To the Moon

Recently played through possibly one of the most beautiful and emotive games by the name of To The Moon by Kan Gao. The game basically takes you on a emotional and visually inspiring journey and I was really interested to look up the game designers background because as well as designing the whole game he also did the script and compositions.

This interview was interesting to see because I can in ways relate to the gaming background from doing this course. I think story telling comes across as a vital instrument to being a good compositor and sound engineer.

The music for this game to me is really what draws out and amplifies the emotions as the story progresses. Personally, I've always been a sucker for piano and acoustics because I think that it just has a beauty and air about it. I think acoustics convey a lot more expression and are just pleasant to listen to all in all. Kan Gao's compositions for this game are really moving and really exaggerate each scene and help get certain feelings and messages across to the audience. My favorite song on the OST has to be 'Moongazer' but the song by Laura Shigihara called 'Everything's Alright' is a close second.

Another thing I found interesting in the interview is that he was inspired and moved by the things happening around him and personal events that have happened through the years. Because I'm currently at a stage in my life where so many things are changing, that maybe I could use that as a positive strength to help motivate and drive future projects. I really can't agree more that the good pieces of work are ones that are personal and close to the heart.

The comments for the visuals were really intriguing. I like that way he used simplified graphics to almost represent the same feel of reading a novel; simple yet effective. It also goes to show that there's no need for hyper-real graphics to get the message across because there's no denying you can't feel and pain and sorrow Johnny experiences through the game despite he's only made from a few pixels. I love that the graphic style was drawn from his love for the 16-bit era too. I think there are a lot of advantages to having a more simple graphic style but more importantly it's about the way you use that in conjunction to all your other assets and how it works as a whole. I definitely think the graphics, the story and the music for this game really complement each other and that's where the beauty comes from.