Time-loop Murder Mystery The Ancient City Takes You Back To Ancient Rome

I love horror stories that take place in weird time periods. I’ve had enough of Victorian England or spooky medical facilities. Did they not have ghosts back in the Middle Ages? Isn’t that where all this superstition comes from anyways? I want to see a game about a vampire hunter from the 1400’s who just has to juggle his job with the locals thinking he’s a warlock sent from hell. There’s literally all of history to play with. just make whatever.

So when a game like The Forgotten City comes along, I try to take note. From the developer Modern Storyteller, The Forgotten City tells a tale of murder and morality in ancient Rome. In the heart of a secret underground city, twenty-six inhabitants live in fear of one thing: The Golden Rule. A decree from some divine source, it dictates that if anyone commits a single sin, everyone dies. The inhabitants fall in line, not wanting to doom everyone. As an explorer from the future, we can tell this didn’t work out great. Unless all those skeletons and people made of gold are just having a fantastic time.

As an explorer from the future, you’re transported back to the city in its final day. Stuck in an endless loop, you’ll interact with the residents and do your best to uncover the mystery. Every decision you make will change the course of events, and hopefully save the city from its dire fate. Most of the gameplay seems to come from dialogue choices and puzzles, but The Forgotten City will also require you to utilize the time loop to gather information or solve puzzles.

If this all sounds a lot like that The Forgotten City Skyrim mod you played, then you’re on the right track. Developer Modern Storyteller are the guys that made that mod. It’s always cool to see modders getting the chance to make their own game. Indie games are notoriously hard to make money off of, and mods are a damn near impossible. You can’t actually sell the mod, so unless you’re running a live service mod with its own Patreon, chances are you’re never seeing a dime. Modders can sometimes get jobs within bigger companies, but it’s extremely rare for a mod to be developed into a full game. Luckily, Modern Storyteller was able to partner with publisher Dear Villages to bring us the full version of The Forgotten City.

All said, there’s a lot of reason to support The Forgotten City. Maybe you like indie narrative games. Maybe you want to support modders living their dreams. Maybe you want to see a game taking place in ancient Rome. Whatever your reason, you can pickup The Forgotten City at some point during Winter 2020. It’s a ways off, but in the meantime you can check out the original mode for Skyrim here. The Forgotten City is coming to Xbox One and PC, and you can wishlist the game on Steam here.