The Forgotten City: Comparative Religion and Deception

The Forgotten City:

Due to its inhabitants, The Forgotten City features numerous references to Greek and Roman mythology. I've mused previously on allusions; their strength isn't in their quantity, but in their application. Writers see mythology as a shortcut to sophistication. This predilection lends itself to a lack of effort and shallow comparisons. Fortunately, The Forgotten City exceeds expectations. Not only are the allusions powerful, but the writer connects them to the story's themes. The writer compares the protagonist to Greek heroes. Their shared connection; overcoming supernatural difficulties. In addition to references to Hercules, Orpheus, and Aeneas, The Forgotten City vindicates Sisyphus, elevating him to the level of hero. Then it favorably compares the player's task to the Sisyphean punishment (now viewed as injustice). The writers also employ the myth of Baucis and Philemon, the ancient Greek flood myth. The repeated use of Ovid's Metamorphoses, along with references from other cultures (Gilgamesh's escape from the underworld, a tree bearing red fruit), elevate the author's allusions.

Exploration eventually leads to death. Injury from a fall, death by combat, or someone breaking the Golden Rule (and the player being killed by merciless golden statues) are the most common causes. Death requires the player to reload, but if the protagonist escapes the golden statues, they restart the day. Restarting the quests, which are interconnected, upon every use of the time-loop, would ruin The Forgotten City. Fortunately, after stepping forth from the Shrine, the player can talk to Galerius. Good old Galerius will accept all orders without question. Every quest the player finished in a previous loop can be relayed to Galerius. He'll run off and complete them, leaving you free to pursue new threads. The player also retains all items and cash. These two elements might not make sense, but they save a ton of time. The protagonist must resolve everyones problems, to sway the jury for the election. The candidates are Sentius and Malleolus. A Sentius victory maintains the status quo, while a Malleolus election puts an anti-Golden Ruler in charge. Resolve all the personal problems to elect a third person as ruler of The Forgotten City, a necessary achievement if the player hopes to experience all endings.

Before moving onto the endings I wanted to address an issue and compliment a feature. One, the game almost never autosaves. This is remarkable for 2022 when games save so the player doesn't have to remember. I lost at least thirty minutes of gameplay once. Save after every conversation. While I was frustrated by this simple failure to maintain current standards, I was impressed by the journal. Quest journals are a constant companion in many games. Most record information in a haphazard manner that forces the player to waste their time looking for the relevant data. The journal in The Forgotten City is an exemplar sample of how to organize information.

The more the player interacts with the populace, the more it becomes clear that Sentius is either confused, or is intentionally misleading them. The City's problem isn't the threat of a single person planning to break the Golden Rule, but a mysterious, ominous conspiracy. The clues the protagonist collects stimulate the following questions:

Who are these people really, and where did they come from? What is the Golden Rule and who is enforcing it? Where is this place, and what is really happening? Parts of this mystery are resolved by different characters. Eventually the player follows a character named Khabash into catacombs under The City. As the player pursues the Egyption, The Forgotten City offers a lesson in comparative religion. First they explore the tombs of the Romans. Under these is buried a Greek civilization. Beneath that lies the ruins of an Egyptian city. Khabash angrily denounces the Romans and Greeks as frauds and scoundrels who plundered his culture, appropriating his religion for their own civilizations. But he can't accept the truth when he discovers the Egyptians did the same to the people of Sumer (a fourth and final catacomb). These sequences force the player to combat mummified undead in an exact replica of the previous, pathetic combat. In a humorous attempt to prevent the player from breaking the game, the player can shoot Khabash full of arrows, but they don't hurt him, and so they don't break the Golden Rule.

Up to this point I've only spoiled the opening and some lesser details. But to discuss the ending I'm about to reveal two significant facts. The first isn't surprising. Many players (and even readers) may see it coming. The final twist, which I'll reveal at the start of the next article, is more jarring.

Witnessing the layers of ancient ruins guides the player closer to the truth. Hints and clues lead the protagonist to believe Sentius isn't transparent about his knowledge and motives. In short, he is something worse than an ass. When the player confronts Sentius, the magistrate admits he remembers everything. Every time the golden rule is broken he retains his memories. He made a mockery of the protagonist, pretending to forget them each use of the time loop. When the player threatens him, Sentius mockingly replies, “Come, come, and give me another day in the sun.” But even though Sentius defends Rome as not barbaric (despite its slavery and gender inequality), and will commit any abominable act to retain his position, he is not the real villain.With the urging of the priestess, the player realizes that every inhabitant of The Forgotten City shares a few similarities. They can not remember their past. The last thing they remember was being near a river. Many remember fleeing Rome during the Great Fire set in 64 CE by Christians. The many golden statues, with their moving heads and whispers, are another hint. One character even quotes Ovid's Metamorphoses, saying, “The bloodless shadow wanders without flesh and bone.”

If the player doesn't eventually figure out the hints, the game nearly takes a pan and bashes it over their head saying, you're dead, everyone here is dead, and this is the afterlife. Questions remain. For who? By who? How? The player only learns the satisfactory answer if they find the best ending.The Forgotten City has four possible endings, and three of them aren't concerned with these sorts of questions. In fact, the first three endings don't even recognize the ultimate truth. The easiest ending requires the player to kill a specific citizen of the city. For players it will quickly become obvious, it's the asshole that you want to kill because he is so smug. But it isn't a satisfactory ending. The decision returns the protagonist to the present, but leaves them, and a revived Al, stuck in the bottom of a dilapidated temple to die of starvation. Endings 2 and 3, are just minor variations on each other, and should properly be called 2a and 2b, or 2 bad and 2 good. Both of them allow the player to outsmart the person he killed in ending 1. In 2a the player escapes successfully from the city. In 2b, the player rescues most of the citizens of the city as well. What happens to them in 2b, that's an unanswered question.