If you’re enjoying Moon: Remix RPG Adventure’s newly released Switch port, you probably have Undertale creator Toby Fox to thank.
In a recent VICE Games interview, Moon scenario writer and designer Yoshiro Kimura credits Fox with providing the “emotional motivation” necessary for the developers to finally bring the game west.
“We’re from different generations, but I love talking with [Fox] and respect him as a fellow creator and friend,” Kimura told VICE. “After [we were interviewed together], Toby and I went and got coffee together near the train station and he asked me why I didn’t release Moon worldwide. I told him there was no way I could, but thinking back, that was the first push that got me thinking, ‘Why am I giving up? I could do this if I wanted to.’ Localizing Moon so he could play it became really good motivation for me. So, thank you, Toby!”
Moon was an incredibly niche game before the English localization landed on Switch last week. A translation was planned after its 1997 launch on PlayStation, but eventually fell through for reasons the original developers can’t explain. But even being exclusive to Japan for over 20 years, Moon’s legacy is such that artists like Fox have credited it for inspiring their own work.
While it wasn’t on my radar until recently, I’m slowly starting to understand the breadth of Moon’s genius. Bringing it to Switch was a massive undertaking by former and new developers, a process that Kimura said wouldn’t have been possible without a “series of veritable miracles” spurring it along. For more details on its development, be sure to check out the full interview at VICE Games.