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Rise of the Tomb Raider 20 Yr Anniversary Edition |OT| Hello from the other side

Gamer79

Predicts the worst decade for Sony starting 2022
I just got the game on ps4 as a present. Love the first one and so far really like this one as well. Crystal Dynamics has been around for a while and knows how to make good games.
 
Playing this right now in 4K on my Pro (looks stunning) and quite enjoying it but fuck me the writing is bad. Most bad vg writing doesn't really bother me but this is on another level. Every time Lara opens her mouth I cringe or shake my head. It's even worse than the first game. It doesn't help that the game takes itself so seriously.
Can you elaborate please? I found the voice acting and writing quite enjoyable personally.
I don't really understand these complaints, either. I mean, the story, dialogue and voice acting seems like anything you'd typically see from a summer blockbuster movie...
I played the first game, and loved it, but the writing was the real weak point in that game [TR2013] too so I knew not to expect anything great with this but it just keeps finding ways to piss me off and make me cringe. You would honestly put this alongside Uncharted in terms of narrative? I really don't know what to tell you then.
...Again, I'll scratch it up to different tastes and standards but it really brings the whole experience down for me. Uncharted isn't more well written and performed because there's more story and narrative elements, it's just straight up better...
...Jeez why are you guys so touchy? I think the game is poorly written and performed just like its predecessor. This isn't a controversial opinion in the slightest. Like I said, I'm glad you all enjoy it but the narrative is hurting the game for me, somewhat. I'm still having a lot of fun with it. There's no need to be so upset by one person's opinion...

Would just like to note that CrayToes is definitely not alone: one / two / three / four. Some rather unfortunate parallels between Rise of the Tomb Raider and Metroid: Other M, as I see it.

To avoid repeating myself, I think there are a number of posts that are very much worth highlighting, from within this thread alone:

...I think the climbing is better in this [than in Uncharted]... I love the exploration and Tombs, i'd spend the whole game doing that... Am I the only person that finds Lara a bad character? ...I could be being harsh but I find her dull, selfish and nonsensical. Apologies for the unscheduled rant lol. If the game wasn't trying to be so earnest maybe I could go along with it easier. I genuinely liked her in the first one so my u-turn was quite unexpected...
I was willing to overlook how uninspired the narrative was in the first game because CD was trying to find the right tone for their new take on the franchise, but the writing in Rise is just aggressively mediocre. Tomb Raider never had great writing but it was pulpy and more or less limited to cutscenes at the beginning and end of levels. In Rise there's so much storytelling between cinematics, audiologs, documents and most of all Lara constantly stating the obvious out loud. The worst is when you rest at a camp fire and she tells you exactly how she feels and why she's doing this when it's been made really obvious numerous times before. It's the opposite of show don't tell: here every characters has to say exactly why they're doing what they're doing at every chance they get... Either go for a for minimalist approach to storytelling or hire some new writers because what we got in Rise has transcended blandness to become cringe-inducing...
I feel the exact same way. I finished TR2013 because of it's core gameplay loop. I found everything else to be pretty fucking awful. Now, I have a PS4Pro and bought this [ROTTR] for obvious reasons, but holy shit, I can't be bothered to even play it :(

I mean, people have a right to shit on UC4's badly paced (but excellent gameplay/gunplay), but at least it always had you by the nuts as far as characters and narrative. This is the opposite of that for me :( Damn, nvm, looks like i'm not alone, lol
I'm persevering with this on Pro. I enjoyed the 2013 reboot a lot, but I'm struggling to really get into this one. The whole 'save the villagers' thread is so half baked, it feels so condescending if that's the right word, so sort of Great White Hope. The entirety of the story so far has been irritating more than anything, not helped by the terrible voice acting...
The game is stunning to look at. There is a fantastic sense of exploration and discovery... Having said that, the game is dragged down immensely by the atrocious writing, tepid storyline, and uninteresting characters. Unlike TR 2013, Lara feels very one-note and there's no sense of evolution in the character. The really odd title is made even more awkward by the fact that it doesn't feel relevant or earned. It's fun and addicting gameplay mixed with a really unfortunate story.
TR 2013 was a game I went back and finished 3 different times (PS3 for 100%, again on PS3 for the story, and on PS4 for 100% I THINK? Can't remember) Not sure if I'll be going back to this one. The story just isn't there. The pacing in TR 2013 was even better and the story more compelling...
Yeah I'm with some of the others, I loved Tomb Raider 2013, didn't really understand all the hate the story was getting. Like it wasn't great but it was really effective imo. A desperate struggle for survival, where you had to shadow a group to learn how to get off the island and then discover something else. This game though. Sheesh. Lara has daddy issues (yawn), we're following some nefarious group called Trinity (eyeroll) who's following some other dude (whatevs) for no apparent reason, and then there's some noble savages that we do a mighty whitey on... it does absolutely nothing for me...
Man, the narrative in this game is... awful. The first TR had some issues, but the survival narrative overall was quite compelling...
A great game with an atrocious story. Who wrote this terrible plot and characters? Jesus, this could be the worst videogame story of the last years...
Stunning looking game but good grief the writing is terribad. Every scene is exposition central, and every exchange is overly dramatic in a way that feels completely unrealistic and unearned. The underlying plot is both incredibly generic and completely silly, which makes it all be more laughable how seriously this game takes itself. Most cringe inducing cut scenes in a game since Mirror's Edge Catalyst (and very similar writing and performance issues in both cases). It's a testament to how low reviewers' standards are for plot and writing that "Rise" didn't receive a widespread drubbing for this.
 
Yeah, I'm with the guys who are saying the story, writing and characters in this game are downright awful. Not only that but even the gameplay loop and gunplay was a lot better in TR2013.

Rise is still a good game overall but a disappointing one after TR2013.
 

Pancake Mix

Copied someone else's pancake recipe
Agree with both of you guys, though it's still a really great game and a lot closer to TR2013 than Metroid: Other M is to Prime.

There was just something really special about Tomb Raider 2013. Granted, it didn't have a fantastic story either, but the characters were a bit more interesting and the story was more grounded. Was a bit darker and more violent (think of the river of blood) at the same time, giving an almost survival horror tinge that was rather refreshing but not overbearing.

tumblr_mjzmjzHEYW1rruop4o1_400.gif
latest
2013-03-05_00002.jpg

Not something that had to come back, though, of course, and I'm still surprised how well the whole origin story worked.

Rise of the Tomb Raider definitely goes in a different direction, but it lacks something. That said, definitely play the Blood Ties DLC in the Croft Manor if you haven't.
 

dmshaposv

Member
Yeah I agree with everyone on the narrative stuff.

Its an even worse rip off of the last crusade than uncharted 3. Its a shame as I enjoy the actual tomb raiding and exploration part of the game but lara is such an uninteresting protag and ahit happening around her is blah.
 

Melchiah

Member
Yeah, Blood Ties was great, some easy trophies too.

The combat mode was called Lara's Nightmare and I agree, it's not great, which is strange for me to admit because I thought it'd be the mode I preferred. It's just infinite zombies, essentially. The main game's combat is a lot better and more interesting.

Yeah, I like horror in general, but that mode just seemed dull and repetitive to me. I'll have to try how it's with the card perks.
 
I actually think the areas are really well designed. The storyline is well fair, but below average for triple A this season. Over sll though gsmeplay is great and it builds on the original in good ways. More of the same, snd nowhere newr uncharted in terms of narrative, but its a good game its just that its just a good game. Crystal Dynamics has the gsmeplay down if they could just get the storyline up to standard it could be awesome.
 

Brandon F

Well congratulations! You got yourself caught!
Mega quote post...

Chalk me up as one not feeling Rise nearly as much as TR2013. I suppose having avoided discussions and videos over the last year to not spoil the game when it finally hit PS4, I had an impression in my mind that the title "Rise of the Tomb Raider" finally meant a REAL return to isolation and exploring the dangers of long forgotten trap-laden underground tombs and lost civilzations.

Outside of a nice prologue tutorial in Syria, I have spent the bulk of the game scavenging military installations and soviet bases with a scant few mini-tombs on the side optionally. The little war between this secret soviet militia and a gaggle of native tribes is very uninteresting and I got far too much explosive setpiece action in the first game that it all feels very limp here. The villain, early game twists, and 'mcguffin chase' just isn't resonating at all either, at least not in a way Lara and her gaggle of survivor friends did in the first game(which weren't great either).

Its a gorgeous game though and the tomb challenges are a bit more involving than before, but most of the time is still spent rummaging across installation hubs and slaughtering goons in linear arena shootouts. That stuff is pushing my motivation to press on way down.
 

Toa TAK

Banned
I'm also of the camp who prefers the overall experience in TR2013. Yamatai was a character on its own and far more interesting to run through and explore than the spaces we have in Rise, barring Syria and the Lost City. The horror elements are sorely missed in Rise as well. The game went out with a bigger bang as well, I feel.
 

cb1115

I Was There! Official L Receiver 2/12/2016
the Enriched Graphics mode on the Pro looks sooooooooooooooo good. runs at pretty much a locked 30 too.

playing through this again is reminding me why it was one of my favorite games of last year. just exploring the environment is so much fun.
 

Erebus

Member
I think you guys are exaggerating a bit about the game's story being awful. Surely it isn't anything to write home about and it lacked originality
(Lara being obsessive about her dad's work; also a theme in the movie adaptation)
but I wouldn't describe it as awful, especially after the latter half of the game when you realize exactly what is happening.
 

Pancake Mix

Copied someone else's pancake recipe
That was so stupid, it had no reason for being there, was just put in so could steal more imagery from The Descent movies.

It was an obvious homage, but it's not like there's anything wrong with that.

I think you guys are exaggerating a bit about the game's story being awful. Surely it isn't anything to write home about and it lacked originality
(Lara being obsessive about her dad's work; also a theme in the movie adaptation)
but I wouldn't describe it as awful, especially after the latter half of the game when you realize exactly what is happening.

Her origin story was just more memorable in my eyes, Roth was a good character. Jonah's support mattered a bit more, Alex was there to sacrifice himself for Lara (who has he has a huge crush on), which was sort of original for a video game, and Whitman was a classic evil jerk. Wasn't a great story either, but it had more flavour. That combined with the historical abandoned Japanese island setting was a bit better IMO. Yes, there's something to be said about the dissonance between her reaction to being forced to kill at the beginning of the game (a sequence that gave off the impression something else really dark was about to happen first if she didn't...) to the campy "run you bastards, I"m coming for you", but hey, that's Tomb Raider 2013.

She was also a bit more attractive and what I'd have imagine a re-imagined Lara Croft to look like, at least in CG (as the PS3 and 360 model had to deal with limitations)

2013:


or in the remaster:


compare that to this... (one in-game cutscene + CG):


What went wrong?
 

Kremzeek

Member
Yeah I wish they would stop changing her face.

I thought she looked great before, but in Rise she almost feels unrecognizable- like even more generic.
 

Aklamarth

Member
Overall i enjoyed TB 2013 more than Rise.

Rise started great though (the Syria bit was exactly what i think a great Tomb Raider should be) but after you reeach that Soviet installation and the game takes a huge nosedive. Both the gameplay and story become uninteresting.
 
Granted I'm looking at those images on my phone but I don't see much difference between the Remastered and RotTR face. RotTR looks a bit older and fuller which makes sense given the factor of time. I dunno, she looks more human in Rise.
 

SkylineRKR

Member
I found 2013 to be better as well, also much better gameplay than Rise pre-patch. It wasn't as much as a collethathon as this one, though you can largely ignore it, its there.

I had somewhat of a hard time going through Rise to be honest. It just didn't interest me as much as the mythical Japanese island. The writing of Rise is better, but still nothing noteworthy.
 

hawk2025

Member
I think you guys are exaggerating a bit about the game's story being awful. Surely it isn't anything to write home about and it lacked originality
(Lara being obsessive about her dad's work; also a theme in the movie adaptation)
but I wouldn't describe it as awful, especially after the latter half of the game when you realize exactly what is happening.


It gets an extra layer of awful precisely when you realize exactly what is happening.

I've gone through TR2013 4 times, and the story is just as bad, but at least it's a bit of silly fun and harmless.

Rise has a White Savior story with the very worst aspects of the trope. It actively harms the game, unlike TR2013 IMO.
 

Pancake Mix

Copied someone else's pancake recipe
Granted I'm looking at those images on my phone but I don't see much difference between the Remastered and RotTR face. RotTR looks a bit older and fuller which makes sense given the factor of time. I dunno, she looks more human in Rise.

The remaster face from 2014 has higher cheekbones, slightly lighter, upturned eyes, and no sloping forehead. She actually looks the most like her voice actress of the three cause of the eyes.


The rest might be explained by age, but really, it's the second of three distinct Lara Crofts since the reboot. The first one was perfect in CG and the remaster's was great too.

Maybe they thought the first one was too pale? Not every British person tans in sunlight. Her eye colour looks to have changed from turquoise blue (though impossible to tell on PS360 in-game) to brown in the remaster I think too.
 
The remaster face from 2014 has higher cheekbones, slightly lighter, upturned eyes, and no sloping forehead. She actually looks the most like her voice actress of the three cause of the eyes.

The rest might be explained by age, but really, it's the second of three distinct Lara Crofts since the reboot. The first one was perfect in CG and the remaster's was great too.

Maybe they thought the first one was too pale? Not every British person tans in sunlight. Her eye colour looks to have changed from turquoise blue (though impossible to tell on PS360 in-game) to brown in the remaster I think too.

I can't say I've studied her face that closely, I'll just say I'm down the Rise version.
 

v1oz

Member
I recently got this. I don't like how they just decided to completely change her appearance to that of a different person from the 2013 version (the original release not the remaster). I think Lara was prettier before.

First impressions are that the exploration sections are too heavily scripted, like the game just doesn't want to give you control and let you explore the environments for yourself. And many of the action sequences are merely quick time events, some which would probably play better as regular gameplay, even stuff as mundane as encountering a wild animal. I surely hope the latter parts of the game don't hold your hand as much and let you figure out things for yourself.
 

RedAssedApe

Banned
eh...the actual modeling and facial animations are much improved. she looked like plastic surgery laura in the updates they did in TR2013:DE

much prefer her look in ROTR. dunno what you guys mean by "prettier" lol
 
I played a bit more today. I spent more time looking for collectables and challenge tombs than progressing the story. I am enjoying it, more so becauase I'm slowly coming to terms with what it is.

Still,
I rolled my eyes when I met Drebin offering to sell me weapons. I can't recall exactly how news weapons were inroduced in Tr2013, but I don't remember the process being so lazy and out of place as this.
 

RedAssedApe

Banned
I played a bit more today. I spent more time looking for collectables and challenge tombs than progressing the story. I am enjoying it, more so becauase I'm slowly coming to terms with what it is.

Still,
I rolled my eyes when I met Drebin offering to sell me weapons. I can't recall exactly how news weapons were inroduced in Tr2013, but I don't remember the process being so lazy and out of place as this.

no one complained about this in RE4 ;)
 

Kamina

Golden Boy
Would just like to note that CrayToes is definitely not alone:

To avoid repeating myself, I think there are a number of posts that are very much worth highlighting, from within this thread alone:
Your point? Looking at google withing 5 minutes i find just as many people who really liked her VA. Tastes seem to differ it seems.
 

Brandon F

Well congratulations! You got yourself caught!
She was also a bit more attractive and what I'd have imagine a re-imagined Lara Croft to look like, at least in CG (as the PS3 and 360 model had to deal with limitations)

What went wrong?

Yep. My first thought playing Rise and witnessing the opening cutscene was wondering why Lara seemingly looked so different. Granted she was exceptionally gorgeous in TR2013, but it has been distracting given she looks very off from how I recall her before.
 

Brandon F

Well congratulations! You got yourself caught!
I played a bit more today. I spent more time looking for collectables and challenge tombs than progressing the story. I am enjoying it, more so becauase I'm slowly coming to terms with what it is.

Still,
I rolled my eyes when I met Drebin offering to sell me weapons. I can't recall exactly how news weapons were inroduced in Tr2013, but I don't remember the process being so lazy and out of place as this.

New weapons just were kind of 'found/gated' through progression in TR2013. Works kind of similarly here too, except you are given a ton of DLC ones(mostly skins) but many are for some you would normally not receive quite that early.
 

Kamina

Golden Boy
Yep. My first thought playing Rise and witnessing the opening cutscene was wondering why Lara seemingly looked so different. Granted she was exceptionally gorgeous in TR2013, but it has been distracting given she looks very off from how I recall her before.
What put me off at first is that the RottR Artworks show her face as more similar to the TR2013 one, rather than the one she got.

wallhaven-267552.jpg
 
Your point?

I think this:
I'm persevering with this on Pro. I enjoyed the 2013 reboot a lot, but I'm struggling to really get into this one. The whole 'save the villagers' thread is so half baked, it feels so condescending if that's the right word, so sort of Great White Hope. The entirety of the story so far has been irritating more than anything, not helped by the terrible voice acting...
It gets an extra layer of awful precisely when you realize exactly what is happening. I've gone through TR2013 4 times, and the story is just as bad, but at least it's a bit of silly fun and harmless. Rise has a White Savior story with the very worst aspects of the trope. It actively harms the game, unlike TR2013 IMO.
And this (the parallel to Metroid: Other M, mentioned earlier):
...When Crystal Dynamics took over [with Legend in 2006, long before the reboot], for whatever reason, they decided Lara couldn't just WANT to be an adventurer. She needed something forcing her to do all this stuff. They changed her backstory so that her father was a famous adventurer, too, so she's just following in daddy's footsteps. And her reason for going on these adventures is because her mommy disappeared in the plane crash in the Himalayas and she wants to find her...

http://www.tombraiderchronicles.com/lara/old_bio.html
CORE DESIGN BIO: "...He remembered Lara from his lecture - her incessant yet insightful questions had made quite an impression upon him... Her Himalayan odyssey was both miraculous and enlightening, as the young woman not only survived, but gained a perspective on herself and the world that made her past appear shallow and naive. Out of the darkness of her ordeal, she saw her future reflected in a different light. She felt profoundly that there was more for her in this life than the coddled existence that had become her numbing habit. She realized that she was only truly alive when she was travelling alone. Over the eight following years she acquired an intimate knowledge of ancient civilizations across the globe. Her family soon disowned their prodigal daughter, hoping she would wed The Earl of Farrington. She turned to writing to fund her trips. Famed for discovering several ancient sites of profound archaeological interest and gaining some notoriety for having slain an actual Bigfoot in North America, she made a name for herself by publishing travel books & detailed journals of her exploits. Lara Croft became the seeker of truths, both large and small, and in that pursuit she continues to this day."

http://www.tombraiderchronicles.com/lara/info.html
CRYSTAL DYNAMICS BIO: "...At the age of nine she survived a plane crash in the Himalayas that took the life of her mother. In perhaps the first story of her prodigious indomitability, she somehow survived a solo ten-day trek across the Himalayan mountains, one of the most hostile environments on the planet. The story goes that when she arrived in Katmandu she went to the nearest bar and made a polite telephone call to her father asking if it would be convenient for him to come and pick her up. For six years following the plane crash, Lara rarely left her father's side, traveling around the world from one archeological dig site to another. During this period she was ostensibly given a standard education from private tutors, but it would probably be more accurate to say she was her father's full time apprentice..."
Are perhaps the biggest problems for me, personally. Described at greater length here and here.

Messofanego also had a great thread a while back (Take Rhianna Pratchett off and bring in Cara Ellison). Unfortunate that Crystal Dynamics quite clearly did not take Cara Ellison's advice, when they made Rise of the Tomb Raider.
 

Kamina

Golden Boy
I think this:
And this (the parallel to Metroid: Other M, mentioned earlier):
Are perhaps the biggest problems for me, personally. Described at greater length here and here.
Messofanego also had a great thread a while back (Take Rhianna Pratchett off and bring in Cara Ellison). Unfortunate that Crystal Dynamics quite clearly did not take Cara Ellison's advice, when they made Rise of the Tomb Raider.

As I said earier, there are jaut as many people (actually there must be many more due to the rating and popularity) who really liked it.
What I'm always wondering about posts like your is how much effort you guys put in trying to slander a game in it's own OT.
It leaves the question if many heavy complainers are not just salty because of the way Tomb Raider developed, rather than staying the way they are used to from the PSOne/PS2 times.
I for my part liked the VA, and found the story enjoyable. Obvioulsy we are not talking of high quality literature writing here. But it tured out as i expected: entertaining Hollywood action adventure writing.
 
As I said earier, there are jaut as many people (actually there must be many more due to the rating and popularity) who really liked it.
What I'm always wondering about posts like your is how much effort you guys put in trying to slander a game in it's own OT.
It leaves the question if many heavy complainers are not just salty because of the way Tomb Raider developed, rather than staying the way they are used to from the PSOne/PS2 times.
I for my part liked the VA, and found the story enjoyable. Obvioulsy we are not talking of high quality literature writing here. But it tured out as i expected: entertaining Hollywood action adventure writing.
It's true that I loved the original TR, but I also quite enjoyed TR2013. As Y2Kev put it recently:
...It is a very fun and immersing title. I've played it a few times. I really enjoy it even if I am a huge fan of the old Tomb Raiders and consider this...well, basically sacrilege. It's hard to hate on games that play so smoothly even if they are derivative...
Rise of the Tomb Raider, on the other hand, was disappointing for me, after TR2013, and I think for a few others as well. Many of us have expressed our views on how the franchise can improve, and I think that's a reasonable discussion to have.

So while it looks like about 8 folks thus far have responded in agreement with my earlier post in this thread, 3 folks have expressed at least some amount of disagreement, with 1 other person kinda in the middle.

And that's great! I'm fully content to simply listen to the opinions of other folks without engaging or disputing them individually, and I would hope that those who have views on this topic, one way or another, wouldn't feel any reluctance in sharing them.
 

occelinho

Member
Playing this right now and yeah, I agree with CrazyToes that the writing is pretty bad.
Worst scene I've seen so far is
"the revelation of Ana's connection to Trinity, when both her and Lara were tied up and Constantine was acting like he is 'strangling' Ana".
.

That whole scene was just so bad and it was pretty obvious something like this would happen.

I also really dislike the input lag. The last time aiming felt this bad was when I was playing Killzone 2. And while I can't say for sure, but I think even without the Input Lag the gunplay isn't really good anyway.

With that being said: I still really love this game!
I'm especially in love with the exploration aspect and that's why I actually have more fun with this game than with Uncharted 4. Most of the tombs are pretty good and can be quite challenging.
I think it's a DLC, but the
Baba Yaga
side mission was great too!


Edit: Is there a patch coming regarding the input lag? I'll propably stop playing for now if there is.
 
Edit: Is there a patch coming regarding the input lag? I'll propably stop playing for now if there is.

I was of the understanding input lag had been reduced or removed entirely with the most recent patch. I can't say I've noticed any input lag at all. I thought aiming felt off initially but adjusting the sensitivity made a difference for me.
 

occelinho

Member
Oh, really? Hmm, maybe I mistook it as input lag then. Though it feels a lot like it.
Thanks for your answer! I will try to adjust the control settings then. Would be great if that was the reason it felt really off for me.
 

Filben

Member
I bought the 20 years celebration DLC for the PC. My understanding was, and as I read at several pages, that every released DLC is included. I cannot find the endurance mode and the Baba Yaga story in-game. And at the in-game marketplace it doesn't show that I own those DLC. Only the 20 years celebration DLC with the Croft's Manor mission and the latest story DLC. Any advice?
 

RedAssedApe

Banned
I bought the 20 years celebration DLC for the PC. My understanding was, and as I read at several pages, that every released DLC is included. I cannot find the endurance mode and the Baba Yaga story in-game. And at the in-game marketplace it doesn't show that I own those DLC. Only the 20 years celebration DLC with the Croft's Manor mission and the latest story DLC. Any advice?

baba yaga mission poped up in my in game objectives once i got to the soviet installation hub.
 

SRTtoZ

Member
Yea a lot of people echo my sentiments when I played it back on XB1 when it came out. Very fun gameplay but the input lag and the story/dialogue really pull you away from the experience. Oh and the collectibles, its just too much. I love love love a good audio log or text log don't get me wrong, but when you include a HUNDRED of them and each one you have to sit and wait at the screen instead of continuing to play gets old very very fast. They pulled that shit with Halo 5 too where you had to stand in place while the audio logs play, fuck that, let me continue to progress like in Dead Space. There was just too many collectibles. Crystal Dynamics, please hear me! less is more. I will be fully on board a Tomb Raider game once they fire the writer.
 

leng jai

Member
Yea a lot of people echo my sentiments when I played it back on XB1 when it came out. Very fun gameplay but the input lag and the story/dialogue really pull you away from the experience. Oh and the collectibles, its just too much. I love love love a good audio log or text log don't get me wrong, but when you include a HUNDRED of them and each one you have to sit and wait at the screen instead of continuing to play gets old very very fast. They pulled that shit with Halo 5 too where you had to stand in place while the audio logs play, fuck that, let me continue to progress like in Dead Space. There was just too many collectibles. Crystal Dynamics, please hear me! less is more. I will be fully on board a Tomb Raider game once they fire the writer.

I literally never listened to one. The fact that you couldn't listen to them in the background was an absurd decision when there are so many.
 
Yeah, I'm with the guys who are saying the story, writing and characters in this game are downright awful. Not only that but even the gameplay loop and gunplay was a lot better in TR2013.

Rise is still a good game overall but a disappointing one after TR2013.

Yes, the story is extremely bad ...but aside from that yeah, my biggest disappointment was other than graphics it seemed to step backward from TR2013. It's so weird. I was positive I was going to love this game. I adored TR2013. It had me wondering if I'm remembering it with rose coloured glasses...but it wasn't that long ago.
 

RedAssedApe

Banned
So whomever tried to argue that hip and blind fire in cover wasn't a glaring omission because "90% of the game can be beaten with stealth and you're playing it wrong"...why u lying? Lol

Is the Croft manor content worth playing? Started blood ties but got sleepy because it's been all documents so far and the bad design of not letting you listen to these Lara readingh/listening to things while playing the game.
 

wouwie

Member
I finished the game yesterday. In general i thought it was ok and i had fun with it (a lot more than Uncharted 4 but that was a disappointment). The strongest element was the gameplay, especially the exploration (enjoyed the additional tombs quite a bit) and traversal in an interesting and often beautiful world. I rated the 2013 version a 7/10 iirc and i would rate this game about the same.

However, the story didn't do anything for me and i found the characters bland and uninteresting. A lot of the dialogue felt cringe-worthy and i actually wondered how the voice actors must have felt when they needed to deliver certain lines. It's not a story that i will remember and i didn't feel any attachement to any of the characters.

At some point, the developers should sit back and realise what works and what doesn't. The traversal was fun but had very little challenge to it. The rope and bow were fun as were the fire bombs and such. The shoot-outs with lots of enemies (especially towards the end) weren't particulary fun and the shooting was ok but not great. I would have liked to see more slow moments of exploration, puzzles, discovery and stealth.

The amount of collectibles, side missions, challenges,... was so huge that i stopped caring about all that. So many weapons and skills to upgrade but i never really felt as if it mattered all that much in the gameplay. I didn't use the hunter visibility and i don't feel the game needs it. Strip that all away and concentrate on the good core gameplay backed with a more interesting story and characters.

I hope the rumors are true that another studio is doing the next Tomb Raider. I love the genre and it would be interesting to see what they do with the franchise. I'm looking forward to seeing what's next for the Tomb Raider franchise.
 
Played a little bit more this morning and I actually just turned it off early in dismay.

Made my way to the Geothermal Valley and up until then it's been fine, surprisingly. The combat hasn't felt too heavy handed and what there has been was somewhat enjoyable. Now that I'm in the valley, the natives have really made their presence known. Lara is trying to support their cause and I really don't give a fuck about them. I didn't take to any of the supporting characters in TR 2013 (with the exception of Jonah) and it's a similar issue I'm getting with this sequel. Jacob and his daughter are uninteresting and the natives in general are unwanted. I now yearn for when it was just Lara and Trinity. =/

I hope the rumors are true that another studio is doing the next Tomb Raider. I love the genre and it would be interesting to see what they do with the franchise. I'm looking forward to seeing what's next for the Tomb Raider franchise.

Where did this rumor come from?
 
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