I genuinely want to make one of those 3 hour long video essays about this. Before anyone says anything, yes I very obviously started playing Shadow of War again recently and thought of this. For those unaware, the nemesis system was this incredible system made for Middle-Earth Shadow of Mordor and heavily improved in Shadow of War that allowed NPCs to remember interactions with the player and make decisions that gave some incredible moments. NPCs could be killed by you and then return with new physical features like an axe in the head or a mechanical arm and tell you how made they are at you for killing them. There was an enemy once that took my sword from me and broke it so I had to equip a new one. You can have NPC’s whose names change based on things they do, becoming Ur-Bek the Pit Fighter if they did well in the fighting pits in the game or “The Unashamed” if you shamed them to lower their level but they took it with pride instead. I’m heavily oversimplifying it but it created an incredibly rich world that felt entirely based around you and what you do. I had a guy that I kept killing over and over again and he kept coming back, only for a pivotal moment in the game to occur and he shows up AGAIN to fight me. I’ve had friendly NPCs come out of nowhere to save me from death at the hands of others. A friendly NPC will betray you if you kill his blood-brother. You can accidentally drive enemies insane and they start chittering nonsense or just screaming. Regular enemies can become captains with their own names and titles if they kill you. Just today, I had my favorite captain infiltrate the warchief to betray him when I attacked the fort and, when I attacked, the warchief had him tied up. He said he found out he was a spy and slit his throat before throwing him off the edge of a tower. I loved that orc. His name was Bork. Needless to say I killed the warchief when I got to him as revenge for Bork. But this is what I’m talking about. It’s all unscripted and absolutely amazing. It makes the world feel so rich. You really just have to play the game to experience it. There really is nothing like it out there.
So WB has this amazing system which they patented and was met with massive love and appreciation. And what have they done with it since Shadow of War? Absolutely nothing. We have not seen this incredible system in 6 years. And they’re not letting anyone else use it either. Why? Can you imagine how cool this would be in other IPs they own? Can you imagine a Mad Max game similar to the one they already came out with but with this system in it? Cool weirdos in the post apocalypse that remember you and have these unique designs and stories that are naturally formed around the way you play? I heard rumors they were using it for whatever Wonder Woman game they’re making so hey, if that means we get to see it again, then kudos. But they have to do something with it. Let other companies use it if you won’t. WB as a whole has become a horrible company for both games and movies, with their emphasis on live-service games becoming prevalent. But could you imagine a system like this in a Batman game or if they used it in Suicide Squad Kills the Justice League? I guarantee it would be way more interesting than what they’re doing now. I’ll end my rant here but I just think it’s a tragedy that something so unique and incredible that could only be improved upon has been collecting dust for 6 years now.
I had this one orc who just refused to stay dead. I cut off its head, he comes back with the head sewed back on. I burn him to ashes, he comes back with immunity to fire. Eventually he had like no weaknesses left and just one shotted me. Im gonna be honest, i was always sort of happy to see my nemesis make it back to haunt me.
No matter how much I love Shadow of War (and it’s a lot). I can’t imagine risking buying anything from WB after they pulled their tax write-off shenanigans with Final Space.
Nothing goes together quite as well as “WB” and “Squandered Goodwill”
The only problem I have with it is against strong Uruks it’s basically a cheese fest of trying to do damage without dying.
Watch Dogs Legion could have heavily benefitted from the nemesis system when recruiting who can become enemies. WB had the attitude of "We’re not going to implement this mechanic again any time soon, and nobody else can either*. A solid game mechanic just left to sit idly on a shelf.
Great system piss poor game tho. I hate the fact we have so much fucking Tolkien lore about his worlds and we still get whatever the fuck these two games were supposed to be.
I feel like I’m in the minority, it worked well in the middle earth games but I feel like in most situations I’d prefer enemies to be made with a purpose instead of randomly generated that could be cool or funny or also bland and boring.
They are going to use it in the Wonder Woman game.
It’s insane that they even get a copy right for it and decided not to utilize the mechanic for new games
Seriously, why patent something so innovative and then let it gather dust? The nemesis system is begging to be used in more games. WB, take note!
I mean they literally have already said it will be used for their upcoming Wonder Woman game being made by Monolith?
I feel your pain, man. The nemesis system brought Shadow of War to life. It’s like they stumbled onto gold and decided to bury it. Such a missed opportunity.
I really really thought they were gonna do this in Arkham Knight. Like each villains gang would have their own hierarchy and each small gang of goons would have like a leader with them
I totally get your frustration. The nemesis system is a game-changer. WB could use it in so many different IPs, and it would elevate the gaming experience to a whole new level.
WB really dropped the ball on this one. The nemesis system is a masterpiece, and they should be putting it in every game they can. It’s a shame we haven’t seen it in action for so long.