Lord of the Rings War in the North - A Personal Take On Today's Loot Driven Games

Hello everybody. I like games. I like them A LOT. My favourite part of a game is playing it. I like playing games, be they boardgames, word games, video games. I like all games and today, I'd like you to meet a friend of mine. Its name is Lord of the Rings War in the North and you know what my favourite thing about my friend is? It knows what it wants to be, and it achieves it.

Now, I know what the general consensus of the reviewing community is, but I can't help but wonder if they even know what this game is about.
Here is a detailed graphical representation of, what I think the list of bulletpoints the reviewers followed duuring the review looked like:
Ok, ok, let's keep it simple: what kind of game is this? Lord of the Rings War in the North is a LOOT-DRIVEN-action-rpg. What jumps to mind when one says loot driven? That's right: killing lots and lots of dudes (i.e. hordes), in pursuit of better and better gear for your own dude (i.e. your character). So, we have a dude killing a lot of other dudes. The issue reviewers (and some players to some extent) seem to have with the game is its 'simplistic and repetitive combat system'.Yes, the game has you killing orcs by doing the same actions over and over again, but this caracteristic is specific to loot driven games. You can't have hours upon hours of loot hunting, without throwing in some repetition due to the sheer number of enemies you have to slay.

If this game's combat doesn't look satisfying, I don't know what combat does.
I mean, it's a dwarf, choping an orc's head off while doing a pirouette!

I understand that the issue is the lack of innovation brought to the genre, but from my point of view, this is no reason to subtract points from the game's overall score. Loot driven fans are a specific group of people who KNOW what they are getting themselves into. They KNOW there will be a basic skill combo that they will use again and again which will get more complex as they level up. Combat is not the main thing they come for. It's important, of course, but as long as the hacks and the slashes (see what I did there?) are satisfying, there is no reason to consider the combat a downside. This being said the feel of the combat in War of the North is superb: It's satisfying, the swings hit hard, and with the M rating it is downright brutal. Skill trees are present, and loot is abundant.

Ah yes, the loot. People, do you know what loot lovers love in a loot driven game? I'll give you a hint: LOOT! It's a special moment when you put your dwarven hands on a blade called 'Sting' with a +35 to dexterity which shines with a blue hue whenever orcs are near.

Look at my glorious +30 Strength Helmet. LOOK UPON IT AND DESPAIR!

I like games. I love it when I come to a game expecting (in this case) a good loot driven game and the game meets expectations. It's always great when the game exceeds expectations, but just meeting them does not deserve a lower review score.