Middle Earth meets Assassin's Creed in Shadow of Mordor

[Kafein]

I imagine the strength of the bosses does cap at some point right? You can still farm to max power and defeat the max power bosses. Of course at this point it's largely theoretical. I value greatly the fact that there's no actual failure state here, as death modifies the game instead of making you play the same thing over and over again until you meet some arbitrary success conditions.

[Molly]

Well, bosses do cap at power/level 20 but they are really, really hard to kill.

I am actually considering to restart the game to level up smarter

[wayyyyyne]

Probably the worst button masher I've ever played. Does nothing better than Lotr retun of the king back on the ps2
The captain system is interesting but wow, this game was made for people with more than just a few additional chromosomes.
Complete potato tier

[lombardsoup]

Hoping I'm not the only one that wants more good lotr games like this.  Only thing I can truly fault is how Monolith raped the lore in certain areas of the story

Example:

(click to show/hide)

how the fuck was Sauron able to physically manifest without the One Ring at that last QTE?

[Xant]

Probably the worst button masher I've ever played. Does nothing better than Lotr retun of the king back on the ps2
The captain system is interesting but wow, this game was made for people with more than just a few additional chromosomes.
Complete potato tier

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[NejStark]

Not sure if this has already been posted.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AV9W2ZdmjU#t=253

He actually turns the monitor off at one stage and mashes 2/3 buttons, and wins.

[Xant]

Not sure if this has already been posted.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AV9W2ZdmjU#t=253

He actually turns the monitor off at one stage and mashes 2/3 buttons, and wins.

That guy is retarded, for so many reasons. One of them being that he brags about how he's "invincible and killing shit" when he activates a special ability that's 20 seconds of free rampaging by just pressing F. "Omg look I got the rhythm down!" There is no fucking rhythm because the whole point of that (tier 5, and it is pretty OP so I rarely use it) ability is that you can just spam F and kill people once you have charged it.

He's trying his hardest to be negative, and isn't making any sense. "Oh look I can just left click- oh I'm being attacked so I have to right click, uh, wait, how do I make that seem gay too.. uh... I could block even though I already started attacking! Oh, I can just left click hahah- uh, this guy has a shield, better jump over him, but let's say it in a sarcastic edgy voice so it sounds like I didn't have to do anything again."

He also does get hit, more than a few times, and he has ALL the combat upgrades. And no mention of how you can't left click berserkers, and he's not fighting any bosses, etc etc. The whole over-the-top sarcastic voice and disingenuous presentation showcases his autism better than the flaws of SoMordor's combat system.

And of course the retard is playing with combat prompts enabled, which makes it ten times easier, and still complains about it.

[NejStark]

I liked the bit where he played it with his chin.

[Xant]

I liked the bit where he played it with his chin.

Yes, and achieved nothing in the game.

[Butan]

It would be inhuman to fight multiple enemies without a simplified combat system, hence why "too easy" critic on how one proper button is enough to counter-kill enemies is not a sound argument.

If say, to parry a normal attack we needed to press two buttons in a certain order and manually face the opponent before that, well, it would be more realist but it would not be feasible. An even better example would be if they used the directional blocking of M&B: you would not stand a chance in that game. Best we can hope for "realist" action games would be 1v1 or at worst, 1v2, and anything more you would need to flee or be exceptionally skilled: making it more like an infiltration game than an heroic action game like Shadow of Mordor is, which it completely assumes from the get go (you incarnate a mix of a veteran fighter and a magical legendary being  ).

I say this but I would have liked the game more if say, we started without any wraith skills, and the power progression was way slower, and delete a few too OP skills.
Starting with sith chokehold and slow-mo ranged one shot + infra-vision is a bit much, even though its logic since from Day 1 we are imbued with magical powers.
Still could have been a more challenging games if upgrading your character was more important yet limited, and not the current "lets become even more IMBA" that it is now.


I am now 10 hours into the game and I must change my POV from "too easy" to "localy challenging": like Xant said, its easy as long as you dont encounter a mix of special mobs and almost invincible boss.

[Leshma]

It would be inhuman to fight multiple enemies without a simplified combat system

That makes you inhuman most of the time. Me and Xant both have been quite inhuman in the past. And many other cRPG players. Compared to cRPG or even Dark Souls, this is walk in the part, combat system is fun but it's easy mode really. Dunno why Xant is trying so hard to deny that fact.

[Vibe]

It would be inhuman to fight multiple enemies without a simplified combat system, hence why "too easy" critic on how one proper button is enough to counter-kill enemies is not a sound argument.

If say, to parry a normal attack we needed to press two buttons in a certain order and manually face the opponent before that, well, it would be more realist but it would not be feasible. Best we can hope for "realist" action games would be 1v1 or at worst, 1v2, and anything more you would need to flee: making it more like an infiltration game than an heroic action game like Shadow of Mordor is.

Aye. You can't really make a difficult combat system and then throw a million enemies on the protagonist. Thus why you can jump out of attack animation into instablocking and so on, pretty much all games of this type work like this.

[Xant]

It would be inhuman to fight multiple enemies without a simplified combat system, hence why "too easy" critic on how one proper button is enough to counter-kill enemies is not a sound argument.

If say, to parry a normal attack we needed to press two buttons in a certain order and manually face the opponent before that, well, it would be more realist but it would not be feasible. Best we can hope for "realist" action games would be 1v1 or at worst, 1v2, and anything more you would need to flee: making it more like an infiltration game than an heroic action game like Shadow of Mordor is.

Yup, Shadow of Mordor clearly isn't trying to make every fight super challenging, it sprinkles hard fights in there now and then, while most of the fights aren't meant to be challenging, just letting you feel bad-ass and get to enjoy the nice looking combat system and your upgrades. And seriously, those Stronghold fights get a lot harder without combat prompts. That video, summed up, is "see, you can survive in a random stronghold against no real strong enemies when you're FULLY leveled up with every possible ability, and have all the Combat Help options enabled." Wow, a-ma-zing.

combat system is fun but it's easy mode really. Dunno why Xant is trying so hard to deny that fact.

I'm not trying to say the combat system is challenging overall, I'm just not an autistic nerd who feels the need to appear super edgy and cool by going "ahahahaha I can do M&B combat system so I'll shit on anything easier and thus fuck up my enjoyment of a perfectly good game that's in a different genre even though it also has swords and melee combat." It's like going to watch Batman in the movie theatres and the whole time picking apart the unrealistic things in a sarcastic voice: retarded.

And again, having huge "press this button" helpers on and complaining about the combat being easy is stupid. At least disable the easy mode tips if you're showcasing how easy the game is..

This guy has a pretty good comment on it:

TeHzoAr1 day ago
 
+FlameBringer84 it's literally a scoring system. You can live endlessly in DMC1/3/4 by mashing jump/roll too. You can take down hordes of basic ninja enemies in NG:B by spamming flying swallow with no timing too. You can probably live indefinitely by mashing dodge in Bayonetta (despite the cooldown animation on every 3rd dodge or whatever, because you clear so much distance and even infinte non-stop climax Grace and Glories will probably not close the distance often) too. I could make this exact video in any of the great skill-based brawlers.

This isn't strictly in the same genre as those games but it is, to some extent, a spectacle fighter.

The idea is to hold a high combo and take down enemies as efficiently and stylishly as possible. It's a toy. A medium for play and skill. It's not even remotely in the same genre as Dark Souls, his only comparison (and probably only touchstone for melee combat). It goes RIGHT THE FUCK OUT OF ITS WAY to empower the player from the start, and continues to pile on ridiculously powerful shit as the game progresses. I've finished MN difficulty in Ninja Gaiden Black and 2 but died often in this game because the way you risk death in by trying to be efficient and stylish as possible.

I mean you can literally do the bow teleport, chain teleport 3 insta-kill enemies, do that like 5 more times, combat drain a new enemy and start all over again without even risking being hit. Killing enemies and surviving isn't the point of the game. It's just a natural consequence of engaging with it - not much different from walking in any other game ("OH BUT I ONLY HAVE TO PRESS A DIRECTION AND I WALK AUTOMATICALLY? ITS WAY HARDER IN QWOP - THE TRUE GAMER'S GAME")

There's considerable challenge in the challenge modes, which force you to play the way the game was intended (scoring, efficiency, speed, style). But none of you are interested with actually engaging with the game. You just want it to be Dark Souls, or whatever. Wrong game, fuckos.

[Butan]

That makes you inhuman most of the time. Me and Xant both have been quite inhuman in the past. And many other cRPG players. Compared to cRPG or even Dark Souls, this is walk in the part, combat system is fun but it's easy mode really. Dunno why Xant is trying so hard to deny that fact.

I know Dark Souls is a good example of hardcore combat, but in that game you pass half the time evading enemies, the other half quickly dispatching one of them, rinse and repeat. You never (provided you dont have an OP build/weapon/power) fight a horde of 20 monsters which surrounds you while you stand your ground: Shadow of Mordor is an epic game with simplified combat system which enables those cinematic fighting sequences, and still gives you some reflex/decision skill challenges thanks to tier mobs/boss.


Its a feel good game   

Would not go as far as "casual" because its not up to everyone to have enough reflex to mash the correct buttons in a hundred different situations.

(click to show/hide)

I play with 0 HUD options because I'm cooler 

[Kafein]

I believe the guys makes some legit points in that video. The absence of rythm or the fact that he can interrupt any action with a dodge does indeed remind me very strongly of ass creed cancer combat.

On the other hand it's difficult to balance 1vsX combat. Basically all the AC/Batman games failed to make melee combat challenging. But at least in Batman you have to use buttons at the right moment to make it flow. And those games (AC/Batman) had substantial content outside of combat, whereas SoM doesn't.

This guy has a pretty good comment on it:

TeHzoAr1 day ago
 
+FlameBringer84 it's literally a scoring system. You can live endlessly in DMC1/3/4 by mashing jump/roll too. You can take down hordes of basic ninja enemies in NG:B by spamming flying swallow with no timing too. You can probably live indefinitely by mashing dodge in Bayonetta (despite the cooldown animation on every 3rd dodge or whatever, because you clear so much distance and even infinte non-stop climax Grace and Glories will probably not close the distance often) too. I could make this exact video in any of the great skill-based brawlers.

This isn't strictly in the same genre as those games but it is, to some extent, a spectacle fighter.

The idea is to hold a high combo and take down enemies as efficiently and stylishly as possible. It's a toy. A medium for play and skill. It's not even remotely in the same genre as Dark Souls, his only comparison (and probably only touchstone for melee combat). It goes RIGHT THE FUCK OUT OF ITS WAY to empower the player from the start, and continues to pile on ridiculously powerful shit as the game progresses. I've finished MN difficulty in Ninja Gaiden Black and 2 but died often in this game because the way you risk death in by trying to be efficient and stylish as possible.

I mean you can literally do the bow teleport, chain teleport 3 insta-kill enemies, do that like 5 more times, combat drain a new enemy and start all over again without even risking being hit. Killing enemies and surviving isn't the point of the game. It's just a natural consequence of engaging with it - not much different from walking in any other game ("OH BUT I ONLY HAVE TO PRESS A DIRECTION AND I WALK AUTOMATICALLY? ITS WAY HARDER IN QWOP - THE TRUE GAMER'S GAME")

There's considerable challenge in the challenge modes, which force you to play the way the game was intended (scoring, efficiency, speed, style). But none of you are interested with actually engaging with the game. You just want it to be Dark Souls, or whatever. Wrong game, fuckos.

I think that's a valid argument, but I also believe the game should actually punish the player somehow when "failing" combat. In SoM the only failure is death, which is apparently extremely easy to avoid forever.