Lord of the Ringsfans have been waiting a resurgence of games set in Middle-earth. The glory days of theReturn of the Kingtie-in game andLord of the Rings: Conquestare well and truly in the past now, and so it’s up to games likeReturn to Moriatolet players immerse themselves in Tolkein’s legendary world. Alongside this,Tales of the Shireaims to deliver a comfy, cozy, Shire simulator that stands in contrast to itsLotRgame peers.
Unlike gaming’s previous forays into Middle Earth,Tales of the Shireleans heavily into moreAnimal Crossingstyle gameplay, as opposed to the action-adventure games the franchise has gotten up to this point. In another shake up from the standard formula forLord of the Ringsgames, it’s also eschewing the War of the Ring conflict entirely, instead favoring a story focused solely on events happening within the Shire itself. This means certain franchise favorites like Legolas, Gimli, and Aragorn are unlikely to appear. Despite this, the shadow of one hobbit in particular will inevitably loom large over the little town of Bywater.
Bilbo Baggins' Adventures Are Bound to Impact the Hobbits in Tales of the Shire
The Characters in the Shire Are Bound to Know of Bilbo Baggins' Exploits
Bilbo Baggins will be an unavoidable presence inTales of the Shirewith or without a cameo. As one of the most famous hobbits to ever live, the stories of his adventures and exploits became something of a local legend. The more traditional members of the community may not care much for him, but anyone who grew up in the Shire heard the stories of how Mr. Bilbo fought spiders, outsmarted trolls, and stared down one of the last great dragons in the world and lived to tell the tale. The long and short of it is that even if Bilbo himself fails to make an appearance inTales of the Shire, the main character will almost certainly know as much about him as the players do.
This opens the doors to a lot of interesting storytelling opportunities.Most hobbits do not care for Bilbosince his stories seem to inspire troublesome adventurous attitudes in their youth and disturb the simpllicity and peace of the Shire. For a player character that’s grown up on the stories of Bilbo’s exploits, it might make room for some introspection; maybe once the game is complete, there’s room for the PC to start considering leaving the Shire themselves and going on their own adventures just like the now-folk hero Bilbo.
It doesn’t have to stop with player characters, however. Some of the most interesting character writing can come from the NPC players interact with throughout the course of the game. Because they’re not bound by the same restrictions as a PC, they can experience their own unique character arcs throughout the course of the game’s runtime. Maybe a number of the folks around town are having some second thoughts about their life choices.In light of Bilbo’s recent time out of town, it might be possible that some hobbits are starting to consider that there’s more to life than the traditional hobbit way.
Tales of the Shire Can Show More Nuance in Hobbit Culture Through Bilbo’s Adventures
In this way, Bilbo’s influence onTales of the Shirecan help subvert a very common genre trope: that all members of fantasy races are generally of the same mind on every little issue.The HobbitandThe Lord of the Ringstake great pains todescribe hobbits as quiet, peaceful folksthat have little use for the world outside their comfortable borders, but even Tolkien himself would probably agree that the hobbit culture is hardly a monolith.
It stretches credibility to assert that in the entire history of the Shire, Bilbo, Frodo, Sam, Merri, and Pippin were the only five hobbits who ever left the Shire in search of something greater. By expanding heavily on the Shire and the hobbits that live there,Tales of the Shirecan provide some welcome nuance and greater context to the world. The game can show that hobbit culture isn’t as uniform as it might seem at a glance. Bilbo inspired his fair share of hobbits to go out and explore the greater world around them, andTales of the Shireis the perfect place to explore that.
