The Forgotten City

 Xbox Series X
User Score
8.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 72 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 61 out of 72
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 72
  3. Negative: 5 out of 72
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  1. xaviar_nl
    Nov 3, 2021
    9
    Excellent game, and a welcome outlier in the current gaming landscape. I won't spoil anything about the game story itself, but the length and difficulty of it felt just right to me. There was only point near the end where I got stuck, but apart from that it was all good fun.
  2. RhetoricThug
    Nov 14, 2021
    9
    *SPOILER FREE*

    The Forgotten City is a strong step toward intelligent and thoughtful story telling. It's a game that emphasizes dialogue and exploration over combat and cinematic set pieces. The underlying gameplay mechanics draw from years of western RPGs and play off intrinsic player intrigue. All of which culminates into an experience that engrosses the player in organic exploration    *SPOILER FREE*

    The Forgotten City is a strong step toward intelligent and thoughtful story telling. It's a game that emphasizes dialogue and exploration over combat and cinematic set pieces. The underlying gameplay mechanics draw from years of western RPGs and play off intrinsic player intrigue. All of which culminates into an experience that engrosses the player in organic exploration that offers well-paced immersive puzzles by way of NPC conversation in an arresting city filled with mystique.

    Please keep in mind a core team of three people developed this video game over the course of four years. I'm throughly impressed by the talent behind such a well-crafted and delightful tale concerning the general mystery of humanity. The use of mythos in this game is especially good and very accessible to those unread in the lore of humanities. The atmosphere's a finely tuned production and there's plenty of visual metaphors or puns seen while traveling the city and meeting its inhabitants. Overall I felt very satisfied completing this game, and compelled to time loop a few more times, uncover a different ending or rethink my last set of choices.

    Dialogue flow charts often feel long-winded and repetitive given the limited pathways the player encounters while weighing the mystery of it all. Nevertheless, the tangled web the player weaves going through the city is simply fascinating. Encounters with NPCs never feel unnecessary and provide a new perspective on the mind games played by us and the gods.

    The Golden Rule is sardonic enough to make you want to break it, only to find yourself back in the same spot trying to solve the same problems. It's up to the player to break the cycle. With so much to learn and discover, I highly recommend trying The Forgotten City. Its intuitive story telling didn't coerce me once to see what's round the next corner or shed light on the mysteries that await us in an eternal sequence of sinful adventure.

    Surprisingly, I didn't encounter any game breaking bugs. Frame rate stutter occasionally affects the action, but doesn't become unplayable. Again, kudos to the developers for this labor of love. The audio and voice acting seemed fine, and I enjoyed its ambience. Character models and the environment resemble Elder-Scrolls, most likely due to the fact that this game was initially a Skyrim mod. With limited resources the developers squeezed everything they had out of animations to make sure the game's writing had believable delivery by its cast. Combat is sparse and doesn't feel like filler to balance out diplomacy or argument, and I welcomed it when it suddenly forced my hand.

    I couldn't help but feel a subtle nod to The Talos Principle. If you've played Talos Principle, you might notice the similarities, like a focus on morality and socially determined ethics and epistemology. Both games do a great job building a memorable setting that's inspired by human history while persuading the player to solve the worlds' conundrums. It's a fresh approach to game design that doesn't pressure the player to progress in the name of gamification systems.

    I welcome more games like The Forgotten City, and hope the three individuals mostly responsible for this gem get an opportunity to apply what they're learned from this project and go on to create more stimulating and enthralling stories for us to play.

    8.5 (round up to 9)    … Expand
  3. daduy
    Nov 6, 2021
    10
    Very fun game! Enjoy the storyline very much, beautiful environment, and definitely enjoyed the little bit action going, highly recommended!
  4. L3Fari0us
    Nov 20, 2021
    9
    Fantastic game that asks you to get to know its world and habitants.

    Coming into this game I had no expectations. I knew it was an adaptation of a Skyrim mod made by the same people (which even won itself an award), but I couldn't believe how fun it actually was. The premise is interesting in it of itself, but the characters is where the game truly shines. They are all very complex and    Fantastic game that asks you to get to know its world and habitants.

    Coming into this game I had no expectations. I knew it was an adaptation of a Skyrim mod made by the same people (which even won itself an award), but I couldn't believe how fun it actually was.
    The premise is interesting in it of itself, but the characters is where the game truly shines. They are all very complex and ask of you your attention. You need and have a reason to get to know them and learn their issues.
    The graphics and artstyle are, for the most part, beautiful and awe inspiring. The facial animations, however felt very stiff at times, which is a notable problem, since a lot of what you're doing in this game is looking at other people and speaking to them. Though, thanks to the well written dialogue and voice acting, it doesn't bother me as much as it would otherwise.

    Overall, I highly recommend anyone who is a fan of heavy dialogue games and some puzzle solving to try this title out. You won't regret it.    … Expand
  5. avatar133
    Aug 2, 2021
    10
    Amazing game! Storyline, actors, music setting was really good! Played the original Skyrim mod. Even better than the mod. Only thing that I found frustrating, was I kind of got lost and didn't know what to do.
  6. dick7181
    Oct 29, 2021
    10
    Simply amazing. I hear the complaints about "stiff graphics" but understanding where this game comes from as well as the idea of 'art style' will get you past this barrier. This game is an experience that no gamer should go without experiencing. It will influence other games for years to come. Play a pioneer while it's still easily digestible. Also, avoid spoilers at all costs!
  7. Broyax
    Oct 29, 2021
    0
    Il s’agit d’une espèce de jeu d’aventure qui se déroule dans une cité romaine oubliée où on joue à la balle et au prisonnier… ou plutôt une autre version de la vieille série ‘Le Prisonnier’ mais dans l’antiquité ! pour sortir de là, il faudra mener l’enquête et faire son Columbo et parler à bien des gens… ce qui s’avère vite chiant, ma foi.

    Les voix en anglais imposent des séances de    Il s’agit d’une espèce de jeu d’aventure qui se déroule dans une cité romaine oubliée où on joue à la balle et au prisonnier… ou plutôt une autre version de la vieille série ‘Le Prisonnier’ mais dans l’antiquité ! pour sortir de là, il faudra mener l’enquête et faire son Columbo et parler à bien des gens… ce qui s’avère vite chiant, ma foi.

    Les voix en anglais imposent des séances de lecture de sous-titres et toutes ces ‘mini-histoires’ liées à ces personnages de pacotille sont rapidement assommantes alors que le postulat de départ se révèle bien fragile et aussi aberrant que soumis -par ailleurs- à un agenda SJW LGBGT du vivre ensemble moralisateur à deux balles.

    Bien que pas trop vilain (développé avec l’Unreal 4) mais un peu juste quyand même, le jeu peine trop souvent à maintenir les 60 im/s (il est pourtant optimisé X|S) y compris sur Series X et pourtant, rien d’extraordinaire à afficher à part trois clampins à qui parler et quelques décors romains.

    Quoi qu’il en soit, ce jeu indé trop bavard et lourdingue est un étron beaucoup trop ennuyeux pour maintenir l’attention, d’autant que la musique d’ascenseur est très soporifique, elle aussi. On le désinstalle aussi sec.    … Expand
  8. OKdrummer87
    Aug 6, 2021
    9
    I never played the Skyrim mod that this game is based off of so I might have a different angle on it than someone who has. The game is a great detective case. You need to figure out who is going to "sin" before they do and the city is destroyed. Kind of a rougelike game, if something wrong happens and the city is destroyed you get to start from the beginning again, but with all theI never played the Skyrim mod that this game is based off of so I might have a different angle on it than someone who has. The game is a great detective case. You need to figure out who is going to "sin" before they do and the city is destroyed. Kind of a rougelike game, if something wrong happens and the city is destroyed you get to start from the beginning again, but with all the inventory and information you learned before. dialogue and story is stellar, the environment and setting is stunning. I didn't get bored one time and with 4 different endings it is fun to figure out what the different outcomes are.… Expand
  9. SuperkenGaming
    Aug 19, 2021
    9
    The Forgotten City
    An experience you wont forget
    The forgotten city is a 6 hour long action adventure mystery game where you playas a character that wakes up in what seems like the distant past, in this land of people afraid of this golden rule, if just one person sins theyre all doomed, these golden statues will cometo live and turn everyone into gold.. but hers the conundrum, to get    The Forgotten City
    An experience you wont forget
    The forgotten city is a 6 hour long action adventure mystery game where you playas a character that wakes up in what seems like the distant past, in this land of people afraid of this golden rule, if just one person sins theyre all doomed, these golden statues will cometo live and turn everyone into gold.. but hers the conundrum, to get some info and escape, you gotta do a little sinning.. luckily for you.. youre a time traveler.. you steal the item or kill the person you need to, run to this portal, go back intime, thankfully theres a messanger standing right at the portal for you to tell all the info to, so they can run and take care of things you already took care of, not only that, youre back with the item you stole, sin free, rinse repeat, talk to the charcters in this small yet lived in feeling city,solve their problems, get what you need.. youll even get your own golden bow,which leads to some amazing dungon crawling sequences that I would’ve lovedseeing more of, youre dealing with thesegolden monsers, shooting vines leavesandalgie, to turn them into gold to traverse.. I loved it.. but again sadly this makes up maybe only 2 hours total of this 6 hour game.. the rest is just talking and listening, being persuasive, solving problems, figuring out the big giant people puzzle, how can I get what I need, gi back in time and use it against this person, or help this person.. I loved trying to solve the problem of getting info and also dealing with burdansall at the same time, and I loved that I got to keep everything I collected in between it all..
    The forgetten city is one of the coolest story games ive ever played… it is definitey boring at times.. a lot of times.. I skipped more dialog than I would in a game really pulling me in with its story.. but I was still glad I pushed through to the end, to reveal the big twist..
    If youre a fan of solving mysteries or just love a really good story, snatch this one up..
    I give The Forgotten City
    an 8.5/10    … Expand
  10. eva3si0n
    Dec 28, 2021
    9
    The Forgotten City is a striking example that even a small team can create a great game without big infusions into development and marketing. I did not play the initial modification for Skyrim, and I learned about the project only thanks to Game Pass. The Forgotten City is an excellent quest with elements of a simple action (you can skip the action if you want). You should not expectThe Forgotten City is a striking example that even a small team can create a great game without big infusions into development and marketing. I did not play the initial modification for Skyrim, and I learned about the project only thanks to Game Pass. The Forgotten City is an excellent quest with elements of a simple action (you can skip the action if you want). You should not expect greater variability of passage, nor should you expect any new time loop mechanics as in other games. There are 4 endings, the only correct ending is logically completed and gives answers to all questions. This is rarely seen now, The Forgotten City completed the project. It will take about 10 hours to pass all the endings, but believe it is a pleasant gaming experience. Such games are lacking in the modern industry.… Expand
  11. Nerevarinho
    Dec 18, 2021
    8
    Expected a walking simulator. But the game became better more and more. Fantastic writing and voice actors. Another artistic masterpiece.
  12. joysilence
    Dec 12, 2021
    7
    Good interesting game with deep storyline. One minus for me: in one of finish story awful scenario
  13. ReviewThangs
    Oct 24, 2022
    10
    Context is important here, this is a masterpiece but coming from a tiny studio you can't exactly compare it to a AAA game. Why it's a 10 is its because its so unique it has no peers. Even compared to time loop games like Deathloop or Outer Wilds, it strikes a nice balance between being obtuse and avoiding backtracking such as Outer Wilds vs being a straight of level shooter likeContext is important here, this is a masterpiece but coming from a tiny studio you can't exactly compare it to a AAA game. Why it's a 10 is its because its so unique it has no peers. Even compared to time loop games like Deathloop or Outer Wilds, it strikes a nice balance between being obtuse and avoiding backtracking such as Outer Wilds vs being a straight of level shooter like deathloop.

    It's setting and premise are incredibly captivating. The mysteries are worthwhile. The game runs and looks good considering its budget.

    If you're looking for a unique experience that is the moder. Incarnation of point and click games, this is it.    … Expand
  14. Ozymandias88
    Dec 16, 2021
    9
    I still think about this game randomly sometimes. It left such a good impression to me. The first thing i thought when i started it and i entered the forgotten city was that it was giving me Tomb Raider 1 vibes (albeit in an fps manner). The game absolutely gripped me with its mysterious atmosphere and its time loop mechanic. I was hooked to starting over and over again so that i couldI still think about this game randomly sometimes. It left such a good impression to me. The first thing i thought when i started it and i entered the forgotten city was that it was giving me Tomb Raider 1 vibes (albeit in an fps manner). The game absolutely gripped me with its mysterious atmosphere and its time loop mechanic. I was hooked to starting over and over again so that i could discover more of the story behind the city and the characters and in the end i explored all the possible outcomes.

    The plot and narrative is great. This is the game's strong point. Don't expect a game that will be impressive on the graphics side but if you want to be immersed through the dialogues, the options you make and their consequences, i strongly suggest you give this game a try. Itr's even more impressive that this is based on a Skyrim mod and is made from a team of basically 3 people in its core.    … Expand
  15. AliquisNomine
    Feb 5, 2022
    9
    I had no expectations when I started this game, but ended up loving it. I enjoy ancient history and thus the setting of this game is great to start with. Made by a really small studio, it might show in some quality of graphics/animation, namely the facial expressions of characters. Because of that, in the very beginning of the journey I thought "oh no", but very soon the game got me hookedI had no expectations when I started this game, but ended up loving it. I enjoy ancient history and thus the setting of this game is great to start with. Made by a really small studio, it might show in some quality of graphics/animation, namely the facial expressions of characters. Because of that, in the very beginning of the journey I thought "oh no", but very soon the game got me hooked by it's fantastic story, insights into ancient Rome, moral questions, puzzle solving, humour and the beautiful music that creates a truly immersive experience. Not going to lie, the multiple endings of the story made me tear up a bit, you really get to know this small community of characters that well.… Expand
  16. Uygar41opw
    Feb 4, 2022
    10
    This is one of the games that pulled me in it every second played it. I played with via xbox game pass, and I regret I didn't check it sooner. The deep and (sometimes) complicated story was very well mixed and forced the player to solve it. Even though the trailer gave me wrong expectations of this game, I would recommend everyone I believe has a taste of games.
  17. Antohadance
    Jun 22, 2022
    8
    Хороший квест с элементами ролевой игры, сюжетно игра довольно проста, но геймплейно она получилась очень увлекательной, пусть и ответвлений и способов прохождения немного

Awards & Rankings

12
#12 Best Xbox Series X Game of 2021
40
#40 Most Discussed Xbox Series X Game of 2021

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
86

Generally favorable reviews - based on 11 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 11
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 11
  3. Negative: 0 out of 11
  1. RPG Fan
    Jan 31, 2022
    90
    It’s among the most thought-provoking mystery games I’ve ever played, and my only serious gripe is that Modern Storyteller hasn’t released DLC that would allow me to continue my adventure. The Forgotten City offers an unforgettable journey into an ancient town filled with a charming cast, a rich, sprawling narrative, and a world-class soundtrack. This is one city that I recommend everybody visit.
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  2. Gamer.nl
    Dec 15, 2021
    80
    The Forgotten City knows how to work out the concept of a time loop to perfection, without falling into the well-known pitfalls. An exciting story full of philosophical layers keeps you captivated until the end.
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  3. SomosXbox
    Aug 20, 2021
    85
    The Forgotten City offers a superb narrative experience. The brilliant use of the classic story and the great work done by the studio in its setting make the title a must for lovers of good stories.
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