The Aggie Awards – The Best Adventure Games of 2021 page 17
Best Adventure of 2021: The Forgotten City
Everyone loves an underdog story. From its humble beginnings as a 2015 mod for Bethesda’s acclaimed RPG The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, surely no one would have predicted that six years later its overhauled commercial revamp would be the Aggie Award winner for top adventure game of the year. But in The Forgotten City, indie developer Modern Storyteller did so much more than put on a new coat of paint to cash in on the popularity of its freeware predecessor. This clever, thoroughly engaging time-looping mystery offers a gripping story, great writing, smart puzzles, an atmospheric musical score, a beautiful and historically accurate ancient Roman city to explore, and a charming cast backed by terrific voice acting. What’s not to like?
But even that’s not all. You’ll come to care about the twenty-three citizens trapped in this city, doomed to be turned to gold before the day resets if anyone commits a sin. You’re here to prevent that from happening this time, but failure is inevitable. Fortunately you – and you alone – retain your memories (and inventory) at the start of each day, and making strategic use of the time loop becomes essential to figuring out who or what is to blame. There’s a bit of light platforming and other action elements at times, but this is no action game – it’s an old-school detective whodunit (or rather, whogonnadoit) at its core, to be resolved through exploration, investigation and dialogue. As an added bonus, you can ask your host Galerius to perform tasks you’ve already completed in previous time loops on your behalf, and if you need a hint on where to go next, a visible trail will highlight the way to your next objective.
There’s a real thrill in playing with fate as you try to solve the mystery of the “Golden Rule” curse and break the tragic cycle, but what will stick with you after you’ve reached the best of four possible endings are the questions the game raises about morality, authority, and punishment in a society. The game poses thought-provoking questions with no easy answers, and is all the more impactful for it. If such themes make the experience sound heavy, rest assured they’re just another intriguing layer in an already memorable, twisty adventure that will leave you lost in thought after the credits roll – and probably inspire you to load a save or start all over to play optional side quests and find out what you may have missed. If you haven’t yet picked up Adventure Gamers’ choice for Best Adventure of 2021, there’s still time to make it right – it’d practically be a sin not to.
Runners-Up:
The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles
Mutropolis
Chicory: A Colorful Tale
The Darkside Detective: A Fumble in the Dark
Readers’ Choice: The Darkside Detective: A Fumble in the Dark
What distinguishes the Darkside Detective sequel from the many other enjoyable adventure games released in 2021 is its constant supply of laughs and deluge of uniquely zany situations. Detective McQueen and Officer Dooley face off against the Darkside, an otherworldly dimension sending forth tricky snares, sinister varmints, and terrifyingly boffo clowns. What to do with a group of gremlins in a garbage dump? How to somehow defeat a giant fiendish wrestler? What do you do when the Afterlife is broken, tied up in red tape so souls can’t progress? Figuring it all out provides a healthy amount of adventuring fun, though the difficulty is never so punishing as to ruin the whimsical, pun-filled atmosphere. Clever wordplay is a constant delight, and the blocky, richly colourful graphics set the stage for an insanely farcical experience: Officer Dooley in a child’s druid robe; Nikola Tesla’s ghost bobbing around his death ray machine; Charles Dickens as the Grim Reaper; Detective McQueen, a mannequin and a ghastly flaming fountain. The hilarity never stops (and continues not to stop with all-new DLC cases still emerging), and it all adds up to our readers crowning A Fumble in the Dark the year’s Best Adventure.
Runners-Up:
Strangeland
The Forgotten City
Chicory: A Colorful Tale
The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles
And so ends another great year of Aggie Awards!
Thanks again to the many developers for their fine work that brought so much joy throughout the year, as well as all those who participated in our reader poll, and of course our wonderful Patreon backers for their input and invaluable support.
With 2021 now firmly behind us, and 2022 showing no signs of slowing down, we turn our attention back to the present and what lies ahead. We wish continued good health and happy gaming to all, so we can meet back here to do it all again next year.
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