The Forgotten City Review – AN AUSSIE CLASSIC!

Now, for those who don’t know, The Forgotten City was an incredibly successful Skyrim Mod that was created by Nick Pearce. Nick made the mod around nine years ago and has spent the last four and a half years with his small team, at Modern Storyteller, to develop The Forgotten City into its very own game. So let’s kick this off by having a look at the story.

Story

Now I’m not going to say too much about the story, there is a lot of content with many twists and turns. But what I will say is that it flows incredibly well. It is nice and easy to follow, even though it has a few surprises and a lot of historical content thrown in. Whether it be references to Roman society or even stories of myths and legends. For a history buff like myself, this is thoroughly enjoyable.

One of the best parts is that the story seems to follow you along. It moves with you as you solve mysteries and interact with the people in the city. It’s all on you. The other great part about the story is the topics they cover. Everything is fair game. It definitely gets you thinking by placing you in situations to test your moral and ethical choices. And just a little advice – try to think outside the box. Sometimes the solution is laughably simple. Don’t be afraid to break the rules, because as we all know rules are only made to be broken.

The Forgotten City’s Gameplay

The gameplay is relatively simple, yet effective. It’s basically a walking sim with very little action. So if you’re wanting to waltz in, bow drawn, and start shooting, then maybe this isn’t the game for you. The Forgotten City just isn’t that type of game. It wants you to pick up on the subtle things and find creative solutions that allow you to achieve the desired result without “technically” breaking the rules. Although sometimes “you just gotta do, what you gotta do”.

Now there are a couple of areas where the game stops and needs to load. However, it’s only for a few seconds and I see this being fixed relatively early. A big aspect of the gameplay, though, is the world traversal. Since you’re travelling around a city, there is quite a large area to investigate. Seeing that walking is your only way of getting around, the devs put zip-lines in as little shortcuts to help with world traversal. Now yes I know the Romans never travelled by ziplines, but let’s be honest… Wouldn’t it be awesome if they did?

The World of The Forgotten City

The world design for The Forgotten City is on point. Yes, some of the character models are a little interesting, but the view is breathtaking. When you walk through the ruins or when you take your first step out to talk to Galerius, the view is incredible. The level of detail with the water in the bathhouse, to the views overlooking the city, to the murals and paintings.

How about the massive Stargate vibes you get when travelling through the portal either at the beginning or when the Golden Rule is broken? Or when you walk past golden statues and hear a scraping sound, only to turn around and realise the statue is now staring at you? It is simply amazing. I can’t do anything but sit here and applaud Modern Storyteller for how incredible the world looks, and to realise they did this with a four-person team just makes it all the more awe-inspiring.

Music and Sound Design

As for the music and sound design, it works perfectly with the game. The score just adds to your enjoyment and the sound design works incredibly well with what’s happening in-game. That sound when you break the golden rule – I dare you to do it.

Decision

This is definitely a must-try, just don’t go into the game expecting action. If you go in understanding that there will be a lot of walking, talking to citizens, thinking of creative ways to solve problems and investigating suspicious characters, you will get the most out of the game. The Forgotten City does a great job of immersing you into Roman Society, as well as pushing the boundaries and our thoughts on certain subjects. Let’s just say you could do a lot worse than playing The Forgotten City.

By Dillon Van Der Putten

This game was reviewed using a download code provided by Modern Storyteller. The Beta Network uses affiliate partnerships, however, this does not influence reviews or any other content published. The Beta Network may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links that are on the website.