In two Talion adventures, the creators of Monolith Productions have randomly developed competitors, and the presented system creates a hierarchy of opponents who, thanks to the actions in the game world, can develop skills and become more powerful. When a player dies at the hands of one of his opponents, that opponent may advance and gain recognition among the other competitors.

The mechanics are definitely one of the most interesting demonstrations of each of the Monolith Productions games (Check out our last one review), The flagship of Warner Bros. I decided to take relentless action. On January 23, the US Patent and Trademark Office approved the patent, which will be in the hands of the publisher until 2035.

However, the broad description of the mechanics turned out to be a contentious matter, with the project referring to a system of procedurally created non-playable characters that are located in the hierarchy and interact with the player and remember their behavior. The patent could apply to the mechanics already in use by many developers.

“It’s really a shame, especially for a brand that has built its genius system Nemesis on a pile of duplicate mechanics from other games. As it is in all games. Because that’s how culture and creativity work. Be a better neighbor, WB.” – Mike Bethel, designer behind Thomas Was Alone and John Wick Hex.

“I’ve looked at the patent and it’s so broad that it’s ridiculous! Many of the other emerging narrative systems that I’ve seen and worked on can be described in this language! They probably won’t be enforced legally, but my fellow freelance makers have no money to know about it! I have no interest in copying a system! Entire Nemesis! Personally, there are many things I would have done differently. But the patent is so wide that I still fear it is a license to prevent the creation of any similar work! – Kat Manning, story designer at Riot Games.

You can find many negative reviews about the Warner Bros. movement. On the web, although it should be noted that this is a somewhat standard practice – for example, Electronic Arts patented the dialogue wheel system that BioWare used, but it also appeared in Deus Ex: The Human Race Divided or Fallout 4.

Interestingly, the American publisher has tried to reserve the vehicles since 2015.