The Forgotten City

The overall rating of the game is too high. First off, there is a strangely high amount of lag when moving the mouse that didn't go away even when I tried adjusted the settings. The story is alright, but navigating can be difficult in ther world, especially when looking for specific people or places to go back to. The graphics aren't great by today's standards but they aren't the worst. However, the loading times were awful. Not sure if it is just me or if it is like that in general. Luckiliy there aren't too many areas that have loading zones so its usually not a big deal/

It’s more of an interactive movie than a proper game. The story—despite some plot holes—and the dialogue are quite engaging, but the gameplay is minimal at best. It took me 6 hours to complete it 100% and see all the possible endings. Worth picking up at a deep discount (75% off) to play through once.

The Forgotten City tells a story about morality and sin, and about time. The main gameplay loop is as such: you discover a forgotten city governed by the so called Golden Rule - “many shall suffer for the sins of the one”. If only one person commits a sin in the city, everyone will be punished by death as a result. You soon discover you’re stuck in a time loop, reliving the same day over and over again, both trying to stop people from violating the Golden Rule which led to the city’s destruction, and learn more about it’s origins, purpose, about who made it this way and about how to break the loop. The biggest positive of the game is undoubtedly the story – it brings up interesting questions about morality and fate and religions, and also throws in a certain twist that while I was not a fan of might be interesting to some people. That being said, while I overall enjoyed the story, there was one thing that irked me. As I said, the game concerns itself with ethics to a large degree, and you’re able to discuss those with the characters in game. With that in mind, I found myself unable to express my own, real thoughts on the topic within the dialogue options provided by the game. Another gripe certain people might have with the game is that it is rather light on gameplay – there’s some minor combat, but it’s by no means a major part of the game. The vast majority of it is just dialogue and exploration. It wasn’t a problem for me, but it might be for some people. That being said, I recommend The Forgotten City if you’re tolerant of the “walking sim” genre, and especially if you’re interested in philosophy. I definitely had fun with it and what it had to offer. If you want to see how the game plays, you can see a bit of my blind lets play: www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5U22oS772A&list=PLp4TpsJ7HUWXfyG6kYW1aCp0MTUC6NJyr

Even though this game started out as a Skyrim mod it's more an adventure-type game than an RPG. After a slow start it quickly drew me in when I started with the quests. Strong points: - Characters and dialogue are well-written. All characters have their own background and motivation. - Quests are short and sweet. I don't recall a single quest that felt like it was dragging its feet. - No menial repetition of already completed tasks after going back in time (the tasks can be offloaded to an NPC). - No backtracking. - Small, but very detailed location. - Most (if not all) quests can be completed in different ways. - Persistent inventory allows for creative use of the time loop mechanic. - Interesting historical/archeological tidbits every now and then. Weak points: - Graphics aren't bad, but still sub-par for a 2021 game. - Some of the voice-acting felt like they were over-acting their character. - Combat is meh (but then, combat isn't the focus in the first place). - Character creator is very basic, though it could be argued that aside from profession bonuses the character doesn't matter much in the game anyway. - No map (but the location is small enough to not require one). It's amazing to see a game get so many things right in the story/character department as well as on the mechanical level, when so many games these days seem intent to go in the opposite direction (boring characters, bad writing, political agendas instead of intersting plot lines, repetetive gameplay to keep players "engaged"). I strongly recommend this game to anyone with at least some level of interest in adventure games.

Played for 8 hours straight and completed all endings. It's a good little game. If you like stoicism, you'll enjoy the quotes used and if you enjoy religion or ancient history, likewise so. It's simple to get going and there were a few really hilarious moments that I won't spoil, but which are related to time travelling and modern culture. It's not a big game at all and that is maybe the biggest drawback. Otherwise I would recommend it to casual gamers or those who enjoy dialogue. There's only a little action, but lots of investigation and the size of the game makes it manageable to deal with, since you have to talk to a good few characters in order to get anywhere. I wouldn't say it's an "open-world" like the description says, because it's more a little tiny sandbox, but a good one.