The Lost City isn't as bad as I remember: the navigation is pretty interesting, the Fire Elementals, while annoying, are easily dealt with, and getting the Fire Talisman is not as hard to climb to as initially shown. That said, this mission still feels somewhat lacking. An underground, ancient city can feel more exciting than this. The level feels somewhat empty, devoid of details. The enemies get a bit repetitive, and the place just lacks the level of atmosphere you've come to expect from Thief.

The story on what happened to the Lost City is also vague, and doesn't extend beyond "an earthquake happened." Too little information is given to the player, too little to even make them really guess. There are no questions posed, so it's easy to just surmise the city went down due to said earthquake, and that's it.

The fact that the bottom-right section is entirely pointless now, feels jarring. In The Dark Project, the Water Talisman was hidden here. Now that that talisman is given its own mission, this area has become without purpose. There is a lever down there, to extend some bridge, but you don't need it at all. The Hand Brotherhood makes its return, presumably on an expedition to get the Fire Talisman, but little else is done with them.

All in all, while a fine mission, it just lacks the depth we see in so many Thief missions. Kind of a shame. Not bad, but underwhelming.