Promesa

A short, deeply personal walking simulator inspired by developer Julián Palacios Gechtman's conversation with his grandfather, exploring memory, immigration, aging, loss, homesickness and generational distance. Moving through dreamlike recreations of Italy and Argentina, you experience disconnected homes, streets and surreal spaces while brief text passages evoking memories, regrets and nostalgia. It's a poetic collection of vignettes and it resembles Gone Home and Dear Esther in its environmental storytelling, but leans closer to LSD: Dream Emulator in its unpredictable spatial and temporal flow, where places connect through discontinuity rather than a coherent physical space. Its main narrative influence is Tarkovsky's Mirror, whose poetic montage moves freely between past, dreams and visions, leaving meaning open to interpretation. Its greatest strength is its atmosphere. High-definition models combined with PS1/Saturn-like low-resolution textures and superb Unity lighting create a bizarrely compelling, liminal aesthetic. Carefully recreated places (from Milanese courtyards and apartments around Corso XXII Marzo to Cesano Maderno, Verona and middle-class Buenos Aires) feel tan…

I think this game has a lot of positive aspects, but for each positive there is a negative of some sort. Visuals are, at times, very captivating and downright beautiful. There is very clear visual direction and intentionality, but sometimes it doesn't feel like it contributes to the landscape or "story" very well. Speaking of story, there is a very loose narrative that is attached to the game, which has relevancy at certain points, and at others it doesn't feel to be necessary. The sound design is quite good. The composer for the game, Domiziano Maselli, did a fantastic job designing the sounds and the recorded music fit very well... most of the time. I did think the inclusion of field recordings was tasteful, though like with other things, the actual meaning behind it got lost depending on the sound/narrative. I will say that the "negatives" that I have could very well be chalked up to me being a cro-magnon and not able to comprehend subtlety, or was intentionally left vague. It is described as surreal, which I think fits the open-endedness well as a descriptor. Overall, I had a good time exploring this game. I am not sure I would say it is worth the $7, but it wouldn't be a ba…

Dreamlike, exquisitely crafted floating sim.

Kinda ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ Argie walking simulator. You slowly wander around until you hit the end of a room

Sometimes beatiful and creative, but ultimately you "just" walk through empty places and rooms, doorways. Several times I felt there was something emotional about to happen, but then it never did. There are better games that make you feel like a ghost.

A short game that is more of an interactive art piece; you wander through several atmospheric scenes, piecing together an underlying story. I liked the visuals and sound design. Admittedly, this sort of slow, sedate, 'walking sim' type of game might not be to everyone's taste; but if you do like that kind of thing, give Promesa a try. I'd recommend it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVEVC7fvfhE&list=PL05Yc3_TEBpP6tv63yNiEr_RIzfSKISbb