The Forgotten City Reviews
An intriguing mystery adventure with outstanding writing and performances.
The Forgotten City may not be an entirely new game, being an adaptation of one of the most renowned Skyrim mods, but it's still a very intriguing narrative adventure that can entice players with its writing and original story premise.
Review in Italian | Read full review
The Forgotten City is not for everyone, but it doesn't disappoint in what it sets out to do. If you need action to keep your interest, it's best to look for another option. However, if you like a good story and like to immerse yourself in what the game has to offer, don't think twice.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Playing through The Forgotten City was a delightfully familiar, yet mysterious experience... This game has some moments that left my jaw on the floor.
The Forgotten City is a fantastic entry in the oft-forgotten mystery-adventure genre, but a handful of flaws slightly detract from the experience.
A time-loop murder mystery set in ancient Rome is enlivened by excellent acting, dialogue, and good old-fashioned skulduggery
Choices matter, both in life and in The Forgotten City, which uses ancient Roman beliefs about morality, ethics, and law to subtly comment on our present-day conflicts. But it’s never heavy-handed and what you’ll mostly pay attention to are the characters and their needs, your own objectives, the mysterious city, and the clever way time loops and puzzle-solving work together. Whether you play it once or try for the multiple alternative endings, The Forgotten City is a unique adventure.
With that said, I still highly recommend that anyone who loved the original mod that inspired The Forgotten City or anyone that just likes a good story-driven title play this game. The time loop mechanic, evolving dialogue, and myriad of choices and scenarios that occur make for one hell of a narrative ride, just keep your expectations of the combat low, or else you may be disappointed
The Forgotten City expands upon the original concept of a small mod and has been developed into a rich and well-balanced experience. While its gameplay is simple, its narrative and atmosphere shine through. A great game from start to end, The Forgotten City is a perfect gem for gamers who love a mystery. More than that though, it’s a fantastic game that explores the complexity of morality and challenges players to do the same long after its completion.
As far as time loop games go, The Forgotten City has the Midas touch. It’s easy to see just how much care has gone into the story of the game so that it not only pulls the player in, but dares them to test the possible realities. The characters all feel real and they drive the player to find the truth before the Golden Rule is broken and the loop must reset. The developers have been careful to create a narrative that, while repetitive in practice, still keeps the player engaged in the wider narrative of the world through exploration and discovery. Combat in the game remains questionable, but the gold bow is its saving grace. If you’re after a game that will keep you guessing as you move closer to the truth, then The Forgotten City is fittingly worthy of your gold.
The Forgotten City boasts a rich gameplay experience that lives up to the ingenuity of its clever premise. As a role-playing choice-based mystery, the game offers a compelling narrative with some engaging existential questions at its center. With four distinct endings, it gives players a decent enough amount of leeway for approaching moral quandaries. And as a way of both solving puzzles and fixing mistakes, the time travel mechanic is worth its weight in… some sort of precious transition metal.
Something along those lines.
The Forgotten City is praised for its excellent storyline with multiple endings that can bring tears to tears. Maud even won an Australian Writers Guild Award and won the award for Excellence in Narrative at the 2021 Australian Game Developers Awards. In addition to this, 18 voice actors were involved in the work, and the original soundtrack was written by an entire orchestra.
Based on a mod for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, it’s great that The Forgotten City has been expanded upon and given a chance to truly shine as a standalone product. The writing is stellar, and the whole affair is so unique and interesting that you can’t help but get sucked in, attempting to find a way to put an end to The Golden Rule once and for all. Not all of the endings available are particularly gratifying, but follow The Forgotten City through to its true ending and you’ll be left with an experience that you won’t soon forget.
All in all, The Forgotten City has surprised us with how engaging it is. The time loop mechanic is used to great effect and works much more than a simple gimmick, and the standout is the writing, which keeps you invested line after line. It's not a home run, with some overall clunkiness to the game and certain segments that could easily have been stripped out, but it's definitely a 10-12 hour adventure worth taking, with many paths and possibilities to uncover.
The Forgotten City offers a gripping story with interesting characters, however, after you unlock all of the four endings, which is pretty quick and easy, there aren't many reasons left to return to the game.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
It’s a masterclass in storytelling and a great first release for Modern Storyteller.
Although you have other means at your disposal, the strongest suit of The Forgotten City remains its slower gameplay focused on problem solving. For a small group of people, putting together The Forgotten City is no small feat, and they deserve the praise.
While I was not keen on the narrative function of the time travel, it worked as a good gameplay mechanic and added to the individual stories of the people within the secluded Roman city. The action was unnecessary, but the horror was welcome. But even in the face of that, The Forgotten City is easy to recommend for story-centric players. “Caveat emptor” does not apply here.
The Forgotten City brings out the adventurer in all of us and showcases just how capable mods can be. While the runtime is kept short, multiple endings increased replay value for a few more days spent in the ruins. In addition, there’s an impressive degree of detail put into these characters that only falters in some aspects of the general gameloop. Regardless, I’m looking forward to what this game encourages modders to produce in the future.