Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War Bring Their Nemesis System to Switch 2

Nintendo's new console is about to get two of the most talked-about action games of the last decade. Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and its sequel, Shadow of War, are due on Switch 2 later this month, adding two more big names to an already crowded season.

Both games are built around the Nemesis system, the mechanic that made them stand out. Orc captains remember how you fought them. Survive a duel and a foe may return with scars and a grudge. Die to a lowly grunt and that grunt gets promoted, complete with a new title and a taste for gloating. The result is a story shaped as much by your failures as your wins, and players have swapped tales of their personal archenemies for years.

The series is also loved for its tone. The orcs are loud, petty and often very funny, with a broad cockney flavour that turns each encounter into a bit of theatre. That mix of brutal combat and dark comedy helped the games find an audience well beyond Tolkien fans.

The first game put players in the boots of Talion, a ranger bound to a wraith, as they carved through Sauron's forces in Mordor. Shadow of War widened the scope with siege battles, fortress defence and a larger army of recruited orcs. Together they offer a lot of hours of stabbing, scheming and dominating enemy warbands.

For Switch 2 owners, the appeal is simple. These are big open-world games that have been hard to play on the go, and the newer hardware gives them a more natural home on Nintendo's platform. Details on performance targets and any extras were not part of the initial announcement, so it remains to be seen how each game will run.

It also adds to a busy release window. With so many new and returning titles landing at once, players will have to decide where to spend their time. But for anyone who missed these the first time, or who simply wants to make an orc captain regret their choices again, this is a handy chance to jump back into Mordor.