The Forgotten City has gone from being a mod for The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim to a standalone game. It was one of the most popular mods for Bethesda's RPG, a creation that was loved by fans and critics alike, even winning the Australian Writers Guild award.
The Forgotten City does share some similarities with the mod, but the creators have added some things to make it more amazing. From choosing the player character’s background to carefully choosing dialogue, it helps make the game different and stand out from the Skyrim mod.
Updated on January 14, 2022, by Sarah Prado: The Forgotten City has plenty of elements that came from the Skyrim mod but has managed to make it original in a lot of other elements. From adding mythology to expanding the city and making the NPCs very unique. The Forgotten City has managed to become a successful game on its own while still paying homage to the mod that made it possible. Even if players aren't fans of Skyrim, The Forgotten City is worth checking out and did some things better than the mod.
10 Mythology Plays A Huge Part
For anyone that loves mythology, this game provides plenty of it in its story. Front and center is Roman mythology and architecture. Almost all of the characters in The Forgotten City are Roman with a few being Greek or Egyptian. Digging deeper for clues shows how the mythologies of Rome, Greece, Egypt, and Sumer/Mesopotamia are connected to each other. Even for those who don't know much about mythology, the game does take a little time to explain some of the gods and other myth figures that are mentioned.
The Skyrim mod didn't use the Nine Divines or Daedric Princes but used the Dwemer race in place of the mythology figures. Considering the Dwemer are gone and considered almost myth-like figures in present-day Tamriel, they fit the role perfectly.
9 Dialogue Select Is A Lot Trickier
In the Skyrim mod, dialogue choices were pretty straightforward and it was overall easy to know what to pick as the right choice. It didn't really feel tricky when picking a choice and players could breathe easily without worrying too much about screwing up. Overall, it's pretty hard to mess up unless players opt to purposely screw up.
However, in The Forgotten City, picking the right dialogue is a lot trickier. Just when the right choice is seemingly made, the character the player is talking to can turn on them. It takes the saying “Think before you speak.” to a whole new level.
8 Choose Your Character’s Background
When starting The Forgotten City, players can choose what kind of background their characters will have. Choosing one will determine what the character will have throughout their journey. Each option will determine what item they will be given at the beginning of the game and if they have any special abilities. Regardless of their background, they will be given a flashlight. At the end of the game, if the right options are chosen, the player will learn the truth about Karen, the first character encountered, and themselves.
The mod doesn't allow players to select their background so they'll only be known as the Dovahkiin no matter what. The Arbiter doesn't mention any other titles that the player might have like the Arch-Mage or Harbinger. He'll only refer to the Dragonborn as Dovahkiin and mention how they steal the souls of dragons.
7 Politics Play A Key Part
The Forgotten City has many quests in the game, but there is one thing these storylines revolve around: politics. At the start, Magistrate Sentius and his rival Malleolus are set to hold a vote to see who will rule over the city. The player can either help Sentius stay as the ruler or aid Galerius.
Helping Galerius become magistrate is the toughest one to get, but it does unlock the canon ending. If the player does nothing to get Galerius or Sentius voted, Malleolus becomes magistrate and players will have to go through the time loop again.
Skyrim's mod didn't have any politics involved, but there are similarities with The Forgotten City game. Many of the NPCs aren't really happy with Jarl Metellus ruling over the city and it's obvious he shows favoritism to certain NPCs.
6 Someone Is Always Watching
Gold Statues decorate the streets, buildings, and even inside the houses and rooms. If it feels like the statues are always staring at the player characters, it’s because they are. Most of the statues will turn their heads to look at the player as they run through the city. Whoever is in charge of keeping the Golden Rule in place is watching very carefully to make sure no one breaks it.
Instead of statues, there are Dwarven busts that are in just about every room in The Forgotten City mod. Even the Dwarven Centurions are watching even if it appears they're just standing along the street.
5 More Area To Explore
The Skyrim mod is pretty big, but The Forgotten City game is a bit larger. If players manage to find the underground ruins, it’s almost a whole other city to explore. Plus, there are traps in it that can be triggered. The locked palace is also pretty huge, with many rooms to explore while fighting off Peeled Golden Statues. To get the canon ending, players will have to explore every inch to find clues.
The areas in the mod are big, but even the palace and underground seem pretty small when compared to the game. It's not too surprising considering that it's a mod meant to add a quest and not a whole game.
4 Some Of The Characters Have A Questionable Moral Compass
Overall, most of the characters in the Skyrim mod seem morally good. However, it’s a little different in The Forgotten City. Quite a few of the characters – Desius, Malleolus, Aurelia, and a few others – seem to lack a good moral compass or are just flat-out rude. Desius price gauges an antidote needed to cure a woman and doesn’t care about the consequences. Malleolus has two people indebted to him and they don’t have the money to pay him back.
Most of the characters aren’t bad people, but the few who are bad make helping them out tough. Even when calling them out on their behavior, they feel little to no remorse. The NPCs in the Skyrim mod are overall good and are polite to the player character with just a few bad apples. Compared to The Forgotten City NPCs, even those bad NPCs in the mod look and sound pretty polite.
3 No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
Doing the right choice should be easy, but the game proves that doing a good thing can still end badly. Helping some characters out might be beneficial for them, but it could have consequences when helping or talking to others later. Helping Galerius become the magistrate is a huge reward, but there are severe consequences for this later.
The mod is pretty easy when it comes to making the right decision. Making the right choice doesn't have any severe consequences when compared to The Forgotten City choices.
2 The Truth Of The Golden Statues Is Pretty Grim
The mod for Skyrim did have some dark undertones to it, but The Forgotten City kicks this up a notch by adding a little horror. The locked palace in the game is an area filled with Peeled Golden Statues. These statues look like they’ve been skinned alive and attack the player on sight. The player will eventually run into Naevia, a citizen of the city that locked herself inside. It turns out that Naevia has been experimenting on the statues in order to revive one that she named “Galatea.” However, her experiments reveal that all of the Golden Statues are alive and can feel what she's doing to them.
The overall story of the Skyrim mod came off more like a mystery thriller quest, but the enemies in it weren't as terrifying as the Peeled Golden Statues. Especially when the Statues run at the player it looks like something out of a horror game.
1 Philosophy And Talking Is The Name Of The Game
The whole game is about not choosing violence as the answer. If players want to get the canon ending, exploring every inch is required along with talking and helping everyone. One character the player can run into is the man known as "The Hermit Philosopher," and he simply wants to talk. To move on in the quest, players engage in a conversation with him and exchange philosophies. Near the end of the game, talking to Pluto is the key. Making him see the error of his ways and choosing to talk it out is the best ending to get.
Choosing violence is another way to get things done in both the mod and game, but it would mean having to go through the time loop a lot. The Skyrim mod doesn't delve deep into philosophy like the game and talking to NPCs is pretty straightforward and doesn't require deep thinking.
The Forgotten City was released on July 28, 2021, and is available on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch.