Note: Minor early-game spoilers feature in this review, so if you want to go in totally blind, skip down to the conclusion.
Let's get the elephant in the room out of here before we begin. At this point in the year, the "Cloud Version" suffix is nothing new — and neither are the criticisms. The Forgotten City is a seriously brilliant little time loop narrative game, but there are always going to be the same big provisos: you need a strong internet connection to play this, and despite costing the same as the PC version, there's no guarantee how long you'll have access before the servers are shut down.
Even with a good internet connection, The Forgotten City has a couple of "seamless" loading screens that freeze the action and the momentum for a few seconds, and most annoyingly, if you leave the game running for three minutes (say, to go to the bathroom, or grab a drink) it'll boot you back to the start screen without saving. You'll never lose too much progress, but it's irritating all the same.
However, with the usual Cloud Version caveats out of the way, now we can get to the heart of this review: The Forgotten City is absolutely worth your time, especially if you're a fan of time loop games like The Sexy Brutale and Outer Wilds, intricately woven narratives, and/or ancient history.
The Forgotten City has all of them, you see. You, a modern-day person (you get to pick your name and your "body type", which is to say your gender as expressed by your hands and pronouns) get teleported back to 65AD, to a small Roman town that's under some kind of curse.
If any one person breaks "The Golden Rule", everyone in the town will instantly be turned into a gold statue — a fact backed up by the gold statues scattered throughout the homes and streets, and the warnings they somehow had the time to carve before getting transformed. The inhabitants don't exactly know what "The Golden Rule" is, though, so they're living in fear, hedging their bets, and trying not to commit any sins. But it's only a matter of time before someone breaks it, accidentally or not.
And guess what? It's a video game, so it's YOUR problem to solve. A quick meeting with the Magistrate, who's basically the Mayor of this town of 20 people, tells you all you need to know to get started: Someone is about to break the Golden Rule. You need to find out who, and stop them.
Thus begins the story, but the twists don't stop there. You probably won't be too surprised to know that everyone in town has secrets bubbling beneath their outwardly-friendly exterior, and like all time loop games, there are plenty of domino effect choices you can make, and overarching mysteries to solve.
Where The Forgotten City sets itself apart from other time loop games is in its well-judged size. Twelve Minutes was too small and too repetitive, turning the time loop mechanic into a chore; Outer Wilds is brilliant but sometimes overwhelming with its solar system-sized world. It's hard to give a time loop game the right amount of scope, and to walk the line between exhaustingly large and restrictively small.
The Forgotten City, on the other hand, has plenty of nooks and crannies to explore, but it's contained to a single, small town with only 20-ish inhabitants, and it has exactly the right amount of stuff to do, as well as a neat system for repeating your previous successes without having to repeat them exactly. It doesn't overstay its welcome, because you'll be able to complete the game in around eight or so loops (maybe a few more, if you're a completionist), which is just the right amount that you never feel overfamiliar with the re-trodden territory. It's a 6-8 hour game, making it perfect to play over a few evenings or a weekend.
The other thing that The Forgotten City does a little differently is piggybacking on someone else's game. It began life as a Skyrim mod, making history as the first ever mod to win a Writers' Guild award for its script — and it's not hard to see why. It's remarkably well-written, with a cast of voice actors that do a damn fine job of bringing the characters to life, with plenty of personality and a range of accents to represent their different backgrounds. (Also, be aware that there are some pretty creepy moments, if you're sensitive to jump scares — only a couple, but enough to make you anxious.)
But, uh, you've played Skyrim, right? Let's just say it's... loveably janky, to the point where it's spawned plenty of memey recreations in which people loudly have conversations with themselves while walking, and randomly accuse you of crimes because you accidentally picked up a carrot.
Good news: The Forgotten City maintains a lot of this charming jank, albeit to a lesser, more bearable extent. The facial animations are occasionally subtle and expressive, but just a smidge closer to "meat puppet" than "human mouth and eyes". Occasionally, a character will say something weird for no reason, or stare at you for a long, awkward moment before beginning their dialogue. And yes, you can scale hills by jumping a lot. But it doesn't matter — if anything, it makes the game so much better, because it almost feels like you're playing Skyrim for the first time.
And hey, the story gets more than a little goofy in places (including some incredible moments of self-aware humour), and you'll have moments of extreme exposition dump, but all that's part of what make it utterly, utterly wonderful to play. There are plenty of reasons this game was elevated from Skyrim mod to fully-fledged release, and we really think you should find them out for yourself.
And this cloud version delivers the experience admirably, albeit with the aforementioned issues that crop up with any 'Cloud Version' Switch game. It's pretty, but it'll be prettier on PC; it runs well on a stable internet connection, but it's definitely nice not to have to worry about something you can't control. And we have to admit, there's something uncomfortable about knowing you paid twenty or thirty bucks for a game that might well be unplayable in who-knows-how-many years.
If you don't mind the caveats, though, The Forgotten City is so, so good.
Conclusion
The Forgotten City is a brilliant piece of narrative work that feels like a time capsule of Skyrim's jank, revitalised with a gripping story that's just long enough that it never loses momentum. It is, as always, hard to fully recommend a Cloud Version of a game that's available elsewhere in a more concrete form, but if you're accepting of the associated 'risks', this is a well-presented and brilliant time loop game and well worth a play.
Comments 29
This one is really really good. Go in blind if you can and yeah, it’s a cloud game but it’s worth experiencing regardless of system.
Would have gotten this if it wasn't cloud based.
Appreciate the disclaimer at the top. Been going back and forth on whether to get this, having been avoiding cloud versions so far, but this may be my first.
As an avid player of Game Pass cloud, Amazon Luna, PS Now, and Stadia... I suppose I've gotten comfortable with the "cloud." I've taken to buying physical if I want to collect, or in some cases for ease of play. For example, we have 2 3DS systems, and given how Nintendo restricts accounts it is much better to buy physical carts.
I'll check the PC version to see if my modest laptop can handle it (with all the Skyrim comparisons, I imagine I should be able to). But I wouldn't be adverse to the cloud option. I mean, if this popped up in Game Pass, I'd just fire it up. And I'd probably buy it on Stadia if that was an option.
Is worth noting, for anyone curious who has access to Skyrim outside of the Switch - the mod version of the game is still available for Skyrim. There are differences, of course. And more features to the independent game.
Removed - inappropriate; user is banned
Removed - offensive remarks; user is banned
I’ve been meaning to buy the ps5 version. Shame it doesn’t run natively on the switch otherwise I might’ve gone for that version.
Honestly, I really recommend this game for anyone that’ll give it a chance. While I played it on PS5, if this is your only option, do it! I wholeheartedly agree with the 9/10 score. It’s one of the absolute best games this year, easily. I go back on forth between it and Resident Evil Village for what is my GotY right now (and they’re very different games). Give it a chance. Try something new. The narrative is among the best in gaming, in my opinion.
Hmm, I'm back to playing skyrim again (need to remember some plot points) so this might be fun as a side romp. The Isekai aspect is a little off putting but knowing it going in may make it more bearable.
@Zuljaras I’d wager that the rest of the NLife staff absolutely wholeheartedly support the writers you’re describing as ‘zealots’. They were interviewed and hired after all and every article will go through an editor. Stop trying to insinuate that it’s some sort of faction of writers going off on one.
@Zuljaras And I know your position on these things. The problem is, when you sign up to this site, there are community rules which very clearly state this site’s position. They are not obligated to host anything. I suggest you read up on the rules.
@nessisonett You know what. You are absolutely right!
I have deleted my comments and I will no longer post in articles of certain writers to avoid further unpleasant things.
The only thing I wish to change is to not ban users for 2 posts (total of all their posts here) that had ZERO foul words, insults etc. And this only happened under certain articles.
The cloud games on Switch are actually not all that bad. I've played both Control and Hitman 3 on Switch and found both very fun. While I still prefer physical or digital versions of games, having the cloud as an option to bring over some of the more intensive games is not a bad option.
For a second I thought Switch Skyrim was getting mods. Whoops.
Another switch version competing with stadia. I wonder how many years these will remain playable. They will probably be taken down long before the switch eshop
People called Romanes, they go the house?
I appreciate the review and I'm sure it's a great story but a full priced cloud game getting a 9 is plain wrong.
Before the internet this type of media consumption was known as 'rental' and cost less than 10% of the purchase price of a physical game.
It’s a Skyrim mod (looks like it) but can’t be supported on the Switch, like Skyrim?
I really want this portable. But $30 for a cloud only copy is absurd to me. I have no long term guarantee of access. Can I go back and play this in 2 years? 5? 10?
I am a Game Pass fan. But I'm not buying those games, I'm subbing to a service
@VoodooTrumpet It's heavily based on the original Skyrim mod by the same creators, but it uses a different engine (Skyrim used Creation, The Forgotten City uses Unreal).
Why isn't there an option to rent it, since it will never be yours? I might consider renting, if the price was reasonable.
The review has me convinced actually. Thank you for the review. Will wait for a discount though
The game sounds absolutely intriguing, but cloud version always gets me. Although control ran really smooth during the demo for me. Love that game
When I see a Roman centurion and a name like "The Forgotten City", I think Pius Augustus in Ehn'gha. So whatever it really is is kind of disappointing. Looks like something nice though, but cloud is a no. Even IF I wanted to, my internet connection isn't remotely stable enough.
Cloud again. This is a easy PASS for me.
@Deerock69 That is how Capcom tried with REVII Cloud Version in Japan and you know how that turned out there
Skyrim jank is lovable? No wonder they don't bother bug testing those games, lol. The players' standards are so low.
Tried the demo and it was too short to actually get me engaged. Will probably wait till Epic Store gives it as a freebie and might play it then.
I just beat it, I enjoyed it… however it’s not a 9/10. It’s slightly above average… 6/10. It really can’t live past the jank that comes from starting out as a Skyrim mod. It needs its own engine.
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