Sorry Tales Of The Shire, An Aragorn RPG Is What Lord Of The Rings Fans Want

Highlights

Aragorn, a character from The Lord of the Rings, is a potential hero for a successful RPG game.
Fans want a game exploring Aragorn’s life before the War of the Ring, focusing on his skills and character development.
The Witcher 3’s blueprint could inspire an Aragorn game with customization, new regions, and engaging mechanics.

When you consider the greatest fictional characters ever created, everyone should have Aragorn on their contenders list. The Dúnedain destined to be king of Gondor is described in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings as “the greatest traveler and huntsman of this age of the world.” If that isn’t grounds for a heroic videogame protagonist within a meaty, perilous fantasy RPG then I don’t know what is.

The Lord of the Rings franchise has been rather stale, with a salty player base, in recent years. The catastrophic failure that was The Lord of the Rings: Gollum left a sour taste, followed by the underwhelming survival-crafting game The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria. Now, the cozy Hobbit game, Tales of the Shire, promises a humdrum life sim that no fan asked for. Our own Rachael Fiddis shared her frustration towards the announcement, stating it was a “step backwards” and she craves a game that shadows Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor’s achievements.

The Tolkien enterprise now has an uncertain future in the hands of Embracer Group, which plans to unleash a wave of varying titles, and that, understandably, makes the community rather nervous. However, at least one of the ideas that should be explored is Aragorn’s time before The War of the Ring narrative and how he came to be an elite ranger in Middle-earth.

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Aragorn Is Destined For RPG Greatness

Still from Aragorn's Quest of the ranger standing in a field with a shield.

Fans of the fantasy epic will, of course, remember the Warner Bros. Interactive title, The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn’s Quest, which put Strider in the spotlight alongside EA’s wave of games based on the Peter Jackson movie trilogy. It’s still considered an IP gem, with satisfying gameplay revolving around the beloved character. Since that game was released 14 years ago, it’s about time to bring the crownless wanderer into this generation.

Noting Viggo Mortensen’s portrayal of the ranger in the Oscar-winning movie trilogy, the actor perfectly captured Aragorn’s wisdom and experience as a well-traveled Ranger of the North, his compassion, kind-hearted nature and loyalty to the Fellowship during the harrowing plight to destroy the ring, and his surrender to become the king he was born to be as Isildur’s heir to unite a stronghold against the Dark Lord Sauron’s forces – which took considerable strength to face. A modern RPG doesn’t have to resemble Mortensen’s likeness, but the actor provided a solid foundation to build upon.

Still of Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers holding a sword during the Battle of Helm's Deep.

Under Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Phillipa Boyens’ script, Aragorn’s weaknesses were also aired. As a mortal man, albeit blessed with a long life by his Dúnedain heritage, he risked being consumed by the ring’s power and he knew this. His love for the elf Arwen and fondness for Eowyn, Gandalf, Boromir, and Frodo would be considered a weakness in the eyes of the emotionless Uruk-hai or the dictator Saruman. But as lovers of fiction know all too well, weaknesses are just as powerful in making a hero as strengths, and weaving these characteristics into a gameplay narrative would provide compelling character development threaded through the exploration of the ranger’s forgotten years. Aragorn’s existence between his upbringing in Rivendell and his campaigns before The War of the Ring is the perfect playground for another game to take place.

Aragorn’s existence between his upbringing in Rivendell and his campaigns with Gandalf before The War of the Ring is the perfect playground for another game to take place.

Aragorn’s mortality negated any magical abilities akin to the wizards and elves of the Third Age, which drove him to build street-tier expertise that fortified a valuable arsenal in the fight against evil. His nature-based intellect includes mastery of tracking, woodsmanship, and resourcefulness – a combination of skills that allowed him to slow the Witch King’s poison working on Frodo through his knowledge of natural healing remedies. In combat, Aragorn boasts expertise in swordsmanship and archery, making him a lethal combatant in melee and at range. He’s also proven to be a formidable cavalryman and leader during the Fellowship of the Ring’s conquest, and all of these attributes are grounds for a strong protagonist with a wealth of RPG mechanics.

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The Witcher 3 Could Provide Real Inspiration

Fans have discussed an Aragorn game inspired by The Witcher 3’s blueprint, drawing particular attention to the customization and enhancement of weaponry through Elven runes and seeing the ranger hone a variety of fighting techniques as he charts uncommon terrain previously unexplored cinematically. The regions of Angmar, Umbar, and Rhun, to name a few, would bring a fresh expanse to navigate on a similar scale to The Witcher’s Continent, crawling with a catalog of corrupt enemies and teeing up opportunities for cameos present in Tolkien’s more popular pockets of lore.

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Many other Lord of the Rings fans and I are not looking for miracles to happen. The mechanics don’t need to be groundbreaking nor do the graphics and interactivity need to push the boundaries of modern technology, like Ghost of Tsushima or Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2. Just a well-crafted RPG elevated by a lore-dripping story with engaging mechanics is enough to satisfy the masses and give this prestigious character a place within modern, fantasy videogames.