There Was the Moon Reviews

The scenes were so pretty!! I loved the alternate ending. The puzzles were very fun as well!

Fun game, great for a chill Sunday afternoon. Def worth the 10 bucks. Looking forward to Ben's next creation

Great atmosphere and sound quality! Especially for a one-man team, it's a great, albeit short experience. I haven't been able to find the alternative ending but I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I really enjoyed the puzzles, as they reminded me of older atmospheric games where you had to look to your environment for clues. Yeah, for one puzzle, sometimes it meant going back and forth, but you could easily solve it within five minutes. Nice little story and just a great game overall to sit and soak in the environment. My only true complaint, is I wish the options menu was a bit more comprehensive. I have an older computer, so I wasn't able to adjust much to bring up my FPS and there was no option to disable or minimize motion blur, so it was a little dizzying. Again, could very well just be because I have an older computer.

Aside from a couple weird glitches, this games atmosphere was absolutely beautiful and the puzzles were fun and challenging. However I could not for the life of me find the last conduit or get the alternate ending, but I still enjoyed the experience.

The game, while short, is beautifully built. The aspect ratio is a bit off putting at first but you get used to it quickly and it adds a subtle layer to the immersion. There is a dreamy, uncanny feeling that is hard to describe but works wonder. I don't know how much developpement went into the game so I don't want to undermine the devs work but the price feel a bit steep for less than an hour of gameplay. That being said the experience was really wonderful and if you're into liminal space and brutalism, it's worth picking up.

Really captivating environment and atmosphere! I love the lore behind the experience, too. It's a pleasure to walk these unusual settings - I find it pretty mesmerizing. Exploring these worlds gives me a similar feeling to when I explored temples in Zelda games. That's a rare feeling, and I really appreciate it! The sound design and ambient music fits the aesthetic really well. The puzzles are simple but help keep you focused as you explore the world. I'm intrigued, and excited to finish the experience. I'm only about 45 minutes in at the moment.

There Was the Moon was a moody and trippy experience. Reminds me of Kairo and Naissance. I liked the tidbits of story, but I wish there was more here to read through/experience. Also, there were two instances during the game where everything glitched out for a brief second and I dunno if those were intentional or not. It was almost like a jump scare. They were weird and uncomfortable, but I liked them. It felt like I was being activated and that kinda fits into the narrative.

This was a wonderful little game with beautiful surreal art, these strange little rooms and worlds to explore, quite unlike anything I've seen before. It felt very immersive and was a joy to play. There is some light puzzle solving, but it's mostly just wandering around soaking up the atmosphere. I loved it!

[i] Interesting visual experience with some cerebral narrative, only about 60 minutes long with at least one optional objective (which I didn't do). The story had some enjoyable psychological twists, and I would say it ended on the high note, even though it was a little tedious in between. The gameplay consists of walking around and occasionally solving sequencing puzzles. I didn't find the puzzles to be difficult but a few of them require you to memorize multiple patterns and then walk away - naturally, I forgot the patterns several times and got a bit annoyed with backtracking. Additionally, I kept having a problem just figuring out where left and the right side of the puzzle was, sometimes I had a correct solution but I put it in the reverse order. In general, I didn't care for the riddles, within the context of the strange world, I don't know why it would have some generic pattern matching blocking my way. Despite having like no texture in the game, the developer managed to create some compelling architecture, making it enjoyable to look around. I think my mind whispered "Wow" at least 8 times, not necessarily because the game was pretty, I just liked the illusions created by manipulating my perspective. The atmosphere was really good, it managed to inflict a feeling of isolation, even scaring me a few times with strange sound effects. I kinda appreciated the short dialogue, the game brings up some interesting philosophical views with little text on the screen, leaving some space for personal interpretation. I only met 2 characters in this game but they had some enjoyable dialogue, I only wish it had more of that. [h1] Pros: [/h1] + atmosphere and changing moods were very infectious + while the story was vague, it created an enjoyable mystery + there were some cool visual moments, but not the game as a whole [h1] Feedback: [/h1] [u] I wish it had more exploration [/u] - for $10 I expected a little more meat on the bone. I find that many similar games do well when you add lots of little secrets around the game for replay value, maybe more achievements to support them. I know there is that one optional thing you can do, but still, a little shallow. [u] The puzzles felt like a chore [/u] - I saw a few people praise the puzzles in this game and I am not really sure why. I thought they were very generic and frankly felt out of place in this universe. See, if the puzzle had something to do with an object in the game (and it had a few of those), sure, but doing some sequences, not the most creative thing you can do to block enjoyable visual progression - why I bought the game. [u] More characters please [/u] - the narrative was more enjoyable when you were talking to those 2 characters, having weird individuals adds personality to the universe, without them, you just have pretty locations. I wish you would use that aspect more often. [b] Overall Thoughts: 6/10 [/b] Some good ideas here and there, but maybe not self-aware enough to understand why I would buy a game like this in a first place. The story had an interesting premise and I would say the atmosphere of the world was the best part. There are very similar games to this one that do the exact same type of experience with 5 times more exploration value and better pacing, so there is your benchmark. [code]Review By: http://store.steampowered.com/curator/31294838-Hidden-Gem-Discovery/ [/code]

Wow... I feel as if I've just returned from a serious peyote experience! I really enjoyed There Was the Moon. It is a visual treat with a sound track that I took pleasure in listening to. The game is a surreal journey with a variety of puzzles that are not too difficult (although I admit it took me a while to figure out how to open some of the doors). You embark on trek through a temple-like structure with unique rooms, doors, stairs, and an elevator. Played from a first person perspective, the game is like a fantastic walking simulator with puzzles and items (and characters) to briefly interact with along the way. There are inventory items to gather but they are automatically used for specific purposes so there is no 'try this, try that.' Your ultimate goal is to perform a ritual and save humanity with a choice at the end. You can replay from the final save point in order to make a different choice and see the consequences. The game saves on exit and I did not lose any progress when taking a break in the middle of something. Overall, I think Ben Lapid did a great job on this game and I always marvel when one guy can put something like this together. It took me about 3 hours to finish (with all achievements and no cheating) so perhaps I am slower than most. I took my time, exploring so as not to miss anything. This paid off because I did not have to backtrack! I recommend this to those who enjoy an artistic game with a heroic quest and some diversionary puzzles. Personally, I have no complaint about the price and feel that the experience was worth it. The game costs less than going to a movie and was a whole lot more interesting! I hope we see more from Ben Lapid in the future.