Sometimes I think about how we'll probably never get another Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor/War game and get bummed because I played the hell out of those games. I still kept playing after beating them because messing with the Nemesis System was so fun. Even with some of the stuff I didn't like in Shadow of War (which was more likely from executive meddling), I thought that Monolith made a fun set of games.
One thing I thought would have been cool is if in a sequel game you played an Uruk-hai trying to reunite the orcs after the fall of Sauron. I always thought it would be interesting because then it would make the nemesis system more organic rather than magic based. You best an orc in combat and spare him, of course he'll naturally follow you. Or you could just kill him only for him to come back wanting revenge. You could still have betrayals and all the other aspects of the nemesis system but it would be more organic than from a magical ring. I don't know what happens to the orcs after Sauron falls but the games deviated from the story already so why not go all out.
We're probably never going to get a third game and that sucks because I think Monolith could have made another fantastic game if they'd gotten to build on what they'd already made. Monolith is working on Wonder Woman which might be that game but it could also turn out to be a live service game with tons of micro transactions. My expectations are very low but I'd love to be proven wrong.
I just get bummed out because I really enjoyed that series and it just ended up getting shuffled to the side fairly quickly. And it also sucks that we'll likely never see any other games use a fully realized nemesis system because of the patent. I'd have loved to see how other developers used it or tweaked it to make their own thing. Imagine a Yakuza/Like a Dragon spin-off using the nemesis system where you had to fight other clans and some scrub could end up becoming your worst enemy. I remember being excited to see the possibilities but there likely won't be anything like that in the future.
Which just bums me right out.
I actually wrote a much more thought out little post for my website diving into my thoughts on the Middle Earth: Shadow of series that sat in drafts for a couple years until I rediscovered it and put it up on my Patreon.
It's public so it's free to read. It's pretty long.
Middle Earth, The Nemesis System, and Me by Jon Parrish
I go fairly in depth on how I discovered the series, my initial thoughts on the first one, the Nemesis Forge, and my feelings on Shadow of War and it's shortcomings.
Please don't Somerton me.
Fuck WB Games. Seriously.
