Friends: the main To the Moon trilogy may be complete, but the humbly titled side story Just a To the Moon Series Beach Episode suggests there is more on the way. I couldn’t be more excited about that. Until that new title arrives, however, I want to take a moment to let readers in on a surprising treat: the Just a To the Moon Series Beach Episode Original Soundtrack.
As I noted in my game review of Just a To the Moon Series Beach Episode, the game’s hour-long soundtrack bundled with a collection of hi-res art is available on Steam for a startlingly low price. This soundtrack serves as something akin to an arrange album, with new versions of music from throughout the trilogy being the main draw. The handful of original songs include the first three tracks (variants of the game’s title theme and some environment music), Merlandese’s “Bestest Hero” chiptune track, and the two final tracks.
One of those ending tracks, “World in a Memory,” is a vocal duet by Kan Gao and Pealeaf, likely meant to represent characters Neil and Eva. Frankly, it’s taken me years to recover from the emotional impact of Pealeaf’s “Great Wide Unknown” from Impostor Factory. And just as I allowed catharsis to occur and get all my tears out, Gao and Pealeaf sing the words “Just an echo, and we’re gone” together, and the tears come rushing back. The deceptively simple melodies and traditional piano ballad style set the stage for an evocative, tear-jerking vocal performance. Brace yourself.
The final track is Kan Gao’s piano solo finale, “I Still Remember Everything,” clocking in at just under six minutes. Three words for this one: Soft, slow, and stirring. Once again, brace yourself.
As for the remainder of the album, we have two arrangement types. Most are the “Lobby Piano” arrangements, so these are more piano solo recordings! There are eight lobby piano tracks, with lengths ranging from one to three minutes. My two favorite tracks here are “Born a Stranger” and “Envy (Quintessence).” I love hearing Kan Gao show off his chops as a pianist. This may be the closest we ever get to a “To the Moon Series Piano Collection,” so for those music nerds who love hearing game music distilled to this singular instrument, you may want to pick up this OST!
The other arrangements, very much worth celebrating, are the four “Lofi Medleys.” There is one for each game of the trilogy, and a fourth one entitled “Neil and Eva Lofi Medley.” These lofi tracks are thoroughly enjoyable. Kan Gao and Ferdk put a great deal of heart into each of these. For me, the strongest among them is the “Finding Paradise Lofi Medley,” but all four are solid. And, with an approximate run time of six minutes per track, the lofi section altogether is 24 minutes, making up a significant portion of the album. Arranger Ferdk actually did three of the four medleys years ago. I was glad to see them included in Just a To the Moon Series Beach Episode Original Soundtrack!
While this soundtrack doesn’t have the large quantity of original music you’ll find across the main trilogy, what we have here is perfectly suitable for the relatively short standalone episode. There’s a little bit of something for everyone to enjoy: piano, lofi, chiptunes, vocals, and even more piano! I encourage fans of this wonderful series to support Kan “Reives” Gao and the Freebird team by not only checking out the new game, but the OST as well.
