The Blade of Galadriel Story Expansion Review Summary

Orcs shine with personality and Eltariel adds flair, and Talion's story finds closure, but excessive captain immunities and repetitive gameplay make this hard to justify at full price.

Orcs have strong personalities: The orc characters in the DLC are praised for their distinct, humorous, and engaging personalities, making them more interesting than in the main game. This adds charm and depth to the experience.

Eltariel's abilities enhance gameplay: Players appreciate Eltariel's new flashy light-based abilities, which add variety and fun to combat. The unique mechanics and well-animated powers are highlighted as standout features.

Story provides closure to Talion: The DLC's story offers meaningful closure to Talion's arc and expands on the main game's lore, giving players a satisfying narrative conclusion.

DLC is fun and humorous: The DLC is generally fun to play through, with humorous moments and a short, enjoyable length. It is recommended by players who enjoyed the experience.

New orc characters are cool: Players find the new orc characters, such as Flint and Tinder, to be interesting and usable in the base game. The set pieces involving these orcs are also noted as memorable.

Not worth the price: Across multiple clusters, reviewers agree the DLC's content does not match its cost, calling it a cash grab and not worth even discounted prices. The combination of short length and limited content drives this negative value perception.

Captain immunities are excessive: Many captains and orcs have stacked immunities, often including immunity to light, which invalidates the new abilities. This makes combat frustrating and trivializes the light-based mechanics.

Eltariel is a weak protagonist: Players criticize Eltariel's lack of personality, backstory, and charm, finding her bland and unpleasant to play. Her skills are also considered boring and less effective than Talion's, making her an unlikeable lead.

Gameplay is repetitive and worse: Players find the gameplay to be a downgrade from the main game, being repetitive and lacking variety. It reuses mechanics but removes depth, making it feel like a watered-down version of the base experience.

Story is poorly written: Numerous reviews describe the story as nonsensical, illogical, and lacking engagement, with weak character development. The narrative fails to interest players and often feels disjointed or pointless.

Captains immune to light: Many orc captains, especially story-based ones, are immune to light abilities. This forces players to adapt strategies and reduces the effectiveness of the new mechanic.

DLC introduces light abilities: The expansion adds light-based mechanics, including eight new abilities that can blind and inflict bonus damage. This new mechanic is central to both combat and puzzle-solving.

Eltariel uses light powers: The new protagonist Eltariel wields light-based skills that differ from the base game's domination mechanics. Her abilities are effective for crowd control and can turn environments into light sources.

Orc immunities restrict options: Enemy captains often have multiple immunities, including light, fire, and poison, while having few weaknesses. This reduces combat flexibility and can make encounters feel unfair.

Eltariel's combat distinct: Playing as Eltariel provides a fresh moveset and abilities compared to the original protagonist. Her light-based combat is unique, though some players find her skills clunky or unbalanced.

Runs well on low-end GPUs: The game performs adequately on a 4GB RX 550, indicating good optimization for entry-level hardware. This suggests that players with modest systems can enjoy the game without major performance issues.

Needs lower settings than predecessor: Compared to Shadow of Mordor, the game requires lower graphical settings to achieve similar performance. This implies increased hardware demands, which may disappoint players expecting comparable optimization.

Do not recommend this DLC: Multiple reviewers strongly advise against playing this DLC, even if it's free or on sale. They emphasize that it is not worth your time and can negatively affect your enjoyment of the main game.

Buy only on sale: Many reviewers suggest waiting for a discount before purchasing the DLC, as the full price is considered too high. The content is deemed acceptable only at a reduced price.

Not worth full price: The DLC is widely considered overpriced for its content length and quality. Reviewers advise against paying the regular price, suggesting waiting for a sale or buying as part of a bundle.

Buy as bundle or season pass: Several reviewers recommend acquiring the DLC through the Definitive Edition, season pass, or other bundles rather than standalone. This approach provides better value and mitigates the risk of disappointment.

Recommended for main game fans: Some reviewers suggest that players who enjoyed the main game may find value in this DLC, especially if they want more content or a different perspective. It is seen as a decent choice for those hungry for more Middle-earth gameplay.

Community fair range: $10.00 - $20.00.

Game completion: 3.5h.

Story completion: 2.5h.

The Eltariel DLC consistently fails to become fun for most players due to repetitive combat, useless light abilities invalidated by captain immunities, and bland mission structure, with only a minority finding occasional enjoyment.

Friction: light abilities are countered by captain immunities; combat becomes mindless slashing with limited options; repetitive mission and boss fight structure; slow and disruptive healing animation; boring protagonist with rushed development; tedious optional bosses and premade captains.

Lore Purist: Prioritizes story and cutscenes, reads lore, and evaluates every gameplay decision against canonical consistency. Motivation: Preserving the integrity and immersion of the Lord of the Rings narrative and setting. Stance: no buy.

Combat Veteran: Wants open-ended combat with multiple viable strategies; dislikes being railroaded into specific counters or gimmicky abilities. Motivation: Re-experiencing the fluid, adaptable combat and Nemesis sandbox of the base game. Stance: no buy.

Value Seeker: Plays through the campaign and side quests, measures completion time, and judges the content against its asking price. Motivation: Maximize entertainment per dollar spent and avoid wasting money on short or low-quality content. Stance: deep sale.

Monetization: The reviews exclusively criticize the DLC's value proposition—its high price relative to the short, thin amount of content. There is no mention of microtransactions, real-money purchases, gacha mechanics, loot boxes, battle passes, or any form of post-purchase monetization within this game. All feedback falls under base-price/DLC pricing, which the scoring rules exclude from predatory monetization assessment. The lack of any MTX evidence keeps the score within the fair range.

DLC is very short: Multiple reviews consistently describe the DLC as short, with completion times ranging from 2 to 4 hours, and some note that 100% completion takes only about 3-4 hours. This brevity is a common criticism, especially given the price.

Unique rewards for main game: Completing the DLC allows players to recruit special orcs and legendary gear into the main game, affecting the army and garrison. This integration is a positive aspect for some, as it provides incentives for completion and enhances the base game experience.

Price not justified: Many reviewers feel the DLC's price is too high for the amount of content provided, with specific mentions of $15 or 15€. The content is described as having less value than the base game, and some say it's only worth getting on sale or for 100% completion.

Story continues main narrative: The DLC is seen as an expansion of the main game's story, providing narrative payoff and closure to character arcs, especially Talion's. Some reviewers note it contains story content cut from the original game and adds canon details.

Reuses base game content: The DLC heavily reuses maps, orcs, and gameplay elements from the main game, with no new worlds and only slight variations. Some find it feels tacked on and lacks originality, while others note it revisits most maps from the base game.