Hobbits have had a rough go in video games lately because ofThe Lord of the Rings: Gollum’s lackluster outing.Middle-earth: Shadow of MordorandMiddle-earth: Shadow of Warare phenomenal plunges into familiar iconography as well as Aragorn and Ringwraith tropes and motifs, and yet they movedThe Lord of the Rings’ needle further away from hobbits. To be fair, it seems as if it would be unsurprisingly difficult to have a hobbit-centric game that is also action-oriented, and perhaps that’s why Weta Workshop’s upcomingTales of the Shire: A The Lord of the Rings Gamehas the potential to be truly special.
Hobbits Sam, Frodo, Merry, and Pippin are playable characters inEA Redwood Shores’The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the Kingwhile players can create a hobbit character inThe Lord of the Rings Online.
Inevitable, Fizz Factor, Saffire, and Sierra’sThe Hobbitis a fantastic adaptation of the titular book. That said, with no hobbit-led game besidesGollumsince 2003, there’s a hobbit-sized hole in Middle-earth waiting to be filled byTales of the Shire: A The Lord of the Rings Game. With any luck,Tales of the Shirewill hopefully be the title that stresses the significance of hobbits again as the beating heart of theLord of the RingsIP.
The Lord of the Rings’ Power Fantasy Has Long Been Upheld
There’s much to cherish about peace and lightheartedness inThe Lord of the Ringsand yet its plot revolves around the essential conflict between Middle-earth and Sauron. Therefore, with so many epic fantasy battles portrayed betweenThe Fellowship of the Ring,The Two Towers, andThe Return of the King, so much of the franchise’s cinematic action has been fertile soil for video game adaptations. These include but are not limited to:
With so much of the fantasy spectacle beholden to clashes between men, dwarves, elves, orcs, goblins, and other such races in J. R. R. Tolkien’s lore, there has been a lot to explore in role-playing and action landscapes, especially around the time whenPeter Jackson’s theatricalLord of the Ringstrilogyreleased. These movies would then shape what the predominant iconography would be for the IP.
This is also why, for better or for worse, popular characters would routinely appear in game adaptations whenever possible—the same is true today withThe Lord of the Ringshaving proven countlessly that it clings ferociously to brand familiarity, and parting with it completely might elicit the same response Bilbo Baggins experiences when he sees the One Ring adorned by his ‘nephew,’ Frodo, in Rivendell. Of course, while popular characters seem inescapable, war does not need to be endlessly depicted. Cave trolls and beautiful orchestral scores are phenomenal and entertaining inThe Lord of the Rings, but it is nowTales of the Shire’s responsibility to sheathe its sword and substitute it with the finest pipe-weed in the Southfarthing.
Tales of the Shire is a Portrait of the Good in Middle-earth Worth Fighting for
Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of the Rings Gameis reportedly situated betweenThe HobbitandThe Fellowship of the Ring. Here, hobbit life can be as rejuvenating, recreational, and jovial as Weta Workshop wishes it to be.Tales of the Shire’s Bywatercertainly plays an enormous role inThe Lord of the Rings’ War of the Ring, being where Saruman and Grima Wormtongue are eventually felled, but with its distinct place on the timeline it is made plain that hobbits will decorate and furnish their abodes free of strife or ruin being thrust upon them.
Tales of the Shiremay be accurately billed as a cozy life sim but, above all else, it intends to be an immersive hobbit sim. IfTales of the Shireis as thorough in its exploration of hobbit life as it needs to be, it will be fantastic to have the perspective of what a quiet and comfortable life is like whenThe Lord of the Rings’ Shire, much less Middle-earth itself, isn’t riddled with harrowing darkness.
