What the heck is happening?! || Ode to a Moon [DEMO] (PC)

“Mystery creates wonder and wonder is the basis of man’s desire to understand.” --Neil Armstrong

Title Screen

Ode to a Moon is a first person psychotropic horror game in the works from Colorfiction. You play as a tabloid writer who is tasked with investigating a historic fall festival in the rural town of Ashfield, CT. Things start going awry pretty quickly, and I started to feel like I was on a bad acid trip.

The graphics and the aesthetic used are well suited for this genre of game. The colors feel over saturated and even mystical at times, and with an otherwise rather dark backdrop, the colors really stand out. When the landscape starts to shift and alter around you, it can be very disorienting. As I neared the end of the demo, I spent a good while going in circles because the mixture of the shifting landscape and the over saturated colors made it difficult for me to navigate.

Field trip!

There is also a VHS quality on the screen as you play, which gave some part of the game, particularly the wooded area, a Blair Witch Project feel---which I did not like. I started having flash backs to when I was a kid, watching the movie with my older brother and my younger brother and pretending to not be afraid. Then of course my older brother took delight in jumping out of anywhere he could to scare me... but I digress.

The music and the sound design are well done. I wasn’t sure what I was hearing sometimes because I didn’t have my headphones on. Was that a breath? A ringing in the ears? Are we descending into madness ourselves? The sounds worked together with the aesthetic to create a good sense of unease as you wandered about your way.

Are we slipping into another dimension?

The end of the demo was a bit jarring, and I wasn’t sure what to make of it. I don’t want to spoil anything so I won’t talk about it. Obviously this is a demo so we aren’t going to solve the whole mystery today. I am not much for horror games, but something about this demo really drew me in. It wasn’t cheap jump scares, it was an overall feeling of, “Something is going to happen but I don’t know what.”

Overall the aesthetic feels unique and interesting, the music and sound design are well done and I want to solve the mystery. I look forward to seeing where the development with this game goes in the future. I definitely recommend you pick up the demo and give it a play for yourself, this is a game that really has little justice done for it in a written review and you need to experience it for yourself. You can grab the demo free from Itch.io here.

What do you think the mystery is behind the fall festival that went wrong? It almost feels like a bad dream, so maybe it is? Let me know what you think down in the comments, and I will see you all next time. Until then, friends, happy gaming!

Is this the stairway to heaven....?