History YMMV / ToTheMoon

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Johnny's mom is subject to this with her limited appearance. What we know is [[spoiler:after Joey died, she underwent SanitySlippage and deliberately gave Johnny the Beta Blockers to block the trauma of his death]]. From there two interpretations arise. The first is [[spoiler:that she is abusive, forcibly editing her surviving son's memory, and tricking herself into believing he was Joey, her preferred son, in a twisted case of ParentalFavoritism]]. The other is [[spoiler:that she gave Johnny the blockers to save him from the trauma of losing a twin, and her confusing him for Joey down the line is just her own fragile mental state]].

** [[spoiler:Tony Attwood]] is mentioned. If you already know who he is, [[note]]a British psychologist notable for his work on autistic people[[/note]] then you know what's going on with [[spoiler:River]].

!!''Finding Paradise''
* AuthorsSavingThrow: The sequel seemingly did this to the EsotericHappyEnding nature from the first game. It's heavily implied that the patient's new life in their altered memories are actually ''recorded'', as during the time when Colin visited Sigmund Corp, an employee shows him either a picture or video recording from another patient's altered memory where said patient becomes a famous celebrity (though the player can't see it due to the camera angle). Later, Neil demonstrates the usage of video recording within the patient's memory to view what has been happening inside. This is likely why in the first game Eva mentioned they could've been sued if they refused to fulfill the patient's wish, because they couldn't just lie by claiming they fulfill the patient's wish even when they didn't actually do it.

* AwesomeMusic: See [[AwesomeMusic/ToTheMoon here.]]

** Part of the code in the background when you prepare a memento says, "Step twice into the river of life." If you're familiar with philosophy, this is based on a quote from Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher who said, "No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it is not the same river and he is not the same man."

** [[spoiler:Joey. The kid loved his family and had aspiring dreams of becoming a writer, but all of that ends up down the drain when he was hit by [[OffingTheOffspring his mother's car]] in a [[AccidentalMurder complete accident]]. At least Johnny ends up remembering him as the author that he always wanted to be, but the real Joey never got that far]].

** River. [[spoiler:Being a girl with Aspergers, she was [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer an outcast in school]]. The only person who ever liked her for who she is doesn't remember their first meeting, no matter how hard she tries ''not'' to tell him. She ended up dying, knowing that all of her efforts to remind him [[AllForNothing were in vain]]]].

%% * TearJerker: The whole game, really.

** [[spoiler:Izzy describes Johnny as "neurotypical," which is not a word that's thrown around much outside of people who know a few things about the ASD spectrum]].
** [[spoiler:Tony Attwood]] is mentioned. If you already know who he is, then you know what's going on with [[spoiler:River]].

* FanPreferredCouple: [[PortmanteauCoupleName Rosawatts]] (Neil/Eva) is by far the most popular ship from the games.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: The sequel seemingly did this to the EsotericHappyEnding nature from the first game. It's heavily implied that the patient's new life in their altered memories are actually ''recorded'', as during the time when Colin visited Sigmund Corp, an employee shows him either a picture or video recording from another patient's altered memory where said patient become famous celebrity (though the player can't see it due to camera angle). Later, Neil demonstrates the usage of video recording within the patient's memory to view what has been happening inside. This is likely why in the first game Eva mentioned they could've been sued if they refused to fulfill patient's wish, because they couldn't just lie by claiming they fulfill the patient's wish even when they didn't actually do it.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Neil. Plenty of critics thought his MoodWhiplash inducing antics were distracting and frustrating, others think of him as comic relief for game that ''really'' needs it. [[spoiler:Chapter 6 showcasing that he ''does'' [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold genuinely care]] about the patients and TheStinger implying he has HiddenDepths help saving him in most eyes]].

* FridgeBrilliance: Why didn't River just tell John about [[spoiler: their first meeting, without going through the whole rabbit ordeal]]? At first it seems that it's only due to her [[spoiler: Asperger's]], but revisiting the first part of the story, it becomes apparent that she wanted, in her own way, to bridge the gap between them by [[spoiler: reminding him of the first time that they truly connected]], and that wouldn't work unless he remembered on his own. When you realize that River made the [[spoiler:rabbits to try and remind Johnny of their first meeting. And that when the white rabbits didn't work, she tried a yellow one, because the moon is yellow. And that when the yellow one didn't work, she managed to make one with a yellow belly (for the moon) and blue head and feet (for the sky and stars). To add an extra layer to it... Her wedding dress was yellow and blue.]]
* FridgeHorror: During TheStinger, it's implied that [[spoiler: Neil might be dying.]] And once you think about it, you come to understand why he's constantly acting immature, doing stupid things, being mean, jerkish and funny: He's trying to make the most out of life before he dies...
** [[spoiler: It's implied that all of the game's events in fact take place in Neil's head, quite possibly while he is in a similar state to John. Consider the Deja Vu of the squirrels running along the same path twice, almost like a glitch in the matrix.]]
** The first theory is further hinted at the very beginning of the game, in an optional scene you could miss entirely if you played as [[spoiler: Eva]]: the mock RPG fight against the squirrel. If you check [[spoiler: Neil]]'s health bar, you'll see it's not full. If you play with [[spoiler: Eva]], the bar will be full.
** To support the theory that [[spoiler: Neil is dying]], at the carnival when they meet the fortune-teller, [[spoiler: Neil refuses to see his future, saying "Good or bad, I'd be screwed either way."]]
** Another one which makes you realize how truly screwed Johnny is: [[spoiler: The reason Johnny's mother made him take the beta blockers which made him forget about his dead twin brother was because his mother was DrivenToMadness by Joey's death and wanted Johnny to become his ReplacementGoldfish, which puts her straight into the AbusiveParents field]].
** When you discover that Johnny's mother [[spoiler: wasn't just calling him "Joey" as a cute nickname]], it frames the entire first half of the game in a different light. [[spoiler: Johnny's seemingly-pathological desire to stand out and be different suddenly makes a lot more sense when you realise his own mother favoured Joey so much, she forced Johnny to become a copy of him - right down to Joey's love of Animorphs and Pickled Olives - after Joey's death.]]

* TearJerker: The whole game, really.