This is a great post
No, it's not, because the backstory they chose for Lara doesn't work. Maybe if the series was called PTSD Raider.
This is a great post
Better start running, or the mob will come after you for keeping her "sexy".
I agree, Lara is even sexier now then before
I agree, mostly.She's still sexy. Just not in a 90s way but in a 2010s way. And the writing is terrible. She was more of an icon back in the day, people don't really care about her anymore. Some care about her games, but not about her - she's basically a non-character. Her design is also super generic now.
That's exactly the reason.It feels a little like people only react that way because Lara is a female character.
At least have I never heard anyone describe it as creepy that ND now animates Drake's chest hair
Every time they make a dev diary it's for marketing purposes. The only reason it was so short at e3 is because it was e3. As in, most games get 5-15 minutes at most for a presentation and/or demo. Minus the presentation from ND, where they spent a ton of time talking about the specifics. It's different from a dev diary but the EXACT same thought process is behind it, showing off the culmination of a shit ton of work from a shit ton of different artists. So again, you're completely misinterpreting the purpose behind them making a dev diary talking about the process and tech that makes up the Lara Croft seen in ROTR.Context matters. This was part of their E3 conference presentation and it is presented much more as a marketing tool to entice fans/watchers to buy the product. You can tell how they use very superlative words, juxtapose the visuals with developer statements about how "amazing" everything is, and how "real" this game is.
In Uncharted 4's case it's a much more developer-oriented and technical presentation talking about shaders and translating concept art into 3D graphics.
The E3 presentation of Tomb Raider is much more of a commercial that sells the western comparison to Hatsune Miku ("she's super real this time!"), in my interpretation. Yeah, I think it's a bit weird having it as a marketing point that the looks of her is so real.
If ND used Drake's chest hair and sweaty chest as a marketing point in selling the game with a well-edited commercial (and if male characters were judged by their /attractiveness looks in video games in general) then yes, that would be a bit creepy.
Uuuh imho they just updated lara to 2010s sexy standards
In the 90s it was more about that Pam Anderson look now its about more natural
No, it's not, because the backstory they chose for Lara doesn't work. Maybe if the series was called PTSD Raider.
It's part 2 in a trilogy. It's also an origin story.
Did you expect Bruce Wayne to be full-fledged Batman day 1?
It's part 2 in a trilogy. It's also an origin story.
Did you expect Bruce Wayne to be full-fledged Batman day 1?
Rocksteady's Arkham Trilogy was trying to tell it's own story, not trying to be an origin story.Did you play the Arkham games?
Rocksteady's Arkham Trilogy was trying to tell it's own story, not trying to be an origin story.
Just google "Lara Croft moaning" and it'll all be about Tomb Raider 2013. An animated porn was made in honor of that game, and it's kinda weird how accurate it was. They might've even sampled some of Lara's voice work from the game.Panting and "moaning"? Is she actually moaning or are people misconstruing the sounds? Sounds like the latter. These aren't what making her sexy to people. What makes her sexy to people is 2 things (1) she has an attractive model (slim, boobs, nice face) and (2) they're seeing her as sexy because that's all they can think to frame someone as when they find them attractive.
Rocksteady's Arkham Trilogy was trying to tell it's own story, not trying to be an origin story.
Arkham Knight's credits show scenes from all of the games, they don't show any scenes from Origins, so I guess they don't count that.I'm pretty sure the a random bystander on the street can recognize the "classic" Lara Croft outfit, no one besides dedicated gamers would know who the "new" Lara Croft was.
True. Although WB did develop "Arkham: ORIGINS."
Pretty sure Underworld wasn't an origin story but like, the culmination of what the story was leading up to, wasn't that the one with evil clone Lara Croft? Uncharted 3 also wasn't an origin story. It was a continuation of Nathan's story but also happened to have a childhood scene which is typical in third entries of a continuing story.The first Tomb Raider I played was Underworld and I could make no heads or tails of the story. I did watch the movies. (Manor burns, some immortal enemy, some rival, something about Thor's hammer...several game breaking bugs along the way....)
I find it interesting that they decided to do an origin story after Uncharted 3 which was an origin story--vastly disliked here. I assume the original Tomb Raider had no origin.
I'd argue it very much is a marketing point because the Panel wasn't for developers but for fans who attended the Playstation experience. The news about how life like Drake looks was also subsequently picked up by a bunch of sites. It's just a live version of a dev diary.
Just google "Lara Croft moaning" and it'll all be about Tomb Raider 2013. An animated porn was made in honor of that game, and it's kinda weird how accurate it was. They might've even sampled some of Lara's voice work from the game.
No, but you don't expect little Bruce to take arms and kill the entire Gotham mafia right after his parents are gunned down either.
That's what Tomb Raider 2013 was.
And? This doesn't mean the character was sexy but that some creepy people found her sexy and made creepy videos about her. She has an attractive model and the marketing team played that edge a bit. If you played the game and went, "DAT ass" as she climbed a ladder then you may be part of the problem. People did it in Life is Strange with Chloe and Max. Heck, you see this with most games that feature women. Think Samus was only featured as a "sexy" character by the community only after she had more poly models? Lots of creeps out there, buddy.
Action game. Did you want a slow, methodical look on murder? It's not 100% a masterpiece but it worked even if it was shallow in plenty of places.
This article would have you believe Tomb Raider was one of the greatest and most important games we have witnessed to date, all because of the impactful story and wonderful performance of Croft's actress to show us how vulnerable the character truly is.
The game was pretty good, but that would be for gameplay and none of the things this article is picking out to mislabel new Lara Croft as an "icon." That's just my opinion though. And lol at mentioning the first games "remarkably diverse characters."
Does that excuse bad writing? Spec Ops: The Line is also an action game...
yepSquare just added a Lara skin to Spelunker World (it was released this Tuesday on PSN)...the outfit they chose says it all
http://abload.de/img/thebestlaracjk8x.jpg
More like a French face.
Man face.
I don't understand why they keep messing with her face so much. She's completely changed again for Rise of the Tomb Raider.
Man face.
OG reboot Lara was better. (left)
I don't understand why they keep messing with her face so much. She's completely changed again for Rise of the Tomb Raider.
Man, CD is really in love of the awful character they created. It's all they talk about.
Lara was an icon and she was a sex symbol. Her sex symbol status was mostly marketing. In the games she was just a badass strong confident woman who went on adventures for the thrill. As she tells Natla in the first game, she only plays for sport.
Ever since CD took over the franchise they've been absolutely obsessed with giving Lara a reason to be who she is that undermines her strength. First they made her completely motivated by finding her missing mommy and following in her daddy's footsteps and had her constantly talk to an annoying support crew. Then they rebooted her again into a wreck of a character who can't decide if she's a scared inexperienced weakling or Rambo while also having an awful cast of friends supporting her.
Sure old Lara wasn't that complex a character, but the games weren't about Lara. Lara was just an excuse for the games. She's an adventurer who loves adventure and stumbles upon an adventure and goes on adventure! Adventure-packed game with amazing level design and gameplay follows! That's all you need. It's a game, not a movie.
That doesn't mean you can't or shouldn't have story and character, obviously. Last Revelation really upped the quality of story and character while keeping Lara badass and keeping the focus on amazing level design and gameplay. The problem is that CD is obsessed with story and character to the point that they harm the gameplay and level design.
https://medium.com/the-magazine/goty-2013-badass-girls-need-not-apply-1b56d8c8a1fbHowever, the 2013 reboot, written largely by Rhianna Pratchett, changed everything.
I would point to 2013s Lara Croft as one of the most empowered, well-written, kick-ass women in all of video-game history. 2013 Lara Croft is a teenage girl who grows into a leader and singlehandedly saves her team after their boat crashes on an island. She was still gorgeous, but so much more real and relatable.
2013 Lara Croft stands up to save her female friend Samantha when others are willing to let her die. 2013 Lara Crofts voice trembles as shes forced to kill to save her life. When 2013s Lara Croft dies, the game pulls no punches because shes a woman. You see her brutally stabbed, shot, and impaled.
2013 Tomb Raider isnt just a very good game, its a historically important one.
New Lara looks like a student activist I'd see waiting at a bus stop.
Considering the author of this article, Brianna Wu, had this to say about the 2013 reboot:
https://medium.com/the-magazine/goty-2013-badass-girls-need-not-apply-1b56d8c8a1fb
I'm afraid I can't really take her opinion on the quality of anything writing related seriously anymore lol
Action game. Did you want a slow, methodical look on murder? It's not 100% a masterpiece but it worked even if it was shallow in plenty of places.
Considering the author of this article, Brianna Wu, had this to say about the 2013 reboot:
https://medium.com/the-magazine/goty-2013-badass-girls-need-not-apply-1b56d8c8a1fb
I'm afraid I can't really take her opinion on the quality of anything writing related seriously anymore lol
Then maybe, just maybe, if your game depends mostly on brutally killing (again, Lara is not only shooting enemies to protect herself; she slashes their throats, stabs them with arrows or a pick axe, blasts their faces away with a shotgun etc.) waves of enemies you don't merge it with a story about a young untrained woman that tries to survive after a ship crash.
If they wanted to tell a story about young Lara's hardship to survive in a dangerous environment that would result in her becoming a tomb raider, they could have done that in many different ways. Look at TR1/TR Anniversary where there were only few human enemies (only 1 in Anniversary if you don't count Natla, and even that one kill resulted in Lara feeling guilty) that Lara had to deal with, while every other enemy was just a wild animal or an ancient monster. It would be much more realistic (if we can even use that word in a game with ancient demons) than turning her into a mass murderer and claiming it's so deep.
That is a ridiculously hyperbolic statement. Evrn if you liked the new Lara, you should be able to recognize that there is nothing important about it.Considering the author of this article, Brianna Wu, had this to say about the 2013 reboot:
https://medium.com/the-magazine/goty-2013-badass-girls-need-not-apply-1b56d8c8a1fb
I'm afraid I can't really take her opinion on the quality of anything writing related seriously anymore lol
The game does succumb to many generic female tropes.There's endless ways to make this story and they chose this one. Is it perfect? No, but it hits the marks they wanted and that's undeniable whether or not you like how it happened. What did you expect from an action adventure game about Lara Croft? It's like asking for a deep Friday the 13th movie. At best all they could do is make a fun, kickass Lara who grows from child to adult in the span of a game with good visuals, action, and story that doesn't make her fall to many tropes other female characters face in other games. They did their part.
What did you expect from an action adventure game about Lara Croft?
"We wanted to rebuild her as one of the most believable women in video games."
Considering the author of this article, Brianna Wu, had this to say about the 2013 reboot:
https://medium.com/the-magazine/goty-2013-badass-girls-need-not-apply-1b56d8c8a1fb
I'm afraid I can't really take her opinion on the quality of anything writing related seriously anymore lol
Just like the original design was sexed up to match the gaming audience, the new design of weak crying constantly vulnerable Lara was too. It's the new hot trend of male power fantasies in gaming to be the strong man leading the vulnerable female through danger like in Bioshock Infinite or The Last of Us. Crystal Dynamics just chased that trend except put the player not in the role of Lara, but in an outside entity that leads her by the hand and would 'want to protect her'. It's still gross just in a different way.
Personally I always prefer badass, capable and adventurous Lara who didn't need an origin story of almost being raped and traumatized to explain away her badassness. She was just awesome because she was.
Also Rihanna Prachett has a bad track record in games. TR2013's cast was a who's who of racial stereotypes and shouldn't be put on any pedestal for good representation and diversity in games. Lara has three different men die to save her in that game. THREE.
She's still sexy. Just not in a 90s way but in a 2010s way. And the writing is terrible. She was more of an icon back in the day, people don't really care about her anymore. Some care about her games, but not about her - she's basically a non-character. Her design is also super generic now.