The Forgotten City Review – A Skyrim Mod Turned Into An Excellent Time Loop Story

The original adage that history repeats itself did not, as far as I know, refer to a Groundhog Daystyle time loop. Nevertheless, The forgotten city takes the cycle of history more literally than most. Over several permutations on the same day, the game weaves an intricate mystery that functions as a meditation on the repetitive nature of civilizations.

It’s easy to see the very existence of The forgotten city as its own cycle of time. The game was originally released in 2016 as a mod for Ancient documents V: Skyrim. Developers at Modern Storyteller studio then worked for five years to finally release The forgotten city, again, this time as a full standalone title. Fortunately, their second release seems to have benefited from this unorthodox development cycle: The forgotten city it’s smart, polished, and amazing.

The game wastes little time explaining the central mystery. You are trapped in an ancient, cavernous Roman city with a supernatural law forbidding sin. When a sin is committed (and Will engaged), everyone in town turns to gold – everyone except you, of course! You can restart the day with all your current knowledge and inventory in an attempt to catch that pesky sinner and avoid a golden apocalypse.

In practical terms, this means that you will have to talk to each of the city’s two dozen residents, run errands, and learn gossip until you can piece together everyone’s possible motivations for sinning. The mechanics for talking to each character aren’t particularly involved, but luckily, the conversations themselves (as well as the voice actors) are Excellent. The characters are clearly written with backstories and life experiences directly tied to their place in Roman society. The issues of religion, sexuality, and ethics are frequently discussed in a way that feels both modern and historically appropriate. One plot has a patient who desperately needs a life-saving drug, but the only drug in town is sold by a merchant who raises prices. That is a sin? Or is it just a good deal?

Throughout the game, the city turns into an intricate puzzle box. Solutions to one quest can provide shortcuts to solving others or even recontextualize entire characters. Though each plot line repeats as the game’s timeline repeats, clever design touches successfully avoid tedium. After spending the better part of a day negotiating for that life-saving medicine, I was delighted to learn that in the next cycle, I could tell a helpful NPC how to do the same, freeing up my time to search for other clues. The result is that, although the series of events is identical every day, I spent little time repeating tasks. The forgotten city it is, in fact, wonderfully varied; Surprisingly long missions with unique game mechanics continue to unfold throughout the game. One standout sequence even diverges into genuine horror, overturning my thoughts on the game’s ubiquitous golden statues.

All of this is reinforced by a strong art direction and technical design. Although the soundtrack and some cases of stark character animation remind me that this was once a Skyrim mod, the environments are highly detailed, surprisingly bright and full of period appropriate clutter. If you wish, you can even discuss the intricacies of Roman architecture with one of the NPCs and then observe those same complexities throughout the city. The attention to historical accuracy is fascinating. I learned several things about real life history during my game, and not all of them were centered on the Romans.

Unlike other recent time-looping games, The forgotten city He is rarely shy about the progression of the plot. Menus will often tell you directly how to achieve your goals. The missions are clearly marked and direct you towards the relevant characters. Even the city itself will “whisper” solutions to the puzzles (although these suggestions can be turned off if you wish). I sincerely appreciate the help; The joy I found in the game was putting together all the disparate elements of the city, not solving any individual puzzles.

The game is also not shy about the details of its ending. I came to an end in about 5 hours, but the game told me this was only 1 in 4 possible conclusions. Getting to the true ending (literally titled “The Canon Ending”) took several more hours, but this ended up being my favorite part of the whole experience. The main revelations about the nature of the city, and the cyclical nature of the story itself, are reserved for this final act of the game. Without this stretch, I don’t think I would have understood what the game was doing with its historical setting and interrogation of cultural customs. Suffice it to say: if you haven’t seen “The Canon Ending,” you haven’t really completed The forgotten city.

Unlike many games with time cycles, The forgotten city he is not so concerned with people’s life cycles. Instead, as its Roman setting hints at, the loop it focuses on is that of civilizations. The Roman Empire rose and fell, as did countless civilizations before, and countless more after. But is history really doomed to repeat itself? Perhaps, the game says. Or, with enough knowledge and enough effort, perhaps that pattern is not as inevitable as it seems.

The forgotten city was released on July 28 on Windows PERSONAL COMPUTER, Playstation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and Nintendo switch. The game was reviewed on PC using a pre-launch download code provided by Modern Storyteller. Vox Media has affiliate associations. These do not influence editorial content, although Vox Media may earn commissions for products purchased through affiliate links. You can find Additional information on Polygon’s ethics policy here.