From the Sun to the Moon is a light horror game created by Smilestrawbunny. It's the creator's second game, the first being Berrywitched!.
Happy couple Soleil (pronounced "soh-lay") and Esmeray (pronounced "ehz-mer-ay") have been together for a while now and are nearing their third anniversary. To celebrate, Soleil decides to take her girlfriend out for a date each day leading up to the big one. It's up to you to make sure the dates go off without a hitch.
The game is available for free on its itch.io
page.
Contains examples of:
- Abusive Parents: Soleil's mother Antares would frequently mistreat her daughter, claiming that nobody but Antares loved her and screaming at her that she was being manipulative whenever she broke down and cried from Antares' abuse. This eventually resulted in Soleil running away from her. Oblivion also implies that Antares would have stalked Soleil and brought them back by force, if given the opportunity.
- Aliens Are Bastards: Oblivion is an alien from a (according to them) long-dead race and they're characterized as a manipulative, homicidal narcissist and sociopath. Downplayed, as Dr. Ceres speculates Oblivion might be considered deplorable even among their kind.
- Ambiguous Situation:
- Is Oblivion killed in the good ending or merely driven off? And what exactly is it about the mirror that repels them?
- Is Oblivion truly the last of their kind or were they lying to the researchers like Dr. Ceres suspects?
- Anguished Declaration of Love: Esmeray desperately proclaims their love for Soleil after accidentally stabbing her in an attempt to fight off Oblivion.
- Apocalyptic Log: Dr. Ceres's recordings in her research on Oblivion. It ends with her being possessed by Oblivion.
- But Thou Must!: It's not actually possible to fail any of the dates. Even if you choose the obviously wrong dialogue option, the game simply won't progress until you go back and pick the right one.
- Chekhov's Hobby: Esmeray's fascination for abandoned places comes up at the end of Date 2. Soleil searching for just such a place to take Esmeray to on their anniversary directly leads to her being possessed by Oblivion.
- Childhood Friend Romance: It's implied that Esmeray and Soleil have known each other at least since they were teens.
- Content Warning: The game opens with a warning that the story contains mentions and depictions of child abuse, slight gore, body horror, mild jumpscares and disturbing imagery.
- Disguised Horror Story: The game starts out like your standard cute dating simulator, only to rapidly shift into themes of Body Horror, child abuse and cosmic horror as the plot progresses.
- Easter Egg: Each date has a secret cutscene for you to find, going into further detail about past events and lending more of an explanation for events later down the line.
- Eyes Always Shut: Soleil keeps her eyes closed for the entirety of Date 3. Oblivion is making them do this, so Esmeray won't notice Soleil is possessed.
- Dating Sim: On the surface, the game is about two girlfriends having a good time with each other, with it (seemingly) being up to the player to make sure their dates go well.
- Jumpscare: A minor one before the ending, in which an Oblivion-possessed Soleil charges Esmeray.
- Kick the Dog:
- Antares subjected Soleil to heavy emotional abuse, all the while claiming that what she was doing could not be considered abuse and that she had it much worse than Soleil as a child.
- Practically every scene Oblivion is in has them doing this. When Esmeray sees through their Soleil-disguise, Oblivion mocks him for not figuring it out sooner. When meeting Soleil they're heavily implied to take the form of her abusive mother and even repeat said mother's words to her to freak her out. And in Dr. Ceres' last video log they mock the researchers and scientists they killed (including Ceres herself).
- Manipulative Bastard:
- Antares emotionally abused Soleil, by accusing Soleil of manipulating her through crying and taking advantage of her like Soleil's father and siblings supposedly did.
- Oblivion used Antares' despair over Soleil running away to trick her into letting them out of their containment pod. Even before that Dr. Ceres suspects Oblivion deliberately lied about being the last of their species to gain sympathy.
- Monochromatic Eyes: Being possessed by Oblivion causes the victim's eyes to become completely white with no pupils.
- Multiple Endings: The game has two endings, depending on which item Esmeray chooses to defend himself with.
- Bad Ending: Esmeray grabs the knife from the cupboard, just as Oblivion enters the room. Esmeray attacks Oblivion with the knife, but drops her phone in the progress. When they recover it and turn the light back on, they discover to their horror that they've fatally stabbed Soleil. While Esmeray's still grieving over her girlfriend's dead body, Oblivion sneaks up on her from behind.
- Good Ending: Esmeray rummages through the scarf lying under the knife and finds a mirror, which she takes. Oblivion enters the cellar and Esmeray turns the mirror on them, leading to a small altercation and Esmeray dropping his phone. Once they recover it, they discover that Soleil has passed out, but seems to be fine otherwise. The two of them escape the observatory. The game ends with a cutscene of Soleil and Esmeray cuddling in their bed and affirming their love for each other.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: An alien calling itself Oblivion probably shouldn't be trusted.
- Shout-Out:
- The arcade Soleil and Esmeray visit on their first date has machines featuring characters named Nario and Zonic.
- During a conversation about the arcade getting rid of their animatronics, Esmeray is surprised that Soleil is freaked out by them, since Soleil is a big fan of an indie game that features animatronics.
- Choosing the garbage bin during the second date prompts Soleil to joke that it seems empty just like somebody's soul. This is a reference to Youtuber and Letsplayer Manly Badass Hero, who has a running gag of checking garbage cans in games he plays and then remarking "Like my soul" if the description text states that the garbage can is empty.
- Solar and Lunar: The main characters have very prevalent sun and moon themes going, with Soleil being the bright, happy golden sun and Esmeray being the mischievous, darker moon.
- Tentacled Terror: What happens to the those possessed by Oblivion. After Oblivion takes control, their hosts start growing white tentacles out of their bodies.
