Forget the nemesis system, loot boxes, or the well of charisma that is Talion of Middle-Earth, the element of the new Shadow of War game that I’m currently most torn on is its ancient poetry mini-game.




In the midst of this game full of bloody orc combat, in between moments of interrogating and decapitating your enemies, you can find words of ancient text and then take those words to regional temples where you may then fill in the blanks.

This is no card game in the middle of a sprawling Star Wars adventure. It’s no fishing diversion plopped into a Zelda. This is a poetry game in the middle of an otherwise perpetually violent Lord of the Rings epic. It’s optional, it’s odd, it’s… great that they did this? Ridiculous?


Filling out this poem got me an awesome purple-class legendary item, so do factor that in. That’s the proper reward for poetry scribes like me and Talion here.