The Blade of Galadriel Story Expansion DLC

I hate elves. i'm not racists, I just don't like em

I find the hate for this DLC unwarranted to be honest. Honestly, I think the combat actually is improved from the base game. My biggest issue with Talion is that his domination mechanic can be rather frustrating to use, with the lock-on being rather inconsistent, with no way to swap which orc you're focused on. This is further cemented by the fact that Talion also only really has one ability to get orcs off of him. This DLC solves that via the light mechanics. Your domination ability is replaced by a beam of light. which introduces the main draw of the mode. Eltariel's whole game play style is to infect as many orcs with light as possible. When they are fully blinded, they can't move, and you can either kill them instantly with E, or you can at least do a lot of damage. This creates an ultra-satisfying loop where she's super vulnerable if she get's hit, but nigh invincible once you start getting your light abilities off. The light traps are especially notable, as it creates interesting interactions with luring orcs even during combat. Seeing enemies disintegrate into light particles is such a cool visual flair that adds proper emphasis to the abilities. Her big weakness comes from her frailty (she can get melted very quickly and she only has one last chance charge) and her lackluster non-light abilities, which you do need to account for as some orcs have immunity to light, which means you need to daze them first. Overall, I think Eltariel not only plays differently from Talion, but I enjoy her play style a lot more. The plot is serviceable. The orcs you recruit via the missions are not randomly generated, but they're entertaining enough. It's not groundbreaking, but it's nice to see Talion, even just for a few missions. The missions are around the quality of the base game, which is pretty good. I did enjoy the final battle between Eltariel and Talion, it gave a proper conclusion to the betrayal at the end of the base game, which was one of my biggest issues with the story there. The side missions are the weakest part. There's really no reason to fight other orc captains unless you need more XP, as you can't control them at all. The Legendary Gear missions are okay. A lot of them require you to use their weakness to daze them, so that their light immunity wear off. This creates some interesting and diverse altercations. The equipment is worth the grind. The last mission is anti-climatic, as the Lawless is actually weaker than some of the other orcs before him. I wish the mode was slightly longer. 15 dollars, despite how fun Eltariel is in combat, is a bit much for 4-5 hours of content. There are also no new maps from the base game, which is a bummer. The orc captains have new some mechanics, but not enough to change how they behave normally. Get it on sale with the Season Pass, but if you enjoyed the base game, you'll probably enjoy this too. Rating: B