@Katie CBA to bother watching more tripe from that whiny garbage man, tbqh — especially since you haven't answered whethere or not you've actually looked at any of the counter arguments I presented in the other articles, it's no longer even a conversation until you do.
(Edit: Kotaku just released a podcast all about different games and loot boxes that's worth checking out as well for those interested in understanding the topic:
https://kotaku.com/why-loot-boxes-make-people-so-angry-1819394801)
On to bigger and better things:
So, I've probably dropped a good 5-8 hours into the game, I haven't left the starting city of Minas Ithil, got Last Standed twice, but have managed to avoid being slain this far.
It's impressive how huge it all is, even knowing I'm only seeing the very most miniscule bits of the start of it all. The combat is DEFINITELY different, especially when it comes to Captain's, and their abilities to adapt to repetitive combat tactics on the fly, you don't wanna just do the same attack over and over, because they WILL learn.
The changes to gear, gems, and everything else are really engaging, and upgrading weapons and all that feels awesome, especially as you slowly unlock skills. I love the Haedir towers identifying locations, and the little poems. Not sure about the Shelob memories yet, as I don't have enough to get anything from them aside from stills.
It's fun attacking along with Gondorians. There was an Orc named Kûga Black Blade who ambushed me JUST after I'd barely survived a fight against another Captain (the only one who last stand'd meat all, and did it twice). Being from the Dark Tribe, his sudden appearance literally made me jump, and he came at me because the Orc I barely managed to kill was his blood brother, so he was there to get INSTANT revenge. My current sword is the one I took and upgraded after killing him.
Also, the weaknesses, mannerisms, and everything else of the Orcs are WAY more refined in this. Worms are around but will Sprint away from you — even off of ledges to their death — if they see you to avoid being caught. The random mutterings and commentary are vastly better. The way they use strengths and weaknesses are just SO much deeper, it's hard to even describe how thoroughly it eclipses the experience that Shadow of Mordor delivered. Dealing with health and everything else feels even more deadly than it did before, and Focus is much more limited (at least at the moment), so getting off one good head shot it all I can usually manage, and it forces you to really pay attention.
Loving all of Celebrimbor's memory trials as a way to practice things free of the confines of the games death system. After getting into the swing of things, I feel like everything is better mechanically thought out, and after starting out literally as weak as the other random soldiers around me, you get a better appreciation for the scope of the struggle again, and why you're such a badass as a wraith, and that without Celebrimbor, you're worm food — which I can only imagine makes getting Cursed exceptionally terrifying.
The new timing system for Captain missions, as well as the Captain's that make you hunt them down, and the ones just wandering, and the ones hunting you give a HUGE variety to dealing with them in addition to their vast array of tribes, strengths, and weaknesses. It's easy to lose track of time playing this, and SO goddamn fun.
Also, I opened my preorder loot boxes, but I don't get access to Garrison stuff until the next section of the game, so all that's still irrelevant to me, and I'm not interested in getting gear from them, because the gear you get all over from Captains keeps you well occupied, and sufficiently busy. Even when it's a higher level captain, assuming you play tactically (I'm playing on normal), there isn't too much to worry about when you're the one planning the attack. As a case in point, here's me getting some good gear from an Orc that was also amusing:
Side note: The options let you individually disable literally any piece of UI or tooltip on the game screentime that you want, so you can play as minimalist as you want, which is pretty awesome, especially with the photography mode being in it again. I'd expect to see some fun no UI challenges and other things just within the community at some point.
X 
