The new Lord of the Rings game needs to see the return of one of the most inventive gameplay mechanics ever, if it is to succeed.
The Lord of the Rings is, without question, one of my favourite movie franchises of all time. Every year, it’s our family tradition to watch the Peter Jackson trilogy, as well as The Hobbit movies, over Christmas. To keep things a little fresh, we rotate the standard and extended editions yearly. It’s just the way we roll.
In fact, I love The Lord of the Rings movies so much that it got me to read the novels multiple times and even listen to the audiobooks. This is coming from someone who typically doesn’t have the attention span to read books.
So with all that in mind, it only makes sense that I would love The Lord of the Rings video games, too, right? Well, mostly. While movie tie-ins The Two Towers and The Return of the King are fantastic, in my opinion, I’m not all that keen on Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War.
Developed by WB Games studio, Monolith Productions, both Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War were single-entity stories and not adapted from the J.R.R. Tolkien novels; they just never connected with me.
The Nemesis System Was Groundbreaking!
Maybe it was the stories that failed to immerse me; I’m not 100% sure. However, if there was something that I could appreciate about those games, it was the Nemesis system (no, not from Resident Evil).
In a nutshell, the Nemesis system would seemingly create organic enemies that would evolve in a hierarchy. For example, you, the player, would kill an Orc. That Orc would then be replaced by another, moving up the proverbial ladder.
If you defeated an Orc in combat, but it never died, you might encounter that Orc later in the game. At which point, it would not only remember you, but it also may have trained/improved so that you won’t defeat it in combat for a second time. Oh, and it will hold a grudge.
The Nemesis system was truly a mechanical marvel ahead of its time when it first launched in 2014. It made you feel like you had personal rivalries that would be different from everybody else’s. The Nemesis system would return in 2016’s Shadow of War, but when that franchise died, it was never seen again.
The reason we never saw it again was due to a couple of factors. One, after the series ended with Shadow of War, for some reason, WB Games never chose to implement it in any other game. Secondly, WB Games put a patent on the Nemesis system, so that it could never be used outside of the company. A true crime against gaming, if you ask me.
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The Nemesis Nearly Made a Comeback!
There was some renewed hope when WB Games announced its Wonder Woman game, inspired by the ever-popular DC character, and it would be using the Nemesis system. Sadly, Wonder Woman was cancelled in 2025, and with it, the Nemesis system, again.
However, there is another hint of renewed hope, and that’s the new The Lord of the Rings RPG. We don’t know much about this game just yet, with it being in pre-production. But fans are hoping that the Nemesis system will get another chance to shine like Gandalf the White.
“Better have the Nemesis system,” declared Reddit user Snowman009166 when referring to the aforementioned Lord of the Rings RPG.
“Sureeee, I’ll believe it when I see it,” said a sarcastic Armageddonn_mkd.
“Why are so many comparing upcoming games to Hogwarts Legacy? Let’s be real here, the ‘open world’ of HL is pretty much lifeless,” exclaimed Vizkos.
“Considering WB patented the Nemesis system, and no other company has been able to use it (despite probably being capable of much, much more), I would hope WB is at least attempting to put it in its LoTR games,” exclaimed erock279.
At this time, it’s mere hearsay as to what this new The Lord of the Rings RPG is all about, but if there’s one thing that most of us could probably agree on, it’s that the Nemesis system needs to be brought back.
