Palinurus

If you are well-versed in the genre of visual novels (VNs), you will find Palinurus to be a well-written, tight little story that was made as a NaNoRenO 2015 submission by Watercress Studios. If you are a casual VNer, or new to the genre entirely, say perhaps a fan of anime and anime styled art, then you will find Palinurus to be a surprisingly deep and introspective story with great music and very cool storyline. Keep in mind that the studio is all volunteer, and NaNoRenO is a game jam where developers are challenged to make a visual novel from start to finish - in just one month! Palinurus is noteably impressive for being such a rapidly developed story. The strength is in the synergy between the poignant message, the character interaction and the amazing music composition. This VN is great. It is absolutely worth the experience of reading through.

Palinurus is a kinetic visual novel (that is, there are no choices) about a Passenger on a ship with an AI voyage companion named Budapest. The story prompt seems simple on paper, but what distinguishes this simple concept from other simple VN concepts is that the quality of writing and storytelling in this VN in particular is exceptional. Perhaps to make this more impressive is knowing that the main part of the writing was done in a month for NaNoRenO. As a brief aside to the music and art quality of the game, I would like to say that both are adequate. I found the music overall to be rather mundane, but there are a few pieces that, in my opinion, fit excellently with the mood of the setting and enhanced the reading experience. Likewise, the art quality would from time to time switch from mediocre to cute and pretty, but felt somewhat inconsistent, and sometimes unfitting to the mood. Overall, I would say the music and art were supplements to otherwise exceptional writing. When...

In space, no one can hear you cry. Unless you're an AI with an intact Sentience Inhibiting Chip, this will hit you right in the feels. Hard. A bit short, but powerful none the less. 10/10

Palinurus is a visual novel that only costs you a chunk of an afternoon. If you like visual novels, it's great and definitely worth your time! And if it's not, what are you doing here? You're silly. Its greatest strengths are in its writing and usage of spirtes- The banter feels natural for the most part, the two characters are fleshed out well in the time they have, and there's a surprisingly wide variety of sprites that add some life to the story. Those, along with some interesting themes, make it a solid and relaxing way to spend a few hours.

This is effectively a short story that nevertheless manages to endear itself to the audience in a short span of time. Clearly a labour of love, Palinurus is both introspective and philosophical. Treat it as a literary work rather than a technical or flashy display of computer graphics and video gaming, and you would be rewarded with a good read and a special something that strikes an emotional chord deep within. I would highly recommend interested readers to find the time (1 ~ 2 hrs) to immerse themselves in it from beginning to end.

Not perfect, but it exceed, even for a free game.

This is a visual novel, so all you're going to be doing is reading, so if you're not a fan of reading and/or literature, this may not be for you. Very simple, short, and (yet) captivating story whose theme is fairly similar to that of Philip K. Dick's [i]Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?[/i] in regards to artificial intelligence as well as what it means to be human. I really enjoyed and appreciated the great effort towards the characterization. What was also neat was that it was not only philosophical but educational as well, especially with the historical facts. I would be very interested in reading another work from Watercress and would, of course, hope for a sequel to Palinurus.

Very well done. Short (2hrs-ish, without breaks), minimalist, but it suits the story well. Well written, with only a few stumbles. Very cute art and manages to absorb you. Interesting concept and pretty good exploration of some ideas, even in the short period. Enjoyed it far more than I expected. Just excellent.

Loved the story, didnt think I would get into it but once I started, I didnt want to stop untill it was all over.

Very short visual novel Linear I guess you call it a kinetic novel. No choices given just read the story has a sad ending would be upset if I had actually paid for this . but for free was well written and was an ok story . Guessing developer might be considering adding some DLC for a price . Some music in it was a bit annoying .but you can turn it off . Not much else to say try it when you have some spare time.