See the review posted at the top of the page.
I just read it now. I usually dismiss people that describe things like cancer as I find these people ignorant, obnoxious and I wouldn't even want to interact with them in real life. But I did say I would read through the review, and so I did.
At the end of Act 3, Talion has conquered 5 Fortresses in the game's 5 provinces. Then, Act 4, titled Shadow Wars, begins. Here, Sauron's Orc Leaders attack our Fortresses and we must defend them (or, if we lose a siege, work towards recapturing them). This Act essentially consists of 10 Stages - in Stages 1 to 4 we have to defend a single Fortress from the enemy's attacks, and after Stage 5 the sieges increase (so we must defend several Fortresses during each Stage in order to advance to the next). After completing all 10 Stages, we see the game's "real ending" and the end-game credits.
As I said previously, this sounds like a shitty level design. But I still don't see why you would need to buy those loot boxes, or if you don't buy it, you're "forced" to "grind" endless hours to achieve the same result. Looking at the screenshot he presented, he's fighting level 35-40+ ish captains which I suppose is one of the earlier phases as the Eurogamer article, shows captains that are level 57 which is probably one of the latter if not the last stage.
Naturally, as we progress from one Stage to the next, the enemy Orc Leaders increase in Level and power, and so we must level up our Leaders or try to Dominate new, more powerful ones, in addition to leveling up Talion (since we can't Dominate orcs whose level is higher than our own).
At the later Stages, enemy Orc Leaders are so powerful (the Level Cap is at 60, with later Leaders also having the "Legendary" attribute which makes them even more powerful) that we are left with 2 options:
1) Invest lots of time and effort before each Siege to "farm" new and more powerful Orc Leaders, level up our existing Leaders, or buy new "Normal/Rare" ones by spending Mirian to purchase Silver Lootboxes. And, of course, grind XP in order to level up Talion.
2) Buy the OTHER kind of Lootboxes using real money, and instantly acquire Legendary Gear and Orc Leaders, as well as XP Boosts that allow us to progress more rapidly towards the game's ending.
TL;DR: in order to reach THE GAME'S ENDING, we either have to spend endless hours grinding and farming XP and Orc Leaders to become powerful enough to win 20 Sieges in Act 4, or take a shortcut by buying "Premium Lootboxes" which give us the means to reach the ending much faster.
And here's the issue, he doesn't have high enough leveled captains to do the battle nor is Talion, by the looks of it, not even close to reaching that level and thus, have to resort to massive grinding.
Now, we have no idea how he played the game. He has points about the nemesis system being brilliant, but to what extent did he use it?
The main driving point of the first and this game is all about the combat, the nemesis system and that you kill loads of orcs. The story is fanfiction and has nothing to do with the work of Tolkien, and while it may have some parts that can be considered decent, a majority of them is subpar and lackluster. The characters are undoubtedly unlikeable, and you don't feel a bond them, both Talion and Celebrimbor are major douchebags, the latter is downright evil. As Bruz mentions in one of the earlier segments of the game, "Dark Lord, Bright Lord, what does it matter"? Oh, how right he is.
As I said, I haven't even reached Act 3 yet, I'm level 56, I have high-level war chiefs in my army, and I haven't bought a loot box except with the earned currency through the game.
Did I grind a lot? I wouldn't say so, but others would most likely. I have taken advantage of the nemesis system as that's what, in my opinion, makes the game good. I have shamed and shunned orc chieftains and let them kill me, so they reach a considerable level boost. Does that constitute as grinding? I wouldn't say so, but again, others would.I think that's one of the main parts of the nemesis system, and so I use it, and if people decide to skip it, it's bound to bite them in the ass further int he story.
"Come on guys, Premium Chests are completely optional, no-one's forcing you to buy them", one might say. And he might have a point, if we're talking about Chests being implemented in a game like Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, which can easily be completed just by doing quests and following the storyline, and where chests are there just to give you a boost that allows you to skip quality side-content and reach the ending faster (why would someone be deranged enough to do that, however, still eludes me). In Shadow of War's case, however, the GAME'S ENDING is locked behind just enough of an endless grindfest in order to justify the inclusion of microtransactions. It's a SHAMEFUL display of greed, unheard-of in the history of single-player games.
And here he manages to contradict himself. I haven't played Mankind Divided yet, (it's in my backlog) but he describes it as the chests giving you a boost that allows you to either skip side-content or reach the ending faster. And that's exactly what the loot boxes in Shadow of War does too; it allows you to skip the nemesis system altogether and just have high-level orcs by your side from the start. I wouldn't want to play a game like that as you would skip the main selling point of the game, and truthfully, it sounds quite boring. Others might enjoy that though and good for them; they have that option to purchase it if they so wish. He doesn't think of it as a problem in Deux Ex but blows it to huge proportions when it comes to Shadow of War.
I suppose we all have different expectations of the game. If your main drive is to just rush through the story and ignoring or not putting enough time on the nemesis system, then you're probably going to have to resort to grinding. But do people buy these types of game for the story? If you want a good story, buy an RPG like Baldur's Gate, not some ARPG where the main focus point is to mash your buttons and kill hordes of orcs.
He does have a point in the rest of his negative critique though. I enjoy the banter the orcs give us, but sometimes, you'll come across something you've heard before, and it would be great to be able to skip it.
I'll make sure to write a new post either here or in the official thread when I'm done with the game and see if my experience has changed.
