Moon: Remix RPG Adventure
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{short description|1997 video game}}
{{Infobox video game
| title = Moon: Remix RPG Adventure
| image = Moon - Remix RPG Adventure Coverart.png
| caption = Original cover
| developer = Love-de-Lic
| publisher = {{ubl|ASCII Entertainment (PS1)|Onion Games}}
| designer = {{ubl|Kenichi Nishi|Taro Kudo|Yoshiro Kimura}}
| writer = {{ubl|Yoshiro Kimura|Taro Kudo}}
| artist = Kazuyuki Kurashima
| composer = {{ubl|Hirofumi Taniguchi|Taro Kudo|Masanori Adachi}}
| released = PlayStation{{vgrelease|JP|October 16, 1997}}Nintendo Switch{{vgrelease|JP|October 10, 2019|WW|August 27, 2020}}Windows, PS4{{vgrelease|WW|December 16, 2021}}MacOS{{vgrelease|WW|January 28, 2022}}
| genre = Role-playing, adventure
| modes = Single-player
| platforms = {{ubl|PlayStation|Nintendo Switch|Microsoft Windows|PlayStation 4|MacOS}}
}}
{{nihongo foot|Moon: Remix RPG Adventure|ムーンリミックスRPGアドベンチャー|Moon Rimikkusu RPG Adobencha|group=lower-alpha|lead=yes}} is a role-playing adventure game developed by Love-de-Lic and first published in 1997 by ASCII Entertainment for the PlayStation in Japan. Moon is set within a fictional role-playing game where "the hero" has wreaked destruction, killing hundreds of creatures and looting homes. The player takes on the role of a supporting character in this world, attempting to undo the damage done by the hero. Moon has been praised by critics for how it parodies the conventions and tropes of role-playing games.
Although it was not officially localized for many years, it influenced Toby Fox for the design of his 2015 game Undertale. After speaking with Fox, original designer Yoshiro Kimura was inspired to localize Moon.{{cite web |last1=Klepek |first1=Patrick |title=A Game Without Killing: The Story of Moon's 22-Year Journey to Leave Japan |url=https://www.vice.com/en_au/article/m7jw78/a-game-without-killing-the-story-of-moons-22-year-journey-to-leave-japan |website=www.vice.com |date=August 31, 2020 |language=en}} In 2019, Onion Games released a port for the Nintendo Switch, which was localized and published in Western territories in 2020, and later ported to Windows and PlayStation 4 in 2021, with a MacOS port arriving in early 2022.
Gameplay
File:Moon_Remix_RPG_screenshot.png
Time follows a set calendar that runs in real time. Solarday, a day-off, is the equivalent to Sunday. Crescenday is Monday, Blazeday is Tuesday, Tearsday is Wednesday, Leavesday is Thursday, Coinsday is Friday, and Echoday is like Saturday. The world's inhabitants (and the animal's souls, too) follow their own regular schedules each week. Hero leaves behind the corpses of the animals he has killed all over the world. Boy must catch the soul that manifests, whereupon the soul is whisked away to the Moon and the Boy obtains "Love". A soul appears during a certain time of day each week.
The player increases Boy's Love Level by discovering the secret wishes of Real Moon's people. Boy must then grant the idiosyncratic wishes of each person. Sometimes Love comes from readily apparent events, but there are secret and time-limited events Boy must fulfill. "Love" grows by levels. The player preserves progress by going to bed and entering a dream state. By leveling up Boy, the time he can exist in the world (his "action limit") increases. When Boy's "action limit" falls to zero, the player gets a game over.{{cite web | last1=Lipschultz | first1=Thomas | title=RPGFan Reviews - Moon | url=http://www.rpgfan.com/reviews/moon/index.html | work=RPGFan | publisher=RPGFan Media, LLC | date=May 14, 2006 | access-date=October 28, 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070514081408/http://www.rpgfan.com/reviews/moon/index.html | archive-date=May 14, 2007 | url-status=dead }}
In the game, the player can change the background music at nearly any time. One can purchase or find "MoonDiscs" (M.D.), each of which grants one new song performed by commercial artists. Some locations, of course, have programmatic music. The player can also collect other special items. "Name cards" are cards featuring the in-game characters, which reveal information and hints about their background and wishes. "Chips" are integral to the game's story. They act as sacred texts that reveal the past, the present, and the future of Real Moon. The player must decide what to do based on the words and pictures featured on the chips.
Plot
Moon begins with the protagonist, a small boy, playing a new role-playing game (RPG) called "Moon" (a.k.a. "Fake Moon") on his "Gamestation". The game begins with the player controlling the Hero of Fake Moon in a 10-minute game-within-a-game, Fake Moon being something of a parody of Japanese RPGs (JRPGs) of the 16-bit era.{{cite web | author=Bruno de Figueiredo | title=LOVE-de-LIC | url=http://hg101.classicgaming.gamespy.com/lovedelic/lovedelic.htm | work=GameSpy.com | accessdate=October 28, 2008 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081109181631/http://hg101.classicgaming.gamespy.com/lovedelic/lovedelic.htm | archive-date=November 9, 2008 }} Convoluted JRPG stories are skewered by the minutes of a nonsensical backstory, which Boy skips through before the player can read it. Queen Aphrodite has been abducted and taken to the moon. The perpetrator, Dragon, will wreak millions of calamitous years upon the people of Love-De-Gard with her power. Yet, the people have produced a hero who must travel to Dragon Castle and destroy the beast. After playing through a few typical RPG scenes (random battles, an airship sequence, etc.), the boy is ordered by his mother to go to bed and obediently does so. However, the television on which he was just playing Fake Moon switches back on by itself, and the boy is sucked into the world of Moon, a land called "Love-de-Gard". Its people and its story resembles Fake Moon's.
Development
Moon: Remix RPG Adventure is the first of three games developed by Love-de-Lic, a game developer made up of former members of Square. After leaving Square, the group worked on the game ambitiously for over two years. It was first previewed in Weekly Famitsu on May 23, 1997.{{cite web | date=May 23, 1997 | title=Weekly Famitsu ~ May 23, 1997 ~ | url=http://www.ncsx.com/www/fmtsu523.htm | work=NCSX.com | accessdate=November 3, 2008 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061120170633/http://www.ncsx.com/www/fmtsu523.htm | archive-date=November 20, 2006 }} Moon was co-directed by Yoshiro Kimura, Taro Kudo, and Kenichi Nishi.{{cite web |title=伝説のRPG『moon』20年目の同窓会──ラブデリックメンバーが語る、ディレクター3人という奇跡のような開発スタイル…そして「あのころ」の始まりと終わり【座談会】 |url=https://news.denfaminicogamer.jp/interview/171030 |website=Denfamico Gamer |date=October 30, 2017 |accessdate=17 September 2020}} The game's backgrounds and maps were designed by Akira Ueda. Character and monster designs were handled by Kazuyuki Kurashima.
=Music=
The soundtrack to Moon was composed by over 30 independent Japanese musicians, perhaps the most prominent of which is The Thelonious Monkees, Love-de-Lic's internal name for its sound team, headed by Hirofumi Taniguchi. He would later compose music for Love-de-Lic's other games, as well the games from its spin-off companies. The game's musical score is a wide mix of genres ranging from pop music to traditional Japanese koto music, as well as having both instrumental and vocal tracks. One of the gameplay mechanics of Moon called the "MoonDisc" (MD) player even allows the person playing the game to arrange their own soundtrack with up to 36 pieces of music, for certain situations during the story.{{cite web | author=Wyrdwad | title=RPGFan Soundtracks - The Sketches of Moondays: We Kept Our Promise To You | url=http://www.rpgfan.com/soundtracks/moon/index.html | work=RPGFan.com | accessdate=October 23, 2008 | archive-date=November 20, 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081120022106/http://www.rpgfan.com/soundtracks/moon/index.html | url-status=dead }}
The first of Moon's soundtracks was released on a single disc in 1997 alongside the game itself, but many of the MD tracks were absent, most likely due to legal issues from the many artists that composed the music. In December 2002, a three-disc set titled The Sketches of Moondays: We Kept Our Promise To You was released by Sten Och Flod and Underground Liberation Force Records. The set contains all of the game's music in a total of 63 tracks. One of its tracks, "Promise", was remixed for the 2001 Melody of Legend: Chapter of Love compilation disc.{{cite web | title=Melody of Legend ~ Chapter of Dream | url=http://chudahs-corner.com/soundtracks/index.php?catalog=KICA-1242 | work=Chudahs-Corner.com | accessdate=October 28, 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080302132437/http://www.chudahs-corner.com/soundtracks/index.php?catalog=KICA-1242 | archive-date=March 2, 2008 | url-status=usurped }} In 2006, Olio Music, an online music store, re-published both albums, as well as releasing two compilation albums: one containing arranged music from the game, and one containing new music composed by the "MoonDisc" artists.{{cite web | title=close up #005 Moon Sound Track "Mburrn" | url=http://olio-music.jp/doc/specialissue/closeup05/index.html | work=Olio-Music.jp | accessdate=November 1, 2008 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070219051355/http://olio-music.jp/doc/specialissue/closeup05/index.html | archive-date=February 19, 2007 }}{{cite web | title=close up #007 Moon Sound Track "Mburrn" vol. 2 | url=http://olio-music.jp/doc/specialissue/closeup07/index.html | work=Olio-Music.jp | accessdate=November 1, 2008 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090402213048/http://olio-music.jp/doc/specialissue/closeup07/index.html | archive-date=April 2, 2009 }}{{cite web | title=close up #009 Moon Sound Track "Mburrn" vol. 3 | url=http://olio-music.jp/doc/specialissue/closeup09/index.html | work=Olio-Music.jp | accessdate=November 1, 2008 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090402213052/http://olio-music.jp/doc/specialissue/closeup09/index.html | archive-date=April 2, 2009 }}{{cite web | title=close up #011 "Mburrn" presents Ten Years After | url=http://olio-music.jp/doc/specialissue/closeup11/index.html | work=Olio-Music.jp | accessdate=November 1, 2008 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090212171718/http://olio-music.jp/doc/specialissue/closeup11/index.html | archive-date=February 12, 2009 }}
Release
The game was first released for PlayStation on October 16, 1997, and was re-released as part of the PlayStation the Best line on November 5, 1998.{{Citation needed|date=September 2020}} A companion book titled Moon: Official Book was also released by ASCII. Another book titled Tsukiyo No Aho Dori: Moon Side Story was released by Jugemu Books. It features a story by Yoshiro Kimura and illustrations by Kazuyuki Kurashima.{{cite book | title=月夜の阿呆鳥―Moon side story (じゅげむBOOKS) (単行本) | id={{ASIN|4889914994|country=jp}} }}
Moon was featured prominently at ASCII's E3 booth in 1997 with plans to release the game internationally the following year, but ASCII canceled localization plans later that year.{{cite web|author=IGN staff|date=October 7, 1997|title=Ascii Drops RPG|url=http://psx.ign.com/articles/063/063735p1.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606113425/http://psx.ign.com/articles/063/063735p1.html|archive-date=June 6, 2011|accessdate=October 29, 2008|work=IGN.com}}{{cite web|author=IGN Staff|date=August 4, 1997|title=Ascii Speaks|url=http://psx.ign.com/articles/063/063331p1.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120218120834/http://psx.ign.com/articles/063/063331p1.html|archive-date=February 18, 2012|accessdate=December 13, 2008|work=IGN.com}} English fan translations were attempted but never completed.{{cite web|author=Sgeos|title=Unofficial Moon Translation Project|url=http://www.sennue.com/en/moon/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081010055059/http://www.sennue.com/en/moon/|archive-date=October 10, 2008|accessdate=November 8, 2008|work=Sennue.com}}{{cite web|title=Moon: Remix RPG Adventure PSX Translation|url=http://www.romhacking.net/forum/index.php/topic,13260.0.html|accessdate=December 6, 2011|archive-date=January 9, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130109011916/http://www.romhacking.net/forum/index.php/topic,13260.0.html|url-status=live}}
= Modern port =
In the Japanese Nintendo Direct in September 2019, Yoshiro Kimura's development studio Onion Games announced a Nintendo Switch port of the game, which was released in Japan on October 10 of that year.{{Citation|title=moon [Nintendo Direct 2019.9.5]| date=September 4, 2019 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6832gkaqkpk|language=en|access-date=September 5, 2019|archive-date=September 5, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190905021310/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6832gkaqkpk|url-status=live}} Afterwards, the studio said via Twitter that this version would receive an English localization, to be released in Western regions some time after the Japanese release.{{cite twitter|user=oniongames|number=1169393628520861701|date=September 4, 2019|title=It's true! Onion Games is bringing the cult-classic 'anti-RPG' MOON to the Nintendo Switch}} Tim Rogers, formerly of Kotaku, was a writer of the English translation.{{Cite web|url=https://kotaku.com/22-years-later-a-major-milestone-for-rpgs-is-finally-c-1838156407|title=22 Years Later, A Major Milestone For RPGs Is Finally Coming West|last=Kohler|first=Chris|website=Kotaku|date=September 16, 2019 |language=en-US|access-date=September 17, 2019|archive-date=September 16, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190916225607/https://kotaku.com/22-years-later-a-major-milestone-for-rpgs-is-finally-c-1838156407|url-status=live}} It was released worldwide on August 27, 2020.{{cite web |url=https://www.gematsu.com/2020/07/moon-for-switch-launches-august-27-in-the-west |title=Moon for Switch launches August 27 in the west |last=Romano |first=Sal |website=Gematsu |language=en-US |date=July 29, 2020 |access-date=July 31, 2020 |archive-date=July 30, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200730234129/https://www.gematsu.com/2020/07/moon-for-switch-launches-august-27-in-the-west |url-status=live }} This version was later released worldwide for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 4 on December 16, 2021,{{cite web|url=https://www.gematsu.com/2021/12/moon-for-pc-launches-december-16|title=moon for PC launches December 16|website=Gematsu|date=December 15, 2021}} and MacOS on January 28, 2022.{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/oniongames/status/1486905417410256897?s=20|title=HEY APPLE FANS: Have you been wanting to Experience the Love?|website=Twitter|date=January 28, 2022}}
Reception
{{Video game reviews
| MC = 77/100 (NS){{cite web |title=Moon: Remix RPG Adventure |url=https://www.metacritic.com/game/moon-remix-rpg-adventure/critic-reviews/?platform=nintendo-switch |work=Metacritic |publisher=CBS Interactive |access-date=September 15, 2020 |archive-date=March 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210305034302/https://www.metacritic.com/game/switch/moon-remix-rpg-adventure |url-status=live }}
| Destruct = 7.5/10 (NS){{cite web |last1=Andriessen |first1=CJ |title=Review: Moon |url=https://www.destructoid.com/stories/review-moon-602312.phtml |work=Destructoid |publisher=Enthusiast Gaming |access-date=September 15, 2020 |archive-date=September 5, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200905080808/https://www.destructoid.com/stories/review-moon-602312.phtml |url-status=live }}
| Fam = 32/40 (PS){{cite magazine |title='97年 - MOON |magazine=Famitsu |issue=379 |publisher=ASCII Corporation |date=26 December 1997 |page=137 |lang=ja }}
| GSpot = 8/10 (NS){{cite web |last1=Kemps |first1=Heidi |title=Moon Review – The Bright Side |url=https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/moon-review-the-bright-side/1900-6417562/ |work=GameSpot |publisher=CBS Interactive |access-date=September 15, 2020 |archive-date=September 11, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200911013937/https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/moon-review-the-bright-side/1900-6417562/ |url-status=live }}
| NLife = 7/10 (NS){{cite web |last1=Vogel |first1=Mitch |title=Review: Moon - This "Anti-RPG" Shows Its Age, But Is Still Worth A Look |url=https://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/switch-eshop/moon |work=Nintendo Life |publisher=Nlife Media |date=September 5, 2020 |access-date=September 15, 2020 |archive-date=September 7, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200907034654/https://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/switch-eshop/moon |url-status=live }}
| RPGFan = (PS) 99%
(NS) 92/100{{cite web |last1=Parsons |first1=Isaac |url=https://www.rpgfan.com/review/moon/ |title=Moon (Review Platform: Nintendo Switch) |work=RPGFan |publisher=RPGFan Media, LLC |date=October 28, 2020 |access-date=March 4, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201130220229/https://www.rpgfan.com/review/moon/ |archive-date=2020-11-30 |url-status=live }}
}}
{{Expand section|date=September 2020}}
In 2000, Famitsu listed Moon in its top 120 PlayStation games of all time for scoring 32 out of 40.{{cite web | date=June 2000 | title=Top 120 Famitsu | url=http://www.gaming-age.com/news/2000/6/23-151 | work=Gaming-Age.com | accessdate=October 28, 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605221312/http://www.gaming-age.com/news/2000/6/23-151 | archive-date=June 5, 2011}}
Legacy
Moon was praised for its innovation breaking the norm of conventional role-playing games, parodying many aspects of the genre itself.{{cite web|author=Klepek, Patrick|date=March 3, 2003|title=Giftpia Preview for GameCube - Gaming Age|url=http://www.gaming-age.com/cgi-bin/previews/preview.pl?sys=gamecube&game=giftpia|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030207223621/http://www.gaming-age.com/cgi-bin/previews/preview.pl?sys=gamecube&game=giftpia|archive-date=February 7, 2003|accessdate=October 29, 2008|work=Gaming-Age.com}} It has been described as an "anti-RPG" for the way it subverts RPG tropes. The premise of Moon is considered to be ahead of its time. It is an example of the Isekai genre of Japanese fantasy fiction, with its plot involving the protagonist being sucked into the fantasy-themed virtual world of a role-playing game.{{cite news |last1=Kim |first1=Matt T.M. |title=Cult Classic PS1 'Anti-RPG' Moon Is Coming to the Nintendo Switch in English |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2019/09/05/cult-classic-ps1-anti-rpg-moon-is-coming-to-the-nintendo-switch-in-english |accessdate=September 2, 2020 |work=IGN |publisher=Ziff Davis |date=September 5, 2019 |archive-date=September 14, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190914224412/https://www.ign.com/articles/2019/09/05/cult-classic-ps1-anti-rpg-moon-is-coming-to-the-nintendo-switch-in-english |url-status=live }} The game's designer and writer, Yoshiro Kimura, went on to create Chulip (2002) and Little King's Story (2009), and founded the indie game studio Onion Games.{{cite news |title=Remix RPG Adventure moon revived for Nintendo Switch after 22 years, for the first time in English! |url=https://www.gamasutra.com/view/pressreleases/350137/Remix_RPG_Adventurenbsp_moon_nbsprevived_for_Nintendo_Switch_after_22_years_for_the_first_time_in_English.php |accessdate=September 2, 2020 |work=Gamasutra |date=September 5, 2019 |language=en |archive-date=September 15, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200915184457/https://www.gamasutra.com/view/pressreleases/350137/Remix_RPG_Adventurenbsp_moon_nbsprevived_for_Nintendo_Switch_after_22_years_for_the_first_time_in_English.php |url-status=live }}
Indie developer Toby Fox cited Moon as a major inspiration behind his 2015 role-playing video game Undertale. While he had not actually played the game because it was in Japanese, he was inspired by the game's concepts. He noted that Moon was "an adventure game where you enter the world of an RPG where a 'Hero' has caused havoc" and "the point of the game is to repair the damage the 'Hero' caused and increase your LV" (Love Level) "by helping people instead of hurting them".{{cite news |last1=Oxford |first1=Nadia |title=The Story of Moon, the "Anti-RPG" That Inspired Undertale |url=https://www.usgamer.net/articles/the-story-of-moon-the-anti-rpg-that-inspired-undertale |accessdate=September 1, 2020 |work=USgamer |publisher=Gamer Network |date=August 28, 2020 |archive-date=September 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200903122645/https://www.usgamer.net/articles/the-story-of-moon-the-anti-rpg-that-inspired-undertale |url-status=live }}{{cite web |last1=Fox |first1=Toby |author1-link=Toby Fox |title=I want to mention another inspiration for UNDERTALE |url=https://twitter.com/tobyfox/status/931655092264108032 |website=Twitter |accessdate=September 1, 2020 |date=November 17, 2017 |archive-date=September 10, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200910203627/https://twitter.com/tobyfox/status/931655092264108032 |url-status=live }}
Notes
{{notelist}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{official|https://moon-rpg.com/en/}}
- [http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/psx/data/573238.html Moon: Remix RPG Adventure] at GameFAQs
- [https://www.mobygames.com/game/playstation/moon-remix-rpg-adventure Moon: Remix RPG Adventure] at MobyGames
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moon: Remix Rpg Adventure}}
Category:Japanese role-playing video games
Category:Metafictional video games
Category:Nintendo Switch games
Category:PlayStation (console) games
Category:Video games about dragons
Category:Role-playing video games
Category:Video games about video games
Category:Video games developed in Japan
Category:Video games scored by Taro Kudo
Category:Video games set in castles
Category:Video games set on the Moon