience]
[This is not a game, but life]
[Game is life]
The subtitles appeared line by line, and at the same time, beautiful music played on the television.
It was like gentle moonlight softly caressing the wind chimes outside the window, swaying back and forth.
Pokeni's slogan, Game is life, was refined through one game after another.
Furukawa Hirozawa was not a Pokémon player, so the last time he saw this slogan was during the LL period.
In the blink of an eye, more than half a year had passed.
He still felt a bit dazed.
However, every time Furukawa Hirozawa saw "Game is life," his heart would feel a little touched.
Pokeni's games truly perfectly illustrate this point, especially their galgames.
If games are life, then Furukawa Hirozawa thought—
I have been reborn countless times.
Every life is vividly clear, so real, so real that it makes one want to cry.
Now, seeing the game's opening screen, Furukawa's mind still occasionally recalled the previous galgames.
"Quilt Man," "reverse degree person," "CLANNAD," "LIFE-LINE," "Your Name"
The characters' images played in his mind like slides.
...
But honestly, if it weren't for the works proving herself, just looking at Ishino Mika's name, Furukawa Hirozawa wouldn't have dared to buy this game.
However, after experiencing so many games, Furukawa Hirozawa had come to recognize Ishino Mika.
If there truly was someone in Pokeni who could inherit Furuhara Tsubaki's role as Producer, then it would definitely be Ishino.
Furukawa Hirozawa didn't quite understand why Gen Urobuchi and Maeda Jun were still only script Authors.
But then, perhaps such a pairing was the most perfect.
Perhaps it was precisely because of excellent Authors like Gen Urobuchi and Maeda Jun, combined with Ishino Mika, who could control the game quality, that so many god-like works were provided.
...
The music was slow and gentle.
It was like an old person recounting past events.
After Pokeni's logo finished, the entire screen went black.
In the black screen, some faint lights appeared, then gradually became clearer.
What appeared before Furukawa Hirozawa's eyes was a vast starry sky.
It was drawn with a dreamy art style, so beautiful, so captivating.
The camera slowly descended with the starry sky.
Below the stars was a huge bright moon.
Clouds adorned its sides, and although it was night, it was made clearly visible by the faint moonlight surrounding it.
Below was a dark ocean, the color of the night sky, and on the surface, the moon's reflection was cast.
The reflection swayed, breaking open a path that extended upwards.
And in the reach of this light was a small island by the sea.
On the island stood a beautiful lighthouse.
Furukawa Hirozawa pressed a button, choosing to start a new game.
The main piano melody of miso miso miso... echoed back and forth...
Furukawa Hirozawa's heart also began to pound in sync.
As if he heard the sound of waves.
If moonlight had a sound, then perhaps this is what it would be like.
Several menu options floated up from below:
[New Beginning]
[Old Story]
...
Since it was his first time entering the game, only the "New Beginning" option was white and selectable, while "Old Story" was gray.
Furukawa Hirozawa chose to begin.
Click.
The camera did not switch as he imagined, but instead moved downwards along the lighthouse.
Below, a large area of beautiful forest and gardens appeared, along with an old, quaintly decorated house.
The screen was first in color, then flashed white, and then returned to color.
Wow, this camera language is truly amazing.
The overall game art style was a type Furukawa Hirozawa really liked.
Just like "Quilt Man" that he played before, it used rich colors, like a watercolor painting.
Dreamy and vibrant.
As if one were in a fairy tale world.
...
On an unnamed mountain, there was a two-story old house.
In the living room, the adults were absent, and a girl sat at the piano, playing a simple, pleasant melody.
The boy standing behind her grumbled, "It's my turn to play!"
The girl unwillingly said, "Just a moment more—"
This entire segment was animated through real-time in-game characters, not through traditional animation (which would have camera cuts, close-ups, and distant shots).
Instead, it fully utilized actual in-game characters to speak, and text appeared alongside their avatars.
This method was truly a bit fresh, Furukawa Hirozawa thought.
What is this?
An opening CG?
It didn't quite seem like it.
Because there was no screen cut.
Yet, it gave a more realistic sense of immersion.
You were like truly standing in a god-like perspective, observing the current events unfolding among the characters in this small world.
Furukawa Hirozawa's impression of the game improved even further.
Before this, many of Pokeni's games were very exquisite, but they were like watching an animation, where the screen changed as the timeline progressed.
This time, he felt like he was watching a stage play.
And from such a close position.
It was truly fresh, and the character designs inside were exquisite and beautiful, which immediately made Furukawa Hirozawa fall in love with them.
"Thud!" A dull crash sounded outside. The girl's hands, playing the piano, stopped mid-air.
The camera pulled out of the room, returned to the outside of the house, and moved along the mountain road.
Outside the mansion, at the foot of the mountain, a black car had crashed into a tree, its engine hood crumpled and smoking.
A man and a woman, both wearing white coats, hastily got out of the car.
"Neil!" the woman in the white coat shouted, "Why is it always you who crashes the car!"
She was Dr. Rosaleen, a senior memory traversal agent at Sigmund Corporation.
"Calm down, Eva, calm down," the man in the white coat scratched his head, "Didn't I crash into the tree trying to avoid that squirrel?"
He was Dr. Watts, Dr. Rosaleen's partner.
"But you still ran it over, and then crashed into the tree," Eva frowned, looking at the squirrel's corpse not far away.
The squirrel's corpse emitted a burnt smell.
Playing up to this point, Furukawa Hirozawa was still quite confused, because he didn't know which character he could control as the male protagonist.
There were already four characters who had appeared.
At first, he thought it was one of the two children playing the piano, but then, two adults appeared outside.
From a galgame perspective, it should at least be someone of an age to fall in love.
Furukawa Hirozawa focused his gaze on the male doctor.
Most likely, it would be this character.
However, this was the first time he had seen a Pokeni male protagonist appear so late in a game.
According to Pokeni's past habits, the male protagonist would basically appear at the very beginning, practically throwing the male protagonist in your face, directly telling you, "This is the male protagonist."
In fact, many times, for a sense of immersion, they would even use a first-person narrative.
For example, in CL and LL, it started with the male protagonist's inner monologue.
Furukawa Hirozawa personally preferred the previous games' way of expression. "to the moon" made him feel a bit confused, like he couldn't grasp the main point.
If you can't accurately pinpoint the protagonist, it's very difficult to immerse yourself.
"Alright, alright, I'll claim the car repair costs from the company," Neil said. "Anyway, we've arrived. Let's get the instruments from the car and walk up the road."
At this point, the cinematic portion had ended, and Furukawa Hirozawa realized he could control the character.
to the moon adopted the same operation mode as traditional turn-based RPGs, like early dragon quest and final fantasy—
There were two small figures on the world map.
The one in front was the male doctor, and following him was the female doctor who had just gotten out of the car with him.
Next should be exploration time.
Furukawa Hirozawa walked back and forth, wanting to gather some information before entering the house.
He walked around for a long time.
Other than the "car crashed into a tree" and the squirrel that was run over and emitted a burnt smell, there seemed to be nothing else to explore.
However, the entire world map was quite beautiful, that's for sure.
The trees, flowers, and lighthouse on the island all had the aesthetic beauty of a fairy tale.
Hmm...
No information, so it seems I have to enter the house.
According to Furukawa Hirozawa's thoughts, this was probably Pokeni combining "Quilt Man" with "onmyoji," using Quilt Man's art style and presentation, but onmyoji's operation mode.
It just didn't seem like this game would have combat.
The two walked all the way to the old house at the half-mountain, and knocked on the door.
"I have a feeling it's going to be a late night today," Dr. Rosaleen said.
"Coming, coming," a young woman's figure appeared from the second floor, greeting the two of them, "Coming right down."
The door opened, and the young woman asked, "You two are from Sigmund Corporation, right? Please come in quickly."
"Sigh, night shift, should I love you or hate you? It's definitely an all-nighter tonight," Dr. Watts complained softly.
"Stop talking nonsense, don't forget to bring the toolbox," Dr. Rosaleen patted him.
"My effort and salary are completely disproportionate," Dr. Watts picked up the instrument and followed.
Upon entering, the young woman introduced herself: "Hello, both of you. My name is Lily, and I am the maid of this house. These two are my children, Lisa and Tommy." She said, pointing to the two children by the piano behind her.
"Hello," Rosaleen nodded and said, "So, who is our client tonight?"
Lily pointed to the stairs and said, "Johnnie is upstairs."
"Johnnie?" Dr. Watts, holding the instrument, said, "The contract says John, and besides, we don't serve children."
"No, you misunderstood. Mr. John just likes to be called that."
"Let's go, let's go upstairs," Rosaleen said.
Arriving on the second floor, the two doctors saw an old man with white hair lying on the bed, his eyes closed, an IV tube in his arm, and an electrocardiograph next to him.
"How is the situation?" After a simple greeting, Rosaleen asked the doctor.
"Not optimistic. He only has one or two days left at most," the doctor replied.
Dr. Watts, on the other hand, opened the box and set up the instrument. He pulled over a chair and began to tinker with the instrument.
Rosaleen continued to speak to the doctor: "One or two days, that's enough time. What is his dying wish?"
"You can fulfill any of his wishes, right?" the doctor said. "His wish is to go to the moon."
"to the moon?"
...
But how could this be achieved?
As Furukawa Hirozawa played to this point, some images of moon landings flashed through his mind.
However, when he turned his gaze to the screen, looking at the old man lying on the sickbed, he couldn't help but feel a bit troubled.
This guy was almost dead; could he still be stuffed into a rocket and flown to the moon?
His body probably couldn't handle it, right?
And, how much money would it cost to send such a person to the moon?
Was there some other way in the game?
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