Night Clerk of the Apacalypse.
I have had one betrayal. I leveled them down for it then killed them. I have had a bodyguard snatch someone sneaking up on me and then slit their throat which was pretty badass. I also had a bodyguard I had summoned get grabbed and put into a dying state the same way. I managed to save his ass though.
Who watches the watchmen?
Mad Archivist
Welp, act 3 over. i'm gonna do something else for a week or two before going to the shadow wars. Various thoughts on both the gameplay and the plot, even though I'm late to the party :
-On the gameplay side, I'm a bit disappointed the game kinda dropped the ball after nurnen. I picked nemesis difficulty at the start to not see that happen, but apparently it wasn't enough. Maybe I should've switched to gravewalker or brutal, but what I have read about those two aren't exactly thrilling to me. I don't want to get two shotted left and right, I want ennemies that can't be resumed to whether or not they're stealth invulnerable (meaning I can stealth stab them, hide, rinse and repeat), whether or not they're frost proof (because the combo vaulting over an enemy, freezing him, hit him, pummel him to the ground with the fisticuffs upgrade and then chain 1 to 2 executions immediately after has ridiculous damage and the only thing that resist it is basically a defender with vault-breaker an frost proof or someone who can adapt so fast I can't do the combo twice.), or whether or not they're an Olog with enough immunities to be a threat. (A certain overlord fight would have been almost unwinnable had that olog be arrow-proof. Afraid of morgal flies my ass, where do you see morgal flies in a fortress ?)
As a result, the final mission felt like a bit a of a letdown when it comes to nemesis orcs. I did try to roam in minas morgul for a couple hours to see if I could find a few rivalries, and I guess it kinda worked since at least I recognized two of the uruks at the end, but that's about it. i seriously regret the machine and keep hoping I'll find him on day in thestreets in the city since his corpse is STILL on the army screen, but considering said "corpse" is a head on a pike, I have doubts. But c'mon, the fucker wasn't there during zog's quest even though my other nemesis from back then was there (thanks a lot bodyguard about that, because that fucker was as unkilable as ever without your help. On top of everything he already had back then (a shield, WILLPOWER to heal himself, vault breaker, execution immune) he was fucking FROST PROOF.). He HAS to be alive, right ?
Although I guess I'm a bit too methodical for the nemesis system to truly shine. Tear had an amazing final with his take on the machine, the maniac olog (still haven't got a maniac here 
), the tower (Mine died during the siege of seregost because his blood borther was here so I had to kill him on the spot) and the gravewalker uruk (well I did too, but I never met the guy before contrary to tear), but he made that happen because he let those guys live and fucked around his own guys so hard he created abominations. Someone kills me, I make a beeline for them and either execute them or shame them if they're the kind who thinks they're smart when they humiliate me. Or bruz's family. Even if it takes me four hours to do it and i create myslef five smaller nemesises in the process. And since I haven't had any good rivalry for the the last 2-3 regions...
Then again, I did got some pretty stupid gear toward the end. An armor that heals me when I'm cursed ? Check. Sorry Zog, today you're just looking silly. A sword that gives me full health AND full might whenever I use a last chance ? Oh boy, now on top of everything before Uruks need to have No chance or executions immunity if they want to not immediately die when I get back up. The cherry on top being that it's the parting gift of BAZ. welp, thanks for helping me slaughter the rest of the family.
I guess I should make myself a few constraints for the future, such as never again using the stealth cheese strat. Or not breaking away from a fight to search uruks to drain health from.
And this post is already long enough as it is, so I guess i'll save the story considerations for another time.
Edited by Yumil on Aug 24th 2018 at 12:17:58 PM
"when you stare too long into the abyss, Xehanort takes advantage of the distraction to break into your house and steal all your shit."
Does Blade of Galadriel ever pick up? Ripping out the Domination mechanic was a mistake, as is putting in a ton of side quests that just involve fighting Uruks with no opportunity for stealth, and they all have half a dozen immunities and no weaknesses. The light powers are alright I guess.
Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
"but he made that happen because he let those guys live and fucked around his own guys so hard he created abominations."
Yes, "fucking around with" is when the Nemesis system shines. Most of the time I am just so methodical, track down and slaughter. Most of my "special" returns got used up in the first zone during the buggy first week and resulted in them being dead forever, so I had to make due.
But the only really memorable encounter that stands out is one Olog whom I decided that I must have, no matter what. I recruited him, he blood brothered with somebody, ended up betraying me due to chaotic encounter, the usual. But I decided that he doesn't die for that. I decided that I will make him mine. He went through about three more blood brothers, constantly getting broken and rebuilt as mine then swapping again. The speech of "No, you are the monster!" rung 100% true.
And also had a giggle when he blood brothered with The Unkillable - wise choice, given how every previous brother of his ended up. But he lost that bond when he decided to follow me cross-region, didn't BB up with anybody in there, and after the final round was just... Mine. For keeps.
Edited by Adannor on Sep 26th 2018 at 11:38:50 AM
Sanity not included
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
You sound like a Yandere.
I like you.
It's kind of funny. Sufficiently advanced stupidity is like sufficiently advanced science; eventually, you find something you can't solve.
Hah, a bit. Still, got a shot of Victory Is Boring there at the end. He may have continued his shenanigans if I started grinding the Shadow Wars but I've kinda dropped off the game instead.
Edited by Adannor on Sep 26th 2018 at 7:33:27 PM
Finding the game a bit of a grind so far. Replaying it again, but my GOD I forgot how the combat can get unfair very quickly. It's good, but difficult. And managing the army feels fiddly as anything.
I think I need to just blitz the story and grind some Orc in the pits for a bit. Work out which gear to bother levelling up.
Pushing through the story at least until the big warning about Point of No Return shows up can be pretty helpful, but mostly the game is about chilling and screwing around.
I found that Nemesis missions are safer and more reliable ways to level up.
Yeah as a chill out game just clearing map icons it is rather fun. The UI is cluttered as hell but I do enjoy it.
Think I need to invest a few hours into those, just to beef myself up. And my Orcs...
Got this game on sale a month of so ago, just started playing it this week. I played Shadow of Mordor, even if most of it is a blur, so I knew what I was getting into. Pretty fun. I love the army building mechanic, and wish this game had - like - a Conquest mode or something. If they came out with a game that was literally just this regular gameplay, plus recruiting warriors with traits/ai/etc and using them to build armies, then riding them into battle for territory and arming outposts and all that, I'd buy it right away.
But then, I guess that's kind of what Mount and Blade is - and that game is phenomenal.
Either way, this game is fun, gorgeous and a real time sink. A lot of direct to player stuff is... flawed. This game tutorials very badly, stopping the action at random to force the player to go through menus whenever they run into something new, having a abilities that probably should have just been there from the beginning be behind unlocks instead, and at times making the player repeat what they just put them through to reverse or review decisions that the game forced them to make. The UI is cumbersome, the map has less information than it should, etc. But once the game gets going, it's wonderful. The characters and story are great to get into - much more engaging than Shadow of Mordor - and getting the feel of the player character' abilities can make combat seem like... less of a chore than it was in the first game.
That said, I'm not a huge fan of the Might system, or more precisely the sheer number of things that require it. For a game which will typically have you fighting large crowds, there's a noticeable lack of inherent crowd control abilities available to the player (the majority of them are environmental) and most of the ones you do get are locked behind your Might bar, which - especially at the start - is only available if you're already in the thick of it taking out opponents and fighting aggressively (and doing so perfectly). The same is true for the ability that allows you to heal quickly.
This mostly means that you usually gain access to those abilities when you don't need them, and less often have them when you do need them.
I'm reminded of how Spider-Man PS 4 deals with this by giving the player some crowd control that's inherent, and some that are more powerful behind super meters, allowing a skilled player to deal with multiple situations no matter what state they're in.
Meanwhile the Wrath system is comically difficult to plan around, and I mostly just ignore it.
Fighting Captains is always, always more fun than fighting grunts. These are some of the best boss battles I've ever had in a game, and the fact that they're radiant and randomly generated is just phenomenal. Getting ambushed is frustrating, but rushing to quickly and quietly face off against a new, unknown opponent while not losing my chance to get the drop on the opponent I was hunting down was some of the most fun I've had in this game.
As a final note, I remember fighting on caragors being more fun in Shadow of Mordor than it is in this game. Mounting Caragors is pretty much only useful as an instant health regen in this one - they die extremely quickly, heal very slowly (unless you spend a skill point on a perk, and even then that only applies to stealth kills), and aren't very effective against groups (which is just peachy for the Celebrimbor mission that makes you use one against three armies).
But all in all, this game is fantastic, and ever more than Shadow of Mordor I think a game like this that wasn't bound by the LOTR theming would be amazing.
"The difference between reality and fiction is that fiction has to make sense." - Tom Clancy, paraphrasing Mark Twain.
WB Games' Nemesis System Patent Was Approved This Week After Multiple Attempts
The patent, filed as “Nemesis characters, nemesis forts, social vendettas and followers in computer games,” effectively codifies the functions of Monolith’s Nemesis system and the sum of its parts as the property of WB.
While the language in the application is fairly obtuse - as most patent claims tend to be - the “short” version is that the patent covers a system featuring procedurally-generated NP Cs that exist in a hierarchy and interact with and will remember the actions of players, have their appearance/behavior altered by players, and whose place in that hierarchy can change and affect the position of other NP Cs in said hierarchy (and yes, that’s the simplified version).
It also covers the Social Conquest battles from Shadow of War, wherein players can fortify or attack one another’s strongholds to see how their army of orcs fares against their friends’.
Warner Bros. has been trying to secure the patent for the system since 2015, but has had to repeatedly revise and resubmit the application. Initial rejections claimed that there were too many similarities in the application to other patents - including ones held by Square Enix, the mobile game QONQR, and even Webkinz - though recent rejections were more focused on the specificity of language throughout the patent.
While it’s unclear what would happen were a game to release with a Nemesis system of its own between now and February 23, after that date any developer wishing to build a feature with all the aspects detailed in the patent (or at least enough to be considered infringement) will have to secure a license from WB.
Developers can still create similar systems that aren’t a 1:1 recreation of Monolith’s program, however – the Mercenaries in AC Odyssey or Watch Dogs Legion’s fascinating Census system are recent examples of dynamically-generated NP Cs and social networks that would likely not be met with a legal challenge – though as members of both the Mordor games and Ubisoft teams have said, such systems are a major collaborative effort requiring considerable resources and development time.
Rumors late last year year hinted that WB Games was potentially going to be acquired by Microsoft after reports that Time Warner was interested in selling its interactive division, though any talk of sales seems to have gone the way of an unfortunate orc captain.
I disapprove, but you can't really expect different when stuff like this has happened for years. Bio Ware patented their dialogue wheel system after all.
I mean Star Renegade ALREADY has version of this system
Just started SHADOW OF WAR and am enjoying it greatly despite feeling more "gamified". I'm glad I came onto this later after the loot boxes and other controversies I'm barely aware of. I also like that they seem to be playing up the "Talion and Celebrimbor are going evil" foreshadowing.
I've just got back the New Ring too.
I do think the choice to make Shelob into Dragon Age's Morrigan is just plain bizarre and really feel like they should have made an original character here. I mean, I don't mind Shelob can become a woman but I feel like that would just be to be like a classic mythological monster luring in food.
The game seems like it sometimes shoves too many things in and not enough original content (side stories should be side stories). They really should have had her be another fallen Maia or something bizarre like revealing the hot sexy lady was actually Durin's Bane all along.
Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
What makes it even more bizarre is that the same game does include an OC that's implied to be very powerful: Carnân.
I feel like SoW kinda veered off into the wrong direction somewhat - the first game played it pretty safe, but then SoW introduced lore changes that were honestly headscratch-inducing. 
The nemesis system also seems a lot less... randomised, if that makes sense?
Welcome to Estalia, gentlemen.
Honestly, I think they really screwed up the Nemesis system for the sequel because there's way too many captains just wandering the maps now. I think I faced down 3 on average when dealing with a regular stronghold. This meant that a lot the specialness that was involved in the Nemesis System was removed. It doesn't help that you can't skip the taunts of the orcs and they're all usually some variation of the same trash talking.
Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
The old system also actually randomises orcs a lot more, i.e. character design + attidude wasn't as set in stone.
Meanwhile, SoW will flood you with a deluge of specific archetypes.
Sure, the previous game had a bard and crazy character type, but those were much more rare. In this game you're basically guaranteed to run into a bard, a poet, a crazy guy, the Machine, the Unashamed etc etc.
It makes the orcs feel less like yours.
Welcome to Estalia, gentlemen.
Perpetually Confused
Sexy Shelob is definitely one of the weirder decision. Only made weirder by making her heroic.
Overall, I actually do consider Middle Earth: Shadows of X to be one of the better Tolkien fanfics because when they're not getting WEIRD they're actually doing pretty well with doing something related to the themes. Talion is attempting to fight the Dark Lord with his own power and we know that just isn't working out for him and I know it's going to not pay off for him.
There's no happy ending for Talion and he's already dead, he's just prone to forgetting this.
I also like the subversion of Revenge Before Reason. Talion would certainly love revenge but is primarily motivated by saving people, which certainly is not Celebrimbor's primary motivation here.
Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
I still think they should have committed to going full alternate timeline instead of going "Oh yeah, Talion actually turns into one of the Nazgûl that perish at Mount Doom and somehow his Forever War against Sauron never comes up at all".
Wouldn't have been the first time we had a Lord of the Rings game with a non-canonical ending either.
Edited by DrunkenNordmann on Aug 13th 2022 at 12:32:16 PM
Welcome to Estalia, gentlemen.
I dunno, Tolkien's Legendarium is about 8000 years of events and a great deal of it is a Forever War so I don't have too much of an issue with the idea Talion succumbed at the end but the thing is that he succumbed for like a few months. The time from the Hobbit to The Lord of the Rings is when Talion is waging his war. It's the rare case of when I think him passing on is a fine ending versus, say, Mass Effect 3 or Fallout 3.
Mind you, I kind of do wish we'd get Shadows of A New Age (suggested title) where Talion gets resurrected AGAIN to battle Celebrimbor in the King Aragorn era. I doubt the Tolkien estate would sign off on that, though.
Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
Okay, I feel like I need to rephrase it - my problem is that Shadow of War changes so much stuff (including the whole Sexy Shelob thing), but then chickens out at the end.
It just feels weird, to say the least. If you're taking this many creative liberties, at least commit.
Edited by DrunkenNordmann on Aug 13th 2022 at 12:42:57 PM
Welcome to Estalia, gentlemen.
Okay, you raise a point there.
Like for instance Celebrimbor and Sauron meging is mostly them just fighting it out so Sauron doesn't have a body during the events of the movieverse.
It's a weird ending.
And is Celebrimbor dead? Alive? How about the New Ring?
Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
Welp. Got my first fortress, and my first rebellion too. i guess the game just won't let you have every single captain branded in an area. But I'm quite proud of the fact that :
1. the guy they brought with them to execute WRECKED THE SHIT of half of them.
2. I managed to kill every single one of them on the spot.
Next time I boot the game back up, that guy gets to be my bodyguard, no discussion. I mean I always forget summoning those are an option, but still.
Edited by Yumil on Aug 9th 2018 at 4:25:17 PM
"when you stare too long into the abyss, Xehanort takes advantage of the distraction to break into your house and steal all your shit."