To begin with, I will admit that I'm somewhat of a LOTR enthusiast. I enjoy exploring the world Tolkien created, either through games, various literature, and cinematic pieces. Though in saying that, I'm not a die hard fan who will criticise every aspect and fact-check every detail to ensure the lore is 100 percent accurate. I simply appreciate the minor details, as well as any references to the original story that I come across without looking too hard for them.
My dwarf has been stuck underground for 50+ days now and he hasn't gone stir-fry crazy!
I am also still in the process of playing through the Story mode in solo. I expect I'll update this review should any changes be found.

The long end short of it: An open-world survival game set in the LOTR universe. It has all the basic mechanics I have experienced in other games of this genre, an easy to follow narrative in Story Mode, and a very gradual progression system. Emphasis on the gradual, because it took me quite a while to progress from area to area, though this may be due to my spending quite a bit of time exploring every nook and cranny. All in all, I consider this a chill survival/crafting game.

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Things I enjoyed:
+ The visuals (This game succeeds in showing off the grandeur and gloom (at least the parts I've seen) of The Mines of Moria, as described in the books. The day to night cycles, as with many games, affect the light levels and survival elements as though the player where above ground (maybe a little too much so.. ). But I for one really do appreciate the varying ambience this game creates.
+ The lore (The lore I've encountered so far has been fairly true to the source. There is lots to read as the player progresses, and being able to loosely follow along with parts of the Fellowship's journey was a nice touch).
+ Base crafting (I actually didn't mind the crafting element in the game. While having to wait a long while to progress, when it came time to unlock new recipes and try them out, it was actually not bad. The hard part was finding where to decide on a main base, and multiple secondary bases, and ensuring I had enough space to work with. After about day 50, I had a multitude of options to play around with).
+ Inventory management (Easy to come to grips with, and is usually something I judge a game by when it comes to RPGs/survival types. I had no difficulties in sorting my items and when it came time to upgrade my backpack, I was perfectly equipped to collect just about everything I came across. The only gripe I had was carrying heavy items (old backpack, mastercraft items) which forces you to carry only one in a specific slot and could only be stored them in a particular way. I ended up having to store my mastercraft items on item plaques on walls).
+ Exploration (I personally love exploring in games where exploring is a worthwhile and necessary element. Whether I'm searching for more items, "Easter eggs", or just new ways to progress, as long as I'm thrown a bone now and then I'm a happy lad.

Things I didn't care much for:
- Progression (tying this in with the Base crafting point, I did find progressing from one area to another a little on the tedious side. Having to explore areas where I'm clearly under-levelled, and in danger of being thumped by a cave troll isn't too much fun, and feels less open-world and more corralled by the game itself. At least the journal prompts help guide the player on what they need to do, but I would've liked a bit more on this. Crafting armour upgrades and better tools took quite a while, and I only realised I could do this after randomly checking the large forge in the Elven quarter before seeing the options that had opened up.)
- A Confined "open-world" environment (while this game is as the tag implies, it's not as open-world as it should be. Too many times I've encountered unbreakable rock or a wall and have had to rethink my design or route. Sometimes the rock actually intrudes in spaces abnormally, and restricts the player in building their base how they would like it. This has always been a thing in these types of games, bordering off the map with impassable barriers to keep the player there. Moria should not have this issue, particularly in spaces where a base would be ideal.)
- The map (Now I won't say I needed the map much at all during my playthrough (so far!) but it is absolute bollocks. All it really does is show you the areas you've discovered, but in such a basic and unhelpful manner. There is no way it can help with guiding the player through a certain area, and even the mini-map is more of a hindrance than anything else. I'm unsure whether this was just a design choice, trying to fill up real-estate on the screen. In any case I seriously dislike it and hope that they fix it or remove it entirely.)

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Overall I'm happy with how the game is going. The devs are giving it regular attention and as far as bugs go I have not had any issues. This has been a very stable game on my end and aside from some strange beard hair glitches (anyone remember the hair glitch issue in The Witcher?) it has by and large been very kind on the eyes.

This game has proven to be (and will continue to be) a satisfying, Middle-Earth Dwarf experience.

And that's it for my armchair review. Hope it's worth a read.

Pete

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