The Forgotten City

Got the best ending within 7.5 hrs on my first try. Awesome little experience. My only real gripes would be technical: really dopey and funny enemy animations (which completely ruined any semblance of intimidation they could have provided), overall funnily bad facial animations, and random performance issues (specially while using the flashlight) I paid 8 bucks for it so def got my money's worth, i'd say it's worth a good $20! Get this game if you like a good story, good graphics, engaging dialogue, and decision making.

To express my appreciation to the creators of The Forgotten City, I will comply with their request and not reveal information about what awaits the player after crossing the White Hallway. It is known that TFC was created as a first-person 3D adventure game based on a mod for Skyrim. This can be felt in the brilliant, perverse, but coherent logic with which the game's plot was devised and in its consistent implementation, ensuring that the smallest detail, although sometimes surprising, was consistent with the player's prior knowledge and the entire invented world. The development of the plot is built on interactions with the characters you meet, whose personalities are designed and matched to the intrigue created with their help. But the RPG spirit is felt above all in the solutions to quests that only the "weered" mind of the RPG’s players can find: one of the main goal solutions is simple, although immoral; however, this is the least appreciated of the few, a negative ending to the game… Logical tasks are part of the plot, no "game within a game" spoils the immersion, which is perfectly achieved here: the creators took care of the authenticity of the world (they consulted with academics) and the set (good 3D graphics). There are arcade elements in the game, but they are simple and enjoyable. Suffice it to say that at one point the player is warned that choosing this quest means a game of skill - luckily I heeded the whisper to accept it and it was one of the best adventures in the entire game. The game is user friendly. When a solution to one of the quests is found, the next time you try to solve the whole thing, you no longer have to repeat what was done earlier, although the entire plot is reset to the starting point. There is no map in the game, but navigating around locations is made easy by the function of dynamically specifying the distance from the place/person you are looking for. However, a certain disadvantage is the inability to name saved game states.

This game felt extremely fresh to me. I came into it having very little knowledge of it, and even a couple hours in I found myself being very unsure what type of gameplay would be on the table from it, and I mean that in a good way. It's a bit genre bending, presents an intriguing and complex mystery, and feels like a modern take on the adventure game genre, one which doesn't shy away from having a few more action game elements mixed in (while still staying solidly cerebral in its main elements). This next part contains a minor spoiler: One thing I can't praise enough in this game is how they handle the time loop aspect of it. I often hate time loop games, because even if they start good, they often end with having to do the same tasks over and over until you get the "perfect day" and win the game. Forgotten City manages to avoid that pitfall entirely through clever choices in the game design which allow you to bypass or automate things you did before, allowing you focus on what you haven't figured out yet. This can sometimes lead to slightly weird dialog, where characters might be a bit too quick to ignore the fact you appeared out of nowhere and know everything about them already, but I found the gameplay wins from this system far, far outweighted in story jank that resulted from it.

A good groundhog day kinda game, but it doesn't have as many endings as a game like this should. Still worth it if you like conversation heavy games.

What an absolute treat. Bet the devs had a blast storyboarding that one. If you're looking for something with a compelling story, some intrigue, fun twists, and personable characters go ahead and give The Forgotten City a play.