Middle Earth: Shadow of War (Zero Punctuation)

[@bugjams]

"What does optional mean? Playing video games is optional!" Did... Yahtzee just sum up in one question every reason micro-payments are shitty?

[@NinetyNineNo]

I didn't think "overleveled orcs trained by secret guerilla liberal arts professors" was something I'd ever hear.

[@Enchie]

NinetyNineNo Never trust a liberal art professor, or they will trick you into becoming guerilla warriors.

[@alexandredesouza3692]

Huh.. me neither

[@fantasywind3923]

Orcs in lore ARE trained, to even be in the armies of Mordor means they get trained: "“All that host was clad in sable, dark as the night. Against the wan walls and the luminous pavement of the road Frodo could see them, small black figures in rank upon rank, marching swiftly and silently, passing outwards in an endless stream. Before them went a great cavalry of horsemen moving like ordered shadows, and at their head was one greater than all the rest: a Rider, all black, save that on his hooded head he had a helm like a crown that flickered with a perilous light.” They clearly had to be trained to maintain discipline and marching in ranks. So :)...it's not that strange, of course the games don't really care much for lore considering how canon breaking they often are and do not explore the information from books on Mordor itself which could have added more depth to the games, even information on geography and places within Mordor is not used in full which is a shame there could be many more varied locations if they followed book descriptions. Sauron's influence on them is great and since Dark Lord loves order and coordination he would really work up on his soldiers: "...while the Orcs of his own trained armies were so completely under his will that they would sacrifice themselves without hesitation at his command."

[@fantasywind3923]

@@Enchie hehe well Orcs were also specially trained for guerilla tactics and forest warfare: "and they (Men of Brethil) excelled in forest warfare. Indeed for long even those Orcs specially trained for this dared not set foot ..." back in First Age armies of Morgoth had 'special forces', even Morgoth was putting some teachings to them ;). "...as garrisons of his strongholds or elements of armies trained for special purposes in his war-designs.." though I wouldn't call Morgoh a liberal arts professor hehe unless the liberalism in his way means he is allowed to do anything he desires while all others are enslaved to his will ;).

[@fantasywind3923]

@internet drone Orcs education eh? :) well I don't know about Mordor but Orcs of other places like Misty Mountains were 'educated' enough to know how to read or write: "'If beggars will not wait at the door, but sneak in to try thieving, that is what we do to them. If any of your people poke their foul beards in here again, they will fare the same. Go and tell them so! But if his family wish to know who is now king here, the name is written on his face. I wrote it! I killed him! I am the master! ' Then Nár turned the head and saw branded on the brow in Dwarf-runes so that he could read it the name AZOG. That name was branded in his heart and in the hearts of all the Dwarves afterwards. Nár stooped to take the head, but the voice of Azog said: 'Drop it! Be off! Here's your fee, beggar-beard.' A small bag struck him. It held a few coins of little worth." ... "“The Cirth in their older and simpler form spread eastward in the Second Age, and became known to many peoples, to Men and Dwarves, and even to Orcs, all of whom altered them to suit their purposes and according to their skill or lack of it.” Goblins/Orcs of the mountains also clearly are capable of counting: "“Well, now there are fifteen of you; and since goblins can count, I suppose that is all..." :), they clearly had military training in Mordor though.

[@mitrikgaduk347]

Yahtzee's argument against the whole "optional" thing should be put on a sign and quoted for decades to come in gaming.

[@callumdavis9841]

I quote it all the time whenever a certain dumbass I for some reason consider a friend decides to defend the atrocity that is EA's battlefront 2.

[@William-Morey-Baker]

couldn't agree more...

[@Nokaret]

A sign attached to a broom handle.

[@Nymphonomicon]

That argument should be wrapped around an arrow and fired into the upper management windows of every "Triple A" game publisher's corporate office.

[@RaylaEclipse]

There are valid arguments against that argument though. I never payed a cent and got through it fine. You could easily go find a new orc that's level 40 or send your old ones on a few missions and get them up to that level, and as that's the selling point of the game is those interactions I fail to see why having to do them is such a bad thing.

[@beep-beep]

You can thank Dan Abnett for how well the Orcs are fleshed out and written. He wrote for Warhammer 40K Orks in several novels and comics.

[@thomastakesatollforthedark2231]

Did he write for this game?

[@beep-beep]

@@thomastakesatollforthedark2231 Dan is credited on the IMDB writing credits page as “Daniel Abnett - Writer: Nemesis system & dialogue”

[@thomastakesatollforthedark2231]

@@beep-beep nice

[@Lunchbox_games]

I knew I got a sense of Deja Vu when looking at Warhammer 40K orcs. I played Shadow of Mordor long before getting into 40K and something about the orc's speech patterns and behavior was familiar.

[@Rigamarole]

what if Shelob was never actually a spider but Sam and Frodo hallucinated it because they were high on the fumes of their second breakfast

[@rerako4755]

That would be the worse case of cooties I've ever seen.

[@gabriellarena2256]

Then the story would make no sense, the whole deal with that cave and the reason that theres no one protecting it is that theres a giant spider living in it

[@jtr7377]

Basically, Shelob's mother, Ungoliant, was capable of shap-shifting. Given this, the game developers decided that they could stretch the lore to say that Shelob could shape-shift as well, kind of like her mother (kind of, as Ungoliant was significantly more powerful). As for whether Shelob can actually shape-shift in the lore, it is never said that she could or couldn't, so that is just another mystery (like Tom Bombadil, only less interesting compared to Tom Bombadil) in the Tolkienverse.

[@FrostKuji]

@JTR I agree. I think she only took a human form to use the ring's power. The ring won't do anything ageist wraiths. So, she went back to her natural form to defend herself. @Rigamarole No, she's a monster that wanted power only to find herself helpless even with it. Bet it was a shot to her ego how that played out.

[@kriscarroll3281]

It's important to remember that basically anything more magical than "made by the elves" in this universe is a god, made by the gods or god related. The wizards are gods. Sauron is a god. The fucking eagles are a god's pets. The balrogs are gods. Shelob is also a god. She's a relatively weak one. Typically shapeshifting is reserved for the more powerful ones. However, her mom could have wiped her ass with Sauron, as she damn near killed Sauron's old boss, Melchior aka "Satan allegory", so why not?

[@thecypher7607]

I love shadow of war for one simple reason. The ability to pull out a sword and charge into a stronghold full of orcs, every one of the buggers absent self preservation instincts, screeching "For Gondor!" as you cut down entire small armies like a mad man until you eventually just kinda get bored and wander off somewhere else.

[@timrthoward7007]

🤓

[@shoukokomi6419]

"Ay, I just thought o' somefin'..." "Wot's that?" "Well...if ya finks about it, I mean...carpentry." "Yeh, wot about it?" "Well, it's jus...it's jus like foightin', innit?" "Oh, come off it. You're just having me for a laugh." "I'm serious! Like, you swing a hammer, or your axe, and...suddenly everyfing's the way it's supposed ta be, ain't that roight?" "...Ya know, I fink ya moight be onna somefing." Have not played the game, this is simply what popped into my head as soon as he mentioned the conversation XD On a side note, I may have gone overboard with the accents more suitable in Warhammer than LoTR...

[@AfferbeckBeats]

And right as they have their little epiphany, Da Boss comes over. "GET BACK TA WORK, YA GITS"

[@rosie8059]

The accents aren't that of. Most grunt orcs sound like what Americans think chav Brits sound like.

[@shadowxneo]

true, but my luck would have one of the orcs have one of those unintelligible tics, like just grunting or something, so id hear half of a conversation and wonder what im listening to...

[@billveusay9423]

xD. Ok, I don't know the real conversation, but if the real game tops youts, then I have to play it right now

[@t_k_blitz4837]

It's spelled "larf," innit?

[@eircal6990]

Well, to be honest, Sauron used to be a master of disguise.

[@RacingSnails64]

yeah he was is his hot angel form or whatever when he met Celebrimbor

[@TheLolzKnight]

He was in a "fair elven form" and visited them elves under the name of Anatar (lord of gifts in Quenya) so as to stop them from stomping on his testicles for being an ex lieutenant of Morgoth (think the devil with Sauron being Beelzebub after the devil is banished into nothing). For the interested, he got the elves to make the rings by promising them that they would solves the biggest problem of the elves: the fact that the magic of the world is slowly fading and thus the elves, immortal magical beings, with them. They worked as advertised, but also had a purposefully included flaw that allowed the one ring to mind control anyone wearing them. The elves noticed when Sauron tried to mind control them and took them off, the dwarves are super weird and Sauron couldn't control them and in the end only the human kings ended up getting controlled, creating the ring wraiths.

[@drakron]

Actually the Elven Rings didnt had the flaw and that is why they were still being wore, the others yes and Sauron did play then for fools, of course there were only 3 Elven rings so he still had the advantage.

[@bjornsteelside]

Did he ever try getting into the turtle club?

[@robertlinke2666]

either you really did read the silmariliion( i got 15% trough before i gave up) or you seen the CGP grey vid. i guess the last one, to be honest

[@whatevah1989]

A broom handle up the rear seems like as good an argument as any, when it comes to micro-transactions.

[@mozxz]

depends, on how far up it will go, the middle or to where you attach the broom....

[@leonelc29]

And the best thing is: it's optional.

[@bloodstoneore4630]

Martin Madsen the broom-handle ass cosmetic costs $20

[@serenastieveling]

Microtransactions aren't the issue in games these days. It's loot boxes/gatchapon/lotto that are pure cancer because they devolve purchases into casino gambling.

[@Bankstercide]

One leads to the other.

[@bibniebt]

“California is on fire again” Look at Yahtzee predicting the future

[@WOLF36554]

And again

[@festethephule7553]

Not just California either, I'm pretty sure it's spread to British Columbia here in Canada by this point.

[@jacobs2099]

It's on fire every year it just gets a little worse each time

[@ryanrising2237]

Well, yeah, but predicting California being on fire is up there with predicting the sun will rise in the morning.

[@matthewdavis3421]

@@ryanrising2237, whoa. Talk about spoilers.

[@The-Game-Merchant]

So the microtransactions are gone and the game has been balanced in such a way to compensate them being taken out... I bet Yahtzee probably thought that was an impossible turn of events for a triple A video game.

[@timgreen9677]

Wait, seriously? Hell yeah. This game has been sitting on my shelf since release; maybe it's time to play it.

[@Doctorgeo7]

They only did it to win brownie points and look good. The reality is that the player population has died down so much that they aren't making enough money with them on. So now it's not even worth the server rent money for those "optional" micro transactions.

[@iank472]

The hilarious thing is they had to rebalance the game after taking out the microtransactions. That means the game was skewed (quite heavily) towards needing to spend money on the microtransactions in the first place. Which in turn means Monolith/WBs are a bunch of lying fuckbags who just admitted to being a bunch of lying fuckbags.

[@jaylenharris2866]

@@iank472 Lying fuckbags who make good games are lying fuckbags that I can forgive.

[@bigbruno2232]

Well Jim Sterling putting the game on his worst 2017 list didn’t gave well did it.

[@RaidsEpicly]

For anyone curious, the Baranor DLC is AMAZING. It's partially permadeath but with some progression that remains, AND you get the just cause hookshot + parachute. Reminds me of the Daud DLC for dishonored 1 in that I almost prefer it to the base game

[@Karakuioshi]

Yahtzee saying that he LOVES something is one of the most scary things and Halloween was yesterday!

[@Karakuioshi]

what do you mean?

[@insertteahere3162]

At least he pronounced "Celebrimbor" correctly.

[@mr.potato2223]

Celerybor

[@DRYB0NEZ]

Hey kid you wanna buy some loot boxes the first five are free.

[@Zeliek]

Hey... man... bro... do you have... some of the premium shit for free.... i swear i'll pay you double when my... brother pays up what he owns me... he's a lawyer you see.... please man....

[@StupidButCunning]

Also, only the boxes are free, you need to buy the keys.

[@josephknutson1700]

@zeliek, hehehe, "my brother", classic

[@meat2023]

Noobie2k7 TF2 and L.o.L does that I believe

[@stephenhoy]

Noobie2k7 I know TF2 does it, and I think CSGO does too. Valve seem to like that horrific business model

[@JustinY.]

*Shadow of Loot: Electric Boogaloo*

[@lorereadings5729]

Electric Boogaloot

[@callumjohnson5673]

Justin Young stop getting top conment on all of these videos

[@officiallastresort0248]

Maybe you should try to be funnier then, Old School Geezer.

[@kangobango2115]

Ghost, curse, phantom, myth who are you?

[@TheUndeadslayer221]

More like "Shadow of More Dosh", or at least that's what someone told me. They weren't totally wrong all things considered.

[@theseceratary2307]

To be honest, metaphors are similar to fighting, since you can use them to bash your enemies over the ego with your superior intellect and wordplay, leaving them sniveling on the ground not from pain, but from the knowledge that they just got bodied by an argument they can't comprehend.

[@Montesama314]

And if you can shatter someone's ego to the point of leaving them a blubbering mess, well, that's ABOUT the same as giving them a concussion with an overhead shield bash, right?

[@link_fd1729]

So what I’m getting from this is that you can equate anything to fighting

[@festethephule7553]

@@link_fd1729 Mate, I get myself to do homework by relating it to fighting. I mean, swatting a fly is technically fighting...

[@monhunterz5430]

DBzA Goku: "I just treated it like one big fight. Kinda like everything in my life"

[@cereal_chick2515]

"Secret guerrilla liberal arts professors" is an amazing sequence of words.

[@Roland_the_Hero]

What I got from this review: Good game God Awful Business Practices

[@seanmurphy3430]

"Secret Guerrilla Liberal Arts Professors" would be a great name for a band.

[@Okoii]

Holy shit exactly. All i do in these games is fuck around with the orcs and cherry pick my own favourites. Why can't they drop the edgy sad typical story and just have a custom orc driven free roam version of this. No good moral good conquers evil happy quick time event ending bullshit, no sad brooding protagonist forced awkwardly into a world full of much more interesting varied and fun orcs and Olog-hai, which were also a fantastic edition. The Nemesis system should be expanded on into it's own game. You could play as your own custom orc with weaknesses and strengths as in this game. Have siege mechanics and armies, battles skirmishes and just be incorporated freely into this pre-existing stellar orc system.

[@hexgirl_x]

"i just love what theyve done with these orcs!" same tho, the orcs are literally the entire reason i play these games :')

[@1987MartinT]

I love the orcs in these games. They have a ton of personality and each one is unique in some way.

[@MrPixel-ge6wx]

Yes Yhatzee, there are Orc tachers. I found some.

[@Wolfs0n]

I had trouble getting in game currency too at first. It wasn't till a good while later I discovered the Marauder legendary gear set has passive skills to increase money gained from defeated orcs.

[@michaelcoffey498]

Never change

[@jorymayer707]

Can Yahtzee please start a patreon or something? I won't lie, the rest of the escapist never caught my attention, Yahtzee has been pure gold for years now.

[@WowDude1029]

If you play smart you don't have to buy loot boxes. I had plenty of mirian to upgrade ALL of my fortresses. And if you upgrade your fortresses. pay attention to the most common weaknesses, and set up spike walls, no one will get in your fortress. I would jump down the wall and dominate all the captains and the seige was over and you have stronger soldiers to gaurd for next time. As far as Shelob, I enjoyed her character a lot. At first I thought it was dumb she could be human, but as you build the relationship with her and find all her memories, she is actually really cool. It's pretty awesome that she is another force in Mordor (non-canonical of course). Moral of the story, play smart and the end game isn't difficult.

[@yacabo111]

Shadow of Wardor

[@ronhar1412]

Shadow of Hordor

[@bjorn720]

Sad Bro of More Whores

[@kokichiouma297]

Jacob Nugent shadow of lootboxdor

[@fantasyconnect]

"sad bro of more whores" Oh that is _goood_

[@brookspn]

In Celebrimbor's defense, Sauron was going by "Annatar" in those days.

[@ricknicolai5740]

Yahtzee should do a video on KZbin itself.. Which would result in an hour long rant

[@Draylin41]

Only an hour?

[@paulonhisphone]

lol the youtube problem doesn't actually affect him in the slightest. he's paid by the escapist, not by ad revenue.

[@SnivyTries]

And would be demonitized in a matter of minutes.

[@davb1950]

nanoseconds.

[@dawnwayfinder]

It'll be just like a Grade A Under A video, only it's funnier and the absurd analogies are spot on.

[@fantasywind3923]

Oh Orcs are not ONLY fighters, they have many skills, engineering, mining, building, craftsmen who forged all those weapons and armor, they also have various specializations, some Orcs are trackers, they do have their own arts and knowledge, they have healing arts and medicine, they have their elxir the 'orc-draught' that boosts them, they known how to make and use poisons so pretty much they have a wide range of skills and professions :), some of it is even noted in games, though not nearly deep enough hehe.

[@mr.potato2223]

"Medicine" You mean a hammer and nails

[@fantasywind3923]

@@mr.potato2223 no I mean potions and ointments :) :)...hey they also use poisons so they clearly know their ways with chemicals hehe: "A shadow bent over Pippin. It was Uglúk. ‘Sit up!’ said the Orc. ‘My lads are tired of lugging you about. We have got to climb down and you must use your legs. Be helpful now. No crying out, no trying to escape. We have ways of paying for tricks that you won’t like, though they won’t spoil your usefulness for the Master.’He cut the thongs round Pippin’s legs and ankles, picked him up by his hair and stood him on his feet. Pippin fell down, and Uglúk dragged him up by his hair again. Several Orcs laughed. Uglúk thrust a flask between his teeth and poured some burning liquid down his throat: he felt a hot fierce glow flow through him. The pain in his legs and ankles vanished. He could stand. ‘Now for the other!’ said Uglúk. Pippin saw him go to Merry, who was lying close by, and kick him. Merry groaned. Seizing him roughly Uglúk pulled him into a sitting position, and tore the bandage off his head. Then he smeared the wound with some dark stuff out of a small wooden box. Merry cried out and struggled wildly. The Orcs clapped and hooted. ‘Can’t take his medicine,’ they jeered. ‘Doesn’t know what’s good for him. Ai! We shall have some fun later.’ But at the moment Uglúk was not engaged in sport. He needed speed and had to humour unwilling followers. He was healing Merry in orc-fashion; and his treatment worked swiftly. When he had forced a drink from his flask down the hobbit’s throat, cut his leg-bonds, and dragged him to his feet, Merry stood up, looking pale but grim and defiant, and very much alive. The gash in his forehead gave him no more trouble, but he bore a brown scar to the end of his days."

[@mr.potato2223]

Uhh Brayden?

[@BigJubble]

I still really wan't a Middle earth game where you play as one of the orcs, perhaps even get to pick out a look, title and personality for yourself. It would work well with the more RPG style of things they put in shadow of war, finding new weapons and armour on rival orcs you kill, unlocking special skills and moves as you go up the ranks until your Chadnob the Obese: An orc warchief adorned with the skulls of your rivals and using a magic battleaxe you had forged in the blood of the previous Warchief whose scrotum is currently dangling in your trophy room.

[@ATFPredator]

The shadow wars were probably the easiest part of the game for me, hiding in your fortress surrounded by your enslaved army with ALL teh upgrades, skills (by that point in the game), legendary sets of gear, even though no matter what level you get your orcs to the besieging ones are higher (even when mine are 60!!!! They still manage to have ones higher! Wtf?!?!) You can snipe them freely from atop your forts, watch to see which ones are broken from fighting your guys and run up and snap dominate them and run off again even more increasing your army. It got to the point where I would snipe the siege beasts in the beginning, shadow mount them, fire on to the attacking war chiefs from their own siege beasts, then dominate all the captains and up outside of my forts and they would never even get in the front wall. Ended the game with at least 80k extra money, upgrading all my legendary gear, about 2 dozen extra orcs I had just waiting in the garrison for a spot on one of the 4 fields, all the upgrades for attacking and defending and not a single micro transaction. Did end up spending about 20k to get 100% achievements since I was lazy and leveled up my orcs by having them all attack the random captains (or pit fight) eachother until I had a huge army of 60's to max out the Conquest score and get that achievement.

[@casecorder2866]

I made it through the entire game without buying jack shit, I even got to 100% game completion. It gave me a couple free loot boxes and XP boosts after doing some side missions

[@eurovisioninspace]

4:37 “Get revenge on Comedy Australian” omfg 😂

[@ruijikisu]

I did the shadow war without any grinding, fighting with what i had, even with it meant fighting with a lot weaker army. but even on the highest difficulty that was totally fine. After I had finished the shadow wars I also had almost 40k ingame currency left, so I couldve even bought some lootboxes with ingame currency, in fact i could have bought enough boxes with this ingame currency to fill every spot in every fortress in the game with orcs from lootboxes. So no, i dont really think the game forces you to use lootboxes, and even if, they are incredibly easy to get with ingame money. And apart from that, its just more of what made Shadow of mordor good. its a great game! Also, some new orcs are hilarious, the bard, the funny one or the poets are great.

[@RipDippler]

I couldn't help but enjoy the differences in orc intelligence. Fighting one who can do nothing but say "I KNEW IT!" And then suddenly being attacked by one who has a long sprawl about how smart he is compared to other orcs

[@weneedmorefacemapsasprofil1593]

Does it have your good 'ole hats and skins tho? If so, perfect opportunity to call this "Shadow of Wardrobe"

[@Saturday-Tyrant]

Nope, you do have armor with a different appearance, but it is gained after killing enemies and is more for the stats than for looking chique.

[@alearnedman]

Yahtzee always kills it with those closing lines. "Sticking a broom handle up your arse is optional, doesn't mean I wouldn't really like to do it!"

[@VertSecretStash]

Monolith refunded all the microtransactions and rebalanced the game a while back, so now its an absolutely stellar game

[@Lucas61616]

@@Enriqueguiones remember that time Tolkien didn't give a shit if you took spins on his work? Remember that time Tolkien didn't obsess over people abiding to a strict canon? Of course you don't, you made this comment. Theres plenty of weird things about shadow of war to talk about but these insult to Tolkien lines are so godamn contradictory.

[@kingofthepod5169]

that’s a left handed pacific handy S5 box cutter Ben’s holding at 3:23 . I know because I use one daily, but mine has the plastic cutter on the end.

[@SeriusSim]

"Playing games is optionnal" Exactly, and it feels that those monetization schemes in full priced AAA can only detract audience from the medium, after all these blockbusters are the point of entry for new players, but those won't stick for better titles if the experience is an unfun grind slog.

[@exaltedguyinteractive]

Anyone else notice the sirens in the background starting at about 0:33? I think I might view some of these a little too much if I'm noticing ambient noises now...

[@josephgarfield3363]

More like Shadow of Moredollars

[@Endwendys4for4]

Joe1up we get it ur fed up with micro transactions

[@anone.mousse674]

Joe1up Shadow of More Dough

[@anone.mousse674]

Shadow of Moolah?

[@AlluMan96]

Shadow of Shut Up And Give Me All Of Your Money.

[@aristocraticcthulhu3831]

-Download trainer/cheat engine -Use it to give yourself infinite ingame moneyz -Use said ingame moneyz to buy a shitload of the cheapest chest -??? -Profit

[@handgun559]

Finally got around to playing the sequel and I could never forget the line "I love what they've done with these orcs!"

[@Poeneutral]

Paying money to grind less is incredibly stupid. You pay money for DLC to play MORE of the game, not LESS!

[@marshroverv5632]

It's not exactly a particularily bad grind. Anyone who complains about it clearly never played an MMO before.

[@Poeneutral]

Saying "It's not so bad" is pointless when it was deliberately put there to be an annoyance, it was made bad on purpose. And you're right, it's not like an MMO, because it ISN'T an MMO!

[@TobyStartz]

+u wot m8 It is a grind...but the loot boxes don't really help. In games like GTA Online (and the vast majority of games out there that feature MTs), you either have to grind for days on end for an item, or pay enough money that you instantly get the items you want. There is no loot box in Shadow of War that allows you to skip the 20 repetitive fort defense/attack missions at the end of Shadow of War. The objective of those missions is simple, defeat a bunch of attacking enemies. The only way the MTs would lessen this grind is if you were relying on your allies to do the killing for you, and if this is the case then you more than likely have the game on a difficulty settings that you cannot handle, so just turn it down. Doing so will cut this "unbearable grind" from around 10 hours on the hardest difficulty to 4-5 on the easiest...yes, people are complaining about this issue on a singleplayer game that has difficulty setting. I could go into more detail, about how you don't need any kind of MTs anyway since you can just turn all those attacking enemies on your side and use them to help you defend your forts so you can then turn even more on your side and so on, or about how the MTs can be earned through various missions or bought with in-game credit, but I think you get the point.

[@Poeneutral]

That is even worse. You pay and get nothing. I have no idea how you thought that was an argument for the benefit of MTs. The point still stands. You shouldn't have to pay, to do less of something that is supposed to be enjoyable to do. It's not a job, it's a game, that you already payed for!

[@TobyStartz]

u wot m8 That was not an argument "for the benefit" of microtransactions, there is no benefit to MTs, but as long as they don't negatively impact your experience of the game then I fail to see point of complaining about them. The fact of the matter is that they are pointless in this game, and they are pointless because Monolith, the developer, made them so despite being forced to implement them in the game by a shitty publishers, W.B. The point doesn't still stand, you don't have to pay for anything and even if you do pay you still won't do less of something which is supposed to be enjoyable.

[@Murdrad]

2:24 "Like most things, pumping is primitive degenerate form of bending".

[@TheoneandonlyDrops]

OMG I"m so early. More Zero Punctuation! My Talion is so hard.

[@kaiserturvelus1736]

HellspawnStudio there are people who are a week earlier because.. y'know.. the escapist website..

[@TheoneandonlyDrops]

Yeah but I don't like watching videos on there. Honestly I just really wanted to make a comment about being early, cause I'm rarely as early as 5 minutes after it uploaded.

[@kaiserturvelus1736]

HellspawnStudio no problem pal. Hope you enjoyed it :)

[@TheoneandonlyDrops]

Noooooo I just went to the escapist, and apparently they're going broke. :'(

[@TheCyclicGamer]

"Talion, above mentioned grizzled hero type who's name sounds like it could be a Middle-Earth euphemism for penis..." LMAO Oh man that got me good!

[@bitesizedhero8030]

I just thought of the ultimate money-making scheme! In the next Souls game all bonfire-like save points will be locked behind a paywall! Don't worry the game is still totally beatable without them! xD

[@Wandergirl108]

Brilliant! XD

[@robertlinke2666]

thats not the ultimate money scheme, thats pure evil. and that comes from someone who played DS1 on NG+7. NO, just please no

[@Wandergirl108]

Can you come up with an ultimate money scheme that ISN'T pure evil, robert linke? :P

[@SherrifOfNottingham]

It's not the next logical step at all. The fact is these companies understand that there is such a thing as going too far. The problem is people. There's enough people that are still going to buy Shadow of War and even buy the lootboxes to where that system isn't going too far. The people critiquing it don't single out why a loot box system is generally accepted for a game like Overwatch, and why it's problematic for a game like Shadow of War. Paywalling bonfires in the day and age of steam refunds will result in heavy losses of sales. It's crossing a line where most people won't swallow that shit anymore. AAA gaming is not going to crash because there's plenty of companies who continue to do right by their customers, but it's easy to see WB going out of business.

[@Yzerbruh]

*robert* *linke* Dark Souls 2 would like to have a word with you. There are two rings that turn your weapon invisble, one for your left-hand weapon and one for your right-hand weapon, which can only be obtained by never dying and never resting at a bonfire.

[@damianolima2100]

Middle earth "Eugh" Shadow of war

[@2Cerealbox]

And now I want to play a serious AAA title inexplicably starring a potato with an angry face drawn on it.

[@AfferbeckBeats]

Toy Story: The Revenge of Mr Potatohead

[@AlwaysSomeone]

Yahtzee doesn’t seem to remember the Lord of the Rings movies very well. Those orcs were dripping with personality and sadistic glee. And you could easily pick out individuals among them. My stand out tends to be the one that led the siege in the third movie. With some heavy deformities that he came across as really insecure about.

[@TheOnlyGamerX]

About the micro-payments, I hate them as well but I never spent a dime and had 20+ legendaries just waiting in my inventory and at least 100,000 mirrian in surplus just from playing the game and getting collectibles and deconstructing armor. So idk why he's saying he never had money

[@PadraicSmith]

The words of Captain Jack Harkness from Dr Who come to mind "Last man standing, LAST MAN STANDING!" In a very desperate voice while being pursued by Daleks.

[@RikkaCherri]

I still stand by you dont need to spend any money, i made it through the main story and endgame without spending anything other than the ingame currency (but tbf in your case id imagine i had alot more time to play the game and didnt need to make a funny review for it :P )

[@greywalker505]

0:50 In fairness, Sauron didn’t present himself as “The Dark Lord.”

[@Rainbowhawk1993]

I got through the story and took my time leveling up myself and my Orcs through pit fights and the Shadow Wars endgame was pretty smooth for the most part and I had plenty of money to get the siege upgrades.

[@baronsengir187]

Want a cookie?

[@85Zeroangel]

I don't get the not enough money. I just completed the missions and sold hardware I didn't use, and have well over 200.000, and a wall-upgrade costs 1000, and only needs to be bought once.

[@KingOhmni]

For a story driven dude I'm surprised Yahtzee did not know Sauron larped as a wholesome human prince back in the day so the Elven dude did not exactly do a deal with a Dark Lord.

[@hanro50]

A game with another sub title... Why is my "The elder scrolls: shadows of more door" alarm going off

[@jemsta626]

This is one of the best zero punctuation episodes in a while, i was absolutely hysterical

[@noahcooper2105]

You were supposed to train your orcs in the pits to get better ones and level up your old ones.

[@rosie8059]

But then you put your level 60 orc up against a shitty level 30 and your orc is constantly fucking stun-locked and immediately killed. Pit fights are so fucking unreliable that I don't dare use any of my favourite orcs in them.

[@TheIncredibleHieb]

To correct you there, at the time Celebrimbor helped out Sauron he was still called Annatar which means lord of gifts.

[@SlamifiedBuddafied]

I must be out of my mind then. Never had a lack of in game currency to upgrade forts. For real though, not once did I even need to eye the micro-transactions.

[@lokikennedy]

I just raided the optional online fortresses of other players and stole / imported all their best Orcs. Pretty sure I maxed out every fort but one by the end of the game that way lmao... and they drop SO much loot to sell. Had NO problems with getting currency / crew to raid with. Blast of a time! Would recommend.

[@Ultrapyre]

It does amuse me somewhat people are terrified about how the microtransactions will ruin this game. Don't get me wrong, I don't think they should be there at ALL, and yet the game also includes workarounds to make the microtransactions utterly pointless. Want legendary loot? Pour Miriam into silver chests which the game gives you in truckloads when you do fight pits. Need to level up faster? Let the attacking orcs in the siege take the fort and take it back, which somehow gives more than double the exp when you do it. Want to level up the orcs faster? Toss them in fight pits, and marvel as an orc somehow tears up another that's 19 levels higher and shoot up that amount of level afterwards, or capture the enemy orc that sometimes wins after your follower beat the tar out of it in advance. It's like a developer within Monolith was resentful at Warner Bros including loot boxes and micropayments in a singleplayer game, and sneakily included things that undermined the grind that was there to coerce the bucks out of you. Which is an amusing thought.

[@SlendHQ]

I think they did actually attempt to make it playable without the microtransactions. And for me that theory proves true so far.

[@franzsanders9573]

Thank you for the advice, as I'll have to take this into account when I eventually get it!

[@settingsun8403]

so the pit fights are the equivalent of watching an ad for a mobile game

[@naff9096]

One of my favorite orc conversations was two grunts saying who would win in a fight the bright Lord or the witch King

[@atypicalaaron8951]

I beat the game without any microtransactions. Shadow Wars was a little annoying but perfectly doable in roughly 6 hours

[@joshuahendricks9558]

Loot boxes are gone now at least.

[@pajamapantsjack5874]

"California is on fire again" That killed me

[@MattStormage]

3:24 is that a Blackadder reference?

[@farenthor7409]

TBH I haven't had to do the micro transactions yet even though I'm in the end game. I just get sidetracked for hours on end tracking down different captains that now I've got close to 60000 of the in game currency and no reason to buy any

[@coronapapi]

"I thought *I* owned all the Orc armies in the country! "

[@FeinryelRavenclaw]

Well, they took all the micro transactions away. Soooo maybe it’s a perfect game now?

[@BFedie518]

Almost. If they made the orc intro speeches skippable, I'd call it close enough to perfect.

[@ADHadh]

Did they leave the grindy "last chapter" in? Because it was probably designed with those in mind. And it was boring as shit.

[@TheMasterMind144]

+ADHadh The last chapter was designed as endgame content, in response from feedback from the previous game that didn't have such content, and it was most definitely not made with the loot boxes in mind as it feeds you the same resources (followers and gear) that the loot boxes gave you, for free. That chapter is still in the game, just shortened since people complained about it and since they made the missions infinitely replayable sometime after launch. Now you only need to complete 5 instead of 20 to "beat" the game, but as a result of that the missions are not a lot more difficult and you no longer reach max level after finishing them which requires extra "grinding".

[@TheMasterMind144]

@Douglas Babb "the fact that WB/Monolith have just stopped supporting the game shortly after microtransactions were pulled" - that's a bold faced lie right there, the loot boxes were pulled from the game a full two months before the developers released their final, giant content and general fixes patch, and they continued to release small fixes for a while after that patch as well. I've also never experienced this supposed mission-ruining glitch in the second act nor have I head anybody experience it yet, but I will admit that the game did have a lot of issues at launch that were eventually ironed out.

[@yeasty773papa3]

@Douglas Babb The game has actually matured very well since its release, and many issues have been fixed. I bought the game only a few weeks ago, so perhaps I've never had to deal with the "mission-ruining" glitch that you speak of. But cmon man, they put so much effort into the Uruks and the Ologs because that's the meat of the gameplay. The story is how it is because they're trying to adapt on the lore which Tolkien created. Yes Talion is an entire new character, but Celebrimbor's story has been completely expanded upon, as they basically revitalized his character and gave him a more meaningful story.

[@RichardTheHead]

just a bit of a correction sauron was originally called the ring maker and giver of the gifts and he was 'master of deception'

[@Force2reckonVods]

I still don't get the issue with the micro transactions. I've never touched them except the free ones you get for Online Vendetta's, and I've got so much cash I've literally bought **all** the upgrades for all of my forts, with cash to spare for upgrading equipment I haven't been arsed to put on to complete Stab X orc with Y orcs penis quest to get the power upgrade. Seriously, it's easy enough to raise orcs levels once you have a zone, throw them in the fighting pit, they win you get levels, they lose you get nice fancy new orc, this is even explained, plus it's one of the best parts of the game honestly, choosing your pokemon to match your opponents pokemons weaknesses and strengths and watching them brutally murder each other. Did I say Pokemon? I meant Uruks.... Totally.

[@mpitt0730]

1. Shelob is not a "spider" per say, even in the main books. She is the child of Ungoliant, (A spirit of the same type as Gandalf that took the form of a spider). 2. With the update, the Endgame "Shadow Wars" are not very bad (5 sieges total)

[@AnonyMous-dc6ly]

For anyone wondering, the game is amazing.

[@Colin-kh6kp]

Yeah the new ring is the embodiment of goodness itself. Which is why you scream "TREMBLE BEFORE THE BRIGHTLORD" as you take over your enemy's mind.

[@eddysplosion]

I had Enough to Max out all of the forts. Metal walls, spikes, iron Gates and hell fire keeps them out most times while I possess the captains possible outside of the wall. Then I can upgrade the level 20 something war chiefs to higher level.

[@LobstertheGiggy]

One thing I've recently learnt is that arena fight against the so called 'Nemesis' orc is that its supposed to be your previous Nemesis from Shadow of Mordor, if the save data has been transferred over (so essentially I'm guessing that means just having a completed SoM save on your computer). Otherwise, random orc McGee. Which is far less interesting.

[@Momoka7]

I enjoyed this one, for some reason allot more then the other ones you make. I think it had to do with he fact that ... you talked about the Loot Boxes/Micro Transactions ... with sense. I did think from the very start, that there HAS TO BE .... at least SOME use for them. I know what the Developer said "You don't need them, it's BALANCED in a way that you CAN beat the game WITHOUT them." The way i saw that, from the very beginning, was that FOR SURE there is a need for them ... otherwise WHATS THE POINT of them being in the Game at all. If you really DO NOT need them AT ALL, then who in her/his right mind would even consider buying them? So that is big propaganda BS. And now, you did confirm my suspicion. It makes sense, to put the NEED of those Loot Boxes towards the end of the game ... yeah you do not NEED the Loot Boxes ... but the game is a heck of allot more ENJOYABLE with them i'd say. Kinda disgusting, to build into a Game an OBVIOUS flaw ... BIG GRINDING in an single player game. Nice video, well done as usual Escapist. I hope you Escape those Loot Boxes too.

[@SlendHQ]

As a player, I didn't have to use the lootboxes during Shadow Wars.

[@Avaruusmurkku]

The loot boxes are completely fucking useless. Stop talking out of your ass without actually knowing shit.

[@Momoka7]

If you talk about asses ... everyone has one, and they *all* smell. But yes, i am in the same situation. I am now at that point, where i have to farm resources to progress further.

[@Momoka7]

Because i can. And because i want to empathize those words.

[@TobyStartz]

No, the developers said the game was "balanced with the microtransactions turned off", which is quite different from saying that "you can beat the game without them". Also, Yahtzee complains in this video only about not having enough in-game currency. Aside from the fact that nothing prevents you from finishing the game without buying all of the fort upgrades with in-game money (which the games gives you tons of anyway) without any kind of grind...there is no microtransactions in this game that allows you to purchase in-game currency.

[@Raidon484]

"Playing the fucking game is optional" That sentence reminded me of something I once said about a boss in Bloodborne when someone told me I should just do something else since that boss was optional. I said the exact same thing

[@barkanonpuppos7296]

I'm always confused when people say they didn't have the money to upgrade forts and stuff. The game drowns you in currency, more than you could ever need Assassin's Creed 2 style.

[@wayneigoe6722]

Orcs were once Elves in the LOTR and Hobbit Universe. It's not all that surprising that some are smarter than others.

[@CCartman69]

Hold on. You make your orcs, soldiers under your command, fight to the death in pits for your pleasure? Are we sure Tallion is the good guy here? No wonder they keep betraying you/guerilla fighter orcs pop out of nowhere. You're the immortal lord that mind controls them!

[@Veladus]

The key word there is "force". Forcing sentient creatures to battle is evil. Nobody's ever had to FORCE an orc to fight anything. They probably suggested the fucking idea.

[@jacksonl.2201]

That and you can tell them to fight RNG randos as well.

[@karlfranzemperorofmandefil5547]

Talion is definitely evil, the power of domination is the most evil power that exists in Middle Earth. That's exactly what the Plot is about that the Bright Lord has to loose and an Evil power (Domination) can only be used to replace one evil with another and not beat it l.

[@greywalker505]

@Talion of Gondor Why are you speaking in the third person?

[@karlfranzemperorofmandefil5547]

@@greywalker505 because I am banished from death and bound to the flaming eye above Barad Dur. And Talion is no more

[@drakan4769]

0:44 crap I could even see that dialogue happening with the in game voices

[@intergalactichumanempire9759]

If it wasn’t for the micro payments this game would be nigh perfect.

[@intergalactichumanempire9759]

@@iitsCarml Yeah I've played through it a few times already. I was right, nigh perfect.

[@andregon4366]

Gambling is optional, doing drugs is optional, smoking is optional killing shooting a random person is optional. So why are they regulated\prohibited by law?

[@Excard0n]

Microtransactions are killing gaming.

[@IndorilTheGreat]

Yahtzee, you nailed microtransactions with this video.

[@SuperWolfman9]

Shelob is clearly undergoing species re-assignment surgery. A Spider-to-Female Transwoman and we should ALL SUPPORT HER FOR BEING SO BRAVE AND BECOMING HER TRUE SELF. CLEARLY. CLEARLY! *CLEARLY!!!*

[@choriel986]

SuperWolfman9 Interesting 😀😉😆

[@ingonyama70]

Reverse the chronological order. This is a prequel. Shelob is a Transpider.

[@warpzone8421]

I for one applaud Shelob's courage in showing us all the giant spider that has lurked menacingly within her from the moment of her birth. Look at how wild and free she looks, lunging mindlessly at those hobbits. Truly, this is the finest possible purpose for whatever she was using her magicks for in the games.

[@scottski02]

Buckle up Buckaroos!

[@unlistedvideocentral]

I was so glad to open the store and be greeted by Orcberg Mithrilstein

[@85Zeroangel]

I don't get the not enough money. I just completed the missions and sold hardware I didn't use, and have well over 200.000, and a wall-upgrade costs 1000, and only needs to be bought once.

[@Crazelord91]

Mogens Linnet They've rebalanced the game since microtrasnactions were already being removed. Originally it wasnt as easy to get enough money for the ending

[@TheMasterMind144]

Crazelord91 The rebalancing patch didn't increase the miriam currency payout though. Yahtzee didn't have enough because he probably didn't do too many side missions, extra objectives during main missions or didn't destroy too many gear pieces.

[@Crazelord91]

Suspicious Superintendent Yah you're right. It got so tedious for me I alkost wished they kept the loot boxes. I can't believe they didn't balance that. The end game was extreamly dissapointing. After all the work I put into the game I ended up watching the end on YT. No catharthis. None for just beating the game and the story itself ended on a dissapointing note

[@TheMasterMind144]

Crazelord91 Well they did rebalance the Shadow Wars, I just wished they had called that section "endgame" instead of "act IV" and played the credits after the final main story mission was over so that people understood that the Shadow War stages weren't for everyone and if you did manage to complete enough of them then you'd get rewarded with an epilogue cutscene. As it stands the Shadow Wars left a sour taste in many people's mouths and they definitely should have been fixed sooner...but at least they finally fixed them.

[@GaryWRNY]

This is one of your funniest episodes, man. Bravo

[@phantom6014]

Am i the only one who never had problems with cash,game seems to throw the stuff at ya.

[@Montesama314]

I honestly think it would have been more interesting for the main character to have compelling conversations with a murderous giant spider who wanted him to help her conquer the world and/or seed her spider eggs, but maybe that's just me.

[@WillyV089]

What? He took a jab at microtransactions and how the optional argument is horse shit? Alright Tubby Hitler, what have you done with the real Yatzee?

[@anexplosion5436]

Let him out of the basement.

[@UKStudiosNE]

Shelob is more of an entity in spider form if you read the books, her taking pretty lady form kinda makes sense for her character