• Light/Dark
  • Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
  • We have made minor adjustments to how the search bar works on ResetEra. You can read about the changes here.

Yet another exciting The Lord of the Rings project bite the dust, what would be your dream Middle-earth game?

What would be your dream Middle-earth game?

  • Big budget open-world RPG game. (The Elder Scrolls, The Witcher (3), Dragon Age)

    Votes: 292 52.1%

  • Big budget narrative focused, third person action game. (Ghost of Tsushima, The Last of Us)

    Votes: 104 18.6%

  • Total War: Middle-earth (Turn-based grand strategy - Creative Assembly)

    Votes: 54 9.6%

  • Remake of the original direct movie follow ups. (Hack and slash, action.)

    Votes: 37 6.6%

  • Other. (Mention in the comments pls.)

    Votes: 33 5.9%

  • Bonus: Middle-earth Souls-like.

    Votes: 40 7.1%
  • Total voters
    560
Carian Knight

Carian Knight

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,986
Turkey
I'll turn 30 next year, god knows how long I've been waiting for a proper big budget The Lord of the Rings game and at this point, I lost all my hope. Back in the day EA actually released some solid games, PS2 era direct movie follow-ups were great also the BFME series is still my all-time favorite RTS game. But the most exciting one in recent memory was the EA's ambitious RPG codenamed "Project Gray Company" aka The Lord of the Rings The White Council I was so sad to hear when it was canceled. In their final cash-grab attempt, EA released The Lord of the Rings Conquest an utterly embarrassing project that has been put together in a very short time before licenses expired. After a long break, we got the Mordor series, the first game was decent never bothered playing the second one because let's face it out of all possible Middle-earth locations, characters and stories Mordor and Talion isn't the most exciting one.

Now we learned Amazon's AAA The Lord of the Rings MMO project got canned which means for us The Lord of the Rings fans future is still dark. So, since nothing on the horizon, what would be your dream Middle-earth game?

Will we ever see the light?



Edit: Accidentally send the thread before finalizing the poll options. You can change your vote.
 
Last edited:
falconhoof17

falconhoof17

Member
Jul 12, 2019
209
Arcsys making a lotr fighter similar to battle fantasia. It'll literally never happen but god, it would be so great.
 
dodo

dodo

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,997
open world tracking game where you play as a nazgul chasing the ring. relatively minimal combat, lots of traversal, terrorizing the townsfolk, repeatable/randomized starting points for both the player and the ring in a huge map

Lashley said:
CRPG like Divinity/Baldurs Gate 3 set in Middle Earth
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

this is the more realistic and real best option
 
hog

hog

Member
Mar 9, 2021
1,028
I want a Death Stranding style traversal based game where you're the hobbits taking the ring to Mordor.

Anyway, that Gollum game just got a trailer, right? So there is something on the horizon.
 
LazyLain

LazyLain

Member
Jan 17, 2019
6,498
Big budget RPG, though I don't necessarily think it needs to be an Elder Scrolls-esque open world.... a more linear story-driven experience would possibly be a better fit, though certainly the environments need to at least have a nice sense of scale.
 
GooberDooberCBC

GooberDooberCBC

Member
Sep 7, 2020
2,340
I know it will never happen but I want a massive LOTR style multiplayer game with the different factions where you fight for territories and key landmarks in the universe. I don't know what that look like in terms of scope and ability to implement it but god do I want it badly.
 
Tuorom

Tuorom

Member
Oct 30, 2017
10,915
An Elder Scrolls LOTR setting would be amazing. Imagine exploring and finding the shards of Narsil scattered around and being able to reforge it by going to the sons of Elrond. Would be hype. Traveling down into abandoned Dwarf mines and finding sweet loot but also lots of goblins, it'd be like a time trial. The longer you stay the harder it gets. How deep would you tread, and how greedily?

Expansion pack where you can go into Harad and Rhun, maybe find the blue wizards still alive. It'd be so fun.
 
JuniperAndSage

JuniperAndSage

Member
Dec 27, 2019
6,078
Seattle
hog said:
I want a Death Stranding style traversal based game where you're the hobbits taking the ring to Mordor.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Death Stranding is one of the only AAA games you could model a good Middle Earth game on. Tolkien spends more pages on a single poem or song than he does on most of the battles. You'll get 100 pages of hiking and camping, singing and eating, and then 4 or 5 pages on a fight, before moving on to a lengthy history lesson.

Trying to expand those 5 page long battles to an entire game of stylish video game violence just misses the whole point.
 
IvorB

IvorB

Member
Oct 28, 2017
2,995
I don't think an RPG would be that great. Magic isn't that overt as far as I recall so I don't know how you would make a spell caster interesting while staying true to the lore.

I read a bunch of those books when I was younger and I don't recall anyone chucking lighting bolts or anything like that.

I'm pretty sure also there was a finite number of wizards and they were gods and demigods.

Strategy would be my vote and I want to play as Sauron or Morgoth.
 
Last edited:
DanteSparda504

DanteSparda504

Member
Nov 2, 2017
4,470
Birmingham, AL
I want a narrative focused game. I don't care if it's open world or not, but it needs to be heavily narrative driven. That's what makes Lord of the Rings so special.

Also just give me Battle for Middle Earth 3
 

AArouet

Member
Dec 25, 2020
150
Honestly, I would take a remake of the original ps2 games. Those were honestly so fun.

I actually just finished Shadow of War and it was super fun. Scratched the itch for now.
 
hog

hog

Member
Mar 9, 2021
1,028
JuniperAndSage said:
Death Stranding is one of the only AAA games you could model a good Middle Earth game on. Tolkien spends more pages on a single poem or song than he does on most of the battles. You'll get 100 pages of hiking and camping, singing and eating, and then 4 or 5 pages on a fight, before moving on to a lengthy history lesson.

Trying to expand those 5 page long battles to an entire game of stylish video game violence just misses the whole point.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Totally! That slowness and that breadth are the whole thing with LotR. The central characters of Tolkien's books are hobbits because it's really important that you're experiencing that world through the eyes of someone small and relatively powerless. But the video games want to be a power fantasy, so they'll just have you fighting dudes constantly.
 
Hilarious_Bearious

Hilarious_Bearious

Member
Nov 4, 2017
7,377
Get Larian to make a turn based CRPG. Or a big open world would be my second option.

I'm actually reading through the LotR at the moment, I just finished The Two Towers. I tried to get through it 20 years ago when the movies launched, but fell off before the Council of Elrond. Even this time, the first book is such a slog. So much walking. Then the second book just pumps the gas and is amazing. The shift in tone and pacing makes it feel like a different author wrote it. The consistently excellent world building ties them together though. I'm really looking forward to Return of the King, then watching the 4K LotR movies, then playing Shadow of War.
 
mjhaas

mjhaas

Member
Aug 28, 2019
146
Final Fantasy: Lord of the Rings.

Party based rpg starring Gandolf, Gimli, Legolas, and Aragorn. A hobbit can tag along too.
 
WhatATimeToBeAlive

WhatATimeToBeAlive

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 12, 2019
80
Finland
LOL. Online focused LotR game gets canceled (thanks for the info) after the "succes" of games like Anthem. Who would have guessed.
Seriously talking, a LotR game ala Witcher 3 would easily be my favorite game. Set during the first age would be perfect. Turin would be a great protagonist.

I would also kill for a film directed by Terrence Malick set during the first age. Maybe it will happen some day (by someone with a similar vision as him).
I'am thankful that the LotR estate haven't given acces to first age material. A Hobbit trilogy (or even LotR trilogy) kind of movie set during the first age would be a travesty, to put it lightly. Thank (God) for the books.
 
WordsAndDreams

WordsAndDreams

Member
Jan 4, 2018
1,158
All I want from a new LotR game is a world I can literally get lost in. Not saying it should necessarily be specifically like Elder Scrolls or BotW, but like those, the sense of wonder from exploration would be the main draw of the game. Much easier said than done, of course, but that would be the best-case scenario for me.
 
mjhaas

mjhaas

Member
Aug 28, 2019
146
Spacejaws said:
So Lord of the Rings: The Third Age 2?

I'd buy it.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

I had to look up Lord of the Rings: The Third Age. That looks pretty fun! I don't necessarily even mean the combat system when I say Final Fantasy. More the tone or vibe of jrpgs. I feel a Western studio would copy the aesthetic of the movies like we've seen with those EA games in the 2000s and the Shadow of War series. A japanese studio I think would give the world a more whimsical, fantastical flair that I would like to see.
 
WhatATimeToBeAlive

WhatATimeToBeAlive

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 12, 2019
80
Finland
JuniperAndSage said:
Death Stranding is one of the only AAA games you could model a good Middle Earth game on. Tolkien spends more pages on a single poem or song than he does on most of the battles. You'll get 100 pages of hiking and camping, singing and eating, and then 4 or 5 pages on a fight, before moving on to a lengthy history lesson.

Trying to expand those 5 page long battles to an entire game of stylish video game violence just misses the whole point.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Your post is (almost) perfect. (In my opinion) a Witcher 3 kind of game would also work quite well.
 
Dmax3901

Dmax3901

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,877
Two that immediately come to mind: Silmarillion Souls which tbh Elden Ring is pretty fucking close to (from what we've seen).

And since playing Valheim I would adore something like that set in Middle-Earth. Building a settlement/fort/city with friends, defending it from goblins/orcs and going on expeditions into mines, woods etc.
 
Steel

Steel

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
18,220
Honestly my favorite LOTR game was battle for middle earth 2. So... that?

Alternatively, I'll take an elder scrolls-like game set in LOTR universe-ish
 
Man Called Aerodynamics

Man Called Aerodynamics

Member
Oct 29, 2017
7,500
Definitely the open-world RPG. I want to wander around Middle-earth and explore the setting.

Honestly the Lego LOTR/Hobbit games kind of hit the spot for this. But I'd love to see it realized at a fuller scale.
 
Arsic

Arsic

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
2,730
I would love a diablo like ARPG with a fantastic cinematic story, and the end game of path of exile.

So much potential.
 
Budi

Budi

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,883
Finland
MMO RPG could be cool. All of your poll options seem to be singleplayer focused, besides strategy.
 
RdN

RdN

Member
Oct 31, 2017
1,781
I'd love to see a Battle for Middle Earth 3. That series was pretty damn good.
 
Tavernade

Tavernade

Tavernade
Moderator
Sep 18, 2018
8,630
I just want the two movie games to be rereleased/remade in modern graphics.

And/or a successor that spans the whole trilogy accurately, because Fellowship was robbed and ROTK was inaccurate.
 
shinobi602

shinobi602

Verified
Oct 24, 2017
8,352
Massive narrative driven RPG ala The Elder Scrolls or The Witcher. Quests, dialogue options, character creator (optional), towns, etc.

That's the dream.
 
Iwao

Iwao

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,795
I want a journey similar to the one of the hobbits where the traversal and evading threat is a focus, supported by a combat system where necessary. Maybe throw in segments where you play in the style of companions you meet along the way.

hog said:
I want a Death Stranding style traversal based game where you're the hobbits taking the ring to Mordor.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
JuniperAndSage said:
Death Stranding is one of the only AAA games you could model a good Middle Earth game on. Tolkien spends more pages on a single poem or song than he does on most of the battles. You'll get 100 pages of hiking and camping, singing and eating, and then 4 or 5 pages on a fight, before moving on to a lengthy history lesson.

Trying to expand those 5 page long battles to an entire game of stylish video game violence just misses the whole point.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Holy shit, yes.
 
Hilarious_Bearious

Hilarious_Bearious

Member
Nov 4, 2017
7,377
Also a Stardew/Animal Crossing/Harvest Moon style farm Sim where you play as a hobbit inheriting their uncle's little old farm in the Shire and having to bring it back to its former glory while helping rebuild the local hamlet, reconstruct ancient songs and stories from snipits found around town. Harvest, fishing, cooking, poetry, pipe smoking and other contests/events for the calendar.
 
RiOrius

RiOrius

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,081
The Mordor games were amazing, and I never would've picked that idea out of a list, so my opinion is clearly irrelevant.

That said, the worst LOTR idea was definitely that time they made a MOBA. Yeah, let's have Frodo and Gollum going toe-to-toe with Gandalf and Sauron in team-based combat. That's how Middle Earth works.
 
CRIMSON-XIII

CRIMSON-XIII

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,173
Chicago, IL
My ideal LOTR game is open linear, sometimes more linear than other times.. Naughty Dog visuals and budget. And just an original adventure and journey. Action and story.

But not so much open like the Shadow of Mordor games.

Looking forward to see what happens with the Gollum game.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.