"The enemy of this place is not the Golden Rule, but human failings"
I first heard of this game when it got released as there was a positive word of mouth spreading around it but I was very surprised to find out it had in fact started out as a Skyrim mod before expanding into a game in it's own right. Even with the positive reviews around it I still hesitated due to my dislike of the Elder Scrolls games but fortunately due to a user here duhnunuh and his perpetual steam giveaway I was given the chance to try this out. Having finished it 100% in two days my reservations were extremely unfounded. It's fantastic. I found myself absolutely engrossed in the city and story around it's Groundhog day time loop premise.
The Forgotten City is a hard game to actually discuss though as much of the joy of playing it is making the discoveries as the narrative unfolds. A couple of parts really made me go "well dam!" as I played through it. The short spoiler free version is that you wake up next to a river in modern times before stumbling into an underground Roman ruin whilst searching for a man who had entered it prior to you. Once in there you realise it's a one way entrance and you are now stuck inside except for a portal that takes you back 2000 years before when the city was still a vibrant community. To get out you need to find out why it became the ruin it was in your time and prevent it from happening.
Though it does have plenty of options, branches and endings the game is actually more linear than it appears overall with talking to all the residents of this ancient Roman city to unlock more information, items and quests to constantly progress with loop shortcuts built in once enough progress is made. It's a clever little game but the cast of characters and usage of history and myths is what really makes it such a winner for me. I love historical settings and though Rome is often used in large scale war games and gladiator titles it rarely gets as intimate a background as this. Conversations of normal people of the period, gods and politics all mixed in but each conversation actually serving a purpose to push the story along towards it's conclusion. The characters all have their own lives and backgrounds and although some are more important to the overall narrative than others they all feel like people rather than background models in the world. The small setting allows for the characters to each have their own personality, worries, history and flaws.
Outside of the dialogue and conversations you will spend your time exploring the location. The game is called the Forgotten City but it's more a small village or town than a city. There is still plenty to explore and see however with temples, markets, forums, caves and secrets. There is some occasional basic combat in first person which is kind of weak though extremely limited with only one section really requiring it as the main point is the mystery. If I'm really nit-picking flaws, some of the animations for their faces and how characters stand can pull you out of the immersion a little as they stare at you cross eyed. The thing is I actually do think it's a fantastic looking and sounding title overall. It has great art design, vistas, music and voice acting to pull it all together cohesively, especially for a game made by a core group of only 3 people from scratch off the back of a mod idea.
Overall I think this is a game that will stay with me for a long time that occasionally I will just think about. Whilst I like a great many games in a variety of genres there are only a few for their story that really stand out to me for the overall experience. Games like Soma, Mass Effect, 13 Sentinels and now, The Forgotten City. "The many shall suffer for the sins of the one?" No, no, no. The many shall enjoy due to the work of a few.
Recommended.
+ Great historical references, narrative and characters.
+ Gorgeous art design.
+ Just an engrossing experience.
- Combat though limited isn't that fun.
I first heard of this game when it got released as there was a positive word of mouth spreading around it but I was very surprised to find out it had in fact started out as a Skyrim mod before expanding into a game in it's own right. Even with the positive reviews around it I still hesitated due to my dislike of the Elder Scrolls games but fortunately due to a user here duhnunuh and his perpetual steam giveaway I was given the chance to try this out. Having finished it 100% in two days my reservations were extremely unfounded. It's fantastic. I found myself absolutely engrossed in the city and story around it's Groundhog day time loop premise.
The Forgotten City is a hard game to actually discuss though as much of the joy of playing it is making the discoveries as the narrative unfolds. A couple of parts really made me go "well dam!" as I played through it. The short spoiler free version is that you wake up next to a river in modern times before stumbling into an underground Roman ruin whilst searching for a man who had entered it prior to you. Once in there you realise it's a one way entrance and you are now stuck inside except for a portal that takes you back 2000 years before when the city was still a vibrant community. To get out you need to find out why it became the ruin it was in your time and prevent it from happening.
Though it does have plenty of options, branches and endings the game is actually more linear than it appears overall with talking to all the residents of this ancient Roman city to unlock more information, items and quests to constantly progress with loop shortcuts built in once enough progress is made. It's a clever little game but the cast of characters and usage of history and myths is what really makes it such a winner for me. I love historical settings and though Rome is often used in large scale war games and gladiator titles it rarely gets as intimate a background as this. Conversations of normal people of the period, gods and politics all mixed in but each conversation actually serving a purpose to push the story along towards it's conclusion. The characters all have their own lives and backgrounds and although some are more important to the overall narrative than others they all feel like people rather than background models in the world. The small setting allows for the characters to each have their own personality, worries, history and flaws.
Outside of the dialogue and conversations you will spend your time exploring the location. The game is called the Forgotten City but it's more a small village or town than a city. There is still plenty to explore and see however with temples, markets, forums, caves and secrets. There is some occasional basic combat in first person which is kind of weak though extremely limited with only one section really requiring it as the main point is the mystery. If I'm really nit-picking flaws, some of the animations for their faces and how characters stand can pull you out of the immersion a little as they stare at you cross eyed. The thing is I actually do think it's a fantastic looking and sounding title overall. It has great art design, vistas, music and voice acting to pull it all together cohesively, especially for a game made by a core group of only 3 people from scratch off the back of a mod idea.
Overall I think this is a game that will stay with me for a long time that occasionally I will just think about. Whilst I like a great many games in a variety of genres there are only a few for their story that really stand out to me for the overall experience. Games like Soma, Mass Effect, 13 Sentinels and now, The Forgotten City. "The many shall suffer for the sins of the one?" No, no, no. The many shall enjoy due to the work of a few.
Recommended.
+ Great historical references, narrative and characters.
+ Gorgeous art design.
+ Just an engrossing experience.
- Combat though limited isn't that fun.
7 Comments
@Snigglegros - It certainly had a good sound effect to it! I think because it has such a small part of the game it's just not that engrossing compared with the rest it just stood out to me but it does do the job.
I quite enjoyed this game when it came out, but I have a sour taste in my mouth because of the game's ending and one of the key mysteries. Its a shame that there is no spoiler tags on BL unfortunately, but let's just say there is an unfortunate (and probably unintended) air of certain racist tropes which imo really clash with the up until then air of care with historical accuracy and really trying to make a genuinely educational as well as entertaining experience
Great review! Kinda crazy that this one started off as a Skyrim mod and wound up a BAFTA winner. I usually bounce off of time loop mechanics, which is why I haven't pulled this off my backlog yet. Hearing about the loop skips to speed things up sounds like it would solve my major problem with these types of puzzles. Reading that you started off being wary of the game and wound up liking it a lot now has me wanting to move it up my list.
And thanks again for participating in the giveaway! Feel free to pick out another game sometime if you see something you're interested in
And thanks again for participating in the giveaway! Feel free to pick out another game sometime if you see something you're interested in
Like you said, I think the combat was probably the weakest part of the Forgotten City. Exploring the overworld and navigating all the dialogue trees with new information could have carried the game by itself, though to my knowledge you do unfortunately need to engage with combat if you want the "canon" ending. Still, the ending made it all worthwhile and really pulled everything together for that final bit of catharsis.
By the way, if you're looking for something similar along these lines that really focuses on the information gathering, I've heard pretty good things about Elsinore. I've only played about an hour of it so far, but the opening seems really promising.
By the way, if you're looking for something similar along these lines that really focuses on the information gathering, I've heard pretty good things about Elsinore. I've only played about an hour of it so far, but the opening seems really promising.
incredible review! as soon as i heard of this premise sometime last year and chucked it on my wishlist i knew this game was doing something special, looking forward to hopefully getting my hands on it following your glowing recommendation!
@LordDarias - Yes the comments section is unfortunately limited and no DMS make these difficult. I liked all of the endings though.
@duhnuhnuh - Thanks again! I will at some point once I beat a few others in my backlog.
I would recommend this for sure as I generally dislike time loops myself but the way this is designed makes it pretty painless being able to skip most conversations if you've had them once and a guy who without question will run errands for you of quests you've solved. It's kind of hilarious but stops the repetition.
@Drax - Yes you do, one section. It's perfectly playable. Just kind of there rather than a main focus. Added Elsinore to my wishlist, that looks really interesting!
@01156 - Can't wait to hear your thoughts! Hope you enjoyed as much as I did!
@duhnuhnuh - Thanks again! I will at some point once I beat a few others in my backlog.
I would recommend this for sure as I generally dislike time loops myself but the way this is designed makes it pretty painless being able to skip most conversations if you've had them once and a guy who without question will run errands for you of quests you've solved. It's kind of hilarious but stops the repetition.
@Drax - Yes you do, one section. It's perfectly playable. Just kind of there rather than a main focus. Added Elsinore to my wishlist, that looks really interesting!
@01156 - Can't wait to hear your thoughts! Hope you enjoyed as much as I did!
Snigglegros
20 days ago