Publisher: Plug In Digital
Developer: Modern Storyteller
Year: 2021
Platform: Windows, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series, Stadia

Rating: 8

Originally a well-acclaimed Skyrim mod, The Forgotten City is an updated and larger, independent version of the game. While I couldn’t get into Skyrim, I’ll play almost anything about time travel and especially anything that involves time loops. While it takes a little bit to get going (and to fully grasp the game mechanics), once it does it becomes a relative breeze and is one of the most addictive and satisfying adventure game stories I’ve ever played.

In first-person and fully 3D, you play the role of an explorer who was just rescued out of the Tiber River in Italy. A young woman named Karen explains that she was waiting for her friend who went off to explore some nearby ruins and luckily found you. She further explains her friend hasn’t returned from his trip and pleads with you to explore the ruins to look for him.

While in the ruins, you come upon a portal that transports you back in time to Ancient Rome and a fictional city. A friendly man named Galerius greets you as you exit the portal. He brings you to the magistrate, Sentius, who explains the city’s (very short) history. This place was created by the Gods in hopes of a perfect society, where the Golden Rule is strictly enforced. Should anyone break the rule (of which the exact parameters are not clearly known), the golden statues around town will come to life and swiftly kill everyone. Thus, the idea is, everyone will be an upstanding citizen.

Sentius further explains that he has been granted the limited power (as magistrate) to open the time portal should someone break the rule. This would allow one person (in this case, you) to travel through it to the beginning of the day in hopes of preventing such a catastrophe. He charges you with this responsibility as you’re new and presumably not corrupt. See, he knows the Golden Rule is about to be broken. Their is growing unrest in the city and his position as magistrate is being challenged and put to a vote later that evening. Moreover, his youngest daughter has recently gone missing. He has already seen the city fall, but the day reset when you arrived. Therefore, he asks you to help investigate who’s about to break the Golden Rule and also look for his daughter if you have the time.

There are 24 people living in the city, and they’re all carrying on with their day. While you can speak to most of them any time you like, they all have their own agendas and will move about at various times of day. You’ll quickly discover that one lady has been poisoned and is dying, one man is being severely harassed for his sexuality, and another is begging you to steal a valuable artifact. Why none of these acts have violated the Golden Rule already is a mystery, which makes some members of town question where the rule is even real. All the citizens have their own backstory to share and many of them are at least slight suspects for breaking the rule.

While the plot is intriguing, the first time I played I was a bit overwhelmed by it and waited another year to get back to it. You see, within seconds of talking to Sentius, I stole money he had in a chest. Immediately the city started crumbling and Sentius ran towards the portal to send me back in time. I got lost on the way and was swiftly offed by the golden statues. Stressed out by that encounter, I quit. But trust me, the game is not as complicated as it seems, and once you get the hang of the controls it’s fairly easy to avoid being killed and re-enter the portal safely.

Backing up a bit, at the game’s beginning you’re asked to both identify a gender (male or female) as well as one of four backgrounds. Which gender you pick only influences some dialogues you have with other characters, but is of little consequence. The backgrounds matter a little bit more.

Archaeologist: You understand Latin and have a slightly better knowledge of Roman history.

Soldier: You have a gun and ten bullets (unreplenishable).

Fugitive: You can move 25% faster.

Amnesiac: You can take 8 hits from arrows (from the golden statues) before dying.

I played as the archaeologist to get a bit more out of the story, though honestly it’s not so much as to feel like you’d miss much. For players who are otherwise nervous about dying, I would recommend amnesiac. Having a gun could be slightly helpful in the beginning, but you’re able to get access to a bow later (with plenty of arrows) making the gun unnecessary.

Despite the seemingly ever present danger, you can mostly relax while playing. The golden rule will be broken at the end of the evening following the election, but that’s about a couple of hours of in-game playtime. Most of your loops will not be near that long, as you will often break the rule on accident or on purpose. And once I realized that you can intentionally break the rule about fifty yards from the portal, it became a piece of cake to survive the golden statues and reset the day whenever I wanted.

Why reset the day on purpose? Because you will frequently learn new information or acquire objects (such as money or the aforementioned bow) that you will keep with you through to the next loop. For example, let’s say you see the woman die from poisoning, but then later in the day acquire the antidote (which can be done by breaking the rule via stealing or finding it in nature). You can restart the day, then run to the victim and provide the antidote immediately. Each time you solve one of these problems, you will learn new information that will help you in future loops. And so it goes. Eventually you will find yourself in a high-wire juggling act with all the changes you make, but don’t worry; the game keeps track of all of your goals for easy reference, and there’s a shortcut for some of your problems you’ll eventually come across.

There are other time loop games that have similarly fun puzzles, but are not as fun to play due to mediocre production values. That’s no problem here. For starters, the town is magnificently designed. Epic vistas are everywhere, from grand staircases, aqueducts, a cave system, and cascading waterfalls, there is always something interesting to gaze upon. There also well-detailed examples of what an Ancient Roman city might look like. Tools, medicines, and clothing accurately depicts the time period. So even when you’re not solving puzzles, you’re enjoying the scenery and learning about history.

Even more importantly, the voice-acting is top notch. I really enjoyed listening to every conversation, even when the subject matter wasn’t related to the overall goal. You can also skip through conversation lines you’ve had before (which are helpfully grayed out), helping everything from becoming so repetitive. My only critique is that due to the sheer number of characters and short time loops, you don’t get to know any character too well, leaving the conversations as mere intriguing rather than emotionally resonant. The character models being stiff also doesn’t help.

The Forgotten City takes about 6-10 hours depending on how leisurely you play. There are four endings, two of them good, two not so good. The best ending, which takes a little more investigative work, is incredibly satisfying with a hell of a rewarding denouement. If you don’t mind a little action and like time loop mechanics, then this is a must have in your library.