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LTTP: the new Tomb Raiders

Trogdor1123

Gold Member
I started the new trilogy for Tomb Raider and I've rather enjoyed them. I beat the original years ago and got Rise on plus (this game literally had so much content) and just beat the campaign last weekend. The games run fantastic on a ps5.

Question about Rise, there is so much content! Is Croft Manner worth doing, same thing with the adventures and the rest of it? I plan on playing through shadow in the little while but might put a few more hours into Rise first but wanted some opinions.
 

Kupfer

Member
I I plan on playing through shadow in the little while but might put a few more hours into Rise first but wanted some opinions.
Don't play Shadow of Tomb Raider. It's an overloaded mess, which looks nice, but the story, storytelling, acting, characters and repetitive gameplay is just way behind it's two predecessors, it will break your affection for TR & RotTR.
I'm serious, just forget it exists and don't think about it anymore. There are two good new Tomb Raider games. That's it.
 
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Trogdor1123

Gold Member
The DLCs for both Rise and Shadow are very short if you mean that with the Croft Manor

I did the one with the witch in rise, was fun but short. There is also some adventure thing with cards? Haven't had a look at that yet at all.
Don't play Shadow of Tomb Raider. It's an overloaded mess, which looks nice, but the story, storytelling, acting, characters and repetitive gameplay is just way behind it's two predecessors, it will break your affection for TR & RotTR.
I'm serious, just forget it exists and don't think about it anymore. There are two good new Tomb Raider games. That's it.
Oh wow, it's that bad? The story at the end of rise seemed interesting.
 
Enjoyed my time with two games we got on PS Plus, Shadow was much better and prettier though. Lara was ok but they made her sort of crazy obsessed and driven, like she had a death wish or something. That’s one thing that bothered me. Other than that, she had very kind and likable personality. At many times in Shadow I caught myself thinking this is better than Uncharted but when the curtain falls, overall, it’s not really that close. Story is too wack tbh. Mechanically, games are superb, again, Shadow in particular.
 
The second game was enjoyable once I decided to play on the easiest difficulty and check my phone every time a cutscene happened. The setting is cool and it has a good balance of action, braindead exploration and "puzzles".

Out of all the action-game-goes-fantasy titles from Return to Castle Wolfenstein to now, this one has the best gimmick. Uncharted falls off a cliff every time the fantasy kicks in, the newer Wolfensteins suck (2009 had decent fantasy), FEAR went full retard and the rest aren't even worth mentioning. Rise has cool enemies in a great setting with a decent backstory. They are not frustrating (Uncharted 2 can suck my dick) and they don't overstay their welcome.
 

Certinty

Member
Shadow is way better than Rise, but still nowhere near as good as the first.

But a warning note, the story in Shadow is like beyond awful, but everything else is pretty decent, especially the optional tomb puzzles.
 
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RAIDEN1

Member
I think I am getting more into Shadows, than the last free PSN Plus release, which I just couldn't be bothered to get into, with Shadows, from my initial play through, I am getting a slight Uncharted vibe, which is great... where as with the anniversary edition, all I got upto was the part just before you get chased by the bear, and I couldn't be bothered with it after that so deleted it..:messenger_grinning_smiling:
 

SEGA_2012

Member
I am finally playing the first one, for PS3 . I used to play the MP, it was a lot of fun. Now i am playing the campaign.
 

DapperSloth

Member
Don't play Shadow of Tomb Raider. It's an overloaded mess, which looks nice, but the story, storytelling, acting, characters and repetitive gameplay is just way behind it's two predecessors, it will break your affection for TR & RotTR.
I'm serious, just forget it exists and don't think about it anymore. There are two good new Tomb Raider games. That's it.

Lol what the hell you on about? It's the best out of the three new ones, because it more closely follows the soul of the first Tomb Raider game. Which is, you had jungles to explore, big tombs to explore and a story about long lost artifacts. Man the first and second game where mostly just pew pew and little Tomb Raiding and I have 100% them both. If you are a fan of the original trilogy from 1996 then you should really like the third one.
 
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Termite

Member
I'm in the exact same position.

Beat Rise last week and was so disappointed in it by the end I decided I wouldn't play Shadow, especially as I'd heard it's worse.

Decided to start it anyway and I'm glad I did - it's miles better than Rise in almost every way. Better setting, better climbing, better level design, better plot (still not great), better characters. Just a far better game that feels much more like actual Tomb Raider than Rise did. Rise felt like a series of poor combat encounters with poorly designed open levels between them. Shadow has far, far less combat and the world is way better put together. It actually feels like you're exploring - which Rise never did.

Still has a lot of the same flaws as all three of them, but I was desperate for Rise to end long before it did, and started actually skipping cutscenes. Konstantin and his sister were possibly the worst bad guys I've ever encountered in a video game, and the constant daddy issues talk drove me insane. With Shadow I'm properly engaged at all times - a huge step up.

The "run away from danger" set pieces are far better in Shadow, too. Some of them are spectacular, even if the gameplay is easy shite.
 
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Daffy Duck

Member
I still have Shadow to complete, can’t what part I got to before I stopped playing
i think it was the puzzle in her house when she’s young

But sadly the games are just nowhere near as good as the original games.
 

Humdinger

Member
I picked up the first one for like 3 dollars on PSN the other day. I enjoyed my play through of it, many moons ago, and look forward to replaying it.
 

Kenpachii

Member
Its like a 10 hour cracker. It's pretty bad. Even for 10 bucks i felt scammed. DLC"s are borderline short to the point its just cut content really.
 
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Shadow is fine, it's done by another team and it shows. There's nothing new to it but it doesn't break anything, it's the Arkham Origins of the franchise. Real shame it came to that as the OG developer was put into that Avengers dud. Anyway I think if you liked Rise and 2013 you'll like Shadow, it's not a total fuck up.
 

Humdinger

Member
I replayed about two-thirds of the first game, then stopped. I enjoyed my time with it okay, but something just wasn't hooking me, the second time around. I'm not sure what it was. Possibly the continually dark environments, without any real variation. Possibly the detachment I felt from the story and characters. I don't know. Some of the action was fun. It certainly had a lot of explosions and fire and big set pieces.

By the time I got to the first real semi-open area, though (where you're trying to take down enemies with flashlights in the dark), the game felt like more trouble than it was worth, and I stopped.
 

Dark Star

Member
I played through the first game and Rise. They're pretty cool, kind of like uncharted. I'm not a big fan of crafting mechanics and loot and other junk in games, though.

Haven't played Shadow yet. I see it's on sale for like 13 bucks on PSN. Worth my time? I enjoyed the gameplay for the other games, not so much the story.
 
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Justin9mm

Member
Don't play Shadow of Tomb Raider. It's an overloaded mess, which looks nice, but the story, storytelling, acting, characters and repetitive gameplay is just way behind it's two predecessors, it will break your affection for TR & RotTR.
I'm serious, just forget it exists and don't think about it anymore. There are two good new Tomb Raider games. That's it.
I actually played and finished Shadow off the back of Rise on PS5 a few weeks ago. Rise is so much better but I actually think overall Rise also looked a little better. I agree with you that it can be forgotten.. It was such a lazy attempt. They couldn't even copy and paste right lol
 

Justin9mm

Member
I played through the first game and Rise. They're pretty cool, kind of like uncharted. I'm not a big fan of crafting mechanics and loot and other junk in games, though.

Haven't played Shadow yet. I see it's on sale for like 13 bucks on PSN. Worth my time? I enjoyed the gameplay for the other games, not so much the story.
They just gave it away on PS+ couple months ago.
 

Justin9mm

Member
Shadow is way better than Rise, but still nowhere near as good as the first.

But a warning note, the story in Shadow is like beyond awful, but everything else is pretty decent, especially the optional tomb puzzles.
This is interesting to me because I thought Rise was better than Shadow playing both back to back but did not play the first so if you think its better than both of those then I'm more hyped now to play it.
 

skit_data

Member
Just started playing the first and I intend to play the whole trilogy. So far Tomb Raider The Definitive Edition holds up really well outside a few small things (facial animation and movement animation in general). Really wierd that I haven’t checked these out before.

There are a few obvious awesome things that inspired some mechanics in Uncharted 4 as well. Gotta say I’m pleasantly surprised!

The only thing that sticks out like a sore thumb, at least in this first entry;
The shaky camera in cutscenes. It’s beyond horrible and really drags down the overall impression of the scenes at display. Hopefully the later entries don’t use it as much, it’s fucking atrocious in the first entry.

But, overall I’m very impressed (albeit a bit late to the party, but that’s what this thread is for). Great job by Crystal Dynamics.
 
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I've only played the first reboot, and while I wouldn't call it a "bad" game, it's missing the heart and soul of what Tomb Raider is to me. Core's vision and execution is what I really love in this series.
 

skit_data

Member
Btw, is Rise of the Tomb Raider 60fps on PS5?
If not it’s gonna stick out like a sorr thumb because the first game and Shadow of the Tomb Raider are both 60 fps.
 

NeoIkaruGAF

Gold Member
Shadow is a great-looking, decent-playing game with one of the most offensively stupid excuses for a plot I’ve seen in a decade.
The 2013 reboot at least felt like a survival story. Rise was… eh. Shadow is really terrible on that front.

Overall, the trilogy was a moderately enjoyable romp, but I had the best time with the first game.
 

kraspkibble

Permabanned.
i've only played the reboot and rise. i have shadow but can't bring myself to play it. i have a pretty good idea what it'll be about. it's the same old crap every time with these games.
 
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BigLee74

Member
Shadow is LOADS better than Rise in many areas (graphics, scope, setting), but in truth all are great.

I wouldn’t play them back to back though, as you will burn out.
 

Orta

Banned
Shadow is merely an obligatory conclusion of the Trilogy. Its decent but obvious CD weren't behind it. The reboot was nice if a little basic but Rise is significantly the best of the three. Its the best Tomb Raider after the 96 original in my opinion.
 
I bought the collection for SX since it was in the spring sale for $20. I am going through the first one now and it’s pretty good. I am annoyed at all the QTE, sign of the times gaming was in back then I guess, but overall it’s good. Looks surprisingly solid as well. Apparently the SX adds auto HDR and a FPS boost.
 

skit_data

Member
I bought the collection for SX since it was in the spring sale for $20. I am going through the first one now and it’s pretty good. I am annoyed at all the QTE, sign of the times gaming was in back then I guess, but overall it’s good. Looks surprisingly solid as well. Apparently the SX adds auto HDR and a FPS boost.
I think the Definitive Edition was 60fps on Xbox One and PS4 as well, it’s 60fps on PS5 at least and haven’t been patched.

Rise of the Tomb Rider on the other hand seems to be 30fps on PS5 sadly. It’s 60fps on SX, I presume?
 

Kupfer

Member
Shadow is merely an obligatory conclusion of the Trilogy. Its decent but obvious CD weren't behind it. The reboot was nice if a little basic but Rise is significantly the best of the three. Its the best Tomb Raider after the 96 original in my opinion.
Yep, I was glad to have the reboot and an alternative to Uncharted, but it was pretty much straight forward. Rise was great, with more complex levels, great tombs, awesome DLC (babayaga) and the right pacing.
Shadow was a pain in the ass, at least for me. Yes, the graphics were great and it tried to catch the atmosphere of Tomb Raider III back then with it's jungle theme, but it was SO bloated, you can't enjoy traveling through the beautiful landscapes without being distracted by collectibles all the time. The real antagonist is Lara, because she is the reason hundreds of people died in a earthquake/tsunami/whatever. The one interesting character in the whole game has like 5 minutes of screentime and you don't learn much about her origin or motivation. I really didn't know how a whole studio thought the story is worth putting in an 60hour game. I was exhausted after finishing it and won't ever come back to the game. Synchronisation / localisation of the local people in the game is a joke, not to say a slap to the face.
 
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RAIDEN1

Member
....Going from my post on this thread more than a year ago....I didn't venture far into that Tomb raider game, just didn't have the hook for me...(generally speaking I never really thought much of the tomb-raider games from the very beginning) maybe that played a part..
 

vance26

Neo Member
I just bought the first game of the trilogy for four bucks for ps4 after playing it on ps3 originally. The first two games are really solid games with rise being the best in my opinion. Shadow I thought was a big disappointment and a step back for the trilogy.
 

TGO

Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
I think the first one was probably the best, followed by Shadow then Rise.
Sadly they're all live in the shadow of the originals.
In fact you'd think they was a different series with a similar looking main character.
OG Lara is a completely different person both in personality & motivations for what she does.
 
I never played any TR games before these new ones, but IMO:

-Tomb Raider reboot: 7/10 game. Above average Third Person Shooter. The “tombs” really feel like an afterthought and most are just a single room with a very easy puzzle made even easier by the Batman Survival vision. The pacing is good overall, but there’s not enough puzzle sections to break up the action so that it doesn’t get old by the end. It probably has the best Story of the three, or at least the stakes feel the most natural, since all the characters are forced into a survival situation. I feel it also has the best atmosphere. For a PS360 game, it’s production values are great and go a long way with the atmosphere.

-Rise and Shadow: Both 8/10 games that are improvements to me because they actually have a good amount of Tombs. I also like how in Shadow you had to do a bit of investigation work to discover the Tombs. The addition of larger and more complicated Tombs goes a long way to flesh out these games. Unfortunately the stories aren’t as interesting. In each game the story feels more contrived with B-tier Hollywood style villains that don’t get enough screen time to be fleshed out. It’s really weird how each game makes it seem like Lara is still “Becoming the Tomb Raider.” I get she’s still inexperienced, but by the third game she still seems too naive for what she’s doing. It’s odd. I also really liked all the different difficulty sliders in Shadow that were independent from one another; more action adventure games should do that.

I liked Lara’s explanation of artifacts you find in all the games as it went a long way the flesh her character out and the world building at the same time. It feels like a natural evolution game design wise of something like say, the logs from the Metroid Prime games.

Overall a solid trilogy. If they weren’t afraid to be more fantastical like the older games I think they could make something really great, but the focus on realism means for most of the game you’re just fighting guys with guns which gets old. The enemy variety is holding it back, which Shadow slightly improved upon.
 
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Warablo

Member
First one was good. Second one took longer to grow on me, but was decent by the end of it. Couldn't make through the third one.
 
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