This year marked the first Tokyo Game Show.
As early as two months prior, at the Tokyo Toy Show, many people noticed something amiss—
Because in previous Tokyo Toy Shows, there would always be many game manufacturers exhibiting games, gaming equipment, or game peripherals.
This time, however, it was unusually strange; apart from Sega and Nintendo, and a few scattered games from small game companies, you could hardly see anything else.
This strangeness was explained at the Tokyo Game Show in September.
Because electronic games were no longer content to be categorized under toys; now they wanted to stand alone.
Therefore, this Tokyo Game Show was exceptionally popular, with the number of participating players not only from the Japan region but also from players across the country.
The total number exceeded 110,000 in a single day.
The organizers, the Entertainment Association, never expected such an unprecedented spectacle; the queue stretched from the exhibition hall to the outside, with no end in sight.
Almost every game booth was packed with people, making it extremely difficult to move.
This was already beyond the usual situation of waiting for a roller coaster at Disney; some people even queued for five or six hours without being able to experience their favorite game.
Yet, in such circumstances, Pokeni's area appeared unusually deserted.
It was an anomaly in the entire game show, looking so out of place.
Simply because Pokeni's booth was small, and it only had one new game.
"I didn't expect Pokeni to only bring one game."
"And it's a galgame."
Although Pokeni started with galgames, the player base for galgames is relatively small after all.
But this doesn't mean no one came to visit this game.
After all, Pokeni is a god in the galgame field.
It has many established fan bases.
So, compared to other exhibition areas, Pokeni was a bit quiet, but there were still many players willing to try out this new game called to the moon.
Each player only had five minutes of experience time, making it impossible to grasp what the game was about.
Especially with its early narrative style, it would only leave players confused.
"What is this game about?"
"I thought the initial car crash would be an important foreshadowing, but what happened later seems to have nothing to do with the male and female protagonists."
Players thought the two male and female doctors from the research institute at the beginning were the protagonists.
But in fact, the protagonist was Old John, lying on the bed, dying, today.
Who would have thought that a dying old man would be the protagonist of the story?
And after wandering around for a long time, no clues were found, and many players' time was almost up by this point, even feeling confused and a little bored.
What was slightly comforting was—
This galgame, titled to the moon, had the same dreamy fairy-tale art style as the previous Quilt Man, coupled with beautiful music, which brought solace to the soul.
But that was all.
It was truly difficult for to the moon to find enjoyment in such a short time…
In short, the first Tokyo Game Show was very successful.
But Pokeni was a failure.
…
After the four-day Tokyo Game Show ended, many players had already started discussing it on Pokeni's official forum.
[Hey, has anyone attended this year's Tokyo Game Show? Did Pokeni exhibit any new game works this time?
Can anyone who knows tell us about it?]
[I haven't been there either, but I'm really looking forward to it.]
[Ah, my favorite Pokeni, what kind of works can it exhibit at the big show?]
[I remember last year at the Chicago Electronic Consumer Exhibition, Pokeni brought diablo ii, right?]
[Yes, Pokeni was amazing last year, shining brightly in Europe and America; just diablo ii alone was enough to cause a sensation.]
Last year, Pokeni not only exhibited diablo ii at the Chicago Electronic Exhibition, but the game also achieved a terrifying sales record of over three million copies in Europe and America when it was released early this year.
At the same time, President Aoki also met Brevik at that Chicago Electronic Consumer Exhibition and acquired Condor Company.
So, although Pokeni didn't go to the new E3 Electronic Entertainment Expo in the United States this time, it was actually highly anticipated and watched at the Tokyo Game Show.
This was even more true for Pokeni's fans.
Those who didn't have the chance to go to the site expressed great regret, regretting that they couldn't see Pokeni's new work this year.
But those who went to the site also had regrets.
[Alas, don't mention it. I'm the one who went to this year's Tokyo Game Show and experienced Pokeni's new game.] Finally, an older brother who was there posted.
In this post, this player from Hokkaido said:
[I can only say that it was right for you not to go to the site.
Because Pokeni only provided a trial of one new game this year. I remember it very clearly; it's called to the moon.
It's a galgame, and everyone gets to try it for five minutes.
In five minutes, you can't really experience much.
I'll briefly talk about the part I played.
There's nothing much to spoil, because I was completely confused during those five minutes.
At first, a man and a woman, two doctors in white lab coats, arrived in front of a house and accidentally crashed their car into a tree.
They also ran over a squirrel.
I thought this squirrel might cause some disaster or something, but from the later content, it doesn't seem to be that setting.
There's an old man dying inside the house, and the male and female doctors are here to enter his memories to fulfill the old man's wish.
But then, when it came to finding clues and the plot, I pretty much played up to there and that was it.
In short, it was confusing, and I didn't get much out of it.
My personal evaluation is—
The game's art style is very good, it's the type I liked from Quilt Man before.
The music is also very pleasant.
The whole game is quite bland, I guess.
At least from the early stages, that's how it is.
Entering memory modification might be a good and interesting point. I can't comment on what else there is in the parts I couldn't play later.
However, from an objective point of view, the game's art style and music are good, the plot is slow-burn, and you can only tell if it's a good game after finishing it.
But in terms of expressiveness and playability, there's still a gap compared to other games I experienced at the event.
Hmm, that's about it.
Oh, right, I need to add one more thing.
The Producer of to the moon is Ishino Mika.
The same as Quilt Man.
So, the art style and music effects actually have many similarities.
Perhaps with Ishino Mika's reputation, this game is worth looking forward to.]
This older brother actually spoke very objectively, after all, it's a galgame, especially a story-driven galgame, which requires a lot of time to experience.
to the moon is even a standout among these games.
If you don't play to the end, the entire playthrough will feel somewhat "nothing special."
Because it's a slow-burn, and it's a puzzle-solving type of game that needs to be peeled back layer by layer.
Even games like CL or Quilt Man have many explosive and tear-jerking moments in the early stages, while to the moon is like inflating a balloon; you have to keep pumping air until the moment it finally bursts, only then will you experience how beautiful it is.
"Huh? Is that really true? I was quite looking forward to Pokeni's new game, but now that you say that, I'm a bit hesitant to buy it."
"The person upstairs has already spoken quite objectively. I also participated in this Tokyo Game Show, and my personal experience is similar to his.
But, you know, galgames are like that; they need plot development, and it's hard to make a judgment in five minutes."
"But, I really like Quilt Man. If it's Ishino Mika as the Producer, it should be worth getting, right?"
"Hmm, possibly."
…
to the moon had not yet been released, and there wasn't even any pre-release buzz, but after this Tokyo Game Show, players' comments had already cast a thick mist of mystery over the game.
It gained a tiny bit of notoriety.
But overall, it was mostly negative.
One reason was that Pokeni lacked sincerity, and the other was that the game to the moon simply couldn't stand on its own and wasn't suitable for exhibition at the Tokyo Game Show.
"I think this time it must be Pokeni's mistake to choose a galgame for the exhibition; it naturally has a certain disadvantage." A player named [Furuhara Tsubaki Is Unbelievable] said:
"Galgames require build-up and a truth-revealing segment that explodes like a bomb, or plot twists and turns. They need a lot of plot progression to establish characters, and all of these actually require time to experience.
The exhibition time at the Tokyo Game Show was simply too short."
"Yeah, President Aoki really made a misstep. If Pokeni had brought Diablo III, Pokémon 3D, or a sequel to The Witcher to the Tokyo Game Show this time, those games would have had much better expressiveness and first impressions than a galgame, wouldn't they?"
"Exactly, exactly. If I were President Aoki, I would definitely put the most important and heavyweight games on display."
"Is there a possibility that President Aoki wants to save games with stronger gameplay and core mechanics that players can experience immediately for later exhibitions, to maintain some mystery?"
President Aoki indicated that they knew nothing.
If I had games with strong gameplay and expressiveness, would I not put them at the Tokyo Game Show?
…
Fortunately, the release of Kyoto Animation's Quilt Man OVA, which closely followed in September, slightly salvaged the unfavorable decline of to the moon.
In the Quilt Man OVA, Kyoto Animation produced a rather sweet story—
The quilt was still that quilt, very conspicuous in the crowd while wrapped in it, sweating profusely in the summer.
The Hedgehog was also that prickly Hedgehog.
The OVA also revolved around their "special abilities" and some newly added "aphasic" daily lives, unfolding many interesting, funny, yet incredibly heartwarming stories.
The total length was one hour, which was a very sincere work, comparable to an animated movie.
It must be said that Kyoto Animation's production quality is truly improving at a visible speed. A few years ago, the animations produced by Kyoto Animation were quite rough; the only thing worth mentioning was their excellent storyboarding.
And now, in the Quilt Man OVA, Kyoto Animation showcased delicate and beautiful animation quality, with many camera angles being textbook-level, beautiful and touching, coupled with the dreamy fairy-tale style of Quilt Man itself, providing an extremely strong visual enjoyment.
It even made many viewers feel that this OVA was no worse than some animated movies.
And in this OVA, the two truly came together, not caring about or fearing the opinions of others.
In the final part of the animation, the two also sat under the moonlight, sharing a sweet kiss that made countless viewers exclaim, "No regrets in this life!"
After watching the Quilt Man OVA, many players ran to Pokeni's Quilt Man section to express their gratitude:
"Wow, so sweet! Did you see it? The latest OVA released by Kyoto Animation?"
"I saw it, I saw it! The last scene really made me laugh out loud. You have no idea how long I've waited for this ending."
"Ah, it's thanks to Kyoto Animation that our dream came true; otherwise, according to Pokeni's usual practice, they would never have made such a perfect ending."
"Exactly, exactly! That last scene was truly too sweet. The big moonlight, the quilt, and the Hedgehog, it really was like a fairy tale."
"Hmm, I'm satisfied. Seeing this ending, I truly have no regrets in this life."
"By the way, have you ever thought if the moon in the sky in that last scene has any connection to Pokeni's new game?"
"Huh? You know, there really is that possibility. The new game is called to the moon, and in the last scene of Quilt Man, the two are sitting under the moonlight, looking up at the moon.
This should be an Easter egg Pokeni buried through Kyoto Animation, right?"
"Possibly. Could to the moon be a sequel to Quilt Man?"
"Hmm, probably not, because the male and female protagonists in to the moon both have English names."
"Eh, that's strange then."
"But no matter what, there must be some inherent connection."
"They're both by the same Producer, have the same art style and music, and both feature moonlight. I'm now a little tempted to get to the moon."
"I think it's fine! You can choose not to trust Furuhara Tsubaki, and you can choose not to trust Gen Urobuchi, but you cannot choose not to trust Ishino Mika.
At least from the games Ishino Mika has produced in recent years…
Ishino Mika is considered the kindest among Pokeni's many Producers.
Although Quilt Man 'knifed' half the people, at least the male and female protagonists had a good, perfect ending in the end. Although they couldn't return to normal people, you can't say that this isn't an alternative kind of beauty.
As for CLANNAD and LIFE-LINE, where Ishino Mika served as the main planner…
Emmm…
Never mind what I said."
"Pfft… that sudden turn by the person upstairs really caught me off guard."
…
Aoki Haruhi had already anticipated the players' comments and was not flustered at all.
At least the Quilt Man OVA pulled back the unfavorable decline.
Afterward, the success of to the moon would depend on how the promotion and marketing were done.
He was still full of confidence in the game itself.
This is a game that, if you haven't played it, you won't know, but once you play it, you can't give it a low score.
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