Years ago, when I first was getting started in the world of video game journalism, there were few connections available to me and I had to find some of my own. Somehow, I stumbled upon a trailer for a mod for Skyrim and thought it looked really cool, so I messaged the creator and told him as much. A few months later, I was sent a build of the mod; I loaded it up and spent a sleepless night going through its narrative only to be absolutely blown away at the end. That mod was The Forgotten City and it is now being transformed into a full game.
http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsnshS-_xoQ&t=5s
The game, which is going by the same title as that award-winning mod, will be releasing sometime next year and was revealed at E3 this year. Of course, rather than taking place in the Elder Scrolls world, there is more of a focus on Roman history with fresh story elements, new gameplay, and more. There is also going to be an orchestral soundtrack to complement this time-traveling mystery.
The original mod definitely took some out-of-the-box thinking and I remember one puzzle in particular that I had to look up. At the time, it was just a matter of fiddling with the weird confines of Skyrim, but the entire game revolved around knowing the characters and trying to save them all from tragedy. Failure resulted in a time loop and there were some genuinely incredible moments where it all fell together.
Hopefully, this full version of the story will have that same expertise and I can only hope that this takes the idea and expands it to an amazing degree.
From the press release, “When designing The Forgotten City, I wanted to respect players’ intelligence and grant them autonomy in solving the mystery,” said Nick Pearce, writer and creative director, Modern Storyteller. “Mind-bending time loops, fully realized NPCs with interwoven lives, and themes rarely touched by games set The Forgotten City apart from other narrative adventures.”
Of course, with the abundance of games being shown off at E3, it was easy to miss The Forgotten City and honestly, I would have too had I not gotten a press release on it. For those looking for a story created by a hailed author, keep an eye out for The Forgotten City; it already has a Steam page, so it can be added to the wishlist. For now, there only seems to be plans for a PC version at the humble price of twenty dollars.
For more information, keep an eye on the official website.
