I won't say anything new. This is Shadow of Mordor, but bigger. And at the same time better, because it develops further many aspects from that game. However, those who don't like overwhelming open worlds may have a problem with Shadow of War. It really is a big production. Side activities are numerous, and you need to spend some hours on the campaign itself. I myself have a growing problem with open worlds, but the second Middle-earth game from Monolith kept me clinging to it. If you liked the formula from Shadow of Mordor, you'll find yourself just fine here. Repetitiveness creeps in relatively quickly, but the Nemesis system and the improvements made here make the loop surprisingly enjoyable. Fatigue creeps in only in the 4th act, which I found awful in various ways, though it's scary to think that it used to be even worse. This is also a good time to say that it's not worth expecting anything good from the plot. This is a silly fanfic. And it would be even worse if one hoped for it to stay true to Tolkien's work. Oh boy, this is definitely not it. I, fortunately, had no problem with it. What I found weak wass simply the script itself. Also, even if there are needed moments of rest from the constant gameplay, I won't hide the fact that the cutscenes didn't know how to keep me interested despite good direction. Shadow of War's problems in general can be big, and at times I was afraid if they would ruin the game for me, but I still had a lot of fun.

BANISHED FROM DEATH
MIDDLE EARTH IS A FUCK
ASH NAZG Kill Em All TA 2990
i am gravewalker man
27,218 DEAD ORCS

The gameplay is better than Shadow of Mordor in every single way, they refined the movement in pretty cool ways and made the combat more in-depth. The Nemesis system is back and it's the best its ever been. I loved how you'll shape your own stories with the orcs depending on how you tackle situations, some times it will vary for no reason. The castle sieges are very well made, and can be as hard as you'd like them to be. I personally preferred dominating every warlord so they would betray the overlord on the siege.
This was fun and all but probably for the first 15 hours then it got dull and repetitive, things like this are usually my fault for being a completionist but I wasn't even done with the plot. The whole thing is a playground for the Nemesis system and they will heavily drag the repetition in order to show it off, this stands out as you have to do 5 castle sieges in a row and then 5 more in the epilogue. I liked things from the plot but it was mostly irrelevant

Replayed on PC:

I loved Shadow of Mordor and actually bought Shadow of War on release date for my PS4. I've always been a fan of Tolkien, I'm one of those who re-read the books every year or two, watch the movies multiple times a year (Extended of course) and while this game of course isn't lore-friendly that does not detract at all from it's brilliance, the nemesis system is revolutionary and can hold the game on it's own, the combat is fun and addicting, simple but when up against a Nemesis can be actually hard and require thinking and out of the box tactics. The story is so-so and I particularly don't like the ending, (although the voice acting is fantastic, kudos to all of the voice actors, I'm very fond of Celebrimbor's voice and Talion's. In addition, the cinematics are to die for and are engaging and stylized to no-end). But this game isn't about the pre-made story, it's about the stories you make within the systems made. And those stories are fantastic. It's like a good sandbox game like Kenshi or Mount & Blade or Crusader Kings. Everyone will have a different story of that one Uruk who was a thorn in their side or particularly memorable.

Within 4 hours of this replay I already had a memorable rivalry of an Uruk and his blood-brother. Being killed multiple times by one or the other constantly showing up to protect the other one. And before moving on to the next zone I decided I absolutely had to kill one of them and leave the other suffering, and so I researched the more powerful one's weaknesses, snuck up on him during a feast, and had a long hard fight with him trying to abuse his weaknesses. His brother showed up to try and save him halfway through, through blood, sweat, and tears I killed the feasting Uruk as he died he told me he was just disappointing he'd be the brother who dies, and not the brother who gets to revenge. Dying with a smile, sure he would be avenged as he had been saved many times before, I then chopped off his arm and leg as his brother became enraged, I had to flee, but with the satisfaction of revenge. Great game. Buy it.