As a spiritual successor to [b]Lifeless Planet[/b], it has a lot of pieces in their right places: goofy-looking astronauts, jankiness, something gone wrong during the Space Race, with a cold open that sees the unnamed character suddenly teleported somewhere. While nothing to write home about on a technical level, some locations are again capable of inspiring awe. It also improves on some points, like jumps being less slippery, and when available, a jetpack that can last up to 15 seconds before needing to land. The platforming is much easier; I have died only a few times, and in any case there is much less of it. Clearly aware it was not their forte, the developers instead focused on the story.
In that regard, [b]LM[/b] manages to evoke many of the same feelings - a force much bigger than what science can control, the feeling of solitude, of being a tiny human against something grandiose, and yet capable of playing a part - while standing on its own, as the story here is carried by the question: “What happens when you harness a force that can literally make dreams come true?”
Some of the immersion is however broken by how invasive the notebook can become, constantly prompting the player to read it only for the entries to often be incredibly obvious objectives, as if afraid players would not figure them out. The (voluntary) lack of challenge also means the game is even shorter than [b]LP[/b].
[b]Lifeless Moon[/b] is a short, very imperfect but ultimately fascinating experience. I still prefer the predecessor, but one has to consider the context: for all its limits, [b]Lifeless Planet[/b] came out when Steam was nowhere near as flooded with releases as it is today. The landscape had changed a lot by the time [b]Lifeless Moon[/b] was released; now there is less space for an interesting story delivered in a janky way.
