To answer a few questions, The story is a straight line but its open to explore at your leisure, not a game where you can impact the story in many different ways You get a few counties to explore and murder your way through. And yes if you play the batman Arkham games it would be an excellent primer on the Shadow Of Games
Yeah, many "open world" game spaces are more like a theme park than simulation. You can wander around and try some rides, but there's rarely an obligation visit every pavilion. But if well designed you can get lost in all the short self contained narratives. Once characters and motivations are established you can toss them into all kinds of situations without having to rehash set and setting.
Oh the story is absolutely kind of insane. At first it starts like "Yeah I could see this happening. A ranger and a wraith giving mordor's forces trouble" but then it reaches the end and it just goes off the rails. It gets even MORE insane in Shadow of War. Just seeing how crazy things got was part of the fun for me. They are both very good games and have a unique mechanic (the nemesis system. Each enemy you kill has a name/weaknesses/strengths, and they can become a nemesis who keeps coming back stronger or different. As a result, a single enemy can become super powerful. You can also "game" the system in various ways by forcing certain enemies to get stronger for certain goals)
I love that the games embrace the fact its a fanfiction, they don't try too hard to be LotR and still make some really nice references to some deeper lore bits.
@@danilooliveira6580Yeah, that was pretty much my point in my rambling comment I just posted. You got to see this as an alternate timeline, yet I did learn some interesting things that were lore accurate.
They're called Dunedain and they're the descendants of the noble Numenoreans as opposed to the hubris filled normal numenoreans, most of which died but some still remain and are called black numenoreans since they serve Sauron. The guy in this game called "the Black Hand" is probably meant to be a black numenorean. The Mouth of Sauron is another actually canon example of a black numenorean. They all descend from Elronds brother named Elros. He was a half-elf just like Elrond, but he chose to be a mortal while Elrond chose to be an elf since thats how half-elves work in the Tolkien mythos, it's not typically something that can happen but through some heroic love stories it can be a thing as a reward from god, which usually results in the human also being elevated in some way aswell, like Elronds father named Earendil who was a human but quite literally became a star which then slew the biggest dragon to have existed. Thats the star that Galadriel refers to as their "most beloved star" when she gives Frodo a tiny flask with some of that stars light in it, which scares all evil creatures. But thats why the numenoreans were really tall and lived longer than normal humans, Elros chose to be a human but he still lived for some 500 years. The dunedain are less extreme, they're still typically tall and live for a long time, but they're not superhuman since they're kind of mixed with the "normal" humans of middle-earth who were called "Edain".
Great comment! May I elaborate on some details though? Not all Numenoreans are descendants of Elros, only the royal bloodline. Long life without illness was a gift from Valar to all Edain for their glory in the War of the First Age, along with the island of Elenna, where they established Numenor. Thus the "normal" humans of Middle-earth weren't Edain. It wasn't like a 'genetic' thing - Numenoreans started to fear death and envy the immortal elves, which led to the shortened lifetime and weakness long before they returned to Middle-earth and mixed with regular people. Earendil wasn't entirely human - he was a half-elf too, and was given a choice by gods. He chose to be an elf alongside his wife, who was a half-elf too and made the same choice. Under no circumstances did gods 'elevate' a human to become immortal - the mortality of Men is actually viewed as the Creator's Gift in Tolkien's legendarium, so the gods are not at liberty of doing that. The pursuit of immortality is in fact what led to Numenor's destruction and the appearance of Nazgul.
Hey Hannah, I've been following you since you had 7k subs and I love to see your gaming journey. I love your personality I just have so much seeing you getting invested or just hating some games. Thanks for the content every sunday. Brings a smile to my face every time despite the struggles
So about the Batman. The combat system that was invented in Archam series was so good and sucsessfull that it became an etalon for this kind of games. A lot of games took inspiration from it. Spider-man, Sleeping dogs, some of the Assasin's Creed etc. This system unlike others allowed you to never stop the fight and move between enemies with incredible fluidity with every punch or motion goes into the next one seemingly without any pause. Every fight feeled like one continuous elegant dance. And yes, if you play the Archam games you will learn this style in every game like this and will be able to perform it.
Wouldn't Arkham Asylum have taken inspiration from Assassin's Creed rather than the other way around? Since AC came first. The Arkham trilogy definitely perfected the system though.
@@VertiguousIn the original games you did dodge and counter sure, but Origins and further really gave the freeflow feeling. The difference to the fighting in the franchise now and the older AC games is pretty huge and it does seem like Batman had a big inspiration
@@15thCrypt You're right, the fighting does become more freeflow in the later AC games. I still stand by what I said that the Arkham trilogy likely took some inspiration from early AC games. However once Batman perfected the system, the AC franchise took inspiration from them in turn.
Batman Arkham Asylum is a brawler game where you play as Batman. It's got some pretty nifty gameplay. The Rings of Power TV show is not in any way related to LoTR beyond stealing names and characters that they're not actually legally allowed to use.
Ooh! If it hasn't come up yet, Shadow of Mordor is a _great_ place to start looking into the concept of "Emergent Storytelling". It's something that can really happen in interactive media. In general, the word "Emergent" when referring to video games means something unintended by developers, but which emerges through the interaction of the player and the game. Shadow of War's "Nemesis System", for example, lets players engage in stories of revenge, of manhunts, and of repeated encounters with a villain who is trying to adapt to the player. It also allows the hierarchy of orcs to change over time. While the developers created the systems expecting players to encounter _something_, these mini-narratives were not manually crafted, so you could call them "emergent". In other words, with the right systems and a little planning, and some luck too, game devs can "fill in" the space between planned story beats by letting players find their own stories. It wouldn't work in every game or every genre, but it's something interesting to consider regarding the difference between writing non-interactive and interactive media.
You're kinda right about Obi-Wan. It started out as a movie script/screenplay, got trimmed to fit 2 hours, got delayed (after Solo bombed), and finally got turned into a nearly 5 hour long show. It had some great highlights but soooooo much padding.
You gotta finish reading the Two Towers. In case you didn't know, most of the Frodo and Sam movie stuff was added for the films, in the books they never even go to osgiliath and the book ends after Frodo has been captured by the orcs, with the fight with Shelob serving as the climax.
The combat system in the Shadow of Mordor (and Shadow of War) was based on/lifted directly from the Arkham series of Batman games, hence the comparison. Mad Max's combat system is also based on the Arkham games. (I'm sure there are others, the Arkham games were extremely influential) Everyone just refers to it as "arkham combat" basically. Now you'll at least understand the Batman references.
The end of the LotRs is pretty vastly different than the movies. I adore the movies, and think they were done as well as could ever be done, but they did change the arc of some characters that I think is worth following. Edit: I actually think this game and its sequel might be in Hannah's wheelhouse. I don't think the open world will be that bad. Its just a large map playground. The story itself is pretty linear. Edit: It is compared to the batman series because there is a series of Batman games that sort of pioneered the particular fighting style that the game borrows from.
@@JaysGunner Usually if you say something is in someone's wheelhouse, it means something that you think fits their interests. It's a generic term, not something specific to Hannah here.
I quite like this game! I picked it up with the sequel in a deal for less than 10 bucks on steam. The combat feels GREAT and the unique stories generated by the Nemesis system were fun and memorable. It felt a bit grindy in places, as most open world games of the era do. Play the games in sequential order, or skip the first game entirely. It won't feel great to finish the second the game and then go back to the first, which has fewer abilities
regarding the open world, it's very easy to navigate. You can teleport all over the map and also just run in a straight line to your objective, which will be highlighted by a waypoint
A good older straight line series of games is the half-life series. They do have some segments where you'll need to platform a bit, but besides that great atmospheric action and very straightforward. Your chat would help you with the puzzles.
You are correct that the back half of two towers is frodo and sam. That said without going to far with spoilers it plays out very differently from the books. Faramir is a very different character and it continues through to Frodo getting captured in the return of the king movie. It's an interesting trick from a storytelling methods standpoint. In the book when Aragorn marches to the black gate and Sauron's herald says they've caught frodo, the last thing you saw of frodo was him getting captured. As opposed to the movie where you know Frodo and Sam have escaped.
you should remove that last part starting from "in the book..." because it is a real big spoiler It's literally something you need to discover through reading
@@RonnocLoki I'm talking about the books, you're spoiling one major difference she hasn't experienced in the books yet. For me it was one of my favorite moment because I suddenly understood why this scene didn't work in the movies, but it works so fucking well in the books so maybe avoid mentioning it and let her discover it without any heads up. I would've been frustrated if I was told this before I experience it
@@danilooliveira6580 It still makes a big difference when you read it, if it was me it would definitely be something I want to discover in the books and not be told in advance, it's still a spoiler.
As a diehard fan of Tolkien, who read every one of his books I could get hold of, this game fits fairly well in the "blank spaces" of the story of lord of the rings. It's a great game, forgiving to new players, but so much fun to learn
while it goes completely off the rails in Shadow of War lorewise I still somehow enjoyed it. I think it retains the tone and atmosphere of the Legendarium which saves it. The Characterization of Celebrimbor is also way better than in the Amazon Series.
If you want to give the books a go but struggle with reading, the audiobooks by Phil Dagrash are a great alternative. Very well narrated with licensed music/themes. The first half of Fellowship can be a bit difficult to get through if you aren’t invested in the series (its primarily world building and poetry, Tolkien *loved* poetry), but once you get past it, its a great read and you get so much more lore and story that they didn’t touch on in the movies
Straight line games are called linear games and are ones like the Last Of Us, God of War etc. These games have a story running through it but have an open world aspect where you can pick which enemy to go after next. The basic combat is based on Arkham (Batman) games.
LOTR nerd comment: Talion is Gondorian. When the Numinorians arrived in middle earth they made two kingdoms, Gondor and Arnor. Gondor lasted although it lost one of it's three major cities (which would become Minas Morgul). It's people's lifespans meanwhile shortened becoming like that of other men. Arnor however fractured then collapsed due to conflict with the realm of Angmar ruled over by the Witch King (Gondor helped them out of that hole). In the aftermath only the rangers remained but they retained the ling lives of the Numinorians as seen in Aragorn.
The constant Batman references are because before Mordor came out, the Batman Arkham games, (4 total, Arkham Asylum, Arkham City, Arkham Origins, and Arkham Knight) all played just like Mordor; A moderately sized open world to run around and explore, full of goons to beat up, with satisfying free-flowing combat, and counters galore. Also, very important, start taking note of how often games will use subtle unabstrusive visual cues. These can range to anything depending you play. God of War, for example, uses visual cues during combat encounters, visualized through yellow and red rings that appear just before an enemy uses a STRONGER attack than a normal regular attack, to show what attacks can be blocked and what can't, those stronger attacks cause CANNOT be blocked, though, depending on the visual cues, it may be Parried, nonetheless, it's up to YOU to recognize the visual cues, see the attack coming, and remember DODGING EXISTS!! One more thing about Batman/Mordor, both games were published by Warner Bros. And because the Batman games came first, and everyone feel in love with it's free-flowing combat, it became a hit. Mordor utilizes the exact same free-flowing combat, with flashy animations giving you a front row seat as you press a few simple button combinations and watch your character decapitate Uruks left and right. Basically, God of War as a whole, is a franchise of hardcore fantasy of epic proportions, with an extremely dense moveset and Parrying mechanics. On the flip side, The Batman Arkham games, as well as Shadow of Mordor, have a simpler, more streamlined combat system.
I loved this game, I love games that mix stealth and abilities. The only issue I had was the ending "fight" that was just a QTE rather than an actual fight
They compared it to Batman a lot because if you pick up the controller and play the game, it FEELS a lot like the most popular Batman games, the Arkham series. This game and the sequel Shadow of War, are my favorite LOTR games ever! They do take some liberties with the story, but honestly I really like the changes they made (unlike in Rings of Power), they changed the lore just enough to build a really compelling and interesting story. The main character Talion is so well written that I was in tears by the end of the second game. Like the Honest Trailer said, 90% of the game is just chopping off heads (it really never gets old) but if you just wanna watch the movie compilation of both games, I think you'd really enjoy it as a fan of the movies. Obviously I will always recommend you just play the game yourself, but if you're really against open world games then just watch the movie compilation.
The show was a back handed way to tell a story that Amazon did not have the legal right to make a show about. The only reason they got away with it is those events were talked about as historical in the stories they do have rights to. Which is why the story was so mutilated. Ive started this game but have not finished it, it is beautiful, and even my mom really enjoyed it and finished it. I RECENTLY FINISHED BLOOD KIN AND CURSES, AND REALLY ENJOYED YOUR TAKE ON VAMPIRES!!!!!!!!!!
They actually did have the legal rights... technically. The history they started with is in the appendices of Return of the King, but then they decided to change timelines and plot points for the sake of making a more generic fantasy for a broader audience. If they used the existing lore as a framework and filled in the gaps, they would have been much better off imo.
@@TheSmallzfry Agreed, the foolish urgent need to want to tell a story that they didnt have the rights with the tools that they did have rights was an absolute and terrible decision
I actually think that what saves the games is that it embraces the fact its fanfiction, it goes hard on it. but at the same time you see that the writers understand some of the deeper lore and know how to properly explore it.
The comparisons to batman is basically that this game is based around the foundational systems that the batman arkham games laid so using batman as a base level of comparison is how they reviewed this game
In Lotr universe no one knows exactly what happens to the souls of Humans after they die, in some cases they do become wraiths but its also mentioned that other spirits become trapped in the material realm and they to become wraiths.With Elves their souls go to the Halls of Mandos (One of many god like beings) and they stay there until they can reincarnate as an Elf or as a spirit within nature, so it is a very interesting and fun take on Celebrimbor and Talion to be vengeful spirits and sharing one body. The game is set between The Hobbit and The lord of the Rings i think although i played it brefiely it was very fun. Also why Batman Arkham series is so mention in games like this its because it set a new standart in brawl like games. And Sauron IS the LoTR because he used not only Celebrimbor but other Elves into making the Rings of Power as well
I'm a huge medieval fantasy guy, but Tolkien never grabbed me. Shadows of Mordor though? It's a fucking BLAST. The combat is *fantastic*: it's simple enough to get the hang of it, the more you play the more comfortable you'll get, you can level up your character and add special moves to make it easier to mow through orcs... When you get good enough, you could go back and start over, with no special moves, and still rip through an army of orcs like a badass, it's just a bit slower. Maybe my favorite thing - beyond how elegant the combat is, how elegant the animation looks in complementing the button pressing - is that, as a low-level character, you still have the ability to just cut down hundreds of orcs if YOU, the player, are good enough. But, if you fuck up once or twice, you're done for. So the difficulty curve is fantastic: if you do it right and rip through orcs, it feels rewarding because it's not easy, you have a small margin for error, but it CAN be done. I think finding that balance, finding "challenging enough to be rewarding when you succeed" in between "too easy" and "frustrating" is so important, and Shadows of Mordor found that sweet spot maybe as well as any game I've ever played. (Although it probably doesn't make my favorite games of all-time: Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn and Throne of Bhaal Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake-eater The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Mass Effect trilogy are probably top tier. Then Knights of the Old Republic Dragon Age: Origins NHL 13 Madden 06 Final Fantasy III Lufia Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain If 3rd tier is "really good, not great, but super fun", then that's probably where SoM slots in Shadows of Mordor Diablo II Conan Demonstone Dragon Age 2 The Outer Worlds Star Wars: Bounty Hunter among others... )
Paragraph breaks are great. New to the channel, found this and your Horizon vid. I too like "straight line" games, but this one got me good. It was the first open world game I actually "finished", until I got hooked by Horizon: Zero Dawn. Both games have great(IMO) stories, which is what I care about most as a reader(and writer... kinda) Cool video, I look forward to checking out some more of your stuff in the future ✌🏾
Re: straight line plots, it's not so much that they don't exist anymore it's that AAA companies in general have veered away from them. There's still tons of great straight-lined games coming out from smaller studies and indie game devs. You might look at Supergiant Games' products.
I would react to Shadow of Mordor stuff, too, so you can see how the sequel evolved. Same decent campaign, but the Nemesis system is expanded massively in ways not present in the first. Sometimes allies will save you from death, backstab you if you treat them poorly, or desire to be your bodyguard if they take a liking. You can even assign them as spies "guarding" an enemy warchief. You can even take an army plus your Captains, and siege an enemy fortress. Purchase bombs, special troops a dragon etc. All in all a great duo of games.
Not really relevant, just a fun little nugget about the 2nd film for anyone who didn't know this: when Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli are hunting across Rohan it was a bit of a nightmare to film. Viggo had a broken toe, Orlando had bruised ribs from falling off a horse and poor old John had an allergic reaction to his makeup
Everyone compared this game to batman: arkham city, but it's really not the same. The main defining feature of the freeflow system in batman is that once you get your combo meter up, you can fly across the whole screen with a single button press and hit hard enough to knock 'em flying. The system in shadow of mordor feels more similar to assassin's creed 4: black flag than arkham city. However, I'm also pretty sure none of these games appear on PS5. That's the issue with consoles in general (with some exceptions), if a game doesn't get a re-release, you've got to get some older hardware.
This was the game I wish you had started your gaming journey with. The story plays ridiculously fast and loose with the Tolkienverse if you care about that sort of thing. But the combat is the sell. It's so easy to understand the flow and once you get some practice in you just steamroll everybody. So much fun. It's great practice for future gaming and the Nemesis system with the Orcs doubles the fun.
I am not a huge LOTR nerd, but I like it. I get what you are saying about The Two Towers. When young I stumbled on that book two or three times. I had to power through it to finally get to the third book, but that one I flew through. I think I finished that one in three days. I always say that Tolkien is the master of crafting tales, but he isn't always the best at telling these tales. There are a few pitfalls in the books that could make you lose momentum. I thought I should read the books again as an adult, in english this time, and I loved it. But then I had to power through the Tom Bombadil part. I finally did it but then I stopped reading. I did the work but didn't reap the reward so to speak. :) I really should get back to it. Not being a huge Tolkien nerd, I love all aspects of this game. I can view this as an alternate timeline and not be bothered by the lore that doesn't fit cannon. I can be intreagued by their take on it instead, and I did learn some new things that actually are lore accurate. I love the Arkham games, so it's not a big surprise I would like it. I think others have already told you why Batman is brought up all the time. You can't escape the comparison because how similar the game play is. You would probably like the Arkham series, most people do. And if you like Arkham, you will probably like Shadows of Mordor too. What you said about the recent series that is Tolkien in name only also made sense to me. I looked into it and knew I would never watch it. It seemed strange to me that anyone could be able to enjoy that...mess. But I do understand how you can be dazzled in the moment and enjoy something, until you start thinking about it. I remember way back when I watched Independence Day in the movies and loved it. But what followed was almost comical. The literal moment I stepped through the doors and out on the street a thought struck me: "Wait a minute. That movie was shit!" :) So I agree, you shouldn't rewatch the series. If you somehow was able to enjoy it you should probably try to hold on to that, right? Anyway, this was the first time I ever saw one of your videos and since you seem to encourage dialogue I thought I should write something. Maybe we both should try to finish the books and this game. Yeah, I never finished it. It often happens with games I love. When I near the end I start playing less and less because I don't want it to be over. Eventually I just stop. Which means I have yet to play Shadows of War even though I own it. It's pretty self defeating when you think about it. :)
A really awesome LoTR game that is old with a liner storyline is LoTR: War in the North. It's an underrated game that is MOSTLY cannon complient. You can solo play through; but I really love playing it co-op with my partner. The graphics are still pretty alright, the story and characters are fun with a few cameos from movie characters. I recomend playing as the lady elf, her armour sets are so beautiful!
This is a pure fanfiction by Warner Bros meant to honorably mention characters from the second age and I think some of the mythology in the second game. However, the games are phenomenally fun and the orcs are the best part.
While it is true, that a lot of modern games, especially tripple A titles, are pushing the open world setting just for the sake of it, there are definitely linear story games still beeing made. For example there's the "A Plague Tale" series and I would highly recommend for you to check out "Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice".
The reason, during this time period, that reviewers compared games to the Batman: Arkham Asylum series is that it became a revolutionary benchmark for combat games going forward. So many games used a very similar style of combat afterwards with changes or personal iterations to make it their own.
This game plays pretty fast-and-loose with the lore. But theme-wise it plays with Tolkiens idea that using dark powers always corrupts you. Talion uses dark powers to turn them back against sauron, but just like the ring these powers will turn against him eventually.
@04:26 The "Half Life" series is a linear 1P POV game. They are older, but there are some fantastic mods out there that punch up the graphics. They are also a cultural touchstones for some with memes and references.
He is referring to batman the arckam games (arckam asylum arckam city , arckam nights, and arckam origins. the fighting style is the same in both games.
When it comes to the cinematic releases LOTR trilogy: Excellent The Hobbit trilogy: Bad The Rings of Power: Hogwash Shadow of Mordor was extremely well received, so Warner Bros did what Big companies often do with highly successful franchises...made a sequel called "Shadow of War", which squeezed every last cent out of their customers and milk the franchise for all it's worth. People were not happy.
Thing is everything based on watches which results in money, and every cameo of old character that shows up results in more watchers as everyone tells their friends that so and so is in the movie or show. For example the Hobit prequel, a lot of people watched to see Legolas.
Those straight line games are referred to as linear (opposite of Open world) and technically they still exist. Its just that most publishers prefer open worlds because it means they can put in more content to eat players time which is now in todays gaming age, a valuable commodity because of microtransactions (in game purchases with real money)
This is exactly my history with LOTR. Read the Hobbit twice as a kid. I read the first book and quit during Two Towers. I know the movies back and forth. The day the Frodo wakes up in Rivendell is my birthday. October 24th. Oh I have watched the LOTR animated movie about a million times.
It's compared to Batman because the Batman Arkham Asylum game pioneered the combat system that Shadow of Mordor uses. Also, pretty sure God of War has an animation canceling system in place. Kratos would pick up his shield mid-action if you press the shield button for most attacks. It's just a matter of understanding how the shield animation works. Picking up the shield is not instant and has startup frames, and when the shield is active for full, that's when the active frames are in place and protects you. That's how an action works in real life as well, y'know. You wind up for an action, do an action, and then stop doing an action. That timeframe when you're winding up is usually a timeframe where you're vulnerable to attacks. Which is why part of the skillset in hack 'n slash games like God of War is reading your enemies and determining when it's safe or unsafe to do your own attacks.
re: reading LotR... I found the first half of the Fellowship tough to get through, though I was a lot younger at the time. I found it to be a page turner starting in the second half of FotR through to the end of the series. The Silmarillian is amazing to listen to as an audio book. Prof. Tolkien's sense of language and poetry really comes to life. Re: Shadow of Mordor, I enjoyed playing it. The Nemesis system was fun, but I wouldn't recommend going in if you're looking for canonical insights on Middle Earth. The sequel (Shadow of War) - I couldn't get past the narrative liberties taken in the introduction where... Shelob makes an appearance as a human dominatrix. At least that's how I remember it. I'm sure there are videos on UA-cam.
The Rings of Power tried to tell parts of the Silmarillion book (which had a lot of history of LoTR) and lead it to the movies, Shadow of Mordor and its sequel Shadow of War, are kind of a mix of Tolkien lore and Alternate LoTR, can’t go into more detail else it’ll spoil their story, either way it’s a great story idea, and nothing wrong with game’s taking creative liberties, as long as it stays faithful to the core of what it’s adapting
i think the batman arkham games released relatively around the same time as this, and the combat is kinda similar, so that's why there's a lot of comparison
@@HannaHsOverInvested Ill news is an ill guest and I'm sorry I have to tell you no. I should've made more clear that I meant that by reading the rest of Two Towers you get to start reading Return of the King. And that is a comforting thought.
Yessss I love this game! You should definitely buy it you’d love it for the stealth and murdery destruction (like doom wink wink). It’s usually super cheap on sales and it’s so satisfying.
Batman gets referenced a lot because the combat in this game is very similar to the combat in the Arkham games. Also, open world games don't REQUIRE you to do all the side stuff. You absolutely can just play the main story missions. The only problem with that is you may end up under-leveled at some point.
Actually, the show tried to do a "Game of Thrones" thing using Tolkien's work. And, good news, everything outside of the movies and books is non-canon! So you can pick up anything and not worry about what happened a thousand years prior! Except if you plan to read "Silmarillion." "Why is this compared to Batman?" Gold Standard.
So... what you want is a game with "linear" in the genre description. But those games are less and less popular, but most games have a linear story still. Like a game you've probly heard of for example, skyrim, if you just play the story, you can probly beat it in like 8 hours, maybe 4 for someone who has already played it a lot and knows how to make it super easy, but if you only play the main story, you'll see maybe 10 percent of the map, and play less than 2 percent of the actual game. Sorry for wall of text, paragraph break here 😅 But for example there are also games like doom, that are level based linear games, but due to the way the levels are laid out, it doesn't feel like it. Maybe you should try an old game, like one of the classics, but something with a good story. I would suggest something like chrono trigger, though it would be fun to see you play a 3d zelda game. But an example of a non linear game from that same era would be super metroid, it's actually linear in practice, but it's designed in a way that makes it very much an exploration game, where half the puzzle is figuring out where to go next, there is only one truly correct way (unless you know how to "sequence break") but there is ton of stuff to find, that do help you... infact, for a first playthrough, it's kinda like the more you get lost, the more you find things that help you not die, so it kinda helps you if you suck at the game... but like, if you have a photographic memory, but also suck at killing bad guys, you'll get in over your head lol.
It is compared to batman because it has a similar combat system. Batman was the first big successful game with that system. Spiderman is also using that system.
Shadow of mordor and shadow war are 2 of the best games ever made. Strongly recommended! It is a self contained story. However, it will rip your heart out at the end.
games that are a straight line is a pretty interesting idea, i can't think of one off the top of my head, even the oldest "linear" RPG's have some amounts of exploration, i guess it depends how straight you want the line to be but that really might not exist in a true sense.
The thing about Shadow of Mordor is they outright get things wrong. For example, Celembrimbor wasn't tortured until he forged Sauron's ring. Then Shadow of War comes along (the sequel) and just takes a big ole steamer on anything Lord of the Rings related. It makes Amazon's Rings of Power look downright Shakespearean in comparison. If you need an example, I can give you one in 2 words. Sexy Shelob. That's all I'll say.
Whilst I am a Lord of the Rings hater, Shadow of Mordor was a very fun game. It's "open world" in terms of style but the story is still quite linear. Whilst the next step in the story is quite straightforward, you'll need to level up and you have a lot of options to do that. The references to Batman are because this game was made by the same studio that made the Arkham games and the combat is very similar.
There are numerous races of men, the Dunedain are in part descendants of the Edain, or Elf friends, and the Edain are also the precursors to the a few other races of men such as the Numenoreans. They are in effect really the almost the exact same group, but being Numenorean meant for a long time that you were from the island kingdom of Numenor while a Dunedain could be from Arnor, Gondor, Rohan, or Eriador, all lands in the west. However not all or even necessarily all men living in these areas share any Edain blood. Many are Dunlandians, normal men. The purer the Edainian blood the loner living the race of men is. Numenor when it fell had two different groups of survivors, some which effectively joined their brothers in what would eventually be Gondor and others who had fallen to the corruption of Sauron and fled to Mordor. These are the Black Numenoreans, who are one of the races of men corrupted by Sauron, but they maintain much of the old gifts of the Edain, including extended life. One of the more interesting concepts is that Sauron's actions to corrupt the Numenoreans results in the creation of the world, the loss of access to Valinor, paradise by men for their fall from grace, and the destruction of Sauron's physical body, meaning he can only manifest into physical form like what happened in the early stages of Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring when Sauron's power is at a great height, but that any loss of that power, like having the ring cut from his finger will result in the "body," which is mostly some form of armor shaped for him to inhabit rather than a true form, losing coherence which is why it crashed to the ground immediately. Sauron from the Fall of Numenor on is more wraith than flesh. His shadow exists best in Mordor because it is a land wreathed in shadow which allows him to exist and have sway over those living there. Then there's the Druedain, or wild men, who are still considered to be part of the Edian, but much further removed as they had mixed their blood with the lesser races of men lowering their life expectancy significantly but also failing to uphold many of the civilized traditions of the Edain and the Dunedain, but who lived closer to the forests and natural world. You've got the Beornings, who are potentially shape shifters and generally live either alone or in small tight knit clans. Mostly shape shift into bears or possibly wolves. There's a bunch of other races of Dunland, the folks of Bree and Dale. These are closer to normal men with normal lifespans.
So, this game is open world, but for what it's worth it's not nearly as big as open world games releasing now! What's more, the open world is more of a sandbox where you get a bit of freedom to run around and do side content. The story is actually quite linear, as others have said. Think of it this way: Shadow of Mordor is a story told in connecting rooms. The story itself only goes from one room to the next adjacent room. But you can explore those rooms and find cool stuff as much or little as you like. And the extra stuff in said rooms could make getting through the door to the next room (or the end of the story, if you're at that point) easier and/or more enjoyable. Hope that analogy helps a little! Or at all, really.
Yeah… people used to complain about how shadow of Mordor and shadow of war weren’t exactly lore accurate despite not being canon either, now I bet most of them would trade these games for the shit show of a tv show we got a million times over, no the games take some liberties with the lore but they’re still pretty great games
For me this game is 1 of the best games to come out and here's why 'in my opinion' the graphics are still really good the combat is quite satisfying and the story line is really good but the best thing about this game is the fact that every time you play it you never get the same enemy twice other than the 1s tied with the main missions you might get some with the same name but never the same design and that is what makes it such a good game and the same goes for the sequel. Heres an example I remember watching a youtuber play this and they got annoyed at an orc called latbag because every time they killed him he came back now in the years I have played this game I have not once seen that name
Most games these days are pretty open world in nature. However if you want a recommendation for a straight forward, on-rails experience, I'd recommend you play the Halo games, from 1 to 3 and Reach. Halo 3: ODST is good as well, but it's more open world.
The batman arkham series is compared alot due to the fundamentals of combat being deprived from it. It's quite good and can be really versatile to one's surprise, even the spiderman games on ps4 and ps5 as you know them deprives from it. It's biggest twist to it is being more acrobatic and agile considering well YOU'RE SPIDERMAN! As opposes to being the wall of muscle and vengeance like batman.
Shadow of Mordor was an excellent game! The sequel, Shadow of War, has the same formula as the first but is improved in pretty much every way and the introduction of new mechanics in the way of base takeovers/defense. If you're considering playing and want a stripped down fairly linear game go with the first, but if you wanted the full blown experience the sequel was awesome. And if you don't play, the cutscenes are well worth watching on their own.
If someone doesn't like it when you talk over the trailer: WHY would they click on a trailer reaction? Like, just go watch the trailer if that's what they want
The only games (and even that’s arguable) that are a “straight line” are 2D and 3D Platformers. And you’ve made your feelings known on that. Also, the VO for the main character is *drum roll please* Troy Baker!
This game and it's sequel are interesting when it comes to the lore and timeline of Lord of The Rings, because although it's not Canon and is an original story, it slots into the timeline somewhat nicely in my opinion. The game never really makes it clear, but it takes place before the movies. It's when Sauron is gathering his forces in Mordor and only starting to become a threat again, so you kind of see the rise and resurgence of Sauron while playing throughout the 2 games. Its a really cool part of the timeline to slot the game into, and while it is non canon I personally think at least some aspects could be made canon without breaking much of the main classic Rings story.
This is a very excellent game for a newbie gamer. It is open world, but the open world is not that massive. At first it will be very frustrating but once you unlock a very of the skills, you effectively become a god. For perspective, in the beginning, fighting 10 uruks will be a chore, but after about 10 hours, you can take on at least 80 at once and win without much hassle. You just need the freeze power.
The game may be open world but its not as big as most open world games and there is a clear story path. Also the world is split up into a few different regions so u wont have 1 big world. Talion is not 1 of the Aragorns ppl (Dunedain), He is a normal ranger guarding the Black gate leading into Mordor. The high lvl orcs can be insanely difficult depending on what strenght perks they get as they lvl up. It can start as something simple like u dying to a random orc captain and u wanna get revenge so u track him down again right away only to find that he now might have gained an immunity to something he was weak to before and suddenly u have died to him 3 times and he is now a max lvl nearly unstoppable monster that can 1-2 shot u if u mess up an attack timing. I played this game when it first released and i still remember the name and title of the orc bastard that easily killed me 10x more then any other orc including main story bosses.
To be honest, both this game and Rings of Power are "fanfictions" based on Tolkien's lore. But technically there's nothing in Shadow of Mordor that goes against any part of the lore. It is an invention that manages to respect the lore and play a bit with its laws without changing anything that is already established in the writtings. Rings of Power on the other hand directly changes established lore, character personalities, events, timeline, to completely rewrite everything. And most of the story doesn't make sense at all, characters are dumb and the dialogues are really bad. Celebrimbor is definitely supposed to look like he does in the game, it's a direct and faithful adaptation of his description his the writtings. The one is the tv show feels completely out of character most of the time (the guy apparently didn't think about trying aloys, the most basic stuff, while he's supposed to be the greatest blacksmith of the 2nd Age, and instantly trust a completely random human guy, while he's supposed to be one of the most prideful and narcissistic elf of his time. In the books it takes Sauron hundreds of years to gain his trust and in the show it was done with a quick chat about aloys, it's absurd xD Celebrimbor should've been the main character of the first season, and that's just one example out of dozens) and more generally speaking the elfes in the show are simply not Tolkien elfes at all. Galadriel is the opposite of what she's supposed to be, even during this age. Having her behaving as an arrogant, careless and insensitive brat while she's the oldest character in the show (yes, older than Celebrimbor :p) and is already supposed to be one the wisest, kindest and self controlled being of all time, it's really insulting for the character. The way they removed her husband Celeborn to have a weird romance thing with Sauron is twisted, elves are like penguins, they only have one love and they never stop loving their partner even thousands of years after their death (that's why Thranduil and Elrond are the most tragic elf characters of the lore btw). They can never love again... And in the books Galadriel is the ONLY elf seeing through Sauron's disguse and is trying to prevent him from doing whatever he's planning to do. She was born with the ability to read the mind of others and she learned politics and magic stuff for centuries during the First Age, refusing to go to war because she thinks it's pointless, even though she lost her 3 brothers to war. She basically hates war and only want to establish her own realm away from it, saving as much people as she can on her wanderings so she can protect them from the enemy. That is the reason why she decided to come to Middle Earth in the first place, she never fell into any revenge arc that is quite specific to the Human race and definitely not fitting for one of the most pacific person who ever lived. She does have one weakness, her pride, she wants to rule her own kingdom, but the whole point of her character is that she ALWAYS makes the right choices, her wisdom is always bigger than her pride, that is why she later was authorized to come back to Valinor, they obviously didn't include any of this in the show, like many other things unfortunately, even though they had the rights to those stuff. There's like 75% of the infos about the 2nd Age in the LOTR books and appendices, which is quite enough to make a faithful adaptation ! But no, they wanted to do their own thing. They basically bought the rights only for the IP title and the names of the characters and places, and that's it, they were never interested in Tolkien's stories. For me it was really painful to watch until the end. But the Shadow of Mordor games ? Knowing almost all the lore, I don't see anything in those games that contradicts any part of it, even though it's pure invention. There are some weird liberties sometimes, but you feel the respect and love of the source material, something you really don't have with Rings of Power.
To answer a few questions, The story is a straight line but its open to explore at your leisure, not a game where you can impact the story in many different ways You get a few counties to explore and murder your way through. And yes if you play the batman Arkham games it would be an excellent primer on the Shadow Of Games
Also Batman Arkham Assylum, the first game in the series is not an open world, so just what the doctor ordered
Yeah, many "open world" game spaces are more like a theme park than simulation. You can wander around and try some rides, but there's rarely an obligation visit every pavilion. But if well designed you can get lost in all the short self contained narratives. Once characters and motivations are established you can toss them into all kinds of situations without having to rehash set and setting.
Batman basically laid the ground work for 70% of the games combat and feel, but the game has plenty of new things to keep it fresh
The main good thing about the game is the whole randomly generated orc bosses that kill u and get promotions and stuff
Oh the story is absolutely kind of insane. At first it starts like "Yeah I could see this happening. A ranger and a wraith giving mordor's forces trouble" but then it reaches the end and it just goes off the rails. It gets even MORE insane in Shadow of War. Just seeing how crazy things got was part of the fun for me.
They are both very good games and have a unique mechanic (the nemesis system. Each enemy you kill has a name/weaknesses/strengths, and they can become a nemesis who keeps coming back stronger or different. As a result, a single enemy can become super powerful. You can also "game" the system in various ways by forcing certain enemies to get stronger for certain goals)
I love that the games embrace the fact its a fanfiction, they don't try too hard to be LotR and still make some really nice references to some deeper lore bits.
@@danilooliveira6580Yeah, that was pretty much my point in my rambling comment I just posted. You got to see this as an alternate timeline, yet I did learn some interesting things that were lore accurate.
They're called Dunedain and they're the descendants of the noble Numenoreans as opposed to the hubris filled normal numenoreans, most of which died but some still remain and are called black numenoreans since they serve Sauron. The guy in this game called "the Black Hand" is probably meant to be a black numenorean. The Mouth of Sauron is another actually canon example of a black numenorean.
They all descend from Elronds brother named Elros. He was a half-elf just like Elrond, but he chose to be a mortal while Elrond chose to be an elf since thats how half-elves work in the Tolkien mythos, it's not typically something that can happen but through some heroic love stories it can be a thing as a reward from god, which usually results in the human also being elevated in some way aswell, like Elronds father named Earendil who was a human but quite literally became a star which then slew the biggest dragon to have existed. Thats the star that Galadriel refers to as their "most beloved star" when she gives Frodo a tiny flask with some of that stars light in it, which scares all evil creatures.
But thats why the numenoreans were really tall and lived longer than normal humans, Elros chose to be a human but he still lived for some 500 years. The dunedain are less extreme, they're still typically tall and live for a long time, but they're not superhuman since they're kind of mixed with the "normal" humans of middle-earth who were called "Edain".
I knew I had it wrong. Thanks!
Great comment! May I elaborate on some details though?
Not all Numenoreans are descendants of Elros, only the royal bloodline. Long life without illness was a gift from Valar to all Edain for their glory in the War of the First Age, along with the island of Elenna, where they established Numenor. Thus the "normal" humans of Middle-earth weren't Edain.
It wasn't like a 'genetic' thing - Numenoreans started to fear death and envy the immortal elves, which led to the shortened lifetime and weakness long before they returned to Middle-earth and mixed with regular people.
Earendil wasn't entirely human - he was a half-elf too, and was given a choice by gods. He chose to be an elf alongside his wife, who was a half-elf too and made the same choice. Under no circumstances did gods 'elevate' a human to become immortal - the mortality of Men is actually viewed as the Creator's Gift in Tolkien's legendarium, so the gods are not at liberty of doing that.
The pursuit of immortality is in fact what led to Numenor's destruction and the appearance of Nazgul.
The first Shadow of Mordor is a pretty straight up good game. It's pretty simple but has lots of fun and is enjoyable.
Hey Hannah, I've been following you since you had 7k subs and I love to see your gaming journey. I love your personality I just have so much seeing you getting invested or just hating some games. Thanks for the content every sunday. Brings a smile to my face every time despite the struggles
Thanks for continuing to watch🙏🏼🙏🏼
So about the Batman. The combat system that was invented in Archam series was so good and sucsessfull that it became an etalon for this kind of games. A lot of games took inspiration from it. Spider-man, Sleeping dogs, some of the Assasin's Creed etc. This system unlike others allowed you to never stop the fight and move between enemies with incredible fluidity with every punch or motion goes into the next one seemingly without any pause. Every fight feeled like one continuous elegant dance.
And yes, if you play the Archam games you will learn this style in every game like this and will be able to perform it.
Wouldn't Arkham Asylum have taken inspiration from Assassin's Creed rather than the other way around? Since AC came first.
The Arkham trilogy definitely perfected the system though.
@@VertiguousIn the original games you did dodge and counter sure, but Origins and further really gave the freeflow feeling. The difference to the fighting in the franchise now and the older AC games is pretty huge and it does seem like Batman had a big inspiration
@@15thCrypt You're right, the fighting does become more freeflow in the later AC games.
I still stand by what I said that the Arkham trilogy likely took some inspiration from early AC games. However once Batman perfected the system, the AC franchise took inspiration from them in turn.
Batman Arkham Asylum is a brawler game where you play as Batman. It's got some pretty nifty gameplay. The Rings of Power TV show is not in any way related to LoTR beyond stealing names and characters that they're not actually legally allowed to use.
Ooh! If it hasn't come up yet, Shadow of Mordor is a _great_ place to start looking into the concept of "Emergent Storytelling". It's something that can really happen in interactive media. In general, the word "Emergent" when referring to video games means something unintended by developers, but which emerges through the interaction of the player and the game. Shadow of War's "Nemesis System", for example, lets players engage in stories of revenge, of manhunts, and of repeated encounters with a villain who is trying to adapt to the player. It also allows the hierarchy of orcs to change over time. While the developers created the systems expecting players to encounter _something_, these mini-narratives were not manually crafted, so you could call them "emergent".
In other words, with the right systems and a little planning, and some luck too, game devs can "fill in" the space between planned story beats by letting players find their own stories. It wouldn't work in every game or every genre, but it's something interesting to consider regarding the difference between writing non-interactive and interactive media.
You're kinda right about Obi-Wan. It started out as a movie script/screenplay, got trimmed to fit 2 hours, got delayed (after Solo bombed), and finally got turned into a nearly 5 hour long show. It had some great highlights but soooooo much padding.
You gotta finish reading the Two Towers. In case you didn't know, most of the Frodo and Sam movie stuff was added for the films, in the books they never even go to osgiliath and the book ends after Frodo has been captured by the orcs, with the fight with Shelob serving as the climax.
That's helpful!! Thank you!
The combat system in the Shadow of Mordor (and Shadow of War) was based on/lifted directly from the Arkham series of Batman games, hence the comparison. Mad Max's combat system is also based on the Arkham games. (I'm sure there are others, the Arkham games were extremely influential) Everyone just refers to it as "arkham combat" basically. Now you'll at least understand the Batman references.
@09:22 Both games were published by the same company and share similar game mechanics.
The end of the LotRs is pretty vastly different than the movies. I adore the movies, and think they were done as well as could ever be done, but they did change the arc of some characters that I think is worth following.
Edit: I actually think this game and its sequel might be in Hannah's wheelhouse. I don't think the open world will be that bad. Its just a large map playground. The story itself is pretty linear.
Edit: It is compared to the batman series because there is a series of Batman games that sort of pioneered the particular fighting style that the game borrows from.
Not a frequent watcher here, what's a "Hannah's wheelhouse"? Is it like the lists of games she's going to play?
@@JaysGunner Usually if you say something is in someone's wheelhouse, it means something that you think fits their interests. It's a generic term, not something specific to Hannah here.
@@TheSmallzfry Ah I see, thanks for explaining! I am not familiar with the idiom.
I quite like this game! I picked it up with the sequel in a deal for less than 10 bucks on steam. The combat feels GREAT and the unique stories generated by the Nemesis system were fun and memorable. It felt a bit grindy in places, as most open world games of the era do. Play the games in sequential order, or skip the first game entirely. It won't feel great to finish the second the game and then go back to the first, which has fewer abilities
regarding the open world, it's very easy to navigate. You can teleport all over the map and also just run in a straight line to your objective, which will be highlighted by a waypoint
This game is compared to Batman because the combat system feels and functions almost identically.
A good older straight line series of games is the half-life series. They do have some segments where you'll need to platform a bit, but besides that great atmospheric action and very straightforward. Your chat would help you with the puzzles.
"The fuck is Leia doing here??" is the funniest way to sum up the new star wars timeline.
the gamer rage... I love it when in pops up because we all felt it about something
You are correct that the back half of two towers is frodo and sam. That said without going to far with spoilers it plays out very differently from the books. Faramir is a very different character and it continues through to Frodo getting captured in the return of the king movie. It's an interesting trick from a storytelling methods standpoint. In the book when Aragorn marches to the black gate and Sauron's herald says they've caught frodo, the last thing you saw of frodo was him getting captured. As opposed to the movie where you know Frodo and Sam have escaped.
you should remove that last part starting from "in the book..." because it is a real big spoiler
It's literally something you need to discover through reading
I left it in as she has seen the movie@@MeraHarch
@@RonnocLoki I'm talking about the books, you're spoiling one major difference she hasn't experienced in the books yet.
For me it was one of my favorite moment because I suddenly understood why this scene didn't work in the movies, but it works so fucking well in the books so maybe avoid mentioning it and let her discover it without any heads up. I would've been frustrated if I was told this before I experience it
@@MeraHarch but she already know what happens, its the same thing, just the narrative is a bit different.
@@danilooliveira6580 It still makes a big difference when you read it, if it was me it would definitely be something I want to discover in the books and not be told in advance, it's still a spoiler.
As a diehard fan of Tolkien, who read every one of his books I could get hold of, this game fits fairly well in the "blank spaces" of the story of lord of the rings. It's a great game, forgiving to new players, but so much fun to learn
while it goes completely off the rails in Shadow of War lorewise I still somehow enjoyed it. I think it retains the tone and atmosphere of the Legendarium which saves it. The Characterization of Celebrimbor is also way better than in the Amazon Series.
If you want to give the books a go but struggle with reading, the audiobooks by Phil Dagrash are a great alternative. Very well narrated with licensed music/themes.
The first half of Fellowship can be a bit difficult to get through if you aren’t invested in the series (its primarily world building and poetry, Tolkien *loved* poetry), but once you get past it, its a great read and you get so much more lore and story that they didn’t touch on in the movies
Straight line games are called linear games and are ones like the Last Of Us, God of War etc. These games have a story running through it but have an open world aspect where you can pick which enemy to go after next. The basic combat is based on Arkham (Batman) games.
The batman comparison is because Mordor combat is inspired by the Arkham games which the developers helped develop (they made Batman Arkham Origins).
LOTR nerd comment: Talion is Gondorian. When the Numinorians arrived in middle earth they made two kingdoms, Gondor and Arnor.
Gondor lasted although it lost one of it's three major cities (which would become Minas Morgul). It's people's lifespans meanwhile shortened becoming like that of other men.
Arnor however fractured then collapsed due to conflict with the realm of Angmar ruled over by the Witch King (Gondor helped them out of that hole). In the aftermath only the rangers remained but they retained the ling lives of the Numinorians as seen in Aragorn.
The constant Batman references are because before Mordor came out, the Batman Arkham games, (4 total, Arkham Asylum, Arkham City, Arkham Origins, and Arkham Knight) all played just like Mordor; A moderately sized open world to run around and explore, full of goons to beat up, with satisfying free-flowing combat, and counters galore.
Also, very important, start taking note of how often games will use subtle unabstrusive visual cues. These can range to anything depending you play. God of War, for example, uses visual cues during combat encounters, visualized through yellow and red rings that appear just before an enemy uses a STRONGER attack than a normal regular attack, to show what attacks can be blocked and what can't, those stronger attacks cause CANNOT be blocked, though, depending on the visual cues, it may be Parried, nonetheless, it's up to YOU to recognize the visual cues, see the attack coming, and remember DODGING EXISTS!!
One more thing about Batman/Mordor, both games were published by Warner Bros. And because the Batman games came first, and everyone feel in love with it's free-flowing combat, it became a hit. Mordor utilizes the exact same free-flowing combat, with flashy animations giving you a front row seat as you press a few simple button combinations and watch your character decapitate Uruks left and right.
Basically, God of War as a whole, is a franchise of hardcore fantasy of epic proportions, with an extremely dense moveset and Parrying mechanics. On the flip side, The Batman Arkham games, as well as Shadow of Mordor, have a simpler, more streamlined combat system.
I think you may enjoy this game, considering how you got in with TLoU.
Also it has a sassy dwarf.
I loved this game, I love games that mix stealth and abilities. The only issue I had was the ending "fight" that was just a QTE rather than an actual fight
They compared it to Batman a lot because if you pick up the controller and play the game, it FEELS a lot like the most popular Batman games, the Arkham series.
This game and the sequel Shadow of War, are my favorite LOTR games ever! They do take some liberties with the story, but honestly I really like the changes they made (unlike in Rings of Power), they changed the lore just enough to build a really compelling and interesting story. The main character Talion is so well written that I was in tears by the end of the second game.
Like the Honest Trailer said, 90% of the game is just chopping off heads (it really never gets old) but if you just wanna watch the movie compilation of both games, I think you'd really enjoy it as a fan of the movies. Obviously I will always recommend you just play the game yourself, but if you're really against open world games then just watch the movie compilation.
x_x I feel your pain about having to return a book and then never finishing it. Same thing happene to my with The Stand.
The show was a back handed way to tell a story that Amazon did not have the legal right to make a show about. The only reason they got away with it is those events were talked about as historical in the stories they do have rights to. Which is why the story was so mutilated. Ive started this game but have not finished it, it is beautiful, and even my mom really enjoyed it and finished it. I RECENTLY FINISHED BLOOD KIN AND CURSES, AND REALLY ENJOYED YOUR TAKE ON VAMPIRES!!!!!!!!!!
They actually did have the legal rights... technically. The history they started with is in the appendices of Return of the King, but then they decided to change timelines and plot points for the sake of making a more generic fantasy for a broader audience. If they used the existing lore as a framework and filled in the gaps, they would have been much better off imo.
@@TheSmallzfry Agreed, the foolish urgent need to want to tell a story that they didnt have the rights with the tools that they did have rights was an absolute and terrible decision
I actually think that what saves the games is that it embraces the fact its fanfiction, it goes hard on it. but at the same time you see that the writers understand some of the deeper lore and know how to properly explore it.
Thank you so much for reading 😍😍😍
The comparisons to batman is basically that this game is based around the foundational systems that the batman arkham games laid so using batman as a base level of comparison is how they reviewed this game
In Lotr universe no one knows exactly what happens to the souls of Humans after they die, in some cases they do become wraiths but its also mentioned that other spirits become trapped in the material realm and they to become wraiths.With Elves their souls go to the Halls of Mandos (One of many god like beings) and they stay there until they can reincarnate as an Elf or as a spirit within nature, so it is a very interesting and fun take on Celebrimbor and Talion to be vengeful spirits and sharing one body. The game is set between The Hobbit and The lord of the Rings i think although i played it brefiely it was very fun.
Also why Batman Arkham series is so mention in games like this its because it set a new standart in brawl like games. And Sauron IS the LoTR because he used not only Celebrimbor but other Elves into making the Rings of Power as well
I'm a huge medieval fantasy guy, but Tolkien never grabbed me. Shadows of Mordor though? It's a fucking BLAST.
The combat is *fantastic*: it's simple enough to get the hang of it, the more you play the more comfortable you'll get, you can level up your character and add special moves to make it easier to mow through orcs...
When you get good enough, you could go back and start over, with no special moves, and still rip through an army of orcs like a badass, it's just a bit slower. Maybe my favorite thing - beyond how elegant the combat is, how elegant the animation looks in complementing the button pressing - is that, as a low-level character, you still have the ability to just cut down hundreds of orcs if YOU, the player, are good enough. But, if you fuck up once or twice, you're done for. So the difficulty curve is fantastic: if you do it right and rip through orcs, it feels rewarding because it's not easy, you have a small margin for error, but it CAN be done.
I think finding that balance, finding "challenging enough to be rewarding when you succeed" in between "too easy" and "frustrating" is so important, and Shadows of Mordor found that sweet spot maybe as well as any game I've ever played.
(Although it probably doesn't make my favorite games of all-time:
Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn and Throne of Bhaal
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake-eater
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Mass Effect trilogy
are probably top tier. Then
Knights of the Old Republic
Dragon Age: Origins
NHL 13
Madden 06
Final Fantasy III
Lufia
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
If 3rd tier is "really good, not great, but super fun", then that's probably where SoM slots in
Shadows of Mordor
Diablo II
Conan
Demonstone
Dragon Age 2
The Outer Worlds
Star Wars: Bounty Hunter
among others... )
Paragraph breaks are great.
New to the channel, found this and your Horizon vid. I too like "straight line" games, but this one got me good.
It was the first open world game I actually "finished", until I got hooked by Horizon: Zero Dawn.
Both games have great(IMO) stories, which is what I care about most as a reader(and writer... kinda)
Cool video, I look forward to checking out some more of your stuff in the future ✌🏾
pausing and commenting is better than commenting and missing out on things that happen in the video
Re: straight line plots, it's not so much that they don't exist anymore it's that AAA companies in general have veered away from them. There's still tons of great straight-lined games coming out from smaller studies and indie game devs.
You might look at Supergiant Games' products.
I would react to Shadow of Mordor stuff, too, so you can see how the sequel evolved. Same decent campaign, but the Nemesis system is expanded massively in ways not present in the first.
Sometimes allies will save you from death, backstab you if you treat them poorly, or desire to be your bodyguard if they take a liking.
You can even assign them as spies "guarding" an enemy warchief.
You can even take an army plus your Captains, and siege an enemy fortress. Purchase bombs, special troops a dragon etc.
All in all a great duo of games.
Yeah older linear games are like around the 2000, i miss it too
Not really relevant, just a fun little nugget about the 2nd film for anyone who didn't know this:
when Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli are hunting across Rohan it was a bit of a nightmare to film. Viggo had a broken toe, Orlando had bruised ribs from falling off a horse and poor old John had an allergic reaction to his makeup
The Batman Arkham games started THIS combat system of triangle/Y-countering. Just way more forgiving in Shadow of Mordor/War. And it is open world.
The nemesis system was such a cool concept and I'm mad that WB has a copyright on that so no other game can use it
Everyone compared this game to batman: arkham city, but it's really not the same.
The main defining feature of the freeflow system in batman is that once you get your combo meter up, you can fly across the whole screen with a single button press and hit hard enough to knock 'em flying.
The system in shadow of mordor feels more similar to assassin's creed 4: black flag than arkham city.
However, I'm also pretty sure none of these games appear on PS5. That's the issue with consoles in general (with some exceptions), if a game doesn't get a re-release, you've got to get some older hardware.
This was the game I wish you had started your gaming journey with. The story plays ridiculously fast and loose with the Tolkienverse if you care about that sort of thing. But the combat is the sell. It's so easy to understand the flow and once you get some practice in you just steamroll everybody. So much fun. It's great practice for future gaming and the Nemesis system with the Orcs doubles the fun.
I am not a huge LOTR nerd, but I like it. I get what you are saying about The Two Towers. When young I stumbled on that book two or three times. I had to power through it to finally get to the third book, but that one I flew through. I think I finished that one in three days.
I always say that Tolkien is the master of crafting tales, but he isn't always the best at telling these tales. There are a few pitfalls in the books that could make you lose momentum. I thought I should read the books again as an adult, in english this time, and I loved it. But then I had to power through the Tom Bombadil part. I finally did it but then I stopped reading. I did the work but didn't reap the reward so to speak. :) I really should get back to it.
Not being a huge Tolkien nerd, I love all aspects of this game. I can view this as an alternate timeline and not be bothered by the lore that doesn't fit cannon. I can be intreagued by their take on it instead, and I did learn some new things that actually are lore accurate.
I love the Arkham games, so it's not a big surprise I would like it. I think others have already told you why Batman is brought up all the time. You can't escape the comparison because how similar the game play is. You would probably like the Arkham series, most people do. And if you like Arkham, you will probably like Shadows of Mordor too.
What you said about the recent series that is Tolkien in name only also made sense to me. I looked into it and knew I would never watch it. It seemed strange to me that anyone could be able to enjoy that...mess. But I do understand how you can be dazzled in the moment and enjoy something, until you start thinking about it.
I remember way back when I watched Independence Day in the movies and loved it. But what followed was almost comical. The literal moment I stepped through the doors and out on the street a thought struck me:
"Wait a minute. That movie was shit!" :)
So I agree, you shouldn't rewatch the series. If you somehow was able to enjoy it you should probably try to hold on to that, right? Anyway, this was the first time I ever saw one of your videos and since you seem to encourage dialogue I thought I should write something.
Maybe we both should try to finish the books and this game. Yeah, I never finished it. It often happens with games I love. When I near the end I start playing less and less because I don't want it to be over. Eventually I just stop. Which means I have yet to play Shadows of War even though I own it. It's pretty self defeating when you think about it. :)
there's also a second part called shadow of war that further expanded the nemesis system and gameplay. do look it up its a really fun game.
A really awesome LoTR game that is old with a liner storyline is LoTR: War in the North. It's an underrated game that is MOSTLY cannon complient. You can solo play through; but I really love playing it co-op with my partner. The graphics are still pretty alright, the story and characters are fun with a few cameos from movie characters. I recomend playing as the lady elf, her armour sets are so beautiful!
This is a pure fanfiction by Warner Bros meant to honorably mention characters from the second age and I think some of the mythology in the second game. However, the games are phenomenally fun and the orcs are the best part.
While it is true, that a lot of modern games, especially tripple A titles, are pushing the open world setting just for the sake of it, there are definitely linear story games still beeing made. For example there's the "A Plague Tale" series and I would highly recommend for you to check out "Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice".
I love the story of this because it's set between the hobbit and the lord of the rings trilogy, before sauron reawakens
The reason, during this time period, that reviewers compared games to the Batman: Arkham Asylum series is that it became a revolutionary benchmark for combat games going forward. So many games used a very similar style of combat afterwards with changes or personal iterations to make it their own.
This game plays pretty fast-and-loose with the lore. But theme-wise it plays with Tolkiens idea that using dark powers always corrupts you. Talion uses dark powers to turn them back against sauron, but just like the ring these powers will turn against him eventually.
I laughed way too hard at that Schmuck of War comment.
@04:26 The "Half Life" series is a linear 1P POV game. They are older, but there are some fantastic mods out there that punch up the graphics. They are also a cultural touchstones for some with memes and references.
He is referring to batman the arckam games (arckam asylum arckam city , arckam nights, and arckam origins. the fighting style is the same in both games.
When it comes to the cinematic releases
LOTR trilogy: Excellent
The Hobbit trilogy: Bad
The Rings of Power: Hogwash
Shadow of Mordor was extremely well received, so Warner Bros did what Big companies often do with highly successful franchises...made a sequel called "Shadow of War", which squeezed every last cent out of their customers and milk the franchise for all it's worth. People were not happy.
Thing is everything based on watches which results in money, and every cameo of old character that shows up results in more watchers as everyone tells their friends that so and so is in the movie or show. For example the Hobit prequel, a lot of people watched to see Legolas.
Those straight line games are referred to as linear (opposite of Open world) and technically they still exist. Its just that most publishers prefer open worlds because it means they can put in more content to eat players time which is now in todays gaming age, a valuable commodity because of microtransactions (in game purchases with real money)
Never noticed the piano back there...do you compose themes for your books?
This is exactly my history with LOTR. Read the Hobbit twice as a kid. I read the first book and quit during Two Towers. I know the movies back and forth.
The day the Frodo wakes up in Rivendell is my birthday. October 24th.
Oh I have watched the LOTR animated movie about a million times.
It's compared to Batman because the Batman Arkham Asylum game pioneered the combat system that Shadow of Mordor uses.
Also, pretty sure God of War has an animation canceling system in place. Kratos would pick up his shield mid-action if you press the shield button for most attacks. It's just a matter of understanding how the shield animation works. Picking up the shield is not instant and has startup frames, and when the shield is active for full, that's when the active frames are in place and protects you. That's how an action works in real life as well, y'know. You wind up for an action, do an action, and then stop doing an action. That timeframe when you're winding up is usually a timeframe where you're vulnerable to attacks. Which is why part of the skillset in hack 'n slash games like God of War is reading your enemies and determining when it's safe or unsafe to do your own attacks.
The Batman comparison is because a series of Batman games perfected and popularized the form of combat that's used in this game.
Shadow of war is the sequel and it adds so much to the game that it makes shadow of mordor into a tech demo
re: reading LotR...
I found the first half of the Fellowship tough to get through, though I was a lot younger at the time.
I found it to be a page turner starting in the second half of FotR through to the end of the series.
The Silmarillian is amazing to listen to as an audio book. Prof. Tolkien's sense of language and poetry really comes to life.
Re: Shadow of Mordor, I enjoyed playing it. The Nemesis system was fun, but I wouldn't recommend going in if you're looking for canonical insights on Middle Earth.
The sequel (Shadow of War) - I couldn't get past the narrative liberties taken in the introduction where...
Shelob makes an appearance as a human dominatrix. At least that's how I remember it. I'm sure there are videos on UA-cam.
The Rings of Power tried to tell parts of the Silmarillion book (which had a lot of history of LoTR) and lead it to the movies, Shadow of Mordor and its sequel Shadow of War, are kind of a mix of Tolkien lore and Alternate LoTR, can’t go into more detail else it’ll spoil their story, either way it’s a great story idea, and nothing wrong with game’s taking creative liberties, as long as it stays faithful to the core of what it’s adapting
Your frustration with god of laziness is soo funny and relatable...
i think the batman arkham games released relatively around the same time as this, and the combat is kinda similar, so that's why there's a lot of comparison
Now that you've seen Shadow of Mordor, you need to see Shadow of War.
The reason why they keep referencing Batman is that the Batman games use a very similar fighting system to this one.
Hannah, read the books. By going along Frodo's and Sam's journey you get to come back to Aragorn & co.
In two towers I do?!
@@HannaHsOverInvested Ill news is an ill guest and I'm sorry I have to tell you no. I should've made more clear that I meant that by reading the rest of Two Towers you get to start reading Return of the King. And that is a comforting thought.
Recently I replayed Titanfall 2 and it's a direct game from 2015 I think, it's short but it's really cheap on PC at least
The second game called Shadow of War is even better.
Yessss I love this game! You should definitely buy it you’d love it for the stealth and murdery destruction (like doom wink wink). It’s usually super cheap on sales and it’s so satisfying.
Batman gets referenced a lot because the combat in this game is very similar to the combat in the Arkham games. Also, open world games don't REQUIRE you to do all the side stuff. You absolutely can just play the main story missions. The only problem with that is you may end up under-leveled at some point.
Actually, the show tried to do a "Game of Thrones" thing using Tolkien's work.
And, good news, everything outside of the movies and books is non-canon! So you can pick up anything and not worry about what happened a thousand years prior! Except if you plan to read "Silmarillion."
"Why is this compared to Batman?" Gold Standard.
So... what you want is a game with "linear" in the genre description. But those games are less and less popular, but most games have a linear story still. Like a game you've probly heard of for example, skyrim, if you just play the story, you can probly beat it in like 8 hours, maybe 4 for someone who has already played it a lot and knows how to make it super easy, but if you only play the main story, you'll see maybe 10 percent of the map, and play less than 2 percent of the actual game.
Sorry for wall of text, paragraph break here 😅
But for example there are also games like doom, that are level based linear games, but due to the way the levels are laid out, it doesn't feel like it. Maybe you should try an old game, like one of the classics, but something with a good story. I would suggest something like chrono trigger, though it would be fun to see you play a 3d zelda game. But an example of a non linear game from that same era would be super metroid, it's actually linear in practice, but it's designed in a way that makes it very much an exploration game, where half the puzzle is figuring out where to go next, there is only one truly correct way (unless you know how to "sequence break") but there is ton of stuff to find, that do help you... infact, for a first playthrough, it's kinda like the more you get lost, the more you find things that help you not die, so it kinda helps you if you suck at the game... but like, if you have a photographic memory, but also suck at killing bad guys, you'll get in over your head lol.
It is compared to batman because it has a similar combat system. Batman was the first big successful game with that system.
Spiderman is also using that system.
Shadow of mordor and shadow war are 2 of the best games ever made. Strongly recommended! It is a self contained story. However, it will rip your heart out at the end.
The Batman comparisons come from the fact that both games are made by the same company and are *very* similar in gameplay.
games that are a straight line is a pretty interesting idea, i can't think of one off the top of my head, even the oldest "linear" RPG's have some amounts of exploration, i guess it depends how straight you want the line to be but that really might not exist in a true sense.
The thing about Shadow of Mordor is they outright get things wrong. For example, Celembrimbor wasn't tortured until he forged Sauron's ring.
Then Shadow of War comes along (the sequel) and just takes a big ole steamer on anything Lord of the Rings related. It makes Amazon's Rings of Power look downright Shakespearean in comparison. If you need an example, I can give you one in 2 words. Sexy Shelob. That's all I'll say.
Whilst I am a Lord of the Rings hater, Shadow of Mordor was a very fun game. It's "open world" in terms of style but the story is still quite linear. Whilst the next step in the story is quite straightforward, you'll need to level up and you have a lot of options to do that.
The references to Batman are because this game was made by the same studio that made the Arkham games and the combat is very similar.
There are numerous races of men, the Dunedain are in part descendants of the Edain, or Elf friends, and the Edain are also the precursors to the a few other races of men such as the Numenoreans. They are in effect really the almost the exact same group, but being Numenorean meant for a long time that you were from the island kingdom of Numenor while a Dunedain could be from Arnor, Gondor, Rohan, or Eriador, all lands in the west. However not all or even necessarily all men living in these areas share any Edain blood. Many are Dunlandians, normal men. The purer the Edainian blood the loner living the race of men is. Numenor when it fell had two different groups of survivors, some which effectively joined their brothers in what would eventually be Gondor and others who had fallen to the corruption of Sauron and fled to Mordor. These are the Black Numenoreans, who are one of the races of men corrupted by Sauron, but they maintain much of the old gifts of the Edain, including extended life. One of the more interesting concepts is that Sauron's actions to corrupt the Numenoreans results in the creation of the world, the loss of access to Valinor, paradise by men for their fall from grace, and the destruction of Sauron's physical body, meaning he can only manifest into physical form like what happened in the early stages of Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring when Sauron's power is at a great height, but that any loss of that power, like having the ring cut from his finger will result in the "body," which is mostly some form of armor shaped for him to inhabit rather than a true form, losing coherence which is why it crashed to the ground immediately. Sauron from the Fall of Numenor on is more wraith than flesh. His shadow exists best in Mordor because it is a land wreathed in shadow which allows him to exist and have sway over those living there.
Then there's the Druedain, or wild men, who are still considered to be part of the Edian, but much further removed as they had mixed their blood with the lesser races of men lowering their life expectancy significantly but also failing to uphold many of the civilized traditions of the Edain and the Dunedain, but who lived closer to the forests and natural world.
You've got the Beornings, who are potentially shape shifters and generally live either alone or in small tight knit clans. Mostly shape shift into bears or possibly wolves.
There's a bunch of other races of Dunland, the folks of Bree and Dale. These are closer to normal men with normal lifespans.
So, this game is open world, but for what it's worth it's not nearly as big as open world games releasing now! What's more, the open world is more of a sandbox where you get a bit of freedom to run around and do side content. The story is actually quite linear, as others have said.
Think of it this way: Shadow of Mordor is a story told in connecting rooms. The story itself only goes from one room to the next adjacent room. But you can explore those rooms and find cool stuff as much or little as you like. And the extra stuff in said rooms could make getting through the door to the next room (or the end of the story, if you're at that point) easier and/or more enjoyable. Hope that analogy helps a little! Or at all, really.
Yeah… people used to complain about how shadow of Mordor and shadow of war weren’t exactly lore accurate despite not being canon either, now I bet most of them would trade these games for the shit show of a tv show we got a million times over, no the games take some liberties with the lore but they’re still pretty great games
For me this game is 1 of the best games to come out and here's why 'in my opinion' the graphics are still really good the combat is quite satisfying and the story line is really good but the best thing about this game is the fact that every time you play it you never get the same enemy twice other than the 1s tied with the main missions you might get some with the same name but never the same design and that is what makes it such a good game and the same goes for the sequel. Heres an example I remember watching a youtuber play this and they got annoyed at an orc called latbag because every time they killed him he came back now in the years I have played this game I have not once seen that name
Most games these days are pretty open world in nature.
However if you want a recommendation for a straight forward, on-rails experience, I'd recommend you play the Halo games, from 1 to 3 and Reach.
Halo 3: ODST is good as well, but it's more open world.
The batman arkham series is compared alot due to the fundamentals of combat being deprived from it. It's quite good and can be really versatile to one's surprise, even the spiderman games on ps4 and ps5 as you know them deprives from it. It's biggest twist to it is being more acrobatic and agile considering well YOU'RE SPIDERMAN! As opposes to being the wall of muscle and vengeance like batman.
Shadow of Mordor was an excellent game! The sequel, Shadow of War, has the same formula as the first but is improved in pretty much every way and the introduction of new mechanics in the way of base takeovers/defense. If you're considering playing and want a stripped down fairly linear game go with the first, but if you wanted the full blown experience the sequel was awesome. And if you don't play, the cutscenes are well worth watching on their own.
I like that one Arthur meme where he is mad and about to punch someone
LOL
When you ask for a game in a straight line, I think of the Uncharted Series, a fantastic experience but definitely on rails.
If someone doesn't like it when you talk over the trailer: WHY would they click on a trailer reaction? Like, just go watch the trailer if that's what they want
The only games (and even that’s arguable) that are a “straight line” are 2D and 3D Platformers. And you’ve made your feelings known on that.
Also, the VO for the main character is *drum roll please* Troy Baker!
I know it's for the first one. But Az-Laar the Demolisher is burned into my soul... in much the same way that we lost him. RIP, bringer of war.
This game and it's sequel are interesting when it comes to the lore and timeline of Lord of The Rings, because although it's not Canon and is an original story, it slots into the timeline somewhat nicely in my opinion. The game never really makes it clear, but it takes place before the movies. It's when Sauron is gathering his forces in Mordor and only starting to become a threat again, so you kind of see the rise and resurgence of Sauron while playing throughout the 2 games. Its a really cool part of the timeline to slot the game into, and while it is non canon I personally think at least some aspects could be made canon without breaking much of the main classic Rings story.
This is a very excellent game for a newbie gamer. It is open world, but the open world is not that massive. At first it will be very frustrating but once you unlock a very of the skills, you effectively become a god. For perspective, in the beginning, fighting 10 uruks will be a chore, but after about 10 hours, you can take on at least 80 at once and win without much hassle. You just need the freeze power.
Sequel to this game features sexy Shelob, something Tolkien himself wished his son would bring to life. True story.
The game may be open world but its not as big as most open world games and there is a clear story path. Also the world is split up into a few different regions so u wont have 1 big world.
Talion is not 1 of the Aragorns ppl (Dunedain), He is a normal ranger guarding the Black gate leading into Mordor. The high lvl orcs can be insanely difficult depending on what strenght perks they get as they lvl up. It can start as something simple like u dying to a random orc captain and u wanna get revenge so u track him down again right away only to find that he now might have gained an immunity to something he was weak to before and suddenly u have died to him 3 times and he is now a max lvl nearly unstoppable monster that can 1-2 shot u if u mess up an attack timing. I played this game when it first released and i still remember the name and title of the orc bastard that easily killed me 10x more then any other orc including main story bosses.
Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War are more fanfics, but unlike the show they respect the source material to a certain degree
It would be really fun to watch you play this. I think you would really like it
To be honest, both this game and Rings of Power are "fanfictions" based on Tolkien's lore.
But technically there's nothing in Shadow of Mordor that goes against any part of the lore. It is an invention that manages to respect the lore and play a bit with its laws without changing anything that is already established in the writtings.
Rings of Power on the other hand directly changes established lore, character personalities, events, timeline, to completely rewrite everything. And most of the story doesn't make sense at all, characters are dumb and the dialogues are really bad.
Celebrimbor is definitely supposed to look like he does in the game, it's a direct and faithful adaptation of his description his the writtings. The one is the tv show feels completely out of character most of the time (the guy apparently didn't think about trying aloys, the most basic stuff, while he's supposed to be the greatest blacksmith of the 2nd Age, and instantly trust a completely random human guy, while he's supposed to be one of the most prideful and narcissistic elf of his time. In the books it takes Sauron hundreds of years to gain his trust and in the show it was done with a quick chat about aloys, it's absurd xD Celebrimbor should've been the main character of the first season, and that's just one example out of dozens) and more generally speaking the elfes in the show are simply not Tolkien elfes at all.
Galadriel is the opposite of what she's supposed to be, even during this age. Having her behaving as an arrogant, careless and insensitive brat while she's the oldest character in the show (yes, older than Celebrimbor :p) and is already supposed to be one the wisest, kindest and self controlled being of all time, it's really insulting for the character.
The way they removed her husband Celeborn to have a weird romance thing with Sauron is twisted, elves are like penguins, they only have one love and they never stop loving their partner even thousands of years after their death (that's why Thranduil and Elrond are the most tragic elf characters of the lore btw). They can never love again... And in the books Galadriel is the ONLY elf seeing through Sauron's disguse and is trying to prevent him from doing whatever he's planning to do. She was born with the ability to read the mind of others and she learned politics and magic stuff for centuries during the First Age, refusing to go to war because she thinks it's pointless, even though she lost her 3 brothers to war. She basically hates war and only want to establish her own realm away from it, saving as much people as she can on her wanderings so she can protect them from the enemy. That is the reason why she decided to come to Middle Earth in the first place, she never fell into any revenge arc that is quite specific to the Human race and definitely not fitting for one of the most pacific person who ever lived. She does have one weakness, her pride, she wants to rule her own kingdom, but the whole point of her character is that she ALWAYS makes the right choices, her wisdom is always bigger than her pride, that is why she later was authorized to come back to Valinor, they obviously didn't include any of this in the show, like many other things unfortunately, even though they had the rights to those stuff. There's like 75% of the infos about the 2nd Age in the LOTR books and appendices, which is quite enough to make a faithful adaptation ! But no, they wanted to do their own thing. They basically bought the rights only for the IP title and the names of the characters and places, and that's it, they were never interested in Tolkien's stories. For me it was really painful to watch until the end.
But the Shadow of Mordor games ? Knowing almost all the lore, I don't see anything in those games that contradicts any part of it, even though it's pure invention. There are some weird liberties sometimes, but you feel the respect and love of the source material, something you really don't have with Rings of Power.