Before considering this how a sequel should work, we need to think: what made the first game so (unexpectedly) great? Because destroying those aspects could doom a sequel. To me, it was being the “monster’s-monster”. The overwhelming numbers against you versus your own overwhelming power. Single-handedly running into a stronghold and proceeding to sow terror into an entire army of orcs. The nemesis system worked so well not because Talion got vengeance, but because the player did. We all had "the one" - a captain that defeated and mocked us multiple times. Mine was Ogbur the Venomous. I felt elation when I finally took his head.
My idea therefore retains Talion/Celebrimbor (T/C) as a lone wolf descending to darkness. There was suggestion in the conclusion of SoM that T/C were starting to slip towards being another Sauron (i.e. "time for a new ring"). So, opening scene of sequel they get attacked by a very powerful figure that strips them of power and abilities (Plot device - skill respec needed!) and nearly destroys them, but you just manages to defeat them (using a new "duel" mechanic perhaps?). The slain figure drops a ring, one of the nine.
There's the opening for Middle Earth 2: Legend of the Nine.
Celebrimbor knows the 9 rings are dangerous and treacherous, but being the greatest smith around, in his hubris he reasons that he can reforge it and align it to Fire, Water or Air, which disconnects it from Sauron's influence but means they can use it as a powerful weapon. So there's the basic story - leave Mordor (it's not "Shadow of Mordor" after all), hunt down the Nazgul (either human or undead based on where SoM fits into the timeline), take the rings, bend them to your will, and return to Mordor, culminating in an epic finale against endless waves of enemies to ascend the fortress of Barad-Dur and challenge Sauron. Inevitably it fails spectacularly but we all have a wonderful time in the process.
The ring mechanics determine many aspects of gameplay.
- Fire (Narya) = Talion/Urfael; focus on sword and ranger skills to be a one-man army. Runs head first into combat.
- Water (Nen) = Celebrimbor/Azkar; focus on bow skills and branding to build a large army. Prefers combat from a distance.
- Air (Vilya) = The Shadow/Acharn; focus on dagger skills and subterfuge. Smaller armies, but very adept at controlling them for maximum effectiveness. Prefers remaining out of sight and using agility and stealth techniques to sow terror and disarray.
You can have a maximum of 5 and minimum of zero Rings aligned to a single element. Rings are NOT permanently locked into an element and can be re-aligned (certain styles will suit certain missions) but this needs to occur at a Forge Tower. The configuration of Rings could either yield:
- ability to swap styles mid-combat (e.g. start in Air style for a stealth opening, then switch to Fire when the battle starts)
- OR a "class" system (e.g. 5 air, 4 fire = Assassin; 5 fire, 4 air = Ninja; 3 of each = Zen) composed of certain static skills
Skills then must be learned through an experience system, but Ring set up will toggle on/off particular skills, especially high tier.
Weapons would retain the original three. The rune system stays, Ring set-up altering things slightly such as number (e.g. three rune slots standard, four slots with 3 Rings for the right element, five slots for 5 Rings) or bonuses (e.g. River of Arrows rune = (level)% Chance to recover one Elf-shot, with 3 Water runes get 10% bonus chance, 5 gives 20% bonus)
Within multiple areas across Middle Earth you can built up armies to challenge and sack strongholds, which then have to be defended periodically, or you may lose control.
Holding strongholds is beneficial for various reasons:
- allows you to "train" your dominated captains (e.g. overcome weakness to ranged attacks; upgrade weapon to poison; stop being scared of Caragors).
- you can store low level runes which will be progressively upgraded
- herbs can be grown and alchemists can research and develop these into potions to buff your allies or poisons for your enemies
- spies can gather intel on other captains
- you can launch effective, co-ordinated attacks on other strongholds, which would be essential to sneak in and confront the ring-bearers
- capture and breed beasts which you can use at any time - I loved using Ghuls in Lord of the Hunt but it was so hard to reliably get a good number of them
Branded allies can be controlled better, the degree of which depends on your ring set up, e.g. "Archers stay behind allied Defenders" (medium control) vs "Archers stay behind allied Defenders and attack enemy Beserkers preferentially" (advanced control) vs “…Beserkers preferentially aiming for their eyes” (elite control)
More attributes for captains. Resistances are relative - therefore high level Fire has combat skills to partially damage Combat Masters. To that end, a focus-type attribute can be included to stealth and combat, allowing for targeting weak or undefended body areas, e.g. captain known to be poor at protecting his legs: slow time and take out his knees.
Arrogant captains could challenge you to a duel - their allies form a ring and heckle you. This brings a new fighting mechanic in. Pro: only one enemy (until the captain calls for help). Con: no escape.
Dynamic intel - if you then don't see the captain for ages you start losing some knowledge of them. Your strongholds can help.
Different enemies - many have mentioned human enemies, but also Black Numenorean mages, cave trolls, wights, the great White Orc from The Hobbit movies. These might all potentially be branded too, but some would require more advanced branding techniques and Ring set-ups.
Many have debated the pros/cons of Multiplayer or co-op. I think it should remain single player, but expansion of Trials of War can take its place. Enable players to create custom Trials (or borrow Doom's Snapmap to build entire areas) to challenge friends to them. Could even have Trials which are out of the correct time zone and against-canon, such as escaping from Moria where you have to defeat the Balrog to finish.