Julián Palacios' video game 'Promesa' explores migration and memory

Julián Palacios, a Milan-born independent game developer of South American descent, released 'Promesa' in October 2020. The exploratory walking simulator navigates spaces tied to his family's immigration history, alternating between Milan, Argentina, and fantastical realms. Each playthrough presents different scenes in varying order, interspersed with reconstructed dialogues between Palacios and his grandfather, who now lives in Israel. The game delves into memory, dream, and imagination, drawing on personal and archival imagery such as the Hotel de Inmigrantes in Buenos Aires. Palacios cites influences like Tarkovsky's 'The Mirror' and the game 'LSD: Dream Emulator'. Development took four and a half years, during which he taught himself technical skills while studying at Accademia di Brera. The project began with a 2015 experiment based on Increpare's source code and a 2016 game jam on epistolary relationships. A pivotal conversation with his grandfather about feeling 'in a well' inspired the game's emotional core. 'Promesa' is published by Strelka Games.