The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria™

Return to Moria is a derivative, sloppy and really sluggish Open World Survival Craft game, topped with a very light sprinkling of LotR lore and locations used only as a marketing device. The premise is really interesting but completely stilted by a lazy, uninspired and stale execution. Slow progression, poor level design (although the environments do look pretty good and create a viable Middle-Earth ambience) as well as really unimpressive combats and enemy design make for a quite unremarkable experience.

TL;DR - DO NOT buy this game unless you [b] really [/b] want it, and on STEEP discount only (even then...) [hr][/hr] I was excited for this game when it was announced way back in 2022. Love me dwarves, and we hadn't had a solid new LOTR game in a bit. I picked it up during its launch sale after it finally arrived on Steam following its year as an Epic exclusive. A few months ago I finally sat down and fully went through the game with a friend after my previous attempt to play solo stalled. It was not worth the wait, and I'm disappointed in how disappointing it was. This game is an overall subpar Survivalcraft experience with mind-numbingly boring combat and a Middle-earth coat of paint doing most if not all of the heavy lifting. While Steam says I have nearly 200 hours "played", more than half of that was either AFK or wrestling with its building system. I really did want to like this game, but the longer our playthrough stretched, the more I yearned for it to reach its end. The [b] only [/b] positive praise I have to give is for the worldbuilding and environments. It was nice to run around and explore the storied halls of Moria. Strip away that Tolkien/Middle-earth paintjob, however, and I guarantee you this game would have gone on to be even more obscure than it already is. It is absolutely nothing without the Middle-earth licensing. [hr][/hr] [b] The Combat: [/b] is crap. Genuinely 1/10 combat with the only thing keeping it from a zero being that it exists at all. Right click to shield bash and knock down lesser goblin and orc enemies into left click spam - that's it, that's your melee combat. That or blocking. Ranged combat is lackluster and slow if you use the crossbow. The aim reticle is also every so slightly off center, making everything from aiming shots to mining leftover pockets of ore annoying. You [i] can [/i] charge your attack up to twice, but it was hardly ever worth doing when you can also attack 2.5 times and deal 1/3rd the damage of a level 2 charge each attack in the time it takes to reach a level 2 charge (granted, some weapons like axes have a cleave effect on the charge attack, but otherwise pointless). Enemy AI is simple and boring to fight. The bosses including the final boss are all nothingburgers. In short, [b] combat sucks. [/b] [b] The Building: [/b] is frustrating. Structure pieces snap together, and love to do so at downright infuriating points. Wall sections will connect to a placed wall and floor section at tiny differences in height unless both are placed absolutely perfectly and in a correct order, floor tiles might snap to each other awkwardly if you put walls down first - the list goes on. If you want to rebuild/replace a certain portion of your build, good luck. Pieces also have set snap locations to them, so if you want to build near (but not connected to) another piece you've already placed, again, good luck. Trying to place multiple decorative elements such as banners symmetrically made me want to tear my hair and eyes out. And sometimes, you simply can't place a piece where you should be allowed to, or where you even already have before. I could go on even further but this review is long enough already. In short, [b] trying to build something grand and cool ends up becoming a test of your patience. [/b] [b] The Survival elements: [/b] largely become trivial once you get going. By the mid point of our journey we had food, ale, and Lembas bread (full restore) in abundance to the point I was frequently fast traveling to and from an old camp to store the excess. The energy mechanic and how it interacts with fast travel (draining your stamina a bit every time you use it) is cumbersome and annoying. In short, [b] the survival elements suck. [/b] [b] The Equipment unlocks: [/b] are placed annoyingly. Having to unlock your gear by finding and fixing statues throughout the new region would be fine if it weren't for the fact your current equipment loses about 90% of its effectiveness in said region (you also have to fix 2, sometimes 3, statues before unlocking an item's recipe). You go from dealing, say, 50 damage to an enemy in zone A to a mere 12 against enemies in zone B. When these new enemies have 200-250 health, you suddenly go from a heroic dwarf stuck in Moria to a noodle-armed wimp scurrying away like a rat from any fight. Armor likewise becomes massively worse, going from 100% durability to zero in only a few hits. In short, [b] the cadence of equipment upgrades is jarring and makes for an unheroic experience. [/b] [b] The Armor system: [/b] deserves a special mention because its very design at least to me feels juxtaposed with the game's health and healing food systems. Armor in this game provides 100% damage reduction until it breaks. Portable food, while it can be used to refill stamina some, is for healing. Having both these together felt like two opposing philosphies at play: armor is there until it's suddenly not, food is nigh-useless right up until you suddenly have need for it. In short, [b] this game has a weird combo of full-negation armor and HP-replenishing food that don't integrate well with one another. [/b] [b] The Character Creation [/b] (if you care about that stuff like I do): is okay. It gets a passing grade overall. Most of the hairstyles lean more feminine than masculine imo, there are only 2-3 good male faces and maybe 2 okay female ones (none of them make me think 'average dwarven woman'), and most of the voices don't sound all that great (again, 2-3 good male ones while most of the female voices sound like 'Laura Bailey doing a silly voice' or just 'Laura Bailey'), but the good beards are pretty darn good. Still could have used more big, beautiful, braided ones. Too many of them look like what you'd see a fantasy game offer as options for human characters, not dwarves. In short, [b] you can make a good looking dwarf. [/b] Lastly, from all I've read, the major (and final) "Durin's Folk" DLC did not nearly live up to the hopes and expectations of the community, and its bugs were not even fully fixed. I don't own it, I probably never will, but it doesn't sound like it's worth it. All other DLC is cosmetics and some additional build pieces (one of them has an apiary, might be worth getting). All this to say I certainly do [b] NOT [/b] recommend this game. If you really want to get it and it's on a super steep discount, it's your money, but I can't say this game is really worthwhile at nearly any price above ~$10 and certainly not for $30USD.

I am compelled to write this because Sol is a jerk. I really want to like this game. It has some really interesting gameplay dynamics. And of course it's LOTR dwarves. However, the developers have gone astray with some key aspects. First, the weapons one has available are never up to the task. When you go into a new area, you are woefully underpowered for it, not matching it as it increases. Second, gameplay feels rushed and forced because of the strict day/night cycle and related "tired" debuff. It would be nice to be able to go on extended expeditions. But no, the player is called back to camp to remove debuffs and restore stamina. The ability to have a mobile camp, perhaps through an expendable item, would be nice. Third, the game does not currently properly allow for sufficient server settings or mods to allow players to overcome some of these obstacles. Lastly, combat is wonky. But the ranged combat using bows and crossbows is just really weak and lacking. Related to that, regarding armor and repairs: We constantly go through metal fragments to repair armor, which acts as bonus hit points. And no, you can't make metal fragments from ingots, you have to farm them, which is dumb. As a result, we will not be continuing the Return to Moria until the developers play their own game, realize what doesn't make sense, and fix these things.

I love the concept of this game but the way the stamina and exhaustion mechanics work, make this game nearly unplayable. You can buff up however you like, no matter, because less than 2 minutes into the day, you're plum out of stamina and severely exhausted. Also, the weapon and gear progression is genuinely wrong. you have to struggle your way through areas that are way above you, just to finally craft a suitable weapon that wont be useful at all in the very next area of progression. the game is too punishing with little to no reward. Truly unfortunate

I'm glad I only paid like $2 for this, because this might be one of the premier cases of "I don't think the devs played their own game" I've ever experienced. It's not awful. It's not unplayable. But it's a chore riddled with design decisions that make absolutely no sense and all add up to a very tedious experience. It's a shame, because I wanted to give this game a shot, but after finishing the third biome I feel absolutely no interest in grueling through this noise solo.

After putting a number of hours in to this game in a 4 man group and seeing it to completion I have to say that this game is awful. The combat is an absolute click-fest with no real depth, the armour is entirely pointless and the map design frustrating. I'm sure the randomised map is good for replayability but I can't imagine many people actually do multiple runs. Having a single, authored map would likely have improved this. The map UI is terrible too, making it next to pointless to use other than as a vague guide towards destinations. You'll spend 75% of the time eating, drinking and resting which gets incredibly repetitive and by day 20 you'll be cursing your dwarfs insatiable appetite. And finally the ending, an anti-climactic boss fight which broke for us wasting the better part of an hour trying to work out how to fix it following guides off Reddit. Rather than being a test of gear at the end of a game it was just a slog that I'm thankful to be done with. Avoid this game at all costs, there are way better games that offer a similar experience without the accompanying soul destroying gameplay.

I really wanted to like this game. It was a lot better back before all of the DLCs (they didn't make it worse just establish the time frame). Things that are good: The music/singing is amazing. Item/tech progression feels good and makes sense. Enemy toughness is in a sweet spot but AI can get bugged. Combat is simple but serviceable. Things that are mixed or meh: Overnight drink buffs are randomized which sucks for planning but can be quite good when you get the right one. The building system is fun and complex but the snap points are busted so it's impossible to align things. Also having a main base is a pain due to the way the map unfolds. Things that are bad: Durins folk DLC. Gives you NPCs who are basically useless. Was hooping for some light automation and instead they're basically resource-sink window dressing for your lopsided base at the end of the game.

Вирішила зробити посібник із досягнень, а мене накрила лавина ностальгії. Окрема любов - це звісно самі дворфи. Можливість співати під час роботи кіркою додає неймовірної атмосфери. Ти просто довбаєш чергову жилу руди й підспівуєш, +100 до душевності та занурення. Думаю ця гра точно для компанії хоча б із двох людей. Самій в глибинах Морії стає трохи сумно й моторошно. А орки та гобліни такі собі компаньйони: підспівувати відмовляються і постійно намагаються тебе прибити. Звісно, гра має й недоліки. Через процедурну генерацію карти, левел-дизайн просто вийшов у вікно. Але мені це було взагалі не критично, можливо моя любов до творів Толкіна робить думку трохи упередженою, але грати від цього менш весело не стало. Видобуток руди, крафт, битви, дослідження темних шахт разом із друзями - це був чудовий досвід. Якщо ви теж у душі дворф, то ця гра саме для вас.

"Let them come. There's still one Dwarf in Moria that still draws breath!"