Amazing writing, characters dripping with complexity, and an overrarching narrative device that creates intensely interesting conflict despite its incredible simplicity makes The Forgotten City one of my favorite games of all time.


If anyone in the city commits a sin, everyone dies. Navigating this and the ethical questions it presents is the core of the gameplay. It also presents plenty of mysteries that you can unravel - it is not a game whose ending betrays it or relies on the unexplained, there are concrete answers for you, and those answers are consistently satisfying and rewarding.


Through the dialogue and debate you have in this game you can tell it was written by a lawyer - the arguments make sense in a very rational, evidence-based way, and some of them will make you question some longheld beliefs you have about morality. If anyone reading this gets the sense the game is too pro- or anti- law, or has some singular message it tries to preach to you, it's really the opposite. The game is seeping with nuance from its every pixel.


Despite this, I don't think its a game for everyone. If you value writing, philosophy, and complexity in a game I really reccomend it. If you value other things - lots of mechanics, simplicity, or are the type to skip every cutscene or interaction - there's nothing wrong with that of course, but it might not be for you.