Middle-earth: Shadow of War

Very repetitive, but the Nemesis system keeps it on solid footing and is very engaging. Story beats are there, but vary wildly in quality depending on the character.

Shadow of War is more of the same. Much much more. More checklists, more areas, more story, and more Nemesis System. Everything is better with major caveats. The Nemesis System is on steroids, bulky and cumbersome. Shoehorning Tolkien lore was bad before, so why not add even more crap? Two overworlds weren't enough so now there are five. There are moments of fun and downright brilliance but it's mired in a murky mess of too much of stuff that doesn't matter and not enough of what does.

Repetitiveness is unavoidable with these so that's obviously a downside, but it's still a good system and a pretty good playthrough.

As Filligan said, this one didn't land like the first. Still pretty fun, and I have mad respect and love for the Nemesis system. It's still basically a bunch of other open-world games thrown together (combat of Batman, for example), but I'm cool with that. This feels more like a money grab, though that's probably because of how deep the microtransactions went when I played it. Mostly everything is lesser than the original.

Ah, this didn't quite land like its predecessor. There's lots of new stuff to do, and the improved Nemesis system is great, but overall this felt hollow and repetitive. The leveling system never felt like it was in the right place in terms of where you were and where the game wanted to take you, and the final act is a real slap in the face. Laughable "online" options with a points system separate from the solo's? No. A disappointment.

Messy follow-up to Shadow of Mordor's pleasant surprise. Really made me respect how much the first game's restraints made it such a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Also, these games should probably stop trying to have a story altogether outside of "there are some funny orcs and you should kill or enslave them."