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[SnapShot]

wow these games are tediously difficult... keys, switches, levers...etc are so easy to miss because they blend so well with the environment (sometimes they are even hidden in dark areas) some platforming sections have platforms that can almost be mistaken as decorative platforms not meant to be reached by the player because of how grabbing onto them is so easy to miss, platforming itself is a nightmare with having to carefully position the character in the right angel and square spot...etc.

and that main menu theme playing whenever you enter a big puzzle room feels like it's taunting you and saying "get ready for another slow-as-hell block pushing exercise" not sure i have the patience to play 3 entire games and 3 DLCs like that.

 

[TheDarkPhantom]

TR1 done, it was glorious reliving this classic. Got both these trophies down on my first run:

I think I'll do the DLC first before moving on to TR2. All 3 pieces of DLC will be totally new to me, really looking forward to it

 

[TGO]

Man, I'm often switching back and forth between graphics modes. In many cases the original graphics still holds up so well

Also, where the hell are in this level the rest of the five pick ups and three secrets I've missed? I've explored every inch of this one... so I though.

there's is one in this room which I think can be easy to miss

 

[Giallo Corsa]

wow these games are tediously difficult... keys, switches, levers...etc are so easy to miss because they blend so well with the environment (sometimes they are even hidden in dark areas) some platforming sections have platforms that can almost be mistaken as decorative platforms not meant to be reached by the player because of how grabbing onto them is so easy to miss, platforming itself is a nightmare with having to carefully position the character in the right angel and square spot...etc.

and that main menu theme playing whenever you enter a big puzzle room feels like it's taunting you and saying "get ready for another slow-as-hell block pushing exercise" not sure i have the patience to play 3 entire games and 3 DLCs like that.

I love these games but...I get what you're saying man.

In fact, I'm finding myself getting kind of bored with TR 1 since the remake from the X360 era is still - weirdly enough - kind of fresh in my memory.
Couple that with the tank controls and the obvious block pushing and puzzles and...I don't know.

PS: I've played all the previous original 5 TR games on a PC when they came out so it's not due to a "boomer" thing getting used to modernized control schemes and hand- holding , it's just that the puzzle solving gets tedious due to the tank controls by today's standards, I mean, heck, you have to input 2 commands having to make Lara perform a sidestep just to be able to pull a switch or grab an item ffs if you happen to not have her perfectly aligned on the same grid as an item/switch/lever, it gets tedious in the end and especially after experiencing all the control advancements in 3D games for the past 25+ years

Cheers

 

[emivita]

50 out of 51 items collected in Atlantis level and couldn't find the last one. Fuuuck. And I've collected every item and secrets in the previous levels.

 

[Filben]

wow these games are tediously difficult... keys, switches, levers...etc are so easy to miss because they blend so well with the environment (sometimes they are even hidden in dark areas) some platforming sections have platforms that can almost be mistaken as decorative platforms not meant to be reached by the player because of how grabbing onto them is so easy to miss, platforming itself is a nightmare with having to carefully position the character in the right angel and square spot...etc.

and that main menu theme playing whenever you enter a big puzzle room feels like it's taunting you and saying "get ready for another slow-as-hell block pushing exercise" not sure i have the patience to play 3 entire games and 3 DLCs like that.

It definitely helps having them played back then. There's a reason they included a context-action icon when you can pick up or interact with something: it's easy to miss if you don't know how interactable objects look like. And even with it, it's sometimes hard to spot, especially from a distance. 1996 eyes are a bit more trained to that but it's definitely harder with more temporal distance and if you're (semi) new to the series. In regards of the platforming, I still think it holds up well because it's a different design language and not a limitation.

To elaborate: in most modern games platforming is not a puzzle or challenge per se but a what I call "pace equalizer". After all the shooting (Uncharted, modern TR) or fighting (GoW) the player needs to do something else so they don't get the feeling they're always doing the same repetitive thing. The focus however is on a cinematic experience with a certain flow to it. That's also the reason why they went waaaay over board with the constant hints and NPC remarks in the new GoW; god forbid the player's stuck for a minute or two. And even if you look at the platforming in let's say Uncharted: the biggest struggle you have is fighting the camera or timing; I don't know how often the camera shifts its angle in a bad moment or you misjudged distance or angle due to a weird camera you sometimes don't have full control over; then you have often pressure in form of timed events. The platforming itself is easy: look for conventiently chalked egdes, jump roughly into the direction and the character does the rest (in the Tomb Raider reboot this leads to awkwardly looking animations since Lara knows in the moment you jump off if she's gonna make it and already adopts the required animation for landing on/at the platform). Again, great for flow and a cinematic experience where stuff happens on the screen in great succession.

Classic Tomb Raider, however, is slowly paced by design. It requires careful observation, navigation and traversal. It requires some light ressource management because health items and ammo (except for pistols) are limited for the entire game. Think before acting, especially on old consoles with set save points. Before making a jump you have to make sure you can make it and due to precise mechanics you will know for 95% most of the time and often for 100%; often there's no chance your character will glitch out and doesn't grab the edge for some unknown reason, how it is sometimes in the new TR trilogy or Uncharted games.

It also suits the theme of the game. Lara is a smart explorer who is isolated and completely on her own. If she sprains even an ankle in most of the places she visitis, she's practically fucked and doomed to die of thirst and hunger or other elements. She has to be slow and considerate most of the time but also needs to act quickly of the situation requires it (that's when her tools like side and back flips, rolls and shooting from almost every jump position she makes is possible comes into play).

Both approaches are valid. None is inherently "better" then the other. It's just a game knowing what it wants (aka what it focuses on and how the player should experience it). Some people prefer one approach over the other. Some like both, but in portions or switch between them depending on the mood and/or recent games (and fatigue of one approach).

I just now realise that you're likely to know all this and this might come across presumptuous. If so, I apologize. I just don't want people to shrug this off as an "awkward" or "outdated" game that has inherent flaws (it does have those, but different ones, especially TR2 and the following titles).

 

[rodrigolfp]

I said this earlier but until you can do this

Tank is the only way.
What you did can still be done with tank at the same speed, you just gotta be accustom to them

Now put a single platform not "in line" with the others and see what happens. You can do this if devs give the option and still have more freedom of movement.

 

[TGO]

Now put a single platform not "in line" with the others and see what happens. You can do this if devs give the option and still have more freedom of movement.

You mean like the Fire Room in Midas Palace?
Or more spaced out?
I mean I'm sure you can get good at the modern controls but this was painful to watch

 

[Faust]

What were you expecting? No way the remastered version was gonna get green lit if she were nude.

Besides any other game would've just removed the lady altogether because it isn't very PC.

Meanwhile we have major first party games and some of the highest grossing third party games (such as GTA) that openly show this at the same age rating.

Its just shitty, hypocritical censorship. No reason to have it.

 

[GnomeChimpsky]

Man, some of these 3D models look a bit cursed lmao

 

[TGO]

Well they straight up removed it in Chronicles so this is actually better and it's isn't new.

 

[Alex11]

Wow, the new game+ upped the difficulty a bit, but not a fan of increasing difficulty through more damage and more hp of opponents.
I would have preferred to be in the form of more secrets or traps, this kind of stuff.

 

[Fart Knight]

 

[Esppiral]

I plan on playing the games twice once with updated graphics and original graphics.

The original graphics I'm saving for the second run since in the case with Lost Valley the darkness makes it very foreboding as opposed to the new graphics where you can see the sky.

The darkness adds to how terrifying it makes the dinosaurs. The fear factor isn't as great when you see the skies as opposed to this.

The original PlayStation and sega Saturn has even shorter draw distance It made the games feel bigger

 

[MagiusNecros]

How can you possibly have time to play all 3 twice? It took me several weeks to beat the original.

I’d imagine a

Skill issue

 

[Alexios]

The original PlayStation and sega Saturn has even shorter draw distance It made the games feel bigger

Saturn tends to have larger draw distance than PS (makes you wonder why they didn't reduce it to get framerate higher but o well, it's almost a beta rushed version missing some things like Lara's handstand, still pretty amazing to have back then).

Top is Saturn, the second shot shows that the music room is still visible, not culled, through the door. Ignore the bad capture quality on both systems here, it's not what they're showing anyway. Anyway, larger draw distance doesn't ruin the look or make it feel small, I like it even with the original graphics as you can have in versions like Open Lara. It's like that room in her mansion, it makes no sense that it's not visible all the way across and it's only because of the tech limitations of the era rather than an atmospheric effect, even if it kinda fits some later areas in the game a bit more.

Of course even with the expanded distance and new visuals they could have made it all look like it's underground still, but I guess with somewhat more natural looking lighting they didn't want to add a lot of random artificial light sources so decided on ceiling holes/windows and skyboxes.

 

[Filben]

Of course even with the expanded distance and new visuals they could have made it all look like it's underground still, but I guess with somewhat more natural looking lighting they didn't want to add a lot of random artificial light sources so decided on ceiling holes/windows and skyboxes.

Wait, did they really put a medpack in a spot where your only way up is by glitching? :O

Also, I'm beginning to repeat myself but I love the Saturn version. Colour palette and Lara's model looks so good. Also, the save crystals have this weird bluish-violette colour and distortion in the PSX version that seems out of place. In the Saturn version, it's simply grey.

 

[Sub_Level]

Beat St Francis Folley this morning. Great level like always. Taking it nice and slooooow, only doing one level a day.

 

[Scotty W]

Skill issue

My guess is that a playthrough is 20-30 hours. How do you have that kind of time?

 

[xrnzaaas]

I forgot how much Pierre was annoying, both in terms of his repeat appearances and very cheap exits before he can be finished off.

 

[MagiusNecros]

My guess is that a playthrough is 20-30 hours. How do you have that kind of time?

I work a early morning shift which gets me on average 7 hours of recreational time to do whatever I want every day that I work and on a day off I can stay up later for more game time or I could stay on my sleep schedule and play in the early morning all the way up until the evening. Finding time to play isn't an issue if you don't really go anywhere except for your job or maybe a 2 hour walk at a nature reservation with trails to walk. I generally get 6-8 hours of sleep and am active between 2am-7pm. My shifts are 4am-12pm so I get out just in time to get or make lunch.

Besides I tend to play through games I'm hooked on pretty quickly.

Besides Relink grinding(already clocked 88 hours, game is fun and addicting!!) after TR Remaster I plan on playing Blade of Darkness 4 times for each character. It'll be a fun time.

Today I'm finishing up a run of Lords of Exile(about a 2 hour foray) and will be doing a second run for the 2nd character you unlock. So that's probably another 1-2 hours for a 6-8 hour experience.

And I have a week off next week so it'll be a Tomb Raider Week for me. Headphones and a dark room with blackout curtains for a nice cozy atmospheric experience.

I think playing through TR 1-3 will probably take maybe 1-3 weeks for 2 runs but I also labbed the controls for a bit in the training gym tutorial to learn Tank and Modern controls. Only took me 2 hours for the first 4 levels in TR1 so far and 20 minutes was messing up jumps in the Lost Valley.

Realistically I think 30-50 hours is probably fair for 2 playthroughs of 3 games.

But I'm sure skilled players can probably clock all 3 games anywhere between 10-15 hours if they know the level layout like the back of their hand.

Thank you for your question.

 

[Scotty W]

I work a early morning shift which gets me on average 7 hours of recreational time to do whatever I want every day that I work and on a day off I can stay up later for more game time or I could stay on my sleep schedule and play in the early morning all the way up until the evening. Finding time to play isn't an issue if you don't really go anywhere except for your job or maybe a 2 hour walk at a nature reservation with trails to walk. I generally get 6-8 hours of sleep and am active between 2am-7pm. My shifts are 4am-12pm so I get out just in time to get or make lunch.

Besides I tend to play through games I'm hooked on pretty quickly.

Besides Relink grinding(already clocked 88 hours, game is fun and addicting!!) after TR Remaster I plan on playing Blade of Darkness 4 times for each character. It'll be a fun time.

Today I'm finishing up a run of Lords of Exile(about a 2 hour foray) and will be doing a second run for the 2nd character you unlock. So that's probably another 1-2 hours for a 6-8 hour experience.

And I have a week off next week so it'll be a Tomb Raider Week for me. Headphones and a dark room with blackout curtains for a nice cozy atmospheric experience.

I think playing through TR 1-3 will probably take maybe 1-3 weeks for 2 runs but I also labbed the controls for a bit in the training gym tutorial to learn Tank and Modern controls. Only took me 2 hours for the first 4 levels in TR1 so far and 20 minutes was messing up jumps in the Lost Valley.

Realistically I think 30-50 hours is probably fair for 2 playthroughs of 3 games.

But I'm sure skilled players can probably clock all 3 games anywhere between 10-15 hours if they know the level layout like the back of their hand.

Thank you for your question.

That makes sense. I have around 3 hours of free time during the week. TotK took 200 hours over 5 months. I was amazed that I was able to post 40 hours a month.

 

[DeleteriousObnoxious]

So i tried some NG+ not for the weak of heart mind you...

Spoiler: Features of NG+

The Save Crystals are back. - Enemies has double life and give double damage, Can't heal only by saving with a crystal and healthpacks are changed to ammo.
However you will soon notice that even if you start with all weapons you run dry in ammo pretty quickly. so

the Survival aspect of the game is just turned up 100 % more. not sure how i will fair in Egypt or Greece but Peru is already really intense.
Anyone else tried it out yet?

 

[DaGwaphics]

Man, some of these 3D models look a bit cursed lmao

It's almost photo realistic now.

 

[TheDarkPhantom]

So i tried some NG+ not for the weak of heart mind you...

Spoiler: Features of NG+

The Save Crystals are back. - Enemies has double life and give double damage, Can't heal only by saving with a crystal and healthpacks are changed to ammo.
However you will soon notice that even if you start with all weapons you run dry in ammo pretty quickly. so

the Survival aspect of the game is just turned up 100 % more. not sure how i will fair in Egypt or Greece but Peru is already really intense.
Anyone else tried it out yet?

Whoa! I assume all your ammo and health packs (converted) carry over though? I did my first playthrough pistols only so at least I've got a surplus lol

 

[DeleteriousObnoxious]

Whoa! I assume all your ammo and health packs (converted) carry over though? I did my first playthrough pistols only so at least I've got a surplus lol

Not so sure about that i thought i had more ammo and health packs when i finished the game myself... i think you just start with all the weapons and very limited ammo no health packs.

 

[TheDarkPhantom]

Not so sure about that i thought i had more ammo and health packs when i finished the game myself... i think you just start with all the weapons and very limited ammo no health packs.

Well that sucks lol. Oh well, I'm going to playthrough everything once before checking out NG+ anyway, good luck

 

[DeleteriousObnoxious]

Well that sucks lol. Oh well, I'm going to playthrough everything once before checking out NG+ anyway, good luck

'Ohh i am for sure doing TR main games before NG+ i was just checking it out lol xD and i am noping out of it for now... TR 3 seems much more attracting now xD

 

[TGO]

Saturn tends to have larger draw distance than PS (makes you wonder why they didn't reduce it to get framerate higher but o well, it's almost a beta rushed version missing some things like Lara's handstand, still pretty amazing to have back then).

Top is Saturn, the second shot shows that the music room is still visible, not culled, through the door. Ignore the bad capture quality on both systems here, it's not what they're showing anyway. Anyway, larger draw distance doesn't ruin the look or make it feel small, I like it even with the original graphics as you can have in versions like Open Lara. It's like that room in her mansion, it makes no sense that it's not visible all the way across and it's only because of the tech limitations of the era rather than an atmospheric effect, even if it kinda fits some later areas in the game a bit more.

Of course even with the expanded distance and new visuals they could have made it all look like it's underground still, but I guess with somewhat more natural looking lighting they didn't want to add a lot of random artificial light sources so decided on ceiling holes/windows and skyboxes.

It's fascinating how the Saturn actually renders Tomb Raider

Which explains its draw distance although it isn't always the case of it being more visible.
It must of been a headache getting it to run the way it did.

 

[Madflavor]

So somebody noticed this Easter Egg in the game:

Top left is the release date for Tomb Raider I-III Remastered. The bottom right says "Next" and displays the coordinates for Giza.

Seems like Last Revelation Remastered is planned.

 

[Belthazar]

Finally got around to beating 1 at ~9 hours of playtime. Now it's time to solve some Unfinished Business.

 

[Tiago Rodrigues]

So somebody noticed this Easter Egg in the game:

Top left is the release date for Tomb Raider I-III Remastered. The bottom right says "Next" and displays the coordinates for Giza.

Seems like Last Revelation Remastered is planned.

Nice! Probably The Last Revelation + Chronicles...and i wonder about The Angel of Darkness. That game has so much content done we never saw before...who knows.

 

[TGO]

The Angel of Darkness is probably my least played Tomb Raider, But I do remember the controls was a BIG problem, I heard they actually changed the control from Tank to 3D Analogue late in development
Maybe that can retrofit the Tank Controls back in or fix the Modern type, although with how Modern is in this collection it's probably best just focus on the Tank Controls

 

[Madflavor]

Chronicles and Angel of Darkness are depressing games. You could FEEL that Core's hearts weren't in it. It's hard for me to play AoD knowing that it's the game that killed the studio. I feel like Tomb Raider would be in a very different place today if Core weren't forced to make Chronicles after LR, and they began work on the next gen Tomb Raider right after LR like they originally planned.

 

[TheDarkPhantom]

Cleared the first level of NG+ just to check it out, yeah, this is going to be a cool challenge. I think NG+ is a bit of a misnomer as you don't actually carry over what you finished your first playthrough with, should be called Survival. Save crystals will definitely up the tension for trickier areas though you do get to save after clearing a level which is welcome. I guess beating this mode will also net you the No Medpacks trophy by default since there aren't any lol.

 

[Alex11]

So i tried some NG+ not for the weak of heart mind you...

Spoiler: Features of NG+

The Save Crystals are back. - Enemies has double life and give double damage, Can't heal only by saving with a crystal and healthpacks are changed to ammo.
However you will soon notice that even if you start with all weapons you run dry in ammo pretty quickly. so

the Survival aspect of the game is just turned up 100 % more. not sure how i will fair in Egypt or Greece but Peru is already really intense.
Anyone else tried it out yet?

I tried it and I already mentioned this, I'm not a fan. At least not of the more damage and more hp of enemies.
I'm curious as well of the later levels, especially Egypt and Atlantis, how I manage with the enemies, maybe the secrets you normally find hold more ammo in NG+

 

[Tiago Rodrigues]

Chronicles and Angel of Darkness are depressing games. You could FEEL that Core's hearts weren't in it. It's hard for me to play AoD knowing that it's the game that killed the studio. I feel like Tomb Raider would be in a very different place today if Core weren't forced to make Chronicles after LR, and they began work on the next gen Tomb Raider right after LR like they originally planned.

Angel of Darkness had a lot of issues...but lack of heart wasn't the problem. If anything the game suffered from too much ambition from a developer that had a publisher too eager to release an unfinished product.

 

[Shake Your Rump]

The release of this set made me start up the original PS1 version again. It’s been about 12 years since I last played this, and the time before that would have been in 1997 on a 3DFX card. It looks great and brings back so many memories. As I play, I find myself repeatedly saying, “what great game”.

So many bears and wolves are giving their lives.

 

[SCB3]

Heh, definitely a game from the 90s.

See the thing is, that stuff like this will not get into games (and possibly some films) cause of what it says, but its more realistic cause thats how people talk!

 

[cireza]

We need a physical release.

 

[AyraSutoraifu]

Based on the pictures posted ITT, I’m not too fond of the augmented draw distance. The Colosseum felt so large, mysterious and ominous because stuff in the distance was hidden in the dark. Same for those giant rooms with the sphynxes.

I’m not going as far as saying that it’s like removing the fog in Silent Hill, but in those very large rooms it kinda spoils the atmosphere.
The skylight in Tomb of Qualopec is out of place, too. It really takes away the feeling of being in an underground death trap, with a million tons of rock above your head.

Overall this still looks great, though. I’m definitely getting the game at one point.

That's the one thing i don't like about the remastered version, skyroofs everywhere…

 

[Alex11]

Such a gorgeous remaster.

 

[Alex11]

My rush session for these achievements, gotta say, my ass was clenching hard for the saving and no health ones.

 

[cireza]

Bought the game on Xbox, I was never going to wait for physical.

I skipped the first game (only did the two first levels) as I know it by heart.

So basically, this is my first time playing II and III. So I started with II, and honestly I am like "WTF happened ?". The game is constantly throwing at you guys that shoot from far away and never miss. This is super annoying. The game is focused a ton on fighting other guys. This wasn't the case at all in the first game. Sure there was a random guy spawning here and there, but it really was about exploring.

The very first level was in China or something, it was alright, but not really great. Quite linear, and the traps near the end sucked. Fucking spiders would never die as well. And that tyrannosaurus was basically living in a hole. Makes no sense.

And then you end up in Venisia, which doesn't feel much like a tomb, but whatever. And there are these guys shooting everywhere. Level-design feels also quite inferior for now. I reached the Opera, pretty far away inside it, but everything feels so random. Missed one secret in the previous stage by the way.

For now, I can't say that I am enjoying II at all. I hope it will get better, but I am quite disappointed by the enemies and level-design. They probably rushed the games after the first I anyway.

Aspyr did a pretty awesome job, this should be noted.

 

[Shake Your Rump]

So basically, this is my first time playing II and III. So I started with II, and honestly I am like "WTF happened ?". The game is constantly throwing at you guys that shoot from far away and never miss. This is super annoying. The game is focused a ton on fighting other guys. This wasn't the case at all in the first game. Sure there was a random guy spawning here and there, but it really was about exploring.

The very first level was in China or something, it was alright, but not really great. Quite linear, and the traps near the end sucked. Fucking spiders would never die as well. And that tyrannosaurus was basically living in a hole. Makes no sense.

And then you end up in Venisia, which doesn't feel much like a tomb, but whatever. And there are these guys shooting everywhere. Level-design feels also quite inferior for now. I reached the Opera, pretty far away inside it, but everything feels so random. Missed one secret in the previous stage by the way.

About ten years ago, I re-played the first two PS1 games and wrote a long review/rant about the second game. Here is a relevant portion:

Spoiler

I start in Venice, at a literal dead-end. No doors or paths lead to the area. How did I get there? Parachute? Why would I choose to land in a useless dead end? Then I run around, preforming a series of switch pulls, which open doors in distant rooms, which lead to more switches, which open more doors in a distant rooms. Why on earth would anyone install the switches in such a fashion? I can force myself to believe that insane ancient powers might do so, but modern day humans? I was getting to the end of the line when the game redeemed itself via a very cool boat ride up a ramp, and another scene where I dove off the boat just before it collided with underwater mines.

Now, I am on the next level and things are just completely out of hand. Apparently, the best way to protect a library from intruders is to lock the door and hide the key behind a painting. A painting that requires pulling a series of switches up in the rafters of an abandoned room, through a underwater path hidden behind a fireplace protected by blades and flame jets, ultimately reached via raising and lowering chandeliers, allowing one to climb and jump on said chandeliers.

So, yeah, the level design is bizarre and feels random. Also, the focus on shooting humans is a huge change from the first game.

 

[intbal]

Digital Foundry seems to have overlooked the fact that the game runs at 120fps on Series X if you select that refresh rate.



Since it's just running at vsync, I wonder if the developers are even aware of this. Seems like maybe not. Otherwise they would have added custom support for 120fps on PS5.

 

[Madflavor]

Bought the game on Xbox, I was never going to wait for physical.

I skipped the first game (only did the two first levels) as I know it by heart.

So basically, this is my first time playing II and III. So I started with II, and honestly I am like "WTF happened ?". The game is constantly throwing at you guys that shoot from far away and never miss. This is super annoying. The game is focused a ton on fighting other guys. This wasn't the case at all in the first game. Sure there was a random guy spawning here and there, but it really was about exploring.

The very first level was in China or something, it was alright, but not really great. Quite linear, and the traps near the end sucked. Fucking spiders would never die as well. And that tyrannosaurus was basically living in a hole. Makes no sense.

And then you end up in Venisia, which doesn't feel much like a tomb, but whatever. And there are these guys shooting everywhere. Level-design feels also quite inferior for now. I reached the Opera, pretty far away inside it, but everything feels so random. Missed one secret in the previous stage by the way.

For now, I can't say that I am enjoying II at all. I hope it will get better, but I am quite disappointed by the enemies and level-design. They probably rushed the games after the first I anyway.

Aspyr did a pretty awesome job, this should be noted.

I will tell you that the 2nd half of TR2 is easily the best parts of the game. Tibet and the Temple of Xian stand as the best levels Core Design ever made.

 

[Alex11]

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

So I started with II, and honestly I am like "WTF happened ?". The game is constantly throwing at you guys that shoot from far away and never miss. This is super annoying. The game is focused a ton on fighting other guys. This wasn't the case at all in the first game. Sure there was a random guy spawning here and there, but it really was about exploring.

The very first level was in China or something, it was alright, but not really great. Quite linear, and the traps near the end sucked. Fucking spiders would never die as well. And that tyrannosaurus was basically living in a hole. Makes no sense.

And then you end up in Venisia, which doesn't feel much like a tomb, but whatever. And there are these guys shooting everywhere.

About ten years ago, I re-played the first two PS1 games and wrote a long review/rant about the second game. Here is a relevant portion:

Spoiler

Now, I am on the next level and things are just completely out of hand. Apparently, the best way to protect a library from intruders is to lock the door and hide the key behind a painting. A painting that requires pulling a series of switches up in the rafters of an abandoned room, through a underwater path hidden behind a fireplace protected by blades and flame jets, ultimately reached via raising and lowering chandeliers, allowing one to climb and jump on said chandeliers.

So, yeah, the level design is bizarre and feels random. Also, the focus on shooting humans is a huge change from the first game.

Thank you. I’ve been saying this since 1997, when Lara’s return was hailed as a much better game than the first.

It’s always been pretty clear that the devs found a way to have save-anywhere on console and decided that TR should now be played like a shooter or an adventure game where you’re supposed to save / load after every step. Pure trial and error in so many instances, and nonsensical level design that seems to take a page or two from the classic Resident Evil book.

Is there an achievement for beating TR2 without using medkits, too? That would be a masterful troll move. In Venice you have already lost half of your health before you can even see who the hell is shooting at you, and from where.

 

[MagiusNecros]

If Crystal Dynamics gave a shit:



Comparison:



Props to the guy that took the time to animate this for fun.