The Forgotten City

This has to be one of the best games I have ever played. I have to admit, I'm a huge Roman history buff AND a Skyrim fan so I'm probably biased. I did not play the original mod. The other reviewers have explained the plot in some detail, I won't do that. I'll just tell you that this game felt amazing. It gave me that feeling of not wanting to go to bed. I played for 5 straight hours well into the night and then woke up and continued all Sunday morning till noon just to finish it. Then I went back to explore all the other endings. The game is very generous with a simple save system so you can just go back and do whatever you want. The look- amazing - the Ancient world is precisely and accurately done (we just returned from Pompeii, it looked exactly the part) with tiny details touched up to perfection. The feel - just like Skyrim. Everything feels familliar and nothing is cumbersome. UI is simple yet elegant. Feels indie-ish, not AAA, but it adds to the charm. The story - miraculous. Twists and turns and so many characters that you get to know SO WELL. My wife came up on me and asked who Claudia is and who Rufius is and I knew, by heart, so much backstory and so many details. I still remember all the characters fondly. The message - wow. The game makes you ask yourself questions about life, right and wrong, religion, ethics and so so much more. The gameplay - simple yet enticing. You won't stumble around - there are just a few mechanics and they are done well. This is a pure gem. I enjoyed it terribly. I want more. I had to install Skyrim for the 5th time just to scratch that itch. After finishing the game (12+ hours with ALL endings, some of which required me to create another save) - I endlessly talked about it all through dinner - the characters, the plot twists, the questions, the morality. Thanks so much. I didn't think a game could touch me so much again.

The story, setting and cast of characters are so refreshing and well crafted that you find yourself thinking about the game long after finishing it. One of the characters might even convince you to give their philosophy of life a go...

The Forgotten City is a fantastic time loop adventure. The characters are well written, well acted, and unique. You won't see generic NPCs in this game; each one has a personality, a drive, and problems you can work to solve. Also, unlike some timeloop adventures, The Forgotten City lets you tell the first individual you meet after each time loop to go and perform all the little fixes you've discovered along the way. It's a colossal time saver, though you may want to do them all yourself on the final loop for different dialog in the epilogue. In any case, it's an experience; and one that will likely have you tearing up by the end. It's well worth the money.

This game is great. I knew very little about it going into it, and you should do the same. Don't watch gameplay, don't read summaries, go and play the game. It's a first person investigation game, telling you any more would spoil it. It's not too long, I have less than 10 hours and I feel like I've seen most of what the game has to offer, but it's been a brilliant 10 hours.

As a mod sitting inside of Skyrim, a game with a fairly immersive worldspace and very little compelling plot/story, which sits inside a clunky engine that holds together by the grace of community fixes, The Forgotten City was a compelling, if somewhat tedious experience that elevated what could be accomplished in fan made project. I enjoyed the experience, but the accolades that got poured on this thing for it's "excellent" writing were bewildering. Now, transfer that to a standalone game and what you get is an okayish experience that's not artificially enhanced just by being the least ugly kid in the room. Performance issues and a subpar presentation only serve to knock the score down even more. Wait for a sale. Pay no more than $5.