LogFAQs > #966446101

Kenri posted...

My guess is The Forgotten City, pretty sure I've seen that called a GotY contender. Deathloop's a good guess too though.

We have a winner!

#34: The Forgotten City

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/6/8/1/AAA-H0AADbph.jpg

Another emerging genre, or I guess pervasive theme, in today's gaming is the time loop. 2021 was absolutely filled with them, and I expect to see a lot more of them in the future. Maybe it's because everyone's trying to ride on Outer Wilds's coattails, maybe it's because the pandemic has put us into some kind of melancholy state of wondering what we could have all done differently, maybe people just realized time loops are real fuckin' good.

I love time loops and I'm never gonna get tired of them. As cliche as they might seem by now in video games, they serve a really good purpose, especially in adventure games. A lot of these games are all about experimentation and failure, trying to figure out what you can do and what gets you killed, and normally there's just a lot of saving and resetting involved - but the idea of a time loop lets you integrate that system of experimentation and failure into the concept of the game itself, into its core gameplay and narrative. There's so much that you can do with that! It's not just a gimmick for its own sake, but something that changes the way a game can be interacted with. I think that's great. Give me more time loops.

A friend of mine is having the usual post-Outer Wilds blues of I'll Never Play A Game Like That Ever Again and asked me if I recommended Forgotten City as a game to fill that void. And, well, no, I can't make that recommendation; nothing is really like Outer Wilds. But if you want a fun little time loop adventure with a cool premise and surprisingly good writing that lasts about 10 hours and doesn't overstay its welcome, you could do a lot worse.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/6/8/2/AAA-H0AADbpi.jpg

The Forgotten City has you exploring ruins in modern times and falling back through time into an ancient Roman city. Its 20 or so denizens live in harmony under the Golden Rule; treat others as you would want to be treated. If anyone breaks the Golden Rule, then everyone dies. You are informed, unfortunately, that you are here because someone is about to break the Golden Rule, and it's your job to go around town, talking to people and trying to figure out who's going to break the rule and kill everyone.

The premise was an instant hook, for me, and the game ultimately delivers pretty well on it, albeit not perfectly. I don't want to get too deep into spoilers on this game, just for the sake of keeping the review brief and not having to spoiler bar stuff, but the game has some clever little time loop tricks to it, and some fun philosophical quandaries. The game really loves its ancient Roman/Greek moral philosophy and is really happy to get into the weeds with it and discuss the nature of what really is a breach of the Golden Rule and what isn't, and this kind of stuff is where the game shines. It turns out that there's a surprising number of absolute bastards in town committing bastardly acts, and everything is not well in the city, and the game does a pretty good job of examining the thematic throughline of how bad people can get away with doing bad things.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/6/8/3/AAA-H0AADbpj.jpg

It doesn't quite do EVERYTHING I wish it could have done, gameplay-wise. The game is fairly short, and for a time loop adventure game, it's extremely easy; most of the game's major problems don't really require a lot of puzzle solving to figure out, usually just talking to another person and then coming back to the problem with more information kind of makes it work out. As a result, it's almost impossible to not be able to finish this game; it's constantly herding you towards the solution, and I imagine everyone will finish it in about 10 hours. I think that this game could really have used a lot more clever problem solving, but it is what it is. There's still enough here that makes it fun to play, and sometimes it's nice to not feel totally overwhelmed in an adventure game.

The Forgotten City began life as a Skyrim mod, and it shows. I'm not actually sure if it's still running on the Skyrim engine or not, but it sure feels like it. The world feels like it's mostly comprised of borrowed 3D assets, and character models have that kind of slight early 10's uncanniness about them. Honestly, though, I actually sort of appreciate it. There's something I really enjoy about seeing the economy of their development here; it's hard to explain, but it's like, the sense of satisfaction I get out of seeing something executed well within a developers' meager means and budget. This game has tons of moments where I appreciated what they were able to do with this Skyrim mod and what they weren't, where they decided to put their resources into making this game interesting and unique, etc. It's a relatively unambitious and carefully scoped game, and there is sort of an artform to that.

This game has a pretty interesting story, really solid voice acting, and enough interesting adventure gameplay and NPC Quest-iness to keep me entertained for its runtime, and I don't ask for a lot more. It does what it sets out to do and sticks the landing on its premise. As I alluded to, I've seen a lot of people who REALLY loved this game and thought it was one of the best they've played this year; I wasn't quite to that point, but I do think that this will be a game that I'll remember for a long time nontheless. It's no Outer Wilds, but if you're looking for something that kind of fills a very tiny portion of the void left by it, The Forgotten City is worth a look.

Next up: It's a Metroidvania! It's not Metroid Dread. Try a different one. It's not Axiom Verge 2 either, I forgot to list that as a 'game I should have played.'