Popular Skyrim mod The Forgotten City is breaking free of its mold as developer Modern Storyteller brings the time-loop murder mystery to Xbox One and PC as its own, standalone title in Winter of 2020.
In ancient Rome, in a secret underground city, twenty-six lost souls live in fear of the mysterious Golden Rule: “The many shall suffer for the sins of the one.” Haunted by these words, the people fall in line. For in this precarious utopia, a single sin by anyone will kill everyone.
From the developer:
Trapped in a secret underground city during the Roman Empire, twenty-six lost souls cling to life. In this precarious utopia, if one person breaks the mysterious Golden Rule, everyone dies. As a time-traveller drawn 2,000 years into the past, you’ll relive their final moments in an endless loop, exploring and interrogating, and changing the course of the day with each secret you uncover. Only by cleverly exploiting the time loop and making difficult moral choices can you hope to solve this epic mystery. Here, your decisions matter. The fate of the city is in your hands.
Leap through time and relive the final moments of the city and its people in an endless loop. Gather intel and collect items of intrigue to navigate puzzles only time travel can solve. Blaze a trail through issues of morality, modern society, and humanism. Act carefully, as every decision will change the course of the day and the fate of its people. Unravel an epic mystery en route to multiple endings.
Developer Modern Storyteller will partner with publisher Dear Villagers to expand the scope of The Forgotten City and deliver the experience the studio has envisioned since the days of its award-winning mod. Collaborating with the label behind boldly ambitious titles like Edge of Eternity and Bury me, my Love will enable Modern Storyteller to craft entirely updated visuals, a new setting and story, professionally voice-acted characters, and a stirring original soundtrack.
“From the start, I wanted The Forgotten City to be meaningful, personal, and rich with detail to reward curious, intrepid players,” said Nick Pearce, managing director and founder, Modern Storyteller. “The support of Dear Villagers has already been an incredible boon, allowing me to focus on a world and narrative more detailed than I ever imagined when working on the mod.”
Key features:
- Explore an authentic, open-world ancient Roman city brought to life with Unreal Engine
- Become entwined in the lives of richly detailed, deeply interactive characters
- Grapple with moral dilemmas which have life-and-death consequences
- Investigate a gripping, non-linear mystery with multiple endings
- Role-play as whoever you want, by choosing your own sex, race and backstory
- Solve problems your own way, with reason, charm, bribery, stealth, intimidation, or by cleverly exploiting the time-loop
The Forgotten City will release in Winter 2020 for PC and Xbox One and support English, French, German, Spanish, and Simplified Chinese, with more languages to be announced.
