Salve, reader. Welcome to The Forgotten City review for Google Stadia. Here, you’ll get to know all the details of this game and how it performs on Stadia. Sit down, relax, and don’t do anything that can be considered a Sin. We need to make sure that neither you or I break the Golden Rule, or else we’re screwed. Everything alright? Okay, let’s start!
Long before The Forgotten City would be released on Stadia, Nick Pearce started working on an ingenious mod for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The mod was titled The Forgotten City, just like the game, released in 2015 to major acclaim. Players were surprised with its writing and time-traveling gimmicks. Only a year after, Pearce formed Modern Storyteller with a team of developers and started working on a standalone version of the game. That version of the game is the one we can enjoy on Stadia, with a lot of new content, features and improvements. Dear Villagers would be the one to publish it.
Welcome to the forgotten city
The Forgotten City starts with our character, the protagonist, entering some ruins while looking for a disappeared person. Those ruins teleport us back to the Roman Empire, in a gorgeous city where a set of characters reside. After reaching this city, we’re introduced to Galerius, the first person we meet. We explain him our situation. Not long after, we finally meet with Magistrate Sentius, who explains to us the history of the city and its past. Said to be protected by the Gods, the forgotten city has The Golden Rule, that, once broken, casts a curse upon its citizens. If one resident of the city breaks the law, all the other citizens will turn gold, and the golden statues scattered around the city, will give chase to the one who broke the rule.
Our mission is to explore the city, get to know its citizens and find out who is going to break the golden rule and stop them before that happens. To do so, we’ll have to complete quests and research leads, either by exploring or talking with people. There are a lot of branching paths in the stories of each character. Some, may end up with breaking the golden rule. When that happens, we’ll have to rush to the entrance of the city and travel back in time, starting the day all over again. Thankfully, our items and knowledge sticks with us, so we don’t have to repeat everything and can warn others in time.
It is quite fun to experiment with the time travel mechanic and try out different approaches to quests and dialogues. As we progress through the story, we’ll get to uncover the secrets of the city, its people and the Golden Rule.
So much to do, so much to see
The main gameplay element of The Forgotten City is walking around the environment and talking to the citizens in order to get information and help them with their requests. Mainly, the game shines for its writing and plot, providing an amazing world to explore and immerse the player. As for the gameplay itself, it is rather simple. Since it all started as a Skyrim mod, the game uses a lot of elements from said game – at least the basic controls.
As we complete quests and research leads, we’ll be granted some items that’ll be able to use on the environment, letting us reach new areas and making travelling easier. The game doesn’t shine with its combat. In certain area, we’ll have to deal with enemies in practically always the same way. It gets repetitive really fast. First and mostly, the game shines in its puzzles and dialogue system, that accompanied by its time-traveling shenanigans, ensue fun and brain teasing alike. The game has four differents endings.
A gorgeous yet compromising view
The Forgotten City looks absolutely stunning. Both the environments and characters are extremely detailed. The lightning looks realistic, with an amazing job in interiors and how the characters and items cast shadows. 3D models and textures are also pretty high quality. Nonetheless, immersion is a key feature for The Forgotten City, and its graphical capabilities make sure of that. The sound design is stellar as well, with a few yet great compositions to keep us company while we explore our surroundings. Sound effects are also good. A special mention goes to the voice acting, which is really well produced, specially considering the vast cast of characters and its archetypes.
However. All this visual flair take a stroll on the performance side of things. Despite the game looking fantastic, the frame rate can be jarring. It doesn’t matter is the game is running in 1080p or higher. In open areas, performance is at times quite annoying. The issue is not as present when in interior areas, since less of the map is loaded. Overall, these performance issues, despite being annoying, doesn’t really get in the way of enjoyment. However, it would be great to see a performance/graphics toggle for those who prefer a smoother experience. Aside from, I haven’t encountered any major issue with the game.
Conclusion
The Forgotten City is a unique game. Even back when it started a Skyrim mod, it showed how immersive it could be. Showcasing a great set of characters and a unique story regarding the relationship between humans and laws. Presentation is top-notch, with superb graphical fidelity and an amazing cast of voice acting. Despite its simplistic gameplay, the exploration, dialogues and plot are totally worth it. Perhaps not at full price, specially since it’s performance, but that’s up to you to decide.
The game is available on the Stadia Store for $19.99 USD. Also, don’t forget to check our list of all Stadia games.
The Forgotten City
Summary
With its great immersion, set of characters and engaging plot, The Forgotten City adds great value to the Stadia library. A superb exploration game with time-travelling shenanigans that will keep our interest as we explore leads and help the residents of this cursed city.
