Palinurus

"Palinurus" is not a game, it's an e-book that's been dumped on Steam masquerading as a game. As a visual/interactive novel, this doesn't feature any notable gameplay, it's just a lot of clicking through badly written dialogue that would never have been accepted or published in print, which poses the question, "How did something this badly written end up on Steam?". When someone hoping to become an author is unable to get published in print, they spend $100 and dump their high school fan-fiction onto Steam, under the guise of a game. This garbage e-book is, like so many e-books on Steam, a high school anime club dropout fan-fiction about the author and his underaged looking imaginary girlfriend. In this case the imaginary girlfriend bypasses the "underaged" thing because she's a hologram called Budapest (so it's not illegal, officer, why are you getting the taser out officer, etc etc). I'm not one to tell high school anime club dropouts how to fantasize, but it's pretty sad when they can't even have an imaginary girlfriend that's "real", they have an imaginary imaginary girlfriend instead. The writing is just as cringe as all the rest. This was slapped together with the god…

A wonderful reimagination of the mythological story of Palinurus in a sci-fi setting. It's short but meaningful and Budapest is a fascinating representation of the sentient AI trope and what it means to be human. A strong 9/10, would read again.

Sincerely tried getting through this, but the protagonist really gets on my nerve. Maybe it gets better later on, but I can't be bothered to sit through reading the monologues of such an annoying MC.

10/10, amazing for a free VN you can finish in 3 hours. For such a short game to have such an impact on me and make me reflect on my life, bravo. I certainly won't be forgetting our lovely Budapest any time soon.

Игра Palinurus — это настоящее погружение в меланхоличную и завораживающую атмосферу. От первых минут ты оказываешься в мире, где каждая деталь пропитана таинственностью и легкой грустью. Графика здесь не кричащая, но очень стильная, создающая ощущение сна или воспоминания. Музыкальное сопровождение идеально дополняет визуал, заставляя сердце биться в унисон с происходящим на экране. Геймплей, на первый взгляд, может показаться простым, но за этой кажущейся простотой скрывается глубина. Решение головоломок требует не столько ловкости, сколько вдумчивого подхода и внимания к деталям. Каждый новый шаг приносит удовлетворение, а порой и заставляет остановиться, чтобы просто полюбоваться игрой света и тени. История раскрывается постепенно, оставляя простор для собственных интерпретаций, что делает каждое прохождение уникальным. Palinurus — это не просто игра, это опыт, который остается с тобой надолго, заставляя размышлять о вечных темах.

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