So, Kan's already said it, but BE and TLH are technically two different endings to the SigCorp series. Kan's also implied that one ending is sort of the "happy" ending and one is the "sad" ending.

I think it's pretty obvious that BE is the sad ending. Neil is dead and Eva is NOT coping well. What could be sadder than that? Well, I got to thinking about the significance of the genre choices and found the idea that the "sad" ending was the beach episode (usually meant to be a light-hearted break) and the "happy" ending will be the final hour of an rpg (usually meant to be intense and full of violence and danger) was very interesting. Why that choice?

Well, I think beach episodes, while meant to be a light-hearted and fun distraction, are exactly that. A distraction. They're an indulgence that we're meant to dabble in only for a short time before moving on. They're meant to be relaxing, which becomes sedentary inertia when indulged in too often. Even the name "episode" rather than game implies minimal effort on the observer's part. So, it represents interacting with life (playing your game) as only a passing distraction, an escapist fantasy, which the series is objectively against. I don't think any of that is difficult to figure out, but I think it could imply exciting things for TLH.

The final hour of an rpg is about as far from a beach episode as you can get. It's implied to be intense, to be difficult, even a real slog. There's effort required and you might even take damage. But, there are achievements to gain and an actual conclusion can be reached, while beach episodes are tiny islands floating in the middle of a narrative. This implies that while the "bad" ending was reached by leaning into escapism and letting go of control, the "good" ending will be gained through hardwork, sweat, and taking some risks.

So, all of that is well and good, but that leaves two questions:, who is choosing to either release control over their own lives or take it back in spite of the obstacles ahead? And what exactly are these obstacles?

So, for the first question, I actually don't think Eva is the one that is being brought to task in the grand scope of the endings: I think she's collateral damage that's forced to fall in line with Neil's choices. BE describes a Neil who seemed to go quietly into that good night. He never fully finished his machine, told Eva about his illness at rhe last moment, never seemed to be completely upfront with Eva about his feelings until it was too late... Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to victim blame Neil. He's going through inequivocably the hardest thing a human being can go through, so he's entirely forgiven. That's why I've been putting "happy" and "sad" in quotations. Ultimately, they're just endings that could happen based on the choices Neil could make. What makes them "happy" or "sad" depends on the effect they have on the people surrounding him. BE Neil's choices were to hide from his own reality: to not want to burden the people around him with his illness or his affections and pretending Everything's Alright when No, it isn't.

So, therefore, TLH must be the ending where Neil fights. Now, comes the last question: fights against or for what? What is the actual obstacle?

Knowing the series, the obstacle is absolutely not Neil's illness. I believe his death is an inevitability, and considering the grace the series has used to tell so many difficult stories, I know they wouldn't cheapen the reality of mortal illness.

Instead, I think what will be fought against is Neil's learned apathy and the walls he places up to make his own mortality easier to digest. So, instead of the reward involving Neil's illness, I think the reward would be that TLH's Neil chose to place effort into and fight for the relationships he was able to cultivate in the time he had. That he was able to fight the mentality he was shown to have in IF and BE, that everyone was better off if he kept his distance and that he could only (should only?) be with Eva in a simulation, and found a way to give TLH Eva better closure than BE Eva had. That TLH's Eva, while full of grief, wouldn't need to lean on the machine to fill in the blanks and could move on in a more healthy way. Maybe Neil even told more people about his machine earlier, so he could at least finish more of it before his passing.

I dunno, but that's my theory. That TLH's "good" ending will be about Neil "fighting" to build the relationships around him (especially Eva) in spite of his mortality.

Just got this email

Wife and I just finished playing To The Moon (never heard of it til a week ago and boy was it a nice emotional surprise). I'd love to experience that again and debating between Finding Paradise and Rakuen (or open to suggestions that'd provide an equally emotional ride that To The Moon gave!).

So is the 2nd game just as good/emotional as the 1st?

I have a theory based on Kan Gao saying there's a bit of a good ending vs bad ending with the Beach Episode and the upcoming game.

The Last Hour of a To The Moon RPG is maybe gonna be the bad ending...

It's after you've leveled up to max level in an rpg game which takes forever. It's looking to have a lot of fantastical aspects that diverge from real life which is what Neil and Eva say they'd add to replays with the group on the beach at sunset.

The next game is probably when Eva loses herself in the machine and doesn't let go... 😢

After replaying all games, dlcs, reading comics and doing some research into the other free bird games no longer listed on their website.. I think there is a slim possibility that Lunair is an antagonist (she says she is not what Eva should be concerned with at that moment) and is a bit snarky in Beach Episode. However, I think an interesting idea is that Eva will have immersed herself in her own world with Neil and there is an epic rpg battle to save Eva from herself and the evils in their simulation universe. Food for thoughts.

I want to refresh my memories of the series, I played all the past games pretty much on release so even though I remember the cases and storylines, some pieces maybe forgotten in time. Also I barely remember the finding paradise ending since it goes like a bit extreme with paranormal stuff so, my question is, do I need a clear rememberence of finding paradise before playing beach episode? Or any other title since I dont know if the game is sequel to "to the moon" or is it aftermath of "impostor factory"? Any help without spoilers would be amazing. Thanks!

I don't understand why Neil died so young. In IF we were shown that Lynri could've lived a lot longer If she got the right treatment. Neil has the same disease but dies a lot younger. I know that all immune systems aren't the same, but the difference is enormous. Did he not treat his disease at all? But why would he do that? When his health was deteriorating I thought he would be simply out on the sidelines for some time, taking chemotherapy or smth like that, so I was quite suprised that he died, espiecially, that he died suddenly (as Eva suggests in the ending of the Beach Episode).

So... I wasn't too sure about what was going on in this chapter, especially 'cause I haven't replayed the older ones any recently, but... Yeah, Neil is gone then, right? So in the end, the minisodes might have just been Eva replaying memories but adding Neil to them, and everything, but... We still don't know what exactly happened to Neil, right? I remember (iirc) that in To The Moon, we saw him dropping some kind of pills and then the screen flashes red, and stuff like this, but I guess there's nothing out yet? Or did I miss something?

So, last night I played Just A To The Moon Seried Beach Episode. I knew, both from my personal experience with the series and the reviews left on Steam that it was going to utterly shatter my heart, and indeed it did. Interestingly, unlike the other games, I didn't actually cry as I played, but it utterly devastated me afterwards in a way none of the others did. I think, at least in part, it's due to how much this series has ended up meaning to me, and knowing that while this isn't necessarily the end, it is an ending, and as such, there's a sadness in a fantastic story coming to a close, even when it's one that makes sense.

The games have ended up meaning a huge amount to me, in no small part because they have tangled themselves into my own personal experiences with death and grief. And although not many people will read this, I feel like telling the story of how the series has helped me deal with grief, if for no other reason than to just get it out of my head and onto the page. This will be long, and of course, heavy spoilers for all the games so far.

I got To The Moon as part of a bundle of other RPG Maker games a little over a decade ago now, when I was just a teenager. I went in completely blind, and I'm glad that I did, because if I'd read up about it I would not have played it. At the time, I had just lost my grandfather, and it was the first time someone I was really close with died. His whole story is far too fantastic and grand to fit within the scope of this one text post, but suffice it to say, he lived an incredible life with many ups and downs. He was a totally magnetic character, who seemed to just attract funny stories, and one of the kindest and most loving people I've ever had the priviledge to meet, let alone call family.

The fact that someone as monumental as that could just... cease? It was something I was having some real trouble coming to terms with, and I was kind of avoiding processing it emotionally. I'd been a very emotional child, and as with many emotional children, I had got good at supressing them. So I bottled up my grief, I distracted myself. I decided to play a few of the games from that bundle I had bought, just to avoid thinking about my grief.

So I booted up To The Moon, and within minutes, I was face to face with it. But I powered on through, and found myself invested in the story of Johnny and River, even though from the start, the game told me how it ended. River, in particular, stuck with me; as a young autistic woman who hadn't yet realised she was either of the two latter things, she resonated with me for reasons that wouldn't make sense for a number of years.

And then the game reached its last section, Everything's Alright played, and in the living room I had spent so much time with my grandfather, I finally allowed myself to feel the grief for his death. I had family with me at that moment, and we hugged and cried together. That's a memory I hope I never lose.

So when I heard, a few years later, that there was going to be another game, I was excited, but I kept my expectations low. To The Moon had found me at a time when it's themes were extremely relevant to me, and so it occupied a special place in my heart.

And then, just a few days before the release of the game, my aunt, who I was very close with, died suddenly and unexpectedly. And, of course, Finding Paradise broke me as a result. Colin actually reminded me so much of my grandfather, and it brought up all that grief again. My grandfather was a man with regrets and unfulfilled wishes, but who came to terms with them at the end. He died surrounded by his family, and I'm know that if we had the technology of SigCorp, he wouldn't have wanted to use it.

So, Finding Paradise helped me process the loss of him all over again, as well as the loss of my aunt.

When I found out that a third game was being made, I braced myself. The years inbetween Finding Paradise and Impostor Factory were incredibly formative for me. During that time, I had suffered another loss, and the fallout from that and how I failed to deal with my own emotions completely changed the course of my life.

About a month before the game released, my grandmother died. She hadn't really been the same since my grandfather had gone, but over the past couple of years we'd become particularly close, speaking almost every day. I was surprised by how I felt when she went. I was sad, for sure, but I was also relieved. It had become clear that my grandfather had been an anchor for her, and without him, she was adrift. I think she was mainly sticking around for the sake of the rest of us.

She left me a few things, but one has become a particularly cherished item of mine. A folder of her memoirs that she'd never managed to get published. She knew I love to write, and I think she thought I'd appreciate it, to be able to read the stories of times I wasn't around for.

So, yeah, Impostor Factory hit me like a goddamn truck. It wasn't helped by the fact that just a few days before the release of the game, we found out that one of my uncles was terminally ill. Death, and what we leave behind to be remembered by, to just prove that we even existed, was heavy on my mind. Frankly, it has been ever since then.

Of course, when Just A To The Moon Series Beach Episode was announced, I kind of mentally prepared for another loss. And it never came. I kind of put off playing the game for fear that it might cause another death in my family, irrational as it may seem.

But, perhaps, it's fitting that this time, I wasn't dealing with a recent death. Because while the other games are very much about death and wishes and regrets, the beach episode isn't. While the other games were told mainly from the perspective of the dead or the dying or digital simulacra of them, the beach episode is about what comes after. How we live our lives after losing someone important to us.

I get dreams sometimes where I'm spending time with someone I've lost, and always in the back of my mind I know they're dead, and that it can't be real. But I kind of don't care. I enjoy whatever time my dream lets me have with them, and then I wake up. To get just a few moments more, even if it's not really them? Sometimes it's what you need. Life doesn't play by the rules of a story. We're rarely granted the priviledge of closure, of a neat ending where everything is wrapped up in a bow. That's one of the allures of fiction.

The ending isn't any more important than the moments leading up to it, but only when it's your ending. The rest of us have to live on and deal with it while the credits roll on your life. We're all supporting characters in each others' stories, and just because one story is done doesn't mean that they all do. Perhaps someday, there will be a final page in all of our stories, but by definition none of us will see it.

I've had a couple of pretty major health scares over the past year and a bit, and while things are looking fine now, that sort of thing really makes you come to terms with your own impermanance. And I've realised that death, or rather dying, doesn't really scare me. It's just the final page in my book, and whenever it comes, I can only hope that the ending is satisfying, and no more important the the moments that led up to it. Leaving others behind is what scares me, knowing that there's no such thing as "enough time to prepare" for the loss of someone you love. Because you'll always want 'just a few more moments'.

I'm excited for The Final Hour of an Epic To The Moon RPG; I'm excited to see how the different format plays out. I'm hopeful that it might give a little bit of closure to a few of the things that remain unadressed or were brought up in the beach episode, but I won't be disappointed if there are a few threads left untied.

As far as I'm concerned, the story of Neil and Eva is complete. They didn't get a happily ever after, but then who does? For a series that is, fundamentally, about death, it's only fitting that it should come to a close by dealing with the death of one of its principal characters. Just A To The Moon Series Beach Episode broke my heart utterly, and in a way that the other games didn't, and it might end up being my favourite installment because of it.

I was expecting the game to be about Neil's death, and while it wasn't not about it, I think it's so much better that the series (not yet at least) hasn't closed on death, but on exploring loss.

And, as a closing note, I'm glad that the series is going out on its own terms. I'd have happily bought more games exploring other patients, with Eva and Neil or Roxy and Robert, these are characters that I absolutely adore. But I think the story that mattered the most to me has been told now, and although the ending was sad, I think it's the one that was right.

As for The Final Hour of an Epic To The Moon RPG?

Well, don't we always want just a few more moments?

Got around to reading all the mini-comic content after the beachsode and I am absolutely devastated at the bestest dancers conversation Eva and Neil have about Eva wanting a garden to retire in with plants to take care of and someone to be there to help her take care of it… and then in the beachsode Neil’s line about “I wanted to build you a garden.”

I haven’t stopped crying yet.

It's weird that so many stories today are missing such a vital part of what makes stories work. We've all seen it - shows that limp on long beyond the lifetime of their premises, games that undercut their conclusions with sequel-bait cliffhangers, infinite movie franchises. It takes a surprising amount of bravery to say "This is the story I wanted to tell, and it's done."

I'm so thankful for Freebird and the wonderful world they've given us. It's bittersweet to think that there will only be one more glimpse into these amazing characters, but I truly admire them for giving the story the ending it deserves. This series has legitimately changed my life for the better, and I hope it has meant as much to them as it has to me.

In the beach episode, we see a lot of returning character from the previous mainline games and the Sigmund Corp doctors because they're all from Eva's memories. But there are numerous other npcs (excluding the cameo characters) around and some are named (looking at you, Kan).

Since this episode stems from Eva, I'm wondering how many of them are previous patients and their family. While we know their clients are the dying and it's part of the job, we have been shown in Finding Paradise that it still isn't easy. Each patient leaves an impact with our main two doctors.

Just throwing out some thoughts.

Help I played the arcade and beat the guys high score but now I have this screen that is blocking my vision, any way to get rid of it please??

Have they met in reality before?

In IF, the way Faye revealed Lynri's real life implied that she died before Neil and Eva even met.

But in Beach Episode's ending where fake-Neil and Eva were talking on the beach, when he was talking about how he still remembers everything (even if he's not the real Neil), he mentioned Eva visiting his home for the first time and how "MOM and dad thought you were my girlfriend".

So what's going on here? Am I misremembering or misinterpreting something?

Was fake-Neil just talking about his own fake-memories?

Just a To the Moon Series Beach Episode has revealed a lot about the overarching story of the series. Those weird moments back in the second To the Moon Sigcorp Minisode? Yeah, that was Eva >!reliving the Sigcord Christmas party using the machine with a slew of alcohol next to her... because she was trying to cope over Neil's death!<.

Once Finding Paradise came out, I was one of the folks that ascribed to the theory that Neil >!was or was about to be dead!< based on the breadcrumbs that Kan Gao was laying down. Then when Impostor Factory came out, that sealed the deal for me. Then along comes the Beach Episode AND I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO UPSET THAT WE WERE RIGHT. :'(

For the second half of the series conclusion (The Last Hour of an Epic To the Moon RPG), I have a theory that I haven't seen passed around yet, but I'm sure others have considered: What if the RPG is Neil's wish fulfilled using the machine? Neil seems like the type of person who would love to save the day alongside his friends while getting to live out the ultimate fantasy of being a hero. I mean, heck, homie makes anime and videogame references in like 152% of his dialogue. (I did the math. It checks out.)

What are y'all's thoughts on this possibility? Do you have any theories about the RPG after finishing the Beachsode?

I remember on Kickstarter they had a tier for custom To The Moon Beach Episode messages that would include an item of the person's choice. Did anyone find these types of messages when scanning the beach in the game? And if you did, what was the item?

Where do I play quintessence? It’s not on steam or the freebird website but I keep seeing people talking about it

I loved To the Moon, and I loved Finding Paradise even more. FP is one of my absolute favourite games of all time, easily top 10.

Impostor Factory was good, but it didn't resonate the same way, it felt a bit disconnected from the usual gameplay loop i expected. Then the beach episode - the FINALE to the entire series i followed for over a decade - felt more like an isolated short story rather than part of the larger narrative I fell in love with. Not to forget that i almost skipped it because i thought it was a spinoff due to the name.

What made To the Moon and Finding Paradise special was the journey of learning someone's life story - their ups and downs - and experiencing a profound revelation at the end. These games beautifully interwove individual stories with the overarching narrative of Sigmund Corp fulfilling wishes, offering just enough hints to keep the larger plot intriguing without overshadowing the personal tales.

Impostor Factory, however, felt disconnected from this formula. It was difficult to immerse myself in it, and the beach episode seemed like an entirely different game altogether. Yes, the endings are emotional and very important to the overarching plot, but they didn't hit me nearly as hard as To the Moon or Finding Paradise. I loved theorizing about Neil and that we are in his dying mind (which was almost correct). And suddenly the entire series "ended". Just like that.

Now, with the newer games introducing a growing number of characters and requiring players to be familiar with "our other games" (i had to google and read through the entire quintessance wiki to understand where Lunair was from) - including purchasing an upcoming RPG which looks like is has completely different gameplay but based on Kan Gao has essential story parts - it feels like the story is being fragmented, almost as if it's being split up just to promote other titles.

It’s not bad, but these recent additions feel less and less like the To the Moon series that I fell in love with.

​

This is no hate. It's just.. frustrating that i had a different direction in mind and it's just ending so.. apruptly.

Hear me out, Neil might be alive!

This is NOT a copium post because I'm losing my mind, it definitely makes sense!

Check it out:

• We know Eva is using the machine that Neil left her to see "him" over and over again because she's in denial (which I'm totally not!)
• We know she probably has been doing so since the beggining of the series, or at least as far back as the second minisode, when she sees herself for a split second. We've probably been playing within Eva's simulations
• Simulations within simulations are not only established, but a major plot point in Impostor Factory

So, after the Beachsode credits, we have this cutscene with Eva lying on the bed, and next to her we see pictures of the beach trip. You can only see Eva, Roxxane, and Rob. Then they suddenly glitch, and Neil is in them. Obviously, this is meant to suggest Eva actually went on a real vacation with her coworkers by the time Neil was gone, and just included him in her simulation of it.

https://preview.redd.it/ififl9piwlqd1.png?width=956&format=png&auto=webp&s=a8370e6eac58cc538dde6023afdb1bf19cd5b253

https://preview.redd.it/diwwjbpiwlqd1.png?width=940&format=png&auto=webp&s=392b072839018af983be4698e5590856ef576d10

https://preview.redd.it/b47fz9piwlqd1.png?width=952&format=png&auto=webp&s=ec058543ed71d4d1e9ef8bc23693b189d05dcf23

Except... the cutscene clearly displays the machine next to the pictures before Eva takes it. We could say that the pictures and the machine are in the same "plane of reality". Furthermore, it doesn't make any sense at all for the pictures to be within the simulation, not just from what we see, but because they're AFTER the trip and Eva wouldn't simulate that. There's a good chance this is not reality. Obviously, this doesn't necessarily mean Neil is alive, it just means it's possible. Maybe everyone's dead. Maybe Ricebot is behind everything

Or... maybe Kan just took an artistic license with the pictures so that people feel bad about Neil's death and end up posting theories on Reddit

However, we also know there is a "good ending" of sorts: https://x.com/Reives_Freebird/status/1745888952450507034

What if this is the bad ending? It's hard to tell, because these games are bittersweet, but I think it definitely ends on a depressing note.

I never understood the name or anything, i played the entire series up to Impostor factory.

​

Now i read reviews that it's misleading and in truth the climax of the series, answering all the questions that appeared during all the other games.

​

At first i thought "so i can skip it" because i thought it's just a short story in itself without much relation to the main series... now i'm not sure anymore?