Despite the novels releasing in the 1950s and the Peter Jackson-helmed movies hitting theaters two whole decades ago, The Lord of the Rings is still one of the most popular franchises in the Western world, especially when it comes to the fantasy genre. There are only a handful of fantasy series that have managed to reach the Mt. Doom-like heights of Lord of the Rings, and for good reason. The tale of an unlikely band of heroes coming together to defeat an all-out villain is a universal one, and one that still resonates just well all these years later.
When it comes to video games, the Lord of the Rings franchise has had its fair share of outings. From surprisingly great licensed movie tie-ins to bloody and brutal action games, Lord of the Rings has had a strong presence in the video game industry for decades. Interestingly though, 2012's LEGO Lord of the Rings isn't considered to be the franchise's best offering, with some disjointed level design, awkward voice acting, and an odd lack of charm. The Lord of the Rings series is primed for another LEGO installment, and with LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga paving the way, there's some real potential here.
A Definitive Lord of the Rings Collection
A potential new LEGO Lord of the Rings game should take The Skywalker Saga's biggest selling point, and run with it. The game should use the books, the movies, and everything in between, collecting everything together in one definitive collection that both fans and newcomers alike can enjoy.
While the three movies, Fellowship of the Ring, Two Towers, and Return of the King, should obviously be the crux of the game, it should also make sure that nothing is left out. Scenes from the Extended Cuts should be implemented, as should a handful of sequences that are unique to the book, to ensure that this LEGO Lord of the Rings game is a celebration of the franchise as a whole.
With only three, admittedly huge, movies to draw from, a new LEGO Lord of the Rings game could bring much more focused content to the table than The Skywalker Saga. While some have argued that The Skywalker Saga condenses the movies a little too much, omitting some pretty necessary details in some Episodes, a new LEGO Lord of the Rings would have plenty of wiggle room to include as much detail as possible,
Of course, the series' large cast should all make an appearance in the game. With LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga including well over 350 playable characters, there's no reason that a LEGO Lord of the Rings game shouldn't do the same, with characters hailing from all corners of Middle-Earth.
Taking The Skywalker Saga's Refinements One Step Further
To make a new LEGO Lord of the Rings game really stand out from the crowd, the gameplay would have to take the refinements made by The Skywalker Saga and enhance them even further. For instance, The Skywalker Saga's revamped melee combat, making it a little more complex with a combo mechanic, would be perfect for a LEGO Lord of the Rings game, where most of the characters use close-range combat.
To make the combat mechanics even more engaging, a potential new LEGO Lord of the Rings game could ensure that each weapon has a different set of animations and functions. To go one step further, the game could even introduce a fully-fledged RPG gear system, whereby players unlock new gear as the game progresses, with higher tier weapons doing more damage and having unique effects.
A new LEGO Lord of the Rings game could also add some more variation to the standard LEGO gameplay formula by introducing some different sections of the gameplay that use completely different mechanics. For example, during the large-scale battles like Helm's Deep, the game could switch to an RTS-like mode of gameplay, where players command groups of soldiers across the battlefield, similarly to the Ground Assault missions in LEGO Star Wars 3: The Clone Wars.
Showing The Hobbit Some Love
The Lord of the Rings prequel Hobbit trilogy isn't remembered all that fondly by most fans, but nevertheless, it's still a part of the franchise. It deserves a spot in a potential new LEGO Lord of the Rings game. With a LEGO Hobbit game already out, the groundwork is already there, with general mission layouts and story beats ready to be drawn from.
Much like Star Wars' prequels and sequels, The Hobbit should be included in a new LEGO Lord of the Rings game, along with the entire cast of characters, and the locations unique to those movies. Regardless of how fans may view the more criticized trilogy, it would undoubtedly add quite a bit of content to the game.
One Does Not Simply Build Into Mordor
The most important element to take away from LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is its pseudo-open-world design. In The Skywalker Saga, players can travel between a vast array of iconic Star Wars planets, all of which have large hub areas that are home to hundreds of collectibles. A new LEGO Lord of the Rings game should take this general design, and make it even more immersive.
Rather than having to travel between planets via a ship, and being forced into several loading screens, a new LEGO Lord of the Rings game should make its open-world one, gigantic seamless experience. If fans wanted, they should be able to walk across the entirety of Middle-Earth, from The Shire to Mordor, and every stop in between, with no loading screens breaking the player's immersion at any point.
Of course, cutscenes and story missions would be used to break up the experience, but when free-roaming, the whole of Middle-Earth should feel like a real, liveable place. This should be reinforced by the NPCs, who like in The Skywalker Saga, should be littered plentifully around each city environment. Fans should be able to see Gondorian soldiers walk around Minas Tirith, and Orcs scuttle through Isengard.
As an added bonus, it would also be pretty incredible to see Middle-Earth in different time periods, such as during the Age of Numenor, when the upcoming Amazon Lord of the Rings show will be set, or during the First Age, when the Silmarillion is set. After beating the game's main story, players should be able to see how Middle-Earth changes following Sauron's defeat, with certain factions and cities expanding or changing in the game world.