The Forgotten City

About

"The Forgotten City" is a mystery adventure game set in a cursed ancient Roman city resurrected in the modern world. As a time-traveling detective, you must uncover the truth behind the city's endless time loop, solving challenging moral dilemmas and interacting with dynamic characters to ultimately decide the city's fate. Your choices determine the outcome in this gripping, narrative-driven experience.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

96%

Audience ScoreBased on 7,215 reviews

story2.1k positive mentions

optimization36 negative mentions

The game features a captivating and well-written story with unexpected twists and turns.
The characters are well-developed and engaging, making players care about their fates.
The time loop mechanic is cleverly implemented, allowing for exploration and experimentation without frustrating repetition.

The game can feel short, with some players wishing for more content and depth.
There are minor technical issues, such as stuttering and awkward character animations.
Some players found the dialogue-heavy nature of the game tedious and felt that certain choices lacked meaningful impact.

story
4,303 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
49%
1%
The story of "The Forgotten City" is widely praised for its intricate narrative, engaging characters, and clever use of time-loop mechanics, which allow players to explore various outcomes and plot twists. Many reviewers highlight the game's philosophical themes and moral dilemmas, making it a thought-provoking experience that resonates long after completion. While some players note minor technical issues and a relatively short playtime, the overall consensus is that the storytelling is exceptional, making it a must-play for fans of narrative-driven games.
- “The story is engaging, and the characters feel authentic with their own quirks that set them apart.”
- “I can say this, however, this must be the greatest storytelling I have ever experienced in the many video games I have played.”
- “The story was phenomenal, the characters unforgettable, the sarcastic humor sharp, and the soundtracks breathtaking.”
- “My deepest problem with The Forgotten City, which caused me to audibly cry out, 'Oh, come on, really?!' when I stepped through the final doors of this story, is that it defaulted to the most tired, overused, lazy trope in science fiction, which is like catnip to the man of the modern zeitgeist whenever he approaches the topic of the supernatural.”
- “Thus, this story travels down the well-worn path and does nothing particularly new or interesting with it, making the final product a profoundly mediocre experience.”
- “This is purely a story game, and the story is a series of tropes leading up to a final plot twist so stupid I uninstalled rather than play the last few minutes to beat the game.”
gameplay
1,145 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
37%
59%
4%
The gameplay of "The Forgotten City" is primarily dialogue-driven, focusing on exploration, character interactions, and puzzle-solving within a time-loop mechanic that enhances the narrative experience. While some players appreciate the clever integration of mechanics and story, others find the gameplay simplistic and reminiscent of older titles like Skyrim, with limited combat and repetitive tasks. Overall, the game excels in storytelling and character development, making it a compelling choice for those who prioritize narrative over complex gameplay mechanics.
- “The gameplay is brilliant.”
- “The time loop mechanic is employed so well here that once you get used to it, you intuitively realize how you can use it to your advantage pretty quickly, and the game does a great job in minimizing time wasting so you don't have to keep doing the same things over and over.”
- “The gameplay loop is genius and the writing is amazing.”
- “The gameplay mainly revolves around exploration and interaction with NPCs, and this quickly becomes routine.”
- “I love solving puzzles and searching for details, but here I found a lack of variety in tasks and mechanics.”
- “The gameplay feels a little clunky, but it is still one of the best games I've ever played.”
graphics
531 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
55%
42%
3%
The graphics of "The Forgotten City" have received mixed reviews, with many praising the beautiful and immersive visuals that effectively capture the ancient Roman aesthetic. While some players noted that the graphics can appear dated, particularly in character animations, the overall art design and attention to historical detail were highlighted as strong points. Despite minor technical issues, the game's visuals are generally considered impressive for an indie title developed by a small team, contributing significantly to the game's atmosphere and storytelling.
- “Beautiful graphics, story, and gameplay with a historic twist.”
- “The graphics of the city were so beautiful and well-done, I was just in awe.”
- “Amazing graphics, fantastic story and overall clever design.”
- “Graphics are looking a smidge dated here and there by this point in time, especially the facial animations.”
- “The actual mechanical gameplay isn't really all that, graphics are fairly uncanny-valley at times where even on top settings don't look great... voice acting's pretty good, although the facial animations do let the game's drama elements down a bit.”
- “The one weak point the game has is the graphics.”
music
208 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
39%
1%
The music in the game has received widespread acclaim for its ability to enhance the overall atmosphere and emotional depth, with many reviewers praising its evocative and immersive qualities. While some found the soundtrack to be generic or forgettable, the majority highlighted its fittingness to the game's themes and settings, particularly its historical and atmospheric elements. Overall, the combination of music, voice acting, and sound design contributes significantly to the game's engaging narrative and exploration experience.
- “The story was phenomenal, the characters unforgettable, the sarcastic humor sharp, and the soundtracks breathtaking.”
- “The atmospheric design, coupled with a haunting and evocative soundtrack, creates an ambiance that is both enchanting and eerie.”
- “The music is exquisite and enhances the mood extremely well.”
- “The OST is generic and not very memorable.”
- “Generally speaking, everything was just meh: story, characters, dialogues, quests, music, atmosphere, themes, and gameplay.”
- “The forgettable soundtrack is the only thing I would knock the game for.”
atmosphere
148 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
65%
33%
2%
The atmosphere of "The Forgotten City" is widely praised for its immersive and haunting qualities, enhanced by beautiful visuals, a captivating soundtrack, and strong writing. Players appreciate the game's ability to evoke a sense of historical authenticity and tension, creating a rich environment that draws them into its narrative. While some critiques mention a lack of connection with characters, the overall consensus highlights the game's exceptional atmosphere as a standout feature that elevates the experience.
- “The atmosphere is breathtaking.”
- “The forgotten city excels above all at atmosphere.”
- “Beautiful atmosphere created by the visual design and mesmerizing soundtrack - with occasional 'oh s***' moments to keep you on your toes.”
- “I didn’t feel any connection with them, which really undermined the atmosphere.”
- “The twist at the end is dumb and completely destroys the atmosphere of the game.”
- “Perhaps the biggest problem of the game is attachment; the player gets attached to everyone in this city only to repeat a cycle of coming back and no one will remember you, which does ruin the atmosphere since while you remember your experiences with these people, they know nothing.”
emotional
115 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of "The Forgotten City" is widely praised, with many players expressing deep connections to the characters and a profound impact from the story's various endings, particularly the fourth ending, which elicited tears and feelings of joy and closure. Reviewers highlight the game's ability to weave heartfelt moments with philosophical themes, creating an immersive experience that resonates on a personal level. Despite some minor criticisms regarding gameplay mechanics, the overall narrative and character development are celebrated for their emotional depth and satisfying resolutions.
- “The canon ending is so emotionally gratifying; I felt a wonderful sense of connection to the world and its denizens (and happy cried during the closing).”
- “I cried for a solid 20 minutes at how beautiful the message was, how wonderfully alive the characters felt, how rewarding it was to take the long and hard ending, how philosophical the overarching topic was, and how well the story pacing was.”
- “The forgotten city is a near-perfect game, and creates an emotional, historical, and genuinely interesting story that, while not a particularly long experience, is absolutely a lasting and memorable one!”
replayability
108 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
31%
57%
12%
The game's replayability is a mixed bag, with many players noting the presence of multiple endings and achievements that encourage revisiting the story. While some found significant replay value in exploring different choices and outcomes, others felt that once the main story and endings were uncovered, the incentive to replay diminished. Overall, it offers a decent level of replayability, particularly for those who enjoy achievement hunting or wish to experience various narrative paths.
- “The game has a total of 4 endings, depending on the choices you make, which makes it highly replayable.”
- “With multiple endings, there is some replayability until you can figure out the final ending, but even a single run-through leaves a satisfying experience.”
- “The option of selecting your character’s background to influence your play style, and the inclusion of four different endings, gives it high replay value.”
- “A bit short, not much replay value after you get all endings and achievements, but worth playing anyway.”
- “The game has limited replay value, because once you've gone through the story and received the canon ending, there is little reason to return to it.”
- “I tried to play it again later on, but the replayability is sadly not that great, because if you played it once or twice you will know all of the endings and the mystery will be gone.”
humor
90 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is widely praised for its clever writing, sharp dialogue, and a mix of dark and meta humor that resonates well with players. Many reviewers highlight the amusing interactions and quirky character dynamics, often finding themselves laughing at unexpected moments, such as pop culture references and absurd scenarios. While some humor may come off as corny or overly reliant on modern references, the overall comedic tone enhances the game's charm and storytelling.
- “Very charming game with great storytelling and a good sense of humor!”
- “The dialogue is sharp and often laced with dark humor, which is a nice touch considering the heavy themes at play.”
- “The writing made me laugh out loud quite a few times, especially the more meta lines like talking about living through a pandemic and how memes have ruined the name 'Karen'.”
optimization
86 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
28%
42%
The game's optimization has received mixed reviews, with many players experiencing significant performance issues such as stuttering, frame rate drops, and long loading times, particularly at higher resolutions. While some users noted that the game runs smoothly after adjustments or on lower settings, the overall consensus is that it lacks polish and suffers from memory-related problems, detracting from the otherwise engaging gameplay and narrative. Despite these issues, a few players found the performance acceptable, especially considering the game's indie status.
- “On the technical side, the game looks pretty good and runs smoothly for the most part.”
- “Characters are very nicely written, the views are beautiful, and optimization felt great to me.”
- “Even optimization is outstanding... this is 10/10, everybody should buy it and get lost in this story, it's a gem.”
- “The game is horrendously optimized, to the point of almost making me quit.”
- “The downsides: the game is not the best optimized, and though I actually fit comfortably at the 'recommended' side of the system requirements, I still experienced a lot of stuttering, lag, and frame-rate drops.”
- “I had a constant stuttering until I moved the game to an SSD.”
grinding
74 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
7%
12%
81%
Overall, the reviews indicate that while some players found certain aspects of the game to be tedious, particularly in combat and dialogue, the innovative time loop mechanic effectively mitigated feelings of grinding. Many appreciated the clever design choices that allowed for progression without repetitive tasks, making the experience engaging rather than monotonous. However, a few noted that certain sections could feel grindy or repetitive, especially during the final encounter or when backtracking for missed dialogue.
- “Fair and not too grindy.”
- “There is no grinding, no meaningless slaying... all you do is purely for the progression of the story, your story, your goal, your morality, for them.”
- “Not grindy, but there is a fair bit of story to uncover.”
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “It wasn't difficult at all, but there were a couple of sections that involved plinking away at dozens of enemies from room to room and it got tedious fast.”
- “While I initially really enjoyed discovering the city and the inhabitants, it really started to feel tedious when I had to repeat processes or backtrack through areas to try and find missing conversation and set pieces.”
stability
55 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
11%
2%
87%
The stability of "The Forgotten City" has received mixed feedback from players, with many noting the presence of minor bugs and glitches that can occasionally disrupt gameplay, such as character movement issues and dialogue inconsistencies. While some players experienced crashes and significant stuttering during loading, others found the game to run well on various hardware setups, suggesting that the bugs, while noticeable, do not severely detract from the overall experience. Overall, the game is described as a "buggy masterpiece," with many players willing to overlook its flaws due to its engaging story and gameplay.
- “The Forgotten City runs great on the Steam Deck.”
- “Game runs great on my lower-end rig (RTX 4050), averaged about 124 FPS at max settings and never noticed a dip below 100 FPS.”
- “Gameplay is fluid, intuitive, and most importantly, bug-free.”
- “The game is a little bit buggy and crashed for me once or twice, but I still would recommend it.”
- “I encountered a handful of glitches, including a rather spectacular unhandled exception in the NVIDIA driver that managed to take my entire system down, and falling through the ground and plummeting into Unity hell at one point, prompting closure/restart as the only option.”
- “The game was a bit buggy, and I often had loading problems.”
character development
22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
55%
32%
14%
Character development in the game receives mixed reviews, with some praising its depth and integration into the narrative, particularly in "The Forgotten City," where characters are well-designed and their arcs are engaging. However, others feel that certain characters lack depth and could benefit from more development. Overall, the game is noted for its strong storytelling and character interactions, which enhance the player's experience.
- “Great character development, great story.”
- “The dynamics of character development that each person goes through while you talk to them and complete (or try to, at least) their quests is genius, and I never saw a point where I had to think, 'nah, that person wouldn't do that,' because everything matched up, from motives to embellishments; each character was believable enough to keep me wanting more.”
- “All in all, 'The Forgotten City' is a masterfully crafted narrative-driven game that deserves recognition for its storytelling, character development, and exploration of complex moral themes.”
- “Characters are missing a lot of depth, feel bland, and could make use of better character development.”
- “Short story, no real character development, and the 'multiple endings'—well... 4 possible endings isn't what I'd call multiple.”
- “The narrative also deviates from its overarching elements in favor of individual events and a lot of character development.”
monetization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization of the game is perceived as misleading, with advertisements promising a high-quality experience that doesn't align with the actual product. However, despite the disappointing marketing, the game itself is well-developed and polished, indicating that it is not merely a cash grab.
- “It's like getting a soggy Big Mac while expecting what they show in ads.”
- “Nothing about the advertising, at least at face value, is indicative of the game's low quality, and that's honestly the saddest part.”
- “This is not just some cash grab; it is very well developed and polished in both a qualitative and quantitative way.”