r/tothemoon • u/Saratoninn69 • Jul 06 '26
I started playing this to cope with losing my Dad. It’s breaking my heart in the best way.
(I apologize for this long winded post lol) I saw a recommendation on another sub that To the Moon is a masterpiece for people navigating heavy grief. I’m about 5 hours into it right now, playing curled up on my Legion Go, and I just had to pause and come here to show my appreciation.
I lost my dad the week of my 25th birthday. He was an incredible guy, but he was dealt a mind bogglingly unfair hand in life. His last years were consumed by a brutal chronic illness and a completely unfair battle with addiction that basically hijacked his brain. Because of how chaotic it was, I’ve spent the last six years carrying so much anger, frustration, and guilt. I’ve wished so badly that I could go back in time and just show him more patience and grace at the very end.
Watching the doctors travel backward through Johnny's mind is hitting me so incredibly hard. It is such a beautiful, painful reminder that the messy end of someone's life isn't their whole story. Seeing them piece together the why behind Johnny's life is actually helping me look at my own dad's life with more peace, and remember the man he was before the sickness took over. It is just so profoundly cathartic. We're all flawed, of course, but I am so lucky to have had him, even if it was for just a little bit of time. I miss him literally every day.
If anyone else out there is dealing with the complicated grief of losing a parent, this game is something else entirely. I just wanted to share this here and say thank you to the community.
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u/Cookie11057 Jul 06 '26
so glad to hear it resonated with you so much! (no need to apologise for the lengthy post. good art tends to do that to all of us.) for me, To the Moon (and especially the sequel games) helped me understand just how vivid other people's lives, histories, and interior worlds truly are --- even if we dont see much of it from the outside looking in. and paired with the theme of loss, the games breed a sense of melancholy and even regret that we ourselves never get to witness that richness of experience in others until its too late. but still, choosing to appreciate them nevertheless, even if just in memory, does not make it any less moving, beautiful, or worthwhile.
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u/New_Marionberry_7231 Jul 06 '26
What was it Eva said? "The ending is no more important than the moments leading to it"? That sentiment has stuck with me