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The Nemesis system, first introduced in Middle-earth Shadow of Mordor, is one of the most innovative gameplay systems in a modern open-world video game to date. Despite the mechanic featuring some really cool elements, it was never replicated by another developer, not at the same level as Monolith Productions and its Middle-earth games, that is.
While a few titles, such as Assassin's Creed Odyssey, tried to replicate the Nemesis system, they failed to deliver a similarly immersive or engaging experience like the Shadow of Mordor games. The last we got to see the mechanic in action, was in Shadow of War. Since then, both Shadow of War and Monolith have been on a long hiatus.
However, with Monolith recently announcing their next big AAA project, i.e., the Wonder Woman game that they've been working on for years now, it makes me wonder, how their upcoming new title will make use of the Nemesis system.
Note: This article is purely subjective and reflects the author's opinions.
There are some really creative ways Monolith Productions can implement the Nemesis system in Wonder Woman
For the uninitiated, the Nemesis system was a unique mechanic the Monolith Productions first developed to be used in their now scrapped open-world Batman game. The company later repurposed it for Middle-earth Shadow of Mordor and its sequel.
The Nemesis system was essentially what made the Shadow of Mordor games great. It essentially made it so that the enemies killed or injured during battle retained the memories of the encounter and returned later to exact revenge.
In Shadow of Mordor, whenever Talion, the protagonist, kills an Orc, either by cutting off its limbs or humiliating it, there is a chance that it might return. Not only do these enemies come back with much powerful weapons and armor, but if they manage to kill Talion, they also get their status and rank upgraded, making them even stronger.
On the flip side, killing these empowered Orcs nets a lot more experience than the usual mob enemies, making it worthwhile pursuing them.
The Nemesis system can be added to Wonder Woman in some really creative ways. The Amazonian has a rather robust gallery of rogues at her disposal, and Monolith can make it so that every time she defeats one of her adversaries, they can return even stronger, making defeating them challenging and rewarding.
Monolith can also weave the mechanic into the game's narrative, where taking down an enemy results in them teaming up with other villains that Wonder Woman has bested during the story.
The best aspect of the Nemesis mechanic is its ability to create emergent gameplay scenarios that are completely separate from the game's storyline.
If the Wonder Woman game turns out to be of an open-world nature, akin to Monolith's previous titles, I see no harm in the developer implementing the Nemesis mechanic. As someone who's a big fan of the Shadow of Mordor titles, it would be really cool to get to see the Nemesis system make a return, albeit in an open-world superhero game.
Wonder Woman is yet to get a confirmed release date, with the only official confirmation being the teaser trailer Monolith Productions and Warner Bros. Games put out during The Game Awards 2021.
