The Forgotten City:
The Forgotten City: A Roman Interpretation On The Golden Rule
The Forgotten City: Comparative Religion and Deception
The
Forgotten City: Conquering Death and Plot Holes
Time to Beat:
9 Hours, 42 minutes
In 2015 Nick Pearce released a mod for Skyrim, called The Forgotten City. It became one of the most popular mods, receiving an award from the Australian Writers' Guild (Best Interactive Media). With a team of three, Pearce's new indie studio, Modern Storyteller, redeveloped the mod using Unreal Engine 4. The project expanded beyond its original scope, doubling in size. In 2021 the company released the standalone The Forgotten City.
The game opens with the protagonist in present day Italy, near the Tiber river. A stranger, named Karen (for the memes), dressed entirely in black, claims she dragged you from the river. You remember who you are (class creation allows the player to choose from four careers, each with a unique ability), but not how you arrived. In exchange for saving your life, Karen asks a favor; search the nearby Roman ruins for a lost person, Al.
The protagonist can ask Karen a series of probing questions, but she deflects away the details. She seems insistent on locating Al. The area, she insists, is empty of people. She promises to transport Al and the protagonist to civilization on her boat when they return.
Stumbling through civilizational fragments, the protagonist locates a small temple. A note, written by Al is posted to the door. He went to explore the temple, and in your search for him, you follow.
This is still the set up for the story,
it's barely begun, but at this point everything ahead should be
considered a possible spoiler. In the first article I'll tell the
twist that starts the game, but I won't reveal the revelation that
ends it until the final article. 
Once inside, the temple is revealed as
a small circular room with a statue, and a golden carafe. Touching
the flask drops the protagonist through a trick hole in the floor.
They fall down, down, down, into a pool of water. Surrounded by
Roman architecture and mosaics, the player proceeds through an
extended hall haunted by gold statues, whose faces turn to follow the
player, and a troubled woman's whisper. There is no way back.
Instead the protagonist finds a hanging man, Al. Beside him lies a
suicide note. In the letter Al expresses his desire to make things
right, but admits failure. The protagonist, disturbed by Al's death,
is bemused by the note. With nowhere to turn the protagonist steps
through a final doorway, traveling back in time, as the woman
whispers, “So close now.” The player appears, stepping out of
the restored shrine of Proserpina.
The protagonist is greeted by Galerius, a friendly local, and joins a small but diverse community of 23 souls from the Roman Empire. The inhabitants include Greeks, Romans, Britons, Pagans, Christians, men and women, elders and youths, legionnaires, senators, farmers, healers, merchants, gladiators, and more. Galerius guides the player to the magistrate, Sentius. Sentius explains the situation. The small city is bound by the Golden Rule. If anyone breaks it, the city will be destroyed. Sentius suspects someone will break the Golden Rule. He knows the protagonist is from the future, and commands the player to locate the suspected rule breaker. Sentius, up for reelection as ruler of the city, expresses anxiety about his chances to succeed against a thuggish Roman that intends to ignore the golden rule. Sentius' crises have converged, ready to strike on the day of the protagonist's arrival.
This is where the introduction to The
Forgotten City ends. Once free, the player is given a
remarkable amount of freedom. The city is full of secrets to
explore. But the main gameplay is formulaic. Everyone in the city
has a problem. The player should help people. Resolving reveals a
larger malaise in The Forgotten City. Many
problems are interconnected, and for good reason, the city is sick
(metaphorically). Other characters, after they've talked to the
protagonist, realize this too. The priestess asks the protagonist to
examine patterns among the inhabitants.
The inhabitants are paradoxically
detailed and one dimensional. They have minor details that build out
their character, but they all have a single feature that defines them
(race, occupation, religion, sexuality). They are sufficiently
designed to deliver their single problem, and compelling enough for
the player to follow through. The bodies look well designed, except
for the common problem, hair. Their lips don't sync perfectly with
their words, but they are well voiced. The terrain looks equally
pleasing.
But if the
characters are the main points of interaction, the Golden Rule ties
them all together. Everyone has heard of the Golden Rule, in at
least one of its many forms, “Treat others as you would wish to be
treated.” Or perhaps the parental admonition, “You wouldn't like
that if your brother did that to you, so don't do it to him!” But
what we know doesn't seem to match with the situation. The
legionnaire Horatio, warningly, yet favorably, compares the Golden
Rule to the decimation of a roman legion. This was the Roman
practice of killing every tenth member of a legion for serious
offenses such as cowardice or desertion. Sentius says The
Forgotten City is without sin because of the Golden
Rule. He describes it as a rule in which, “The many shall suffer
for the sins of the one.” If anyone violates the Golden Rule the
whole city is punished. Everyone in it is turned to golden statues.
If the player or any other citizen violates the Golden Rule the
player needs to run to Proserpina's shrine and restart the time loop.
What breaks the Golden Rule? Does blasphemy, lies, murder, theft,
trespassing, suicide, soliciting a bribe/accepting a bribe,
threatening to murder (even as a bluff), infidelity, a deception to
impose debt slavery, a lie causing a person to die, admitting
knowing the person would die from the lie, killing a peeled statue,
trying to escape the city, turning a person to gold, authorized to
enter homes and look at documents but not steal? I checked each of
these possibilities, and discovered the answers, but will not divulge
the results. Any willing player can
investigate these mysteries.
Platforming is simple. Movement is largely restricted. Though the city appears expansive, with many different routes, the game hates if the player tries to leave the path. It prohibits exploration off the track. Sometimes the player can jump/fall to their death, but mostly The Forgotten City limits movement with hidden walls. These areas appear walk-able, with knee high walls or a shallow river in the way, but even though the protagonist can jump, they are impassable. Even some flat areas are prohibited. It's jarring to see an area, but be unable to reach it because of concealed walls.
Aside from jumping, and arrow shooting the player is limited to basic maneuvers such as running, crawling, inspecting, talking, and using a flashlight.
Recent:
Awkward Mixture's 2022 Reflection
Relevant:
Alien Isolation: Atmospheric Threats
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