Starting out life as an unofficial mod for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, before becoming its own set of pixels, The Forgotten City is a game made by three people over four years. It's a journey that an avid adventurer could almost play forever,  trying to uncover all of its mysteries, and yet there would still be secrets to see. 

The Forgotten City starts in the current day, with the player character regaining consciousness near river ruins in Italy, and little memory of how they got there. A mysterious stranger saves you from drowning, but they seem suspicious. Something doesn’t seem right. They start asking questions that you can’t answer, including about an individual that was apparently in the water with you. Before long, you’re magically back in ancient Roman times, with a murder mystery to solve, and the universe waiting at the center. 

The entertainment of The Forgotten City is rooted in the game’s story and the sense of discovery lying between everything, so it’s best to go in knowing as little as possible. You will get lost and stuck on occasion, and while a guide or asking a friend won’t completely detract from the experience, the sense of discovery will reward those that learn everything on their own. 

Fans of role-playing games will be delighted to find more than 50,000 lines of dialogue that not only feel meaningful but also tie into the game’s characters and secrets. Violence is a component, but usually just as a means to an end. There won’t be any shooting or slashing your way through enemies here. The Forgotten City is an intense adventure about life, loss, and an ancient curse. 

A staggering amount of detail spread across a seemingly endless sea of mystery and intrigue guarantee The Forgotten City will forever remain in your memory. And even after you think you’ve conquered the game, multiple endings mean there’s more layers to this crime scene , with so many moments lost to time left to discover. 

Philosophical questions and apocalyptic ramifications sit squarely between ancient secrets, inviting players to consider not just future actions, but also what’s already transpired in the past. Each pass through the portal is new, except for everything players have learned, crafting the pixels into the ultimate puzzle to piece together again and again. 

Fans of role-playing experiences, sweeping stories, and classic adventure titles will find a lot to enjoy during their densely decorated journey to The Forgotten City. It’s easy to get lost in the immersion and deception that’s baked into nearly every corner of this tale, creating a rewarding trip through time and space for all eager explorers that stick with it. 

Talk your way through conflict and mystery in ancient Rome while examining just exactly what it means to be human in a world built on bloodshed and loss in The Forgotten City: A video game mystery that’s wrapped tightly through space, time, and history.