Damn this game

[ragen311]

We all have those elite games in our history that would satisfy the craving for a particular genre at a particular time in our lives. Baldur's Gate 3 took care of that story rich RPG fix I needed at the time. I have a feeling Age of Mythology Retold will do wonders for recent episodes of longing for a solid RTS campaign.

Even rarer are the games responsible for creating a hunger previously unknown to us. Civ needed at the time. I have a feeling Age of Mythology Retold will do wonders for recent episodes of longing for a solid RTS campaign.

Even rarer are the games responsible for creating a hunger previously unknown to us. Civ 2 made sure I would need to tap into the 4X worlds every now and then for the rest of my life. Warcraft 2 not only got me for RTS, but is probably responsible for me primarily being a PC gamer. XCOM you know what you did to me; at least you had the courtesy of perfecting yourself further in the sequel and further again in the expansion. Witcher 3 for open world action RPG's (there were others before, but this set the high water mark). I'm sure more of these S-Tier masterpieces catching me at the right time in order to create a brand new gold standard exist.

TO THE POINT: Why is this in a Shadow of War discussion board you ask...because occasionally I reflect on the unique enjoyment I experienced with Shadow of Mordor/War. I always come to the same conclusion. After 10 years (from SoW release) I still have not found anything that satisfactorily satiates the Middle-Earth Shadow itch!!!

Fortunately they improved on most aspects of the original to create Shadow of War, but nothing else quite hits the same notes for me. I really enjoyed the narratives of each. When looking up the game, it brought a smile to my face to see people still debating on the story line they preferred. They were not perfect, but things like discovering origin info for a ring wraith had me wishing they would be creating a story for each of the unknown ghostly kings of men. The original material did no disservice to the GOAT of world building. After watching Rings of Power, I realize that is not something easily done. If only they hired the Shadow of Mordor/War writers instead for that show. I was going to make a few clever comments, but I wont be able to stop once I start on the most frustrating "what could have been" in television history. (I actually did keep writing and now am all pissed off....I cut and pasted what I wrote at the bottom if you are curious **).

TLDR between the ----:
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Where was I? Looking for Shadow of War look alike or the third game of the series that magically came out without my knowledge. I have tried to wait long enough where the game (or games if I go both) will feel as fresh as possible. Replaying them with as blank a slate as possible is the only band-aid solution I can think of. By this point I just remember enjoying the story and the major players, the awesome nemesis system, the progression was awesome, and 10 years ago me was thrilled by the unique forms of brutality. Seriously though, I remember thinking the nemesis system was going to be the next big thing in gaming. How did this not catch on? Was it patented or something, if that is even possible?

Does anyone else have the same issue? Has anyone found a game with this unique blend of game features? I know it wont have the lore of Middle-Earth as the backdrop because I am confident I would have come across it if that was the case. Maybe a Game that isn't a carbon copy of the features, but somehow satisfies this decade long itch (ME:SoM release) only relieved temporarily by the appearance of ME:SoW....which then made it worse.
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**The rant that took me a few sentences further than intended: The sky is the limit financing, the incredible artistic minds creating stunning scenes, great CGI talent, world building already handled by the GOAT, and YOU WONT HIRE A ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ WRITER WITH EXPERIENCE OR ABILITY!!!!! To be able to push your agenda through without resistance from the writers who would have been ecstatic to even be mentioned in the credits but now find themselves head writers. They didn't even write a damn commercial before helming a billion dollar show responsible for one of the most precious literature creations ever.

[thefollowingcharacters]

I would love something else to come out like this. They patented the system however, so any developer risks crossing too close to this. Unfortunate.

[Ronny]

Try griftlands. I know you gonna be like O_o after you read this and open Griftlands page, but there is a relations systems with NPCs in this roguelike game which will influence your walkthrough. NPCs will help you out if you good with em or ambush and sabotage you if you crossed them. Pretty much a lil bit of nemesis system, if you like.

[Doom_Slayer]

Yes they patent the nemesis system, and at a guess, devs and other publishers feel WB are too big to fight them on this hill.

[Starkillaa]

Originally posted by Ronny:

Try griftlands. I know you gonna be like O_o after you read this and open Griftlands page, but there is a relations systems with NPCs in this roguelike game which will influence your walkthrough. NPCs will help you out if you good with em or ambush and sabotage you if you crossed them. Pretty much a lil bit of nemesis system, if you like.

Griftlands is the ♥♥♥♥. Have like 100 hours in it even though I'm not that big on roguelike/lite deckbuilders. Too bad it's modding community has died out and there is no DLC in sight. The way you can interact with characters is still really fun.