The Forgotten City is an intriguing game - it began life as an incredibly popular mod for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, which had so many downloads that eventually the team at Modern Storyteller decided to adapt it into a full blown release. It arrived this Summer on pretty much every platform, though the confirmed Switch release had so far proven elusive.
Well, the good news is that it's out today on the Switch eShop, the bad news for most is that it's a Cloud Version. Though some may question why this is a cloud game when the source material - Skyrim - is native on Switch, it's worth remembering that it was adapted from those mod origins and the developer and publisher (Dear Villager) are far smaller in scale than Bethesda - that goes without saying.

If you do decide to dive in with the cloud version there is the positive that The Forgotten City is critically acclaimed, with the full game being received well by media and players alike since its arrival in the Summer. As a narrative it sounds rather intriguing in the PR blurb:
- Explore an open-world ancient Roman city with historically authentic art, architecture, costumes and customs
- Investigate a gripping, non-linear mystery with multiple endings
- Become entwined in the lives of richly detailed, deeply interactive characters
- Grapple with moral dilemmas which have life-and-death consequences
- Play as whoever you want, by choosing your character’s gender, origin and backstory
- Solve problems with reason, charm, bribery, intimidation, violence, or by cleverly exploiting the time-loop
Similar to other cloud releases on the Switch you'll be able to sample a demo to test your connection and performance, while a full purchase will cost €29,99 / $29.99USD / £24.99.
Are you tempted to pick this up?
Comments 30
Cloud versions should be free. You're not owning anything so you shouldn't owe anything.
Wait i thought normal version coming on switch not this garbage?
I'm not sure, but is this the first we heard about it being cloud based? Might be me (and it usually is)
Bummer, and I was looking forward to this game. No more!
@GrailUK I believe so, yes.
@Clarice You don't own digital downloads either, so by your logic, those should be free too. 🙄
Pro Tip: If you were really THAT excited to play games like this, why would you not buy a platform ahead of time that got these games on a regular basis and didn't get them in a severely stripped down form as is to be expected on a console like Switch
Switch should've been at the absolute bottom of your priority list if you were that excited specifically for Control, Hitman 3 or this, just saying. It's really not that viable for the AAA third party stuff compared to either of its competitors
@TheFrenchiestFry agreed. Jim sterling has multiple videos on nintendo fans having a habbit of overhyping themselves about things that are out of reach or could be avoided being overhyped for by just thinking logically.
However, seeing how this used skyrim as a basis I do think in this specific situation it wouldn’t have been far fetched to see ir expect it running on a switch nativily.
@TheFrenchiestFry
Perhaps because some don’t want to buy multiple platforms and toss around money for ridiculously expensive systems.
If it is a Cloud version, I would at least hope its very stable to play. I know the PS4 version has been heavily criticized. So considering this game no longer actually runs on Switch’s comparatively weaker hardware and I have no access to it on the go (at least not without a really good internet connection) I should at least hope not to be miffed by aspects that would otherwise come up a bit often on Switch.
This looks right up my alley, but I’ve been giving the cloud games a pass so far. I may try the tech demo, but it’s hard to put $30 on this.
well thats...dissapointing
Shame, i enjoyed the original mod and was looking forward to this but as it is cloud based i will have to pass
@EVIL-C downloaded means it's copied to the system storage. Storage that you own including the data on it. A cloud version is just streaming content for a limited time.
Not the same.
@Clarice Not true. If you actually read the fine print, one does not own the data they buy.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/blog/you-dont-own-your-digital-movies/amp/
https://www.pcmag.com/news/lawsuit-reminds-us-we-dont-own-content-purchased-on-amazon-prime-video?amp=true
https://www.playstation.com/en-us/legal/softwarelicense/
"1. GRANT OF LICENSE. The Software is licensed to you, not sold. SIE LLC grants to you a limited, non-exclusive license to use the Software for personal use on your PlayStation system."
It doesn't matter how you feel about it, this is the legal truth. Sorry.
@EVIL-C spoiler: your physical game is also a license granted to you, you do not own the software
I was excited untill I read the cloud part.
Such a shame.
@Eel exactly. However there is a big difference having the content on a physical storage. As long as you keep it private it is yours to use in the way you see fit.
That is the crucial difference.
@Eel Yes, obviously. That's not a spoiler to one who's informed. One can argue they own the case/disc/card, but not the software.
@EVIL-C The point is, that those things you mention apply to physical media as well. You see, you're kinda trying to misrepresent the nature of traditional digital download games.
Once you buy them and download them, then they're practically no different from physical games. Perhaps they have a slightly shorter "shelf life", being somewhat tied to the service that distributes them, but you should realistically have them for a long long time.
Comparing streaming to normal downloads, would be like, for example, if you bought a physical cartridge that can only be played in the demo unit at the store you bought it from (and also they could remove the demo unit at any point). Your ability to use your license is much more limited.
Not that I think streaming games should be free, or that you don't own a "license" to the game, though. It's just not that comparable to downloaded games.
I still kinda question the cloud version - it's one thing to need elaborate optimization and compromises to accommodate a newer and more gluttonous open-worlder, but when the game is indeed originally a mod of an already ported Gen 7 game and sounds like mostly a challenge of time and manpower for an understandably smaller dev [team]... wouldn't it be better to just shelf the project till better times?
Then again, it's still the devs' call - if they wanted The Forgotten City here on Switch and now and completely as-is, so be it. But I'm probably not in the market for it - none of the game's value and acclaim will be easy to experience first-hand if they're only available as a stream in the resolution our Minsk mobile internet remains borderline allergic to. Moving on, then...
@Eel I said nothing of shelf life. You're seeing something that isn't there. I never implied any of that. Don't be a dishonest actor. The original idea that a cloud version of something should be free is very silly. Netflix should be free under that logic, since that's all cloud-based movies.
@EVIL-C uh huh. Please refer to my previous comment for any further input on the matter.
@Eel No need to.
Would like to see the sales figures on these cloud versions - wouldn’t go near them and struggle to see any sort of appetite for them but someone must be desperate enough to buy them
We're not far off from physical games going the way of physical movies. That's the future.
I've been checking just about every day for news on the Switch release of this game - can't say I'm not disappointed it's just the cloud version. Is it a really demanding game?
I still have plenty of games I haven't played, so it's not a high priority, but if it comes to Game Pass later down the road, I'll be sure check it out then, the Skyrim mod was loads of fun.
Really hoping other Switch anticipated releases like Kingdom Come: Deliverance don't end up being cloud-only also. I just like playing portable mode in airplane mode to save battery life, that's really all it is. I want to be able to play the game whenever I want regardless of if I have wi-fi or not.
I actually noted this down during some indie E3 presentation but was lamenting it wasn't for a console I own. Look how the turn tables!
Urghhhhhhhh cloud version. Just stick it on a cart and charge and extra fiver. I’ll happily pay. Defeats the point of having it portable if you need a constant broadband connection
First cloud version game I’ll probably never support as it doesn’t seem too graphically intensive for the Switch as it runs on Unreal Engine; was probably a time pressed issue, but would rather either have it get canned, delayed, or maybe the cloud release with a potential native port in the future.
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