You ever walk by the game case at Walmart and see games that look cool but are unsure about buying them? That was this game for me. I was living in Alaska at the time and new games weren't always stocked on a regular basis. I was looking for new games since I had just purchased a used Xbox One. Saw the game and thought "Well I love LoTR I should enjoy this" and enjoy this I did. It was one of those games I couldn't put down. I would sometimes ignore the story just to hunt down orcs. When I heard they were making a sequel I immediately preordered a digital copy.
The mechanics were fun, the nemesis system was great, and the overall look and feel was everything I expected and more!