I’m a sucker for time loop games, with The Outer Wilds, Minit, Deathloop, and 12 Minutes all springing to mind. Plus, I’m a big fan of detective games like Return of the Obra Dinn or Shadows of Doubt.
So when I heard tell of The Forgotten City, a former Skyrim mod turned a fully-fledged game that falls right in the middle of the detective/time-loop Venn diagram, I was keen to see what all the fuss was about.
I’m glad I did, as this game is a wonderful narrative adventure, with superb writing. So much so that after you complete the game, you’ll likely go back an additional three times to see all the alternate endings.
However, working out how to trigger these endings can be tough. So, in this guide, we aim to showcase all the solutions, and help you see all The Forgotten City Endings for yourself. Here is Indie Game Culture’s The Forgotten City All Endings Guide.
TL;Dr – Quick Solutions
Ending One: The Many Shall Suffer
- Confront Magistrate Sentius.
- Eliminate Sentius with a bow or gun
Ending Two: The One That Got Away
- Free Sentilla from her imprisonment.
- Engage in a conversation with Sentius to reveal his intentions.
- Allow Sentilla to take revenge by killing her father.
Ending Three: The Ones That Got Away
- Free Sentilla from the upper cistern.
- Inform Galerius about the impending doom caused by the Golden Rule.
- Convince Galerius to gather citizens in the upper cistern.
- After Galerius fulfills his role, release Sentilla.
Ending Four: The Canon Ending
- Collect Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and Sumerian plaques.
- Bring plaques to the Great Temple and place them on the obelisk.
- Engage in a persuasive conversation with the Lord of the Underworld.
- Choose to threaten or philosophize.
- Successfully persuade the Lord to abolish the Golden Rule.
Ending One: The Many Shall Suffer
Requirements: Gun or Bow
While all the other endings will take a while to piece together by putting all the pieces of this narrative puzzle in place, this ‘Bad Ending’ can be unlocked pretty much immediately.
The important thing here is that you’ll need to pick the ‘Gun’ offering from Charon before entering the city, otherwise, you’ll need to acquire a bow, which will take a little longer.
Assuming you have a gun, head straight to The Magistrate’s home, and he will go through the usual introductions, explaining the time paradox situation to you.
After this conversation concludes, if you point your gun at him, he will warn you that shooting him would doom everyone in this city, cause a time paradox, and indeed doom you as well, ensuring you meet the same fate as Al Worth, who you found hanging from a noose at the beginning of the game.
This ending concludes with you meeting Al and informing him of his fate. This ending will leave a pretty sour taste, but it’s best to get it out of the way early.
Ending Two: The One That Got Away
Requirements: Golden Bow or Upper Cistern Key
From a bitter ending to something more bitter-sweet. This ending will require the player to enter the Upper Cistern and free Sentila from imprisonment.
You see, the Magistrate had her locked in chains because she became a bit of a liability. The upper Cistern is locked, and there are two ways to gain access. You can go through the trials and tribulations of campaigning for Galerius to get elected, thus freeing Duli and getting his key to the Upper Cistern.
Or alternatively, as it is much quicker, you can get your hands on the Golden Bow. This is done by first killing The Assassin that enters the city via The Baths, and then using his bow, you can start a quest with Desius that will have you trade the standard Bow for the Statue of Diana’s Golden Bow in Diana’s Temple all Indiana Jones style.
After you acquire this bow, you can use it to grow the vines in the Lower Cistern, allowing you to climb up to where Sentila is being held.
Have a conversation with her and agree to free her. At this point, The Magistrate Sentius will arrive on the scene. You need to use this conversation to persuade him to tell you all about his dastardly plan, and while you keep him taking, Sentila will sneak up on her father, killing him and allowing you and Sentila to get away, leaving the rest of those in the city to die.
It’s not exactly a happy ending, and you’ll be riddled with guilt for the rest of your days, but at least someone survived.
Ending Three: The Ones That Got Away
Requirements: Golden Bow or Upper Cistern Key
You won’t have to do much different to ensure that you unlock the third possible ending if you’ve already managed to unlock the One That Got Away Ending.
The only difference here is that you will need to discover Sentilla in the Upper Cistern, and instead of immediately freeing her, you will need to bide your time. You’ll need to head back into the city, find Galerius, and tell him everything you know.
This will then ensure that when you return, and free Sentilla, Galerius will have a group of people ready to rush out of the city through the portal. Sadly, many of the city’s inhabitants will still die, but in this reality, Sentilla, Octavia, Lucretia, Horatius, and Equitia all survive.
Ending Four: The Canon Ending
Requirements: All Four Plaques
Now, this one, you will have to work for, as there are a lot of moving parts to the Canon Ending. To unlock this ending you will need to find all four of the Plaques that can be placed in a pillar at the top of the city to open the Great Temple. Here is a simplified rundown of how to get your hands on each:
- Roman Plaque: Explore the caves behind the Marketplace and use a Golden Bow to grow vines to enter a Shrine containing the Roman Plaque
- The Greek Plaque: To get the Greek Plaque from Duli’s cell, you will need to have Galerius elected by having Malleolus withdraw, and then campaign for votes to help him beat Sentius.
- The Egyptian Plaque: Complete ‘The Common Thread’ and then enter the secret passage in the Temple of Demeter. After talking with the Philosopher, use his Catacombs Key and meet Khabash. Ask him if you can have the Egyptian Plaque, and he will happily hand it over
- The Sumerian Plague: Khabash also has the Sumerian/Mystery Plaque. He aims to destroy it, so when the conversation concludes, jump down the hole he threw the Plaque and retrieve it. Then, you’ll have to fight your way back up to the city again.
This will then allow you to enter the Great Temple, where you will encounter ‘The God of the Underworld.’ He will inform you that he has been the one enforcing the Golden Rule, and gives the player an understanding of the many generations of city residents who failed to live without sin.
You can use your cunning and speechcraft to convince him to lift the Golden Rule and have him release everyone. Or, you can use your time-traveling abilities to kill Proserpina, take her crown, and ensure him you will kill her over and over again unless he ends the madness.
This then triggers a wonderful end scene after your run-in with Al Worth and Kharon, where you encounter each character in the real world and essentially get a ‘Where are they now’ of their lives. It’s a wonderful ending, especially if you took the time to save absolutely everyone.
Time Loop Broken
So there you have it, every alternative ending in The Forgotten City explained. While I highly recommend that your first playthrough is one that is done from start to finish with no guides.
I hope that this article allows you to mop up the other endings and their associated achievements. As always, thanks for reading Indie Game Culture.
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