What are YOUR thoughts/reviews of Return to Moria? (I'll update this pinned comment as I get deeper in the game and find anything that may be worth adding to my thought in the vid, but I think it's safe to say, I'm loving this game!)
It's probably not going to set the gaming world on fire but it looks pretty solid and well made! And the streamers online i've watched seem to be having a lot of fun with it!
I actually cordially disliked their portrayal of Tolkien's dwarves. Less nuanced, and more of the drunken, angry, Scottish types. That portrayal is the work of Poul Anderson -- a writer who had a dwarf character who had a Scottish accent, drank and swore. Anderson was loved by the creators of Dungeons and Dragons, which is why the notion persists. But Tolkien? His language of Khuzdul is inspired by Hebrew, and his dwarves are inspired by the the dwarrows of the Prose Edda -- Norse, and strong, but fast in friendship and in emnity -- and that's completely lost, here. It genuinely does not feel true to Tolkien and his lore.
@@AMcGrath82I wasn't expecting them to change their portrayal from the well-known/beloved representation we've received on film and tv, especially with John Rhys-Davies reprising his role.
It's a solid game, and a lot of fun. Some of the negative reviews I've seen seem to have unrealistically high expectations. It was clear FRG wanted to focus on the LOTR and atmosphere which I think they nailed while still keeping it accessible and not a 'hardcore' survival game... I think from this perspective the more simplified combat system makes sense. Aside from bugs, my only true negative is a clunky and limited construction system. Solid 7/10 but it's a fun 7.
@Mike-db8ew It's the departure of the Elves, but Arnor/Gondor did a lot during that time with the reunification and ending the wars with the East and the South. Also Pippin and Merry still did things up north as they gradually began to become more prominent. Not to mention the Dwarves still being major players as in Khazad-dum.
@@luciusdebeers6176video games are a different experience though, why be so mad if lore is bent lightly to better suit gameplay or setting if it makes the game better for the player. If you want complete canon and for every timeline to match up just go read the books
Its really fun to slowly discover the halls and depths of Moria. The graphics are nothing special, but it runs very well on my potato gaming laptop. Moria itself and the singing dwarfs sold this game for me👌 I hope they add some more audio for the enemies, especially the goblins and orcs. Whom at this moment lack a fear factor.
Got it yesterday with my 2 buddies. We have been loving every minute of it. It plays like valheim but DWARVES!!! And I love that. We've needed a good survival craft and this hit it
I am playing the game in single player so far, and I absolutely love it. While the combat leaves much to be desired, it's not the main focus of the game. Moria feels lonely and quiet, which I actually find to be excellent game design. No doubt having friends would make this game way more fun, but the single player experience is just as good. When I walk through the dark and lonely halls, I sometimes ask myself if this is how the Aragorn felt when he ventured into Moria by himself. The feeling that something is watching you is persistent throughout my playthrough. This loneliness makes the songs, the forging, and the elven gardens far more enjoyable and rewarding. It's almost as if they are a reprise after the dreeriness of the dark canvas. I'm giving this game a solid 9/10 as well. I wish the combat was more fleshed out, but I'm OK with it not being exceptional
@@lynn-myl I'm hoping my friends wanna play with me lol, they're into survival games but not many are into lotr, and with eight players us and my wife could actually all play together for once
I take it there aren't any AI companions in single player? Not sure I'll be able to convince my friends to play this with me, being the only LOTR geek!
I'm probably going to wait until this game comes to steam, but I'm definitely looking forward to it! I still remember reading FotR for the first time and just being entranced with Moria and wishing I could explore it someday. It looks like I'll be able to soon!
In a world created by the music of the Ainur, it's great to have dwarves singing as they go about their work. As you commented in your first livestream, background music (paricularly for solo) would improve the experience. Thank you for a fair review with lots of relevant footage.
I've put 99 hours into a solo run so far and haven't even finished the game. I'm having so much fun building and exploring and have just been playing at my own pace. I highly recommended this to anyone who is trying to decide if they want it or not.
While I’m sure that people playing multiplayer are getting more out of it, I am really enjoying playing single player and just unwinding after class and work and spending an hour or two progressing
I cant watch rhe review for spoilers sake but as a fan of tolkien dwarves this game was almost made for me. Ive spent hours thinking of ways to remodel and show off my gold stash. The lore and the atmosphere are so amazing as well! Its really hard for me to recommend this game to anyone because for 40$ most people want more features and content and there are a bit of bugs that needs to get patched Back to the mines I go!
Now that's funny - I was starting to freak out that Matt was leaving out LOTRO when discussing "good" LOTR games and right at that moment he said "Now before anybody freaks out, I'm setting LOTRO aside...". WHEW! Thanks Matt. Great review!
I played this for 6 solid hours last night and it was a blast! There are definitely some small changes I would love to see, but the overall experience is really fun. Definitely need to play this with a few people to really get the most out of it, so can’t wait to do that
With survival crafting games (SCG), it's usually about understanding what is needed to take the next step, and that that step will have sufficient payoff. Usually that's better equipment, automating tedious tasks or a solid story beat. The main thing that SCGs need, most games need, is multiple gameplay loops - which is why most have mini games or tasks that require a different skill set. From what it seems like with RtM, the loop portions are: exploration, deciding to build a new outpost/camp/home and collecting/utilizing resources. It expects you to take a break from dungeon exploring with building, and a break from building with collecting, then eventually back onto exploring further after upgrading equipment (the game breaks each of those steps up with raids and roaming mobs to fight). The loop isn't particularly novel, but it's serviceable. In game, the story and lore exist to keep the player interested in what is or could still be ahead of them, so for LotRs fans that may be enough. For others it may or may not provide enough of a driving force compared to other survival crafting games, especially those that like to sink a couple thousands hours into a SCG. For casual players, if spending an hour on any one of those loop portions is not mentally rewarding enough, they may stop playing as there enjoyment is too low to get from one payoff to the next. No game is for everyone though, and it sounds like OP is enjoying themselves. One thing about this game so far is that it doesn't really seem to be a sandbox game, which many survival crafting gamers make as a default assumption. I think that variation might be why there is a bit more negativity. It's sort of on rails so far (4 hours in) compared to Minecraft, 7D2D, Don't Starve or CoreKeeper, but not much more so than a story driven SCG like The Forest. It's hard to tell how much it'll open up, or if it'll need to stay "on track" for the story/lore drops to work. And if it does stay relatively on the rails, why make it procedural instead of fixed?
As a fellow tolkien fan and gamer, can say I wish I had people to play with, but solo the game has been an addictive time sink. I love the lore Nods and finally getting to walk moria. Though in the meantime, I'll keep walking durin's halls alone.
A review from a non-professional game reviewer, lore loving casual gamer is exactly what will tell you the most about this game. Is he having fun? If yes, there's a massive chance that you will too. That's all I need to know, thanks for the video!
I've 100% finished the game. Explored ever location and crafted everything you can craft. If you remove the Lord of the Rings cover and look at this from a purely Survival Crafting game aspect the game is maybe a 5/10 at best. There are several other games in this genre that have less bugs, and execute at a much higher level. That being said I'm a massive LotR fan, and that bumps the game up to maybe a 7/10 at best. I wished the game were better, but it's still worth playing because of the IP alone.
I've always found it ridiculous that gaming sites deduct points off of their review scores if the graphics aren't cutting edge and lifelike. The artstyle of a game is a choice: Return to Moria's choice and pricetag not only looks good, it makes it a lot more accessible. And, as you said: ultimately it's more about how much fun a game is to play than anything else.
It's really a shame that there isn't local co-op. My wife and I love LotR and would love to play this together without having to buy a entirely different console to do so.
I'm really enjoying the game so far, I've only put a few hours into it but I already have goals for bases, rebuilding rooms, and exploring more of Moria.
I've had too many hours in this game already and I must say it has been a blast so far. I try to keep it a bit lower-paced then some people, building up bases and checking every new tunnel to repair statues and such, but that's just my way of gaming. I started doing multiplayer with some friends and really enjoyed it, but started a single player world to the side that I play when my friends can't join me. I enjoy both experiences, because I can set my own pace in single player but enjoy the story line and the fighting together with friends. A 9/10 seems fitting for me too, as there is always room for improvement. Other then the bugs at release, the devs seem to be on top of things and I hope they can find a fun way to expand the game with new items and regions being added over time.
My brother, best friend and I plan on picking this up at the same time to play together. I’m excited! We need a casual Friday night gaming sesh now and then. This games seems the perfect fit for us Middle-Earth fans
I too love the old games. Still own a PS2 to play them. Especially The 3rd Age. God, how I love that game. I really hope there comes a day where we get remakes of these Legends. I have my PS3 as well on which I played War in the North, Adventures of Aragorn and the Lego Games. I'm excited to see 'Return to Moria' one day for myself. Normally I like playing Elves more, or Humans. But I think it's time to grow a beard, drink strong beer, feast on roasted meat, get my own Axe to fight and a pickaxe to mine. And singing from the heart and top of my lungs dwarven songs while mining through Moria. ^^
The Battle for Middle-Earth Trilogy and LEGO Lord of the Rings/Hobbit were easily the best Middle earth Multiplayer games in my opinion. Im interested in getting Return to Moria after a couple weeks of initial bugfixes
Losing Christopher was a terrible thing for the Tolkien IPs as he was a very very good gatekeeper at protecting his dads work. Once Christopher passed, Amazon basically had free reign to do whatever they wanted and obviously Amazon took full advantage of that. Then you had Gollum which in the first place who really ever said hey that’s the middle earth character I want a game based on..? No one. Personally I’m fixed income so it’ll be a bit before I get the chance to play this game but from everything I’ve seen even if not perfect the game seems to actually care about the IP and is a step in the right direction. Hopefully whoever is in control of the Tolkien estate learned their lesson after Amazon and Gollum but we’ll see
Best would actually just be that the whole work of Tolkien was free to use. That would set studios competing with each other and we could cherry pick things we like and ignore the rest. If you don't like Rings of Power for example, just don't watch it and there is no reason to think it "ruins" anything Tolkien wrote. You can still enjoy his writing.
There are amazing mods in games made after Tolkiens universe. Fantastic passion projects made without any companies greed. Medieval 2 total war and Mount & Blade Warband have a special place in my heart. There is also an amazing Minecraft server that has recreated middle earth.
LOTRO player here - SO hyped that this game exists and I can’t wait to dive in! I 100% agree that a game doesn’t need to be AAA to be incredible… often the games with the most heart and passion are from indie/smaller devs and this clearly has that. Barûk Khazad!
I try to be unbiased when giving my opinion of this game (Like you, Middle Earth +Dwarves = I MUST PLAY.) As a general survival/crafting game, I give it a 7/10. Everything seems good, but each piece seems like its missing something. Building needs more angle options, some bugs need cleaning up, and I wish there was a little more to crafting (they are DWARVES!). Dedicated servers would be a nice option as well, since its so much better with multiplayer. It doesn't really bring a ton new to the survival crafting genre. It feels like Grounded, which isn't a knock against it but more of a description since some were expecting something more open like Valheim. It does do the deep dark of Moria amazingly well. It can be dark and scary, and then suddenly beautiful and awe inspiring. The middle earth lore is near perfect.The progression is good, I like the need to explore more to unlock everything. Difficulty is fine if you are a little careful, and managing light/sleep/food is fine. Love how vertical the maps are. biased opinion, 10/10 : I can be a dwarven ranger in middle earth, using the cave environment to my advantage to survive and thrive. Striking at enemies from hidden camps carved out from the sides of cliffs.
Quick way to shut people up that complain about graphics is to tell them that Valheim exists and is incredibly popular in the genre. That game looks horrible by all modern standards but people love it because the mechanics are good. This can be that too. It doesn't need to light a 4090 on fire to be a good game. This games biggest fault for me at the moment is that the single player gameplay is really bad. They often are bad in the survival genres, they want people to play together, but it seems worse here than other games I've played.
I work graveyards and it’s hard to find friends to play with in my given time. I’ve been playing it solo anyway and while it is kinda a slog and pretty depressing in the long dark of Moria. But I’m still having a lot of fun. Things just take more time and planning. Can’t wait to see how it is multiplayer though.
I will say... That comment about setting a 4090 on fire... Return to Moria is currently terribly optimized and is incredibly gpu intensive for the graphical features and complexity in the game. However, it is made by a small team and only recently came out and the small passionate team behind the game are looking to add a great deal to the game and make it much better. Hopefully more optimization will come soon. I will say, it runs mostly fine on modern hardware, but it is a resource hog.
Exploring the depths of Moria in LOTRO is among my fondest memories from playing that game. They breathed a lot of life into it and crafted a pseudo-dungeon crawler for an MMO. If this game comes even close to that feeling, I think I'd really like this game. At least if I can get my old LOTRO friend to join me.
I don’t play video games at all…the most I’ve ever played was when I’ve been to other peoples houses and enjoyed skateboard games. Your play through makes me want to purchase a whole gaming system for this game alone!
There will be a new online skate game in the making so please look out for that its still bit fresh and has a little info but seems fun in atleast first tiny glance they showed already
i play both solo and with my wife/buddy. its more fun when playing with people but playing solo, makes it much more scary. exploration in dwarrowdelf for instance has you really thinking about how to tackle area's and properly gear up. story is also fun. it has few bugs and glitches and most importantly has me hooked to keep playing and mining/grinding. a tip for all you fellow dwarfs. in my opinion the best base location is the narvi forge. the elven quarter is a great place for food farming etc.
Played every day since release, now for 30+ hours in 4 man group. All of us love it and this is surely not our last journey through Moria, it's going to stay on our radar with other games like Valheim or V Rising that we keep returning to with content updates. Moria is amazing and keeps surprising us as we're about to enter the last area. If it wasn't for few bugs (loading issues, horde spawning issues or being unable to craft from chests) it would be great. It would be also nice if teleport energy drain was removed (or reduced), cooking was made faster (4 minutes for travel food is too long) and there was a way to auto-storage inventory and sort all of the items in inventory and chests.
I've burned HUNDREDS of hours into the survival game genre and after watching the live stream, I'm more than excited to play this game this weekend. Just keep in mind that crapping on games is a sport within the online gaming community. There are NO survival games out there with AAA, or 4k like graphics due to the the mechanics. Know that anyone complaining about the graphics here for a survival game is being incredibly disingenuous.
Watching you play this in the livestream was what sold the game for me. It's been super fun so far, and I can't wait to try a naked punch-only run once I complete my first run-through!
As an hardcore gamer who played WoW but also COD at high level for exemple, Return to Moria was by far the most amazing game I've played since Read Dead Redemption 2. It is amazing in the casual, true gaming way. It's not crazy graphics or developped combat system but it's just casual fun. The discovery aspect is great, you never know what you're going to run into. It's challenging if you play solo and want a difficult experience and there's no artificial grindfest that makes you sink hours into doing none sense. When you need a resource it's hard to find but when you get it, it's usually enough to get what you needed and move on, you're never slowed in your progress and that is so important for a FUN, all the time, gaming experience. Basically, it's just good. Fun to play solo or multiplayer, pretty much the best 40 bucks you'll spend on a 2023 video game. (That or Baldur's gate 3 I hear)
I also give it a 9/10. I'm still very early game and only just got into the Mines proper, but it's super fun to attack an ore vein side by side with a friend, pickaxes swinging, take on a goblin horde side by side, yell for help when ambushed by a group of goblins. I agree with your point that single player just doesn't give the full experience though. Also hard agree on this being a game that has me hooked and thinking about at work, and I can't wait to play again
Love the War in the North shout out lol. One of my favorite Lord of the Rings games! Very underrated and unfortunately was over shadowed by skyrim back in the day
The gameplay is mostly good. It can get annoying: getting exhausted before you really even begin the day, too much of a resource that you can't even properly store, having to move your base, not being able to discard obsolete gear properly, and combat and mining being a bit wonky. But it has some great things that outweigh the negatives: base building, the enemies, the lore, the atmosphere, the weapons and armor (how they feel, look, and work), mining (although wonky sometimes, still feels good), you can be a girl dwarf with a beard and big ol' gut. Overall, I'd give it a solid 7.5 out of 10. It's got some gameplay issues and there are better survival-crafts out there, but it's still fun and easy to get into.
The game as a hole is amazing, i would love to see them expand upon is by adding new areas, and sights. Would love to see the endless stair, durins banes body and also I'm sure we could delve a lot deeper into the foundations of stone.
As someone who hasn't touched a survival game since Minecraft because i'm not a huge fan - I INSTA BOUGHT THIS. Not only am I a big fan of the LOTR universe, something about this called out for me. I'm not even a fan of the Epic storefront. An absolute cozy game with tons of hours to be enjoyed.
personaly i'v been having a blast solo.. sure its harder but i enjoy the challange of solo as well as the idea that i'm single handedly restoreing moria
I'd love to see a sims style game set in the shire, decorating hobbit houses and attending festivals and stuff, or even a harvest moon style game set there.
I hope more games like this are created in the near future; I specifically would like a game based on elves but just having some great LOTR’s games are greatly appreciated. My favorite game was the Return Of The King back in the day and wish they revamped or even made the original available for PS5. I’ll be waiting till December for Return to Moria and can’t wait!
I haven't wanted to play a game as much as I do this one since WOW came out I haven't honestly been able to become interested in any type of game for more than 3 months in years I'm hoping this game will change that
So nice to see so many people digging this game after the bad reviews. I'm still desperate for someone to do a pixel art A/JRPG-style game in the vein of Sea of Stars / Dragon Quest. I think that party-building turn-based combat with beautiful pixel art would tick every box.
Love the game love your channel and review i hope every fan loves and enjoys this game as much as i do tolkien dwarves have never been so accessible imo
I'm a very casual player when it comes to this genre. I'll play Minecraft on Creative mode because I just kinda want to build things and not worry about all the other stuff. But RtM absolutely *ignited* my love for these kinds of games. While I've always loved elven characters in Tolkiens work so much, this game made me absolutely fall in love with the dwarves. From hearing the singing as I mined, to absolutely crying while hearing the Song of Durin and King Beneath the Mountain, because those songs mean a lot now that I'm here trying to actually reclaim Khazad-Dum. The immersion I've felt has been so high, and my mind while I'm playing is thinking, "We'll, while I'm here I should also remove the signs of the Orcs so that when everyone else get's here it's already gone". This game has proven to be an amazing experience, and an absolutely amazing game.
Have been enjoying watching your streams and videos for years - and alot since this game released. The release snuck up on me, had planned on being glued on another release same week; however - I've been hooked on RtM. Like you said - first time in a long time I find myself thinking about the game, and wanting to get back in. Thanks for the content as always!
I really like this game the dwarves were always my favorite in the books, movies, and games. The only thing I can complain about is that you need friends to play so it’s a 9/10 for me too
Gimli was only 139 during the fellowship of the rings. Seeing as the average lifespan of tolkiens dwarfs is 250 years with exceptions such as dwalins 340 years gimli being alive 50 years after the ring is feasible.
I think my friend said something that hit it home for me about this game "If this was a generic dwarf game that didn't have lotr plastered on the cover page no one would give it the light of day"
i will also point out that this is the only lotr game at fourth age. its amazing. i wonder if there will be another game for fourth age in the future in which we can play for example as aragorn ruling gondor and making wars againt rhun and harad and umbar. there is so much you can do. and for the return to moria game i really hope we see more of gimli and maybe eventually have him as a character in the game with which we can gain relations quests or even fight together. i do hope that eventually he also goes into moria and together we recolonize it and try to reclaim it killing every orc in it. and in the end awake durin IV who will then rename himself to durin VII who is lore wisely the one who reclaims it. This way the game would also be lore friendly filling a gap on how the dwarves managed to reclaim moria. And its thanks to gimli and his group!
I can't wait to play this game with friends! My only grump is it won't be on steam for almost a whole year! However, it looks like it will be a wonderful cult classic and will be going strong still by then! Thank you for all of your hard work on this channel and the review! Been a channel fan for many years now!
I would simply never consider buying Gollum after seeing how bad it was even just from trailers, gameplay etc released by the devs. For this game I saw gameplay and the trailer and immediately wanted to buy and play, been playing with my partner and having a great time! It isn't the BEST survival game out there but its decent, it could use a lot more content sure but the LOTR aspect sells it for me.
So happy I found this review and ignored all the bad ones. I bought it this week and I’m really enjoying it! Just wish I had some friends who enjoy LOTR like I do to play with
Glad you're enjoying the game! Yeah, I always take reviews with a grain of salt. Especially LOTR ones as I know I'll get more enjoyment out of it than the average person. It doesn't mean I'll love anything (ie Gollum), but I think RTM is a lot stronger than it gets credit for.
I was torn between waiting for steam or xbox but just went f it and bought on epic. No regrets so far. Im a management/puzzle pc gamer mostly and this one scratched an itch deep rock galaxy couldn’t: exploring a mine solo. Multiplayer is definetly not for me but there is something deeply satisfying here to manage your ressources and establishing outpost, camps and delving into the unknown. Its an exploration based puzzle as in making your own shortcuts and bases really alter the experience and the inventory management makes pushing further an interesting decision, especially when further is 5 rope platform down. The tedium of mining is alleviated by having the risk/reward of singing to boost morale and stamina while alerting patrols and thus having to skedadle or fight. Combat is serviceable and my 8 years old potato can run it fairly well on 2k. This game blew my expectations in that its actually fun! No weird gameplay loop, fun attention to details and actually accessible lore (no overly complex plot or deep lotr knowledge required to engage with it) I will probably rebuy on steam if it pops up there next year just to show support to the devs and pray for dlc.
This game is quite awesome, I bought it 2 days ago and have no regrets!!! Honestly I'm still exploring and finding things and after just seeing your interview with master gimli, I went all out in retaking moria 😉😉😉
What are your thoughts on The Lord of the RIngs Conquest? The StarWars Battlefront 2 clone from the same studio? I personally have so many amazing memories about the game and it was our go-to at sleepovers with the boys.
Absolutely love this game! I just started playing on PS5, got the game gifted to me for Christmas. For 40 dollars this game is easily a great game to play if you can get at least one more person to play with. I play with two of my younger brothers and we have a blast and constantly think/talk about playing when we cannot play. Definitely recommend to anyone looking to play a fun online LOTRs game! I give it a 9/10 only due to loading issues we experience while playing.
I'm playing through this game with one of my childhood friend's, who was the main person I grew up talking Tolkien with. He's a huge dwarf fan. Our main gripe at the beginning was that the same mining song kept playing and sounded kind of pathetic. We both ended up switching our characters voices, and the issue was instantly fixed.
I have been a gamer since my early childhood days and love Tolkiens works since I was able to read (started with the hobbit of course). I only reached bronze as a crafting material and I love this game. I think about it all the time, like back in school when you had a new awesome game to play, but had to go to school and could only play in the afternoon. I'm normally not into survival crafting games, but if I do the setting has to be something I like. I never played minecraft, grounded, etc. although I heard there pretty good in that genre. I loved Valheim, because I think vikings are cool. I was worried after Gollum was such a letdown, that game developers would give us bad lotr games for cash grabs, as long the lord of the rings IP is not free to use yet. But Return to Moria is everything I was hoping for, when I first heard the concept.
LEGO LOTR was the BEST growing up... Great way to get younger players into the Middle Earth world. I still remember creating a Sauron character on the custom characters at Bag End 😂
As a dwarf fan of LOTR I’m so happy about this game and it’s amazing on ps5. 24 hours in and still feel like I haven’t done enough yet definitely worth the 40$
We are the target audience for the very niche game and it has inched all the inches for me Hope you guys show up to support this game & it is so much bigger than people realize
Again a very honest review like the ones we are used to get from you. I'm not into crafting and such but I would give it a try IF somehow some nerd would give me a copy... *DISCLAIMER: I am not or have I ever been in any way affiliated with NOTR (just in case I "win" a copy)
Playing single player and I love it, it’s so immersive, wish it had come out on PS4 as I’m sure that could have run this no problem, playing on a Steam deck which has its own challenges
Thank you for reviewing this! We're waiting for the PS5 version, and the whole fam are big LOTR fans, so this really helps us gauge whether to pull the trigger or not.
I have a little over 10 hours in the game so far. And I agree, so far I’ve only played solo and it’s been ok, but I feel that when my friends get it it will me so much more fun
What are YOUR thoughts/reviews of Return to Moria? (I'll update this pinned comment as I get deeper in the game and find anything that may be worth adding to my thought in the vid, but I think it's safe to say, I'm loving this game!)
It's probably not going to set the gaming world on fire but it looks pretty solid and well made! And the streamers online i've watched seem to be having a lot of fun with it!
I actually cordially disliked their portrayal of Tolkien's dwarves. Less nuanced, and more of the drunken, angry, Scottish types. That portrayal is the work of Poul Anderson -- a writer who had a dwarf character who had a Scottish accent, drank and swore. Anderson was loved by the creators of Dungeons and Dragons, which is why the notion persists.
But Tolkien? His language of Khuzdul is inspired by Hebrew, and his dwarves are inspired by the the dwarrows of the Prose Edda -- Norse, and strong, but fast in friendship and in emnity -- and that's completely lost, here. It genuinely does not feel true to Tolkien and his lore.
Matt Need Harry Potter Channel.?🙏🙏🙏
@@AMcGrath82I wasn't expecting them to change their portrayal from the well-known/beloved representation we've received on film and tv, especially with John Rhys-Davies reprising his role.
It's a solid game, and a lot of fun. Some of the negative reviews I've seen seem to have unrealistically high expectations. It was clear FRG wanted to focus on the LOTR and atmosphere which I think they nailed while still keeping it accessible and not a 'hardcore' survival game... I think from this perspective the more simplified combat system makes sense. Aside from bugs, my only true negative is a clunky and limited construction system. Solid 7/10 but it's a fun 7.
The Fourth Age is such an untapped goldmine of stories that can be freely told and experienced. I hope we get more like this.
I would rather that goldmine stay untapped if it means the original canon will not get diluted by more sub par fan fiction
The Fourth Age is the most boring 😂
@Mike-db8ew It's the departure of the Elves, but Arnor/Gondor did a lot during that time with the reunification and ending the wars with the East and the South. Also Pippin and Merry still did things up north as they gradually began to become more prominent. Not to mention the Dwarves still being major players as in Khazad-dum.
@@luciusdebeers6176video games are a different experience though, why be so mad if lore is bent lightly to better suit gameplay or setting if it makes the game better for the player. If you want complete canon and for every timeline to match up just go read the books
@@XxGamer42069xX Can you name me an example where that has made the game better for the player?
Its really fun to slowly discover the halls and depths of Moria. The graphics are nothing special, but it runs very well on my potato gaming laptop. Moria itself and the singing dwarfs sold this game for me👌 I hope they add some more audio for the enemies, especially the goblins and orcs. Whom at this moment lack a fear factor.
Gameplay is more important than graphics, in my opinion.
played for 40h now and this game got so much content and keep surprising me. there is lore and fair survival mechanics. i really like it
Got it yesterday with my 2 buddies. We have been loving every minute of it. It plays like valheim but DWARVES!!! And I love that. We've needed a good survival craft and this hit it
I am playing the game in single player so far, and I absolutely love it. While the combat leaves much to be desired, it's not the main focus of the game. Moria feels lonely and quiet, which I actually find to be excellent game design. No doubt having friends would make this game way more fun, but the single player experience is just as good.
When I walk through the dark and lonely halls, I sometimes ask myself if this is how the Aragorn felt when he ventured into Moria by himself. The feeling that something is watching you is persistent throughout my playthrough. This loneliness makes the songs, the forging, and the elven gardens far more enjoyable and rewarding. It's almost as if they are a reprise after the dreeriness of the dark canvas.
I'm giving this game a solid 9/10 as well. I wish the combat was more fleshed out, but I'm OK with it not being exceptional
Honestly for the genre I think it's combat is pretty decent
I agree. I think it would be more fun to play with someone else.
@@lynn-myl I'm hoping my friends wanna play with me lol, they're into survival games but not many are into lotr, and with eight players us and my wife could actually all play together for once
Bro the generic Xbox pfp. I love it
I take it there aren't any AI companions in single player? Not sure I'll be able to convince my friends to play this with me, being the only LOTR geek!
I'm probably going to wait until this game comes to steam, but I'm definitely looking forward to it! I still remember reading FotR for the first time and just being entranced with Moria and wishing I could explore it someday. It looks like I'll be able to soon!
is there a release date for steam?
It's currently an epic exclusive with no expected timeline for steam.
Same here, I refuse to buy anything on Epic.
@@samvimes9510whats wrong with it tbh, epic games also give out good free games
@@samvimes9510lol what's wrong with buying a game on epic
We'll be playing this game AGAIN on Friday (Nov 3): ua-cam.com/users/livehzKrbPRtGfk?feature=share
In a world created by the music of the Ainur, it's great to have dwarves singing as they go about their work. As you commented in your first livestream, background music (paricularly for solo) would improve the experience. Thank you for a fair review with lots of relevant footage.
But doesent fit the lonely silent mountain
I've put 99 hours into a solo run so far and haven't even finished the game. I'm having so much fun building and exploring and have just been playing at my own pace. I highly recommended this to anyone who is trying to decide if they want it or not.
While I’m sure that people playing multiplayer are getting more out of it, I am really enjoying playing single player and just unwinding after class and work and spending an hour or two progressing
I cant watch rhe review for spoilers sake but as a fan of tolkien dwarves this game was almost made for me. Ive spent hours thinking of ways to remodel and show off my gold stash. The lore and the atmosphere are so amazing as well!
Its really hard for me to recommend this game to anyone because for 40$ most people want more features and content and there are a bit of bugs that needs to get patched
Back to the mines I go!
you want to know what he ranked it?
@@Harry-potter7 oh thank you! Yeah that sounds good to me! My guess is, hmm 6.7! Whats the answer?
9
it’s 9/10
When watching a new show, I like to read the wiki before ending the first episode so I know exactly what happens :)
Now that's funny - I was starting to freak out that Matt was leaving out LOTRO when discussing "good" LOTR games and right at that moment he said "Now before anybody freaks out, I'm setting LOTRO aside...". WHEW! Thanks Matt. Great review!
If you were to ever run out of Tolkien, I would still watch your videogame reviews. Very concise and expertly narrated as always!
I played this for 6 solid hours last night and it was a blast! There are definitely some small changes I would love to see, but the overall experience is really fun. Definitely need to play this with a few people to really get the most out of it, so can’t wait to do that
With survival crafting games (SCG), it's usually about understanding what is needed to take the next step, and that that step will have sufficient payoff. Usually that's better equipment, automating tedious tasks or a solid story beat. The main thing that SCGs need, most games need, is multiple gameplay loops - which is why most have mini games or tasks that require a different skill set. From what it seems like with RtM, the loop portions are: exploration, deciding to build a new outpost/camp/home and collecting/utilizing resources. It expects you to take a break from dungeon exploring with building, and a break from building with collecting, then eventually back onto exploring further after upgrading equipment (the game breaks each of those steps up with raids and roaming mobs to fight). The loop isn't particularly novel, but it's serviceable. In game, the story and lore exist to keep the player interested in what is or could still be ahead of them, so for LotRs fans that may be enough. For others it may or may not provide enough of a driving force compared to other survival crafting games, especially those that like to sink a couple thousands hours into a SCG. For casual players, if spending an hour on any one of those loop portions is not mentally rewarding enough, they may stop playing as there enjoyment is too low to get from one payoff to the next. No game is for everyone though, and it sounds like OP is enjoying themselves.
One thing about this game so far is that it doesn't really seem to be a sandbox game, which many survival crafting gamers make as a default assumption. I think that variation might be why there is a bit more negativity. It's sort of on rails so far (4 hours in) compared to Minecraft, 7D2D, Don't Starve or CoreKeeper, but not much more so than a story driven SCG like The Forest. It's hard to tell how much it'll open up, or if it'll need to stay "on track" for the story/lore drops to work. And if it does stay relatively on the rails, why make it procedural instead of fixed?
As a fellow tolkien fan and gamer, can say I wish I had people to play with, but solo the game has been an addictive time sink. I love the lore Nods and finally getting to walk moria. Though in the meantime, I'll keep walking durin's halls alone.
3:29 "For no apparent reason" You just described the entire _Rings of Power_ creative process.
Love the original Two Towers and Return of the King for PS2, got them and the old console in a box somewhere
A review from a non-professional game reviewer, lore loving casual gamer is exactly what will tell you the most about this game. Is he having fun? If yes, there's a massive chance that you will too. That's all I need to know, thanks for the video!
I've 100% finished the game. Explored ever location and crafted everything you can craft. If you remove the Lord of the Rings cover and look at this from a purely Survival Crafting game aspect the game is maybe a 5/10 at best. There are several other games in this genre that have less bugs, and execute at a much higher level. That being said I'm a massive LotR fan, and that bumps the game up to maybe a 7/10 at best. I wished the game were better, but it's still worth playing because of the IP alone.
I've always found it ridiculous that gaming sites deduct points off of their review scores if the graphics aren't cutting edge and lifelike. The artstyle of a game is a choice: Return to Moria's choice and pricetag not only looks good, it makes it a lot more accessible. And, as you said: ultimately it's more about how much fun a game is to play than anything else.
It's really a shame that there isn't local co-op. My wife and I love LotR and would love to play this together without having to buy a entirely different console to do so.
I'm really enjoying the game so far, I've only put a few hours into it but I already have goals for bases, rebuilding rooms, and exploring more of Moria.
I've had too many hours in this game already and I must say it has been a blast so far. I try to keep it a bit lower-paced then some people, building up bases and checking every new tunnel to repair statues and such, but that's just my way of gaming. I started doing multiplayer with some friends and really enjoyed it, but started a single player world to the side that I play when my friends can't join me. I enjoy both experiences, because I can set my own pace in single player but enjoy the story line and the fighting together with friends.
A 9/10 seems fitting for me too, as there is always room for improvement. Other then the bugs at release, the devs seem to be on top of things and I hope they can find a fun way to expand the game with new items and regions being added over time.
My brother, best friend and I plan on picking this up at the same time to play together. I’m excited! We need a casual Friday night gaming sesh now and then. This games seems the perfect fit for us Middle-Earth fans
I too love the old games. Still own a PS2 to play them. Especially The 3rd Age. God, how I love that game. I really hope there comes a day where we get remakes of these Legends.
I have my PS3 as well on which I played War in the North, Adventures of Aragorn and the Lego Games.
I'm excited to see 'Return to Moria' one day for myself.
Normally I like playing Elves more, or Humans. But I think it's time to grow a beard, drink strong beer, feast on roasted meat, get my own Axe to fight and a pickaxe to mine.
And singing from the heart and top of my lungs dwarven songs while mining through Moria. ^^
I've clocked over 30hours and I love it! ❤❤❤
The Battle for Middle-Earth Trilogy and LEGO Lord of the Rings/Hobbit were easily the best Middle earth Multiplayer games in my opinion. Im interested in getting Return to Moria after a couple weeks of initial bugfixes
Losing Christopher was a terrible thing for the Tolkien IPs as he was a very very good gatekeeper at protecting his dads work. Once Christopher passed, Amazon basically had free reign to do whatever they wanted and obviously Amazon took full advantage of that. Then you had Gollum which in the first place who really ever said hey that’s the middle earth character I want a game based on..? No one.
Personally I’m fixed income so it’ll be a bit before I get the chance to play this game but from everything I’ve seen even if not perfect the game seems to actually care about the IP and is a step in the right direction.
Hopefully whoever is in control of the Tolkien estate learned their lesson after Amazon and Gollum but we’ll see
Best would actually just be that the whole work of Tolkien was free to use. That would set studios competing with each other and we could cherry pick things we like and ignore the rest. If you don't like Rings of Power for example, just don't watch it and there is no reason to think it "ruins" anything Tolkien wrote. You can still enjoy his writing.
fixed income lmao
There are amazing mods in games made after Tolkiens universe. Fantastic passion projects made without any companies greed. Medieval 2 total war and Mount & Blade Warband have a special place in my heart. There is also an amazing Minecraft server that has recreated middle earth.
LOTRO player here - SO hyped that this game exists and I can’t wait to dive in! I 100% agree that a game doesn’t need to be AAA to be incredible… often the games with the most heart and passion are from indie/smaller devs and this clearly has that. Barûk Khazad!
Ah you're in for a treat. Moria has a pretty similar look with lotro (I'm pretty sure they actually took notes from the design in lotro)
I agree. Lots of LOTRO vibes when I jumped in too.
Moria has always been my favorite part of LOTRO, so once this releaases to Steam I'm there.
I try to be unbiased when giving my opinion of this game (Like you, Middle Earth +Dwarves = I MUST PLAY.)
As a general survival/crafting game, I give it a 7/10. Everything seems good, but each piece seems like its missing something. Building needs more angle options, some bugs need cleaning up, and I wish there was a little more to crafting (they are DWARVES!). Dedicated servers would be a nice option as well, since its so much better with multiplayer. It doesn't really bring a ton new to the survival crafting genre. It feels like Grounded, which isn't a knock against it but more of a description since some were expecting something more open like Valheim.
It does do the deep dark of Moria amazingly well. It can be dark and scary, and then suddenly beautiful and awe inspiring. The middle earth lore is near perfect.The progression is good, I like the need to explore more to unlock everything. Difficulty is fine if you are a little careful, and managing light/sleep/food is fine. Love how vertical the maps are.
biased opinion, 10/10 : I can be a dwarven ranger in middle earth, using the cave environment to my advantage to survive and thrive. Striking at enemies from hidden camps carved out from the sides of cliffs.
Quick way to shut people up that complain about graphics is to tell them that Valheim exists and is incredibly popular in the genre. That game looks horrible by all modern standards but people love it because the mechanics are good. This can be that too. It doesn't need to light a 4090 on fire to be a good game. This games biggest fault for me at the moment is that the single player gameplay is really bad. They often are bad in the survival genres, they want people to play together, but it seems worse here than other games I've played.
Wouldn't even say it looks horrible. The graphics are simple not horrible. Yet that simplicity is capable of capturing some beautiful visuals.
lol what "modern standards" are you referring to? Valheim looks amazing. It's an art style....
Right damn attitude, love this review, and enjoy this comment, hope for devs to learn instead of failing due to lack of gamer support.
I work graveyards and it’s hard to find friends to play with in my given time. I’ve been playing it solo anyway and while it is kinda a slog and pretty depressing in the long dark of Moria. But I’m still having a lot of fun. Things just take more time and planning. Can’t wait to see how it is multiplayer though.
I will say... That comment about setting a 4090 on fire... Return to Moria is currently terribly optimized and is incredibly gpu intensive for the graphical features and complexity in the game.
However, it is made by a small team and only recently came out and the small passionate team behind the game are looking to add a great deal to the game and make it much better. Hopefully more optimization will come soon.
I will say, it runs mostly fine on modern hardware, but it is a resource hog.
Exploring the depths of Moria in LOTRO is among my fondest memories from playing that game. They breathed a lot of life into it and crafted a pseudo-dungeon crawler for an MMO. If this game comes even close to that feeling, I think I'd really like this game. At least if I can get my old LOTRO friend to join me.
I don’t play video games at all…the most I’ve ever played was when I’ve been to other peoples houses and enjoyed skateboard games. Your play through makes me want to purchase a whole gaming system for this game alone!
There will be a new online skate game in the making so please look out for that its still bit fresh and has a little info but seems fun in atleast first tiny glance they showed already
"A breath of fresh air."
When in doubt, always follow your nose!
Baruk Khazâd! Khazâd ai-mênu! Thanks for the review!
i play both solo and with my wife/buddy. its more fun when playing with people but playing solo, makes it much more scary. exploration in dwarrowdelf for instance has you really thinking about how to tackle area's and properly gear up. story is also fun. it has few bugs and glitches and most importantly has me hooked to keep playing and mining/grinding. a tip for all you fellow dwarfs. in my opinion the best base location is the narvi forge. the elven quarter is a great place for food farming etc.
Played every day since release, now for 30+ hours in 4 man group. All of us love it and this is surely not our last journey through Moria, it's going to stay on our radar with other games like Valheim or V Rising that we keep returning to with content updates. Moria is amazing and keeps surprising us as we're about to enter the last area. If it wasn't for few bugs (loading issues, horde spawning issues or being unable to craft from chests) it would be great.
It would be also nice if teleport energy drain was removed (or reduced), cooking was made faster (4 minutes for travel food is too long) and there was a way to auto-storage inventory and sort all of the items in inventory and chests.
Make sure u don't have anything in your hands when u travel. That's why u get the drain
Good on you man! Don't be a sheep , you like what you like. And I think you give this game a really good overview. People are too quick to dunk.
Edits made to typos
So when you don't like a game that the majority of people also don't like, that makes you a sheep? That's some interesting logic.
@@underleft welcome to the conversation 3 months later. It's called a bandwagon. You're welcome ☺️
I've burned HUNDREDS of hours into the survival game genre and after watching the live stream, I'm more than excited to play this game this weekend. Just keep in mind that crapping on games is a sport within the online gaming community. There are NO survival games out there with AAA, or 4k like graphics due to the the mechanics. Know that anyone complaining about the graphics here for a survival game is being incredibly disingenuous.
Watching you play this in the livestream was what sold the game for me. It's been super fun so far, and I can't wait to try a naked punch-only run once I complete my first run-through!
As an hardcore gamer who played WoW but also COD at high level for exemple, Return to Moria was by far the most amazing game I've played since Read Dead Redemption 2. It is amazing in the casual, true gaming way. It's not crazy graphics or developped combat system but it's just casual fun. The discovery aspect is great, you never know what you're going to run into. It's challenging if you play solo and want a difficult experience and there's no artificial grindfest that makes you sink hours into doing none sense. When you need a resource it's hard to find but when you get it, it's usually enough to get what you needed and move on, you're never slowed in your progress and that is so important for a FUN, all the time, gaming experience.
Basically, it's just good. Fun to play solo or multiplayer, pretty much the best 40 bucks you'll spend on a 2023 video game. (That or Baldur's gate 3 I hear)
I also give it a 9/10. I'm still very early game and only just got into the Mines proper, but it's super fun to attack an ore vein side by side with a friend, pickaxes swinging, take on a goblin horde side by side, yell for help when ambushed by a group of goblins. I agree with your point that single player just doesn't give the full experience though.
Also hard agree on this being a game that has me hooked and thinking about at work, and I can't wait to play again
Id love to play this game with a group of people just as passionate about learning the lore of the dwarves in LOTR. That is a rare find XD
Good video and a sign off gave me a big smile. Very well done as always
Love the War in the North shout out lol. One of my favorite Lord of the Rings games! Very underrated and unfortunately was over shadowed by skyrim back in the day
I love survival crafting and I love dwarves. This game was made for me and I love it deeply/
The gameplay is mostly good. It can get annoying: getting exhausted before you really even begin the day, too much of a resource that you can't even properly store, having to move your base, not being able to discard obsolete gear properly, and combat and mining being a bit wonky.
But it has some great things that outweigh the negatives: base building, the enemies, the lore, the atmosphere, the weapons and armor (how they feel, look, and work), mining (although wonky sometimes, still feels good), you can be a girl dwarf with a beard and big ol' gut.
Overall, I'd give it a solid 7.5 out of 10. It's got some gameplay issues and there are better survival-crafts out there, but it's still fun and easy to get into.
Off topic but what's the song from the intro up to ~4:30 ? I keep hearing it in your videos and can't figure it out.
The game as a hole is amazing, i would love to see them expand upon is by adding new areas, and sights. Would love to see the endless stair, durins banes body and also I'm sure we could delve a lot deeper into the foundations of stone.
As someone who hasn't touched a survival game since Minecraft because i'm not a huge fan - I INSTA BOUGHT THIS. Not only am I a big fan of the LOTR universe, something about this called out for me. I'm not even a fan of the Epic storefront. An absolute cozy game with tons of hours to be enjoyed.
personaly i'v been having a blast solo.. sure its harder but i enjoy the challange of solo as well as the idea that i'm single handedly restoreing moria
I'd love to see a sims style game set in the shire, decorating hobbit houses and attending festivals and stuff, or even a harvest moon style game set there.
They are making a game similar to that. It comes out next year I believe it's called tales from the Shire. There is a trailer out for the game already
I’d love for some sort of “send for colonists” mechanic. Where as you expand NPC dwarves start occupying halls, make it feel like real reclamation.
I love that you went full Gimli w/ the helmet on while playing! :D
I hope more games like this are created in the near future; I specifically would like a game based on elves but just having some great LOTR’s games are greatly appreciated. My favorite game was the Return Of The King back in the day and wish they revamped or even made the original available for PS5. I’ll be waiting till December for Return to Moria and can’t wait!
I can summarize the game as Deep Rock Valheim
ROCK AND STONE!
Rock and stone brother.
I haven't wanted to play a game as much as I do this one since WOW came out I haven't honestly been able to become interested in any type of game for more than 3 months in years I'm hoping this game will change that
So nice to see so many people digging this game after the bad reviews. I'm still desperate for someone to do a pixel art A/JRPG-style game in the vein of Sea of Stars / Dragon Quest. I think that party-building turn-based combat with beautiful pixel art would tick every box.
You are my Favorit UA-camr 🤙 🤙
Love the game love your channel and review i hope every fan loves and enjoys this game as much as i do tolkien dwarves have never been so accessible imo
Fantastic review. I will certainly check this game out and hopefully the devs get the support they deserve :D
I'm a very casual player when it comes to this genre. I'll play Minecraft on Creative mode because I just kinda want to build things and not worry about all the other stuff. But RtM absolutely *ignited* my love for these kinds of games. While I've always loved elven characters in Tolkiens work so much, this game made me absolutely fall in love with the dwarves. From hearing the singing as I mined, to absolutely crying while hearing the Song of Durin and King Beneath the Mountain, because those songs mean a lot now that I'm here trying to actually reclaim Khazad-Dum. The immersion I've felt has been so high, and my mind while I'm playing is thinking, "We'll, while I'm here I should also remove the signs of the Orcs so that when everyone else get's here it's already gone". This game has proven to be an amazing experience, and an absolutely amazing game.
that game cube version was by far one of the best single and multiplayer lord of the rings experiences ever.
i think the game will set up the player as the reincarnation, because the player rebuild all of moria slowly over the gameplay
Have been enjoying watching your streams and videos for years - and alot since this game released. The release snuck up on me, had planned on being glued on another release same week; however - I've been hooked on RtM. Like you said - first time in a long time I find myself thinking about the game, and wanting to get back in. Thanks for the content as always!
I really like this game the dwarves were always my favorite in the books, movies, and games. The only thing I can complain about is that you need friends to play so it’s a 9/10 for me too
Gimli was only 139 during the fellowship of the rings. Seeing as the average lifespan of tolkiens dwarfs is 250 years with exceptions such as dwalins 340 years gimli being alive 50 years after the ring is feasible.
I think my friend said something that hit it home for me about this game "If this was a generic dwarf game that didn't have lotr plastered on the cover page no one would give it the light of day"
i will also point out that this is the only lotr game at fourth age. its amazing. i wonder if there will be another game for fourth age in the future in which we can play for example as aragorn ruling gondor and making wars againt rhun and harad and umbar. there is so much you can do. and for the return to moria game i really hope we see more of gimli and maybe eventually have him as a character in the game with which we can gain relations quests or even fight together. i do hope that eventually he also goes into moria and together we recolonize it and try to reclaim it killing every orc in it. and in the end awake durin IV who will then rename himself to durin VII who is lore wisely the one who reclaims it. This way the game would also be lore friendly filling a gap on how the dwarves managed to reclaim moria. And its thanks to gimli and his group!
I can't wait to play this game with friends! My only grump is it won't be on steam for almost a whole year! However, it looks like it will be a wonderful cult classic and will be going strong still by then! Thank you for all of your hard work on this channel and the review! Been a channel fan for many years now!
I would simply never consider buying Gollum after seeing how bad it was even just from trailers, gameplay etc released by the devs. For this game I saw gameplay and the trailer and immediately wanted to buy and play, been playing with my partner and having a great time! It isn't the BEST survival game out there but its decent, it could use a lot more content sure but the LOTR aspect sells it for me.
It's such a good game!!! 9/10 for me. Had a blast on the game with you guys the other day! Thanks for the awesome review!
So happy I found this review and ignored all the bad ones. I bought it this week and I’m really enjoying it! Just wish I had some friends who enjoy LOTR like I do to play with
Glad you're enjoying the game! Yeah, I always take reviews with a grain of salt. Especially LOTR ones as I know I'll get more enjoyment out of it than the average person. It doesn't mean I'll love anything (ie Gollum), but I think RTM is a lot stronger than it gets credit for.
been really enjoying the game atm in SP, the combat is my only gameplay design issue!
I was torn between waiting for steam or xbox but just went f it and bought on epic. No regrets so far. Im a management/puzzle pc gamer mostly and this one scratched an itch deep rock galaxy couldn’t: exploring a mine solo.
Multiplayer is definetly not for me but there is something deeply satisfying here to manage your ressources and establishing outpost, camps and delving into the unknown. Its an exploration based puzzle as in making your own shortcuts and bases really alter the experience and the inventory management makes pushing further an interesting decision, especially when further is 5 rope platform down. The tedium of mining is alleviated by having the risk/reward of singing to boost morale and stamina while alerting patrols and thus having to skedadle or fight. Combat is serviceable and my 8 years old potato can run it fairly well on 2k.
This game blew my expectations in that its actually fun! No weird gameplay loop, fun attention to details and actually accessible lore (no overly complex plot or deep lotr knowledge required to engage with it)
I will probably rebuy on steam if it pops up there next year just to show support to the devs and pray for dlc.
This game is quite awesome, I bought it 2 days ago and have no regrets!!! Honestly I'm still exploring and finding things and after just seeing your interview with master gimli, I went all out in retaking moria 😉😉😉
What are your thoughts on The Lord of the RIngs Conquest? The StarWars Battlefront 2 clone from the same studio? I personally have so many amazing memories about the game and it was our go-to at sleepovers with the boys.
I have a few hours in got to the pilgrims road now playing solo since none of my friend have bought it yet but dam 100% would recomend
Looking forward to trying this out. So glad you mentioned War in the North! Absolutely adored that game.
Came ready to scoff, but wound up fascinated. Very well presented, and an interesting perspective. Thanks!
Absolutely love this game! I just started playing on PS5, got the game gifted to me for Christmas. For 40 dollars this game is easily a great game to play if you can get at least one more person to play with. I play with two of my younger brothers and we have a blast and constantly think/talk about playing when we cannot play. Definitely recommend to anyone looking to play a fun online LOTRs game! I give it a 9/10 only due to loading issues we experience while playing.
I'm playing through this game with one of my childhood friend's, who was the main person I grew up talking Tolkien with. He's a huge dwarf fan. Our main gripe at the beginning was that the same mining song kept playing and sounded kind of pathetic. We both ended up switching our characters voices, and the issue was instantly fixed.
I would love a game set during aragorn's conquest to the east clearing out remaining supporters of the fallen dark lord.
Im almost done with the game and It's all I've been doing since it launched. I love this damn thing.
great review from a unique perspective in the gaming sphere.
I have been a gamer since my early childhood days and love Tolkiens works since I was able to read (started with the hobbit of course). I only reached bronze as a crafting material and I love this game. I think about it all the time, like back in school when you had a new awesome game to play, but had to go to school and could only play in the afternoon. I'm normally not into survival crafting games, but if I do the setting has to be something I like. I never played minecraft, grounded, etc. although I heard there pretty good in that genre. I loved Valheim, because I think vikings are cool. I was worried after Gollum was such a letdown, that game developers would give us bad lotr games for cash grabs, as long the lord of the rings IP is not free to use yet. But Return to Moria is everything I was hoping for, when I first heard the concept.
When LotR goes public domain we're gonna see some real gems and utterly cursed abominations, and it will be glorious.
Great review, still holding out for a Total War: Battle of Middle Earth style game
LEGO LOTR was the BEST growing up... Great way to get younger players into the Middle Earth world.
I still remember creating a Sauron character on the custom characters at Bag End 😂
Also Aragon with Andruil was OP!
LEGO Hobbit was better than the movies (Yes I was 18 years old when it came out)
As a dwarf fan of LOTR I’m so happy about this game and it’s amazing on ps5. 24 hours in and still feel like I haven’t done enough yet definitely worth the 40$
We are the target audience for the very niche game and it has inched all the inches for me
Hope you guys show up to support this game
& it is so much bigger than people realize
Again a very honest review like the ones we are used to get from you. I'm not into crafting and such but I would give it a try IF somehow some nerd would give me a copy... *DISCLAIMER: I am not or have I ever been in any way affiliated with NOTR (just in case I "win" a copy)
Loving the game so far and just getting started
Playing single player and I love it, it’s so immersive, wish it had come out on PS4 as I’m sure that could have run this no problem, playing on a Steam deck which has its own challenges
Definitely getting my $40 out of it just doing solo play. The foremost gripe is that cross-play isn't ready out of the box.
Thank you for reviewing this! We're waiting for the PS5 version, and the whole fam are big LOTR fans, so this really helps us gauge whether to pull the trigger or not.
I have a little over 10 hours in the game so far. And I agree, so far I’ve only played solo and it’s been ok, but I feel that when my friends get it it will me so much more fun
I'll have to wait for the console releases but I'll check it out and I hope it sells enough to have more added to the game.
I’d take gameplay over graphics any day. Looks fun I’ll have to check it out.