Shadow of War was a fine game... entirely ruined by monetization schemes. At release it was actually pay2win. In its release form it would have taken thousands of hours to get the "final" ending of that game without engaging with the microtransactions. The combat + Nemesis was as good or even better than ever. The problem was they also tried to integrate monetization as well. And it was the exact wrong time to try that as they caught a high point in backlash to monetization square in the face. Strip out all of the microtransactions and rebalance it as they have in its current form... a little padded but otherwise a good game.Shadows of Mordor parlayed the combat system into its Nemesis system and that was what made it fun. I did feel it wore out its welcome by the sequel but the first one ruled.
That being said, there never should have been a sequel. And I hope they never try and release another one. I always thought the original was arkham combat gameplay plus new Nemesis system... but rather than see it overlooked because no one was interested in a new IP, they slapped it with a franchise name and flimsy immaterial non-canon story to get it some name recognition. And then when it hit like it did, get a good dev to marry the combat system and Nemesis to an original IP and boom... you have your next huge franchise. Rare did it with Goldeneye. Make your revolutionary console FPS system look a little like a James Bond movie to get eyes on it. And when it hits, drop the tie-in for a brand-new IP in Perfect Dark. Instead EA said "Mordor hit huge, let's squeeze its sequel for every penny we can wring out of its whales until there isn't any drop of goodwill for the product left."