The Forgotten Cities Review: Every Level is Worth Remembering
Most of us know the story about ancient Rome, and we all know Julius Caesar. Some are obsessed with the story, along with other stories from world history. Now, developers are using these themes to make exceptional video games for people to enjoy. You’ll find many action games inspired by ancient cities, like Rome, Greece, and other places worldwide.
Most games inspired by Greek or Rome mythologies or anything related to these eras make good action games. However, most of the time, these are brutal. Games focus on full combat, which is others enjoy playing, especially if you’re into fighting games.
On another note, other games related to Greek or Rome don’t focus on combat. If you’re searching for a new action game to play on your breaks, you should check out this game by Dear Villagers and Modern Storyteller. It’s not only about fighting but more about investigating and finding clues. According to most games, here’s the Forgotten Cities review if you’re curious to know why this video game is one of the top action games.
Game Information
- Released Date: July 28, 2021
- Publisher: Dear Villagers
- Developers: Modern Storyteller
- Genre: Adventure role-playing
- Console: PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Story
The Forgotten Cities is about exploring the existential relationship between laws and humanity. The story started when the protagonist saved a woman who floated in a river, and her name was Karen. The river was in Tibet, and she told the rescuers to look for Al Worth, her friend who also disappeared while exploring some ruins. The player will explore the ruins until they reach the Roman Empire era, a restored city.
The player continues to explore the city, which the gods protect, and if you sin while being in the city, you will be facing the consequences like others equally. Those who commit a crime will turn into gold, known as the Dwarves’ Law or the Golden Rule. \
While exploring the game, you’ll stumble on gold status, portraying past residents and inhabitants. You can hear the whispers as you pass by this status. Moreover, particular sins under the Golden Rule criteria are not clear to other residents, so there are some contradictions. You have to re-enter the gateway where you began to revive the time loop if the city enacted the Golden Rule. It will let you keep both mental and physical objects like information and important items.
The developer based the story on its original story in 2017, but there are multiple endings added.
Gameplay
This game is a role-playing adventure game, and it’s a narrative puzzle game as well. The game initially began as a Skyrim mod, which utilizes the decimation principle.
In line with the game, before Julius Caesar ruled ancient Rome, Marcus Crassus led the empire of Rome, and he was a wealthy man. He revived decimation, which is controlling the army by grueling the collective for dissidents’ actions. He divided the soldier into ten groups, and each group should draw stones. If you are unable to draw a white one, the remaining nine will beat you to death.
The game follows the Golden Rule. A god who is viewing over the community looms to make everybody into gold if they commit sins. As you play the game, you’ll teleport back during the ancient city’s time. You’ll encounter fizzy politics and passive-aggressive personalities. During the game, only the magistrate is aware of who you are, tasking you through the infinite time loop until you figure out who can break the Golden Rule and how to sop those people who break the rule.
The challenge of this game is for you to be familiar with the city, the inhabitants and decrypt who might be the person who will start the apocalypse. Every loop will give you the chance to learn more about these cities until you figure out who you need to stop.
Features
The Forgotten Cities video game is what you should be playing if you’re up for a challenge. It’s not your typical adventure game that needs a lot of action because it’s more like a puzzle game. It is the best game if you’re into challenges because you’ll have to pay close attention to everything before the loop restarts. You’ll play with a little of time-pressure, but you’ll pay more attention to the game as you continue playing it.
The graphics of the games are also impressive. Since it uses the Ancient Rome era, the developer focuses on the detailed design of the architecture since Rome is very famous for its buildings. The surrounding still has a 3D vibe, which makes the game more interesting. It doesn’t follow a vintage graphic, which is why gamers are having a good time as they explore the city, searching for the one who might cause the problem.
This game is mostly dialogue than combat because it’s as if you’re investigating in the city. The dialogue prompt is readable, and you can understand the character well. It’s crucial because you’ll match stories until you figure out whether the person you’re talking to is the enemy or not. The story is witty, and linking one story to another is not a hassle because the dialogues are not loaded with many texts. You can read and understand the story well, and that’s another good thing about this game.
Investigating everything in the city is the most fun activity of the game. If you’re easily distracted, you might have a hard time finishing the game the soonest. On the other hand, if you love investigating cases, you’ll enjoy roaming around the city, finding clues, and judging characters.
Despite the little time pressure you might feel, the game still has an exceptional pace. You have a reasonable time to investigate and link stories before the start of the loop. It’s the reason why you need to focus on playing the game since it’s not only about fighting or killing someone. It focuses on the greater good, finding the person who might sabotage every innocent in the city.
The game’s progression is exceptional, letting you feel much fulfilled once you’re able to understand the game further every after the loop. You’ll feel how your hard work pays off every time you get handy clues or figure out after reading some dialogues or meeting other people. Others may find it boring, but this game’s beauty is in its gameplay, not the graphics or combat system.
Lastly, there are multiple endings for this game. Unlike typical games with only one end, the way you play it will derive from the ending it deserves. It’s very exciting because you’ll never find out how it will end while you play since you focus on the investigation and clues. The game stays exciting, even at the end, which is something to look forward to.
Conclusion
This video game received satisfying feedback from gamers. It’s not the typical action-adventure game the focuses on brutal combat. You’ll find it boring at first if you’re used to playing combat-style games, but the moment you start unveiling clues and start investigating who the real enemy is.
Some of the best features of the game include the graphics, storyline, and difficulty level.
The graphic designs are impressive, from architecture to the character. The graphics team did everything to make this game look very appealing as you uncover clues. Regardless if you’re using your Nintendo, PC, PlayStation or Xbox, the graphics are high-quality. Moreover, the dialogues look better with quality graphics, letting you read the texts without any hassle.
The game’s storyline is also impressive, especially the part where you have to reset the loop. It pushes you to pay close attention to the game, checking all clues available, and observing people and the area well. You can enhance your skills in observing or investigating through this game, which is why it’s dual-purpose. If you’re not into combat, the dialogues may bore you, but if you’re into mind games, you’ll undoubtedly love this game.
Lastly, the difficulty level is manageable. It’s not difficult in a way that there’s no brutal combat necessary. However, it’s challenging in a way that you’ll have to solve mysteries or puzzles to finish the game. While you’re playing the game, you would think less of the ending because you have to play the entire game at the right pacing, or you’ll lose your concentration.
One area that developers should improve is the action sequences. Other games don’t find these too engaging as they play the whole game.
If you want to experience a new game aside from solely action games, the Forgotten Cities video game is what you should check. This action and puzzle game is interesting because you’ll yearn to figure out more clues as you continue playing the game and find out who’s the person who might put everyone in the city in danger. If you want to work on your observing skills, you should give this video game a try.
