• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider |OT| Welcome to the Jungle

Thiagosc777

Member
I am not a history expert, but wouldn't be finding Mayan ancient ruins in Peru like finding ancient Egypt structures in Norway? Or ancient Chinese ruins in Australia? Aren't the Incas and Mayans two separate cultures who were never in contact and lived thousands of kilometers from each other?

This is confusing. I am in the first third of the game and I don't get the connection they are making between Incas and Mayas.

And is there any Peruvian on GAF? Can you tell me if tacos are a common food there? Because here in Brazil the only place you'll find tacos is in a Mexican restaurant.

I am still at the beginning, but I am annoyed by this. That first level should have been in some Peruvian city, not Mexico. Why mix Mayans and Incas?

This game was made in Canada, right? I am sorry to say, but it looks like they have this stereotypical American view that anything to south is "Mexico". WTF.
 

moon knight

Neo Member
I finished this today. I think it is the best game of the new trilogy. The focus on exploring and puzzles feels more Tomb Raiderish then the last two games.

I think it's not enough. The "exploration" is still very much inspired to Uncharted, it's on rails and there's no challange unlike the original Tomb Raiders. Same for the puzzles, there's too much hand holding.

And sadly these problems are inherent to the reboot and were created when CD decided to discard the "survival" design for the reboot to create a generic Third Person Shooter. And this new title carries that TPS "soul".
 

xviper

Member
i watched a couple of streams and did some reasearch about what was the problem with the game, most people said it had too much exploration and not enough combat section and it had bad pace, doesn't that ring a bell ?? oh that's right, these are the exact same problems with the "critically acclaimed" Sony exclusive, uncharted 4, which scored 93MC

so when Uncharted became a climbing simulator, critics and fans praised it, but when Tomb raider did the same, it got smashed

and before someone comes and say "Hurr Durr the story is bad in Shadow Hurr Durr" or "Hurr Durr we had 3 games that are the same Hurr Durr", both the Reboot and Rise had shitty story and they got good scores, and if you think the scores are low because the game didn't change much, look at Dark souls 3 scores
 

cormack12

Gold Member
I'm actually liking it so far although it seems less polished in certain places than the other games. Small things like invisible barriers round NPC's, animation transition just not as polished as it was last time. The encounters with humans have been few and far between. Don't think I'm far in though - only just made to Paititi. The graphics are stunning. I'm not playing in HDR but at times the brightness seems a bit off like too dark or too bright meaning changing TV or in game settings. Annoying.

The game itself - this is how climbing should be done, lots of things to pay attention to. Slipping, rapelling down, axes to attach to the wall. The sections are always punctuated with something that elevates it from the mundaness that plagued UC4 and even Underworld to some extent. Not sure I like the village/town NPC idea. Just feel it's trying to hard to force it. More thoughts to follow afterwards.


Some shots from photomode anyway

 

ROMhack

Member
i watched a couple of streams and did some reasearch about what was the problem with the game, most people said it had too much exploration and not enough combat section and it had bad pace, doesn't that ring a bell ?? oh that's right, these are the exact same problems with the "critically acclaimed" Sony exclusive, uncharted 4, which scored 93MC

so when Uncharted became a climbing simulator, critics and fans praised it, but when Tomb raider did the same, it got smashed

and before someone comes and say "Hurr Durr the story is bad in Shadow Hurr Durr" or "Hurr Durr we had 3 games that are the same Hurr Durr", both the Reboot and Rise had shitty story and they got good scores, and if you think the scores are low because the game didn't change much, look at Dark souls 3 scores

I haven't played it so I can't comment on the quality but the impression I got reading reviews was one of over-familiarity rather than any specific issues with its gameplay or story. There was clearly a honeymoon period when they first rebooted the series, largely, I would argue, because of the appreciation for its strong-willed female protagonist (no politics here, it's just something people clearly liked). I think now people are in the mood to scrutinise it a bit more, which I believe is fair enough as both the other games had a lot of drawbacks that few passed comment on at the time.

Doesn't mean its a bad game obviously.
 
Last edited:
To be honest hes being overly nitpicky and dismissive here.

The game has issues but when you're not killing things or dealing with the godawful story and characters it's actually kind of great for the most part. If this team didnt have all the baggage Crystal Dynamics saddled them with this could have been a really promising start for a new Tomb Raider series.

From what I've seen and read online the game has less spectacle and combat compared to the reboot and its sequel, so that's what worries me a little (together with the variety in locales, since it's basically everything in one place?).

What I like the most about TR 2013 and Rise is the balance between exploration, combat and scripted sequences. Kinda like Uncharted does.

So I'm perfectly fine with more of the same, if it's good enough.
 
No complaints here so far. Game is pretty solid and looks amazing on X1X. Feels fairly similar to the past two in terms of controls. I guess there is more puzzles/exploration in the beginning, but that doesn't really bother me. Feels Indiana Jones'ish that way. And at least in this one she has some of her previous skills/abilities so you don't need to re-hash getting them all again necessarily.
 

Darak

Member
I just finished the game in Deadly Obsession mode.

My impressions are mixed. The game looks incredible, best in the series for sure, but the gameplay is still pretty shallow and hasn't really improved much for me. Platforming is still on rails, and even if there are no white ledges the path to follow is still pretty obvious. I definitively died more times in platforming compared to previous titles, but many times I didn't feel like it was my fault, to be honest.

I'd say the game is not as polished as previous entries. In fact, the way the game flows is sometimes very clumsy, such as the first level suddenly interrupting one combat with a cutscene and spawning enemies right in front of you. At the end of the day, combat and stealth worked better before IMHO, and I think pacing and level design is partially to blame for that. Many sections are way too small for the number of people inside and sometimes there is some weird scripting in stealth scenarios (such as somebody starting to patrol as soon as you enter an obvious trigger box).

In any case, playing in this mode was interesting. You sometimes have to repeat twenty minutes of long walking sections and cutscenes if you die, so there's constant tension everywhere, even when you're doing even the most mundane traversal or task. Floor and rope traps, which are a non-issue in other modes (you'll just respawn in front of them if you are caught) become something terrific, for example. The thing is, you can only save in campfires, and its frequency is extremely inconsistent. This, in fact, makes the first level one of the hardest in the entire game, since it's a substantial romp with puzzles, traversal, combat, etc, with no campfire anywhere.

Also, a number of skills are available to purchase but won't work at all in DO mode since they require survival instincts, which is disabled in this mode. Those skills should not have been there.
 

Thiagosc777

Member
I am going to finish this game and do the achievements, because the gameplay is ok, but at this point my experience is ruined.

This game exemplifies why historical authenticity is important.

They have placed Mayan, Aztecs and Inca cultures side by side, as if they coexisted. They were in different continents! That makes as much sense as stumbling upon an ancient Egypt pharaoh's tomb in the Netherlands.

But why did they do this!? They could have the entire game be in Central America in Mayan ruins or in Mexico. Instead they moved it to Peru, but put a bunch of stuff that doesn't belong there.

My immersion is broken every time I find an artifact and remember how stupid this game is.
 

kunonabi

Member
I love how incredibly bored and tired NuLara looks in cutscenes when talking to people. It's like her spirit finally broke after 3 games of this crap.
 
This game exemplifies why historical authenticity is important.

The first game had undead samurais and the second game had some mythical prophet who made a city in the mountains. I wouldn't go looking for historical accuracy in this series. It's a game, relax, chill, enjoy, or don't.

If you want historical accuracy, go for something like Total War, Civilization, or Kingdom Come. Even then...
 

CatCouch

Member
I'm so mixed on this game after hours of playing. Sometimes Lara looks good, mostly in cutscenes but looks weirdly tired and wonky in game (like she just woke up and can't fully open her eyes). Her face seems too bright or something, like she has no shadows around her eyes and she's often looking down so all I see is this bored look on her face. It doesn't help that there seems to be no real character growth here, the same complaint I had with Rise.

I like the gameplay a lot more, though. More exploration is definitely a plus in my book! The story has me hooked enough to keep playing. I just wish Lara wasn't the least interesting thing in the game. It sucks the only time I see any likability out of her is changing her facial expressions in the photo mode...
 

sublimit

Banned
Platforming is still on rails, and even if there are no white ledges the path to follow is still pretty obvious. I definitively died more times in platforming compared to previous titles, but many times I didn't feel like it was my fault, to be honest.
Of course something like that would happen. And of course it's not the player's fault. :)
When you have an inconsistent control movement like that then of course you'd need to guide the player otherwise when you take the guidance away (white ledges,survival instinct) traversing will start to become frustrating for all the wrong reasons.So you would often die without knowing why. These 3 games and their engine were designed for a heavily scripted platforming system that plays more like a movie rather than a game. Crystal Dynamics goal (and EM) was first and foremost to tell a story by guiding the player as much as possible (the irony is they didn't even succeed at that) and by taking away the player's freedom and control as much as possible. And no matter how much difficulty sliders they add it's pretty much pointless when the games were built with that mindset from the get go.

True rewarding difficulty can't be added by a few sliders, it needs to be added from the ground up and it needs to feel as a part of the overall game's concept and design. Look at games like the classic TR games or even modern games like Dark Souls. One difficulty setting,one clear goal and vision from game designers who actually have faith in their craft and refuse to dilute it.
 
Last edited:

haxan7

Volunteered as Tribute
I haven't bought Shadow yet. As someone who loved the previous two Tomb Raider games, but doesn't care for Uncharted at all, will I still like Shadow? Or did the new developer butcher it?

I'm not happy that they changed her face and took away her sexy outfits.

Also the combat in the last two games was already perfect for me. To compare, I don't like the feel of the combat in Uncharted. I've read a few people saying Shadow is more like Uncharted than the last two games.
 
Last edited:
I haven't bought Shadow yet. As someone who loved the previous two Tomb Raider games, but doesn't care for Uncharted at all, will I still like Shadow? Or did the new developer butcher it?

I enjoyed and completed the Tomb Raider reboot and Rise on PC and have Shadow on X1X and I like it just as much as I did the previous two. I mean sure it's Eidos Montreal, but they made Deus Ex: HR and Mankind Divided which I both love.

I personally don't care for the Uncharted games but enjoy the new Tomb Raiders and I still like Shadow quite a bit thus far.

Edit: The face part I don't notice that much to be honest. Maybe when the lighting isn't there to hit it right, but normally with 4k/HDR she looks fine, just as good as Rise basically. It's slightly different but that's not unlike most other gaming mediums where characters change over time. Like Chris Redfield, or Cloud, or Geralt.
 
Last edited:

Thiagosc777

Member
The first game had undead samurais and the second game had some mythical prophet who made a city in the mountains. I wouldn't go looking for historical accuracy in this series. It's a game, relax, chill, enjoy, or don't.

If you want historical accuracy, go for something like Total War, Civilization, or Kingdom Come. Even then...

This is a cop out. When games are representing a real place or time, they should at least make it look like things belong there.

And why is everyone covered in filth? Is this a French thing or does Eidos Montreal think indigenous people's favorite passtime is rolling the mud?

This is so bad.
 
This is a cop out. When games are representing a real place or time, they should at least make it look like things belong there.

What about Ghost Recon Wildlands? That's a Mexican Cartel in Bolivia. It's called suspension of disbelief.

Or Assassin's Creed, or the Division, or almost any game. They all do this, as do movies.

Edit: And better yet, what are your examples of historically accurate games? Just curious.
 
Last edited:

drotahorror

Member
What is the point of the "Save Game" option on the menu? It does nothing. I'm on hardest difficulty so I figured it would atleast save my item/artifact pickup progress, so when I die and have to repeat an hours worth of gameplay I don't have to pick up every damn thing again. But no, it literally does nothing.

Whoever designed this
piranha
underwater part is an asshole. Instadeath and having to replay all this shit is not cool. I know I signed up for this, but it's cheap.

Guess I was just trying to go the wrong way. Fourth time's a charm.
 
Last edited:

xion4360

Member
FFS how do you reach 100% completion in this game? I have every location on the map at 100% yet the overall is still 99%! There are artifacts missing apparently? some of the collections are incomplete but I dont understand how that can be when Ive picked up/looked at everything there is to see at this point.
 

kunonabi

Member
When is the game going to let me change costumes again? I've been locked out of everything since I got to patiti.
 

JORMBO

Darkness no more
When is the game going to let me change costumes again? I've been locked out of everything since I got to patiti.

It takes awhile. I thought my game was bugged for quite some time when it wouldn't let me change costumes a few camp fires after Patiti, but eventually it opened back up.
 

KBryan67

Neo Member
Hi everyone,
So my take on the new tomb raider is I like it. In my opinion if your playing straight through without any side missions it seems like a much shorter game then rise of tomb raider. I got game and took me only 2 days to pass it, I have never played a game and passed it in 2 days.
I noticed on a lot of posts on this thread is about how things are inaccurate when it comes to archeology and location stand point. I'm not gonna judge a game by those means cuz I know nothing about archeology. I like a game that keeps me interested.
Drawback on this new tomb raider is too long drawn out talking and you can't skip through it right away and it's annoying as well as the different outfits that Lara wears automatically. I would just prefer here regular duds.
I decided to play it again gives option of new game or new game +(having everything u had from last game) which I'm think is nice feature.
So all and all I would give it a 4 out of 5 star.
 

Lokimaru

Member
The
Rambo
level later in the game really feels out of place. The game is best when you're actually exploring uncharted locations (wink wink), not when you turn into
a one woman killing machine who spits out f words

Playing on Hard I can't afford combat cause I get slaughtered quickly so I stealth kill every one Predator style. Feels more fitting and challenging that way. Trinity is a bag of dicks anyway so fuck em I say.
 

xrnzaaas

Member
Playing on Hard I can't afford combat cause I get slaughtered quickly so I stealth kill every one Predator style. Feels more fitting and challenging that way. Trinity is a bag of dicks anyway so fuck em I say.
I meant the overall dark tone of that level, you're supposed to kill stealthy for most of the level anyway (because of lack of guns).
 

phil_t98

#SonyToo
so playing this one my X in 4k mode and its really good to look at, I am just past the young Lara bit so not really that far into the game but so far its really enjoyable and doesn't feel a grind. similar to the other 2 games so thats a positive from me
 

drotahorror

Member
This game's wonky ass jumping is next level. I just spent 30min on this part because she doesn't jump or doesn't jump to the right object.


^This is the correct place to jump, even though it was my first time making it there (I did not know it was the correct jump, I guessed this time).


^This was after I figured out it was the correct jump, as I just died in the clip below this one.



^Lara decides to go into some sort of death roll instead of sliding down the incline. I was spamming jump and she wouldn't because the rolling animation was overriding it. This was right at the end of the Tomb after it was completed, so I had to repeat the whole tomb again.



This kind of stuff really kills how cool the puzzles and traps are. Dying to really dumb wonky stuff that is out of my control.

You can watch what I was doing here if you want to see the whole thing, it's 20min long. I'm not stupid and I knew exactly what I was doing (I had been doing this 10-15min before I started recording).
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/310819279


I'm super cautious where I jump because this kind of stuff happens a lot. Hell, one time I was riding a zip line down and it just decided to drop me right before you get to the end of the line. I wasn't pressing a button, that's for sure. As it threw me off, it even went into the animation as if I had landed but then she just fell.
 
Last edited:

Redlight

Member
I've put about ten or twelve hours into it on the oneX. I loved the first two and love this one just as much, if not more. Graphics are amazing.

I don't get the general vibe of this thread, it really seems like people are being hyper-critical.
 

dok1or

Member
Love first two games and I love this one! Next one is always better than previous!
Some rage train on internet for this title...
And it look better than Rise...



 

kunonabi

Member
Well im done with my rental.

Janky combat, janky platforming, janky animation, awful story, characters, and, and voice acting are all there but I still like it better than 2013 by a large margin.

The sound design and atmosphere can be really effective and I found the environments much more interesting than the other games. The tombs aren't the best thing ever but the focus and execution of them was still a major improvement. If the whole game was more isolated and focused on the animals, exploration, horror, and most importantly gameplay over marking off checklist after checklist it would be way more interesting. Once you get to paititi it just drags and I got sick of all the restrictions and story stuff.

After Spider-Man and this I think I'm done with western paint by numbers AAA games for awhile.
 

xrnzaaas

Member
This game's wonky ass jumping is next level. I just spent 30min on this part because she doesn't jump or doesn't jump to the right object.

I'm super cautious where I jump because this kind of stuff happens a lot. Hell, one time I was riding a zip line down and it just decided to drop me right before you get to the end of the line. I wasn't pressing a button, that's for sure. As it threw me off, it even went into the animation as if I had landed but then she just fell.

I haven't experienced major problems like in your videos, but I have died a couple of times due to the game's fault. The walls which require climbing boots for me are the worst. This is even more visible when you play Tomb Raider after playing one of the Uncharted games where stuff like this doesn't happen at all. Sure a lot of climbing in Uncharted may be "assisted", but the fact remains that the game doesn't ruin the fun for you because of being at fault.
 
Last edited:

Darak

Member
When you have an inconsistent control movement like that then of course you'd need to guide the player otherwise when you take the guidance away (white ledges,survival instinct) traversing will start to become frustrating for all the wrong reasons.So you would often die without knowing why. These 3 games and their engine were designed for a heavily scripted platforming system that plays more like a movie rather than a game. Crystal Dynamics goal (and EM) was first and foremost to tell a story by guiding the player as much as possible (the irony is they didn't even succeed at that) and by taking away the player's freedom and control as much as possible. And no matter how much difficulty sliders they add it's pretty much pointless when the games were built with that mindset from the get go.

You are right, although I'd say taking the guidance away had nothing to do with the issues. They designed the platforming levels in such a way that the visual guide is always there even without the hints, so most of my deaths weren't due to misjudging which ledge was safe to grab, but due to Lara refusing to perform the next scripted step despite my intentions. In most cases the camera or the control thumbstick were at a slightly wrong angle, something which is not always in your control as in this game the camera has a lot of scripted and automated movement.

In any case, there is no consistency at all in the distances Lara would jump or send her grappling hook. Many, many times she will just magically float towards a distant edge, or fail to cross a distance she has jumped hundreds of times before. Platforming in this game is not about reading your surroundings and judging distances, it's about trying to read the designer's intent. It is fun in a cinematic 'spectacle' way, since the game looks so great, but for me all the bombastic soundtrack and shaky camera work just falls flat since you are just pressing a button to continue and there is almost zero risk involved.
 
Last edited:

drotahorror

Member
How is the writing in this? I'm asking since Rise was so god damn bad.

Weak. The delivery of dialogue is very uneven as well. Sometimes it's fine, sometimes it sounds like they're reading a book. Even Lara's VA is guilty of this periodically.


Play on the hardest difficulty. It really puts you on your toes and not want to make mistakes.

I take this back btw. With stupid deaths from wonky platforming and chase scenes that can be hard to nail the first time through, I regret this now. I feel like I've played way too much to turn back now though. I HATE having to do something over where there's a scene where you have to climb real slow (like when Lara has a rough time climbing something, not an actual slow gameplay part, just lara climbs it slow for some reason because it's 'hard' for her) or crawl under something real slow-like. Repeating those are the worst. Also your grappling works 95% of the time and 5% of the time it shoots off and doesn't hit anything.



I should say though, I do LIKE this game. It's good. It's better than Rise by far. I thought 2013 was great but haven't played it since so I can't really remember or compare it to that. I beat Rise last year. There's also a lot of game here if you don't rush through the story. I think I've got my money's worth and I'm only about 50% of the way.
 
Last edited:

Darak

Member
How is the writing in this? I'm asking since Rise was so god damn bad.

It's about the same level, if not worse. The world is just not fleshed out and filled with tropes and cringe-worthy handouts. Characters come up as unlikable, specially Lara herself, who looks to me like a selfish moron with emotional issues. The main villain is terrible. There is also a lot of ludonarrative dissonance with lots of people dying everywhere (enemies and innocents alike) while nobody gives a fuck, and then suddenly the death of some NPC you've met one minute before is all tears and violins. If you play the game looking for a narrative, I'd recommend having extremely low expectations.

I take this back btw. With stupid deaths from wonky platforming and chase scenes that can be hard to nail the first time through, I regret this now.

There are about three very long sections with no campfires in the game and those are extremely annoying. Perhaps the worst of the bunch ends up in a buggy chase and if you die there you have to repeat a huge level with lots of combat. I had to do that about a dozen times to the point were I was getting really good at the encounters because I knew beforehand all the enemy spawns.

But the one I really hated was one pretty hard combat scene with tons of enemies and arrows flying everywhere (one where all your weapons removed other than the bow, and you are forced to kill everybody to continue) which comes up after 20 minutes of cutscenes and walking sections you have to repeat every time you die. That was really infuriating.
 

xrnzaaas

Member
The writing isn't terrible but it isn't good either
The biggest annoyance for me is that people from the Hidden City can communicate perfectly in English. The game tries to sell the idea that it's dubbing and that you can turn on native language, but even then Lara still communicates in English and all the conversations in cut-scenes are in English.
The Trinity storyline is pretty boring because of the main villain and Jonah is a super bland character, it's like the game had to have a sidekick.
 
Last edited:

Iaterain

Member
I wouldn't lie, Mayan and Aztec mythologies sounds very tempting to me but I was seriously burnt by previous games. It will probably be 70% corridor massacre, 20% wall jumping and 10% Maya and Aztec.
Nathan Drake never felt like a mass murderer Lara does. I don't like her. She is a badly written character who pushes people away from her games.
 

drotahorror

Member
I wouldn't lie, Mayan and Aztec mythologies sounds very tempting to me but I was seriously burnt by previous games. It will probably be 70% corridor massacre, 20% wall jumping and 10% Maya and Aztec.
Nathan Drake never felt like a mass murderer Lara does. I don't like her. She is a badly written character who pushes people away from her games.


From the 15 hours I've put into it, it's more like 5% stealth killing and 95% exploring, puzzles and traps. I actually kind of like the combat despite it being really simple. It's fun strafing along foliage and takin people out. Also, I've been doing everything I possibly can before moving to the next area and if I get something that allows me to access an area I couldn't get to previously, I head back to it. The story quests are the only time I've really encountered combat.

There are about three very long sections with no campfires in the game and those are extremely annoying. Perhaps the worst of the bunch ends up in a buggy chase and if you die there you have to repeat a huge level with lots of combat. I had to do that about a dozen times to the point were I was getting really good at the encounters because I knew beforehand all the enemy spawns.

But the one I really hated was one pretty hard combat scene with tons of enemies and arrows flying everywhere (one where all your weapons removed other than the bow, and you are forced to kill everybody to continue) which comes up after 20 minutes of cutscenes and walking sections you have to repeat every time you die. That was really infuriating.


That sounds great. /s

How much time did you clock into the game and did you do all optional tombs and crypts?
 
Last edited:

Thiagosc777

Member
How is the writing in this? I'm asking since Rise was so god damn bad.

The characters are ok. Lara is as boring as usual, no sense of humor. The problem is the setting.

What would happen if a developer made a game set in China and mixed Japanese, Korean and Indian histories in it and pretended they were all the same? You would start an Internet war with angry weebs and offended nationalists from those countries.

This is pretty much the world of this game. They are supposedly Incas, but they mixed 3 different cultures that were separated by space and time. I can't get a hold of what I am supposed to be seeing. Is this Inca architecture? Are those gods Mayan?

What a wasted opportunity to show something different. Greek mythology is overdone and in a distant second comes Norse mythology, because of The Avengers and God of War mostly. They could have shown something from the Incas, but they had to screw it up with this mishmash of Latin American stereotypes that make no sense.

It's a disagrace.

I am not related to any of these cultures by way, and I not offended on their behalf. But this is too distracting. I can't unsee it.
 

Darak

Member
How much time did you clock into the game and did you do all optional tombs and crypts?

About 30 hours, completing all tombs, crypts and side missions, and some time going back to get documents, etc. Keep in mind I like to walk a lot. I've probably wasted at least one or two hours just walking around the main city.
 

Darak

Member
This is pretty much the world of this game. They are supposedly Incas, but they mixed 3 different cultures that were separated by space and time. I can't get a hold of what I am supposed to be seeing. Is this Inca architecture? Are those gods Mayan?

It's a dumb move. It reminds me of the movie Apocalypto, which had Mayas performing Aztec rituals (not unlike the ones you see in game). It's somewhat lampshaded in pickups, as Lara says several times how those items blended several cultures which 'shouldn't be possible', but it's still dumb. Every culture or piece of information shown in the game is to be regarded as pure fantasy, only loosely inspired on real cultures.

In a game that should be all about about discovering and exploring ancient sites, it's a lost opportunity.
 

CatCouch

Member
The more I play the more I like it. The increased emphasis on exploration coupled with much more interesting environments than Rise is keeping me hooked for quite a few hours in a row. I struggled to finish Rise so this is a big improvement. If Lara wasn't such a forgettable character this could easily have been one of my favorite games but screwing up the lead character is a pretty big downer.

It's well worth playing, though! I'm enjoying the side quests. I hope future games keep the darker, horror elements like all the tight fit crawling segments over bones and stuff. I love the underwater segments like that, too!
 

cryogenic7

Member
lol at people expecting historical accuracy in a video game. Did you complain about Wolfenstein too?
 
Last edited:

Darak

Member
lol at people expecting historical accuracy in a video game. Did you complain about Wolfenstein too?

Does Wolfenstein include a ton of historical write-ups of ancient culture objects and religious themes? Even then, I don't think anybody expected much in this regard, but it would have been a better experience if they had took the background more seriously. I mean, why does everybody, even in the most obscure corner of the world, have to understand or even speak English?
 

Denton

Member
It's about the same level, if not worse. The world is just not fleshed out and filled with tropes and cringe-worthy handouts. Characters come up as unlikable, specially Lara herself, who looks to me like a selfish moron with emotional issues. The main villain is terrible. There is also a lot of ludonarrative dissonance with lots of people dying everywhere (enemies and innocents alike) while nobody gives a fuck, and then suddenly the death of some NPC you've met one minute before is all tears and violins. If you play the game looking for a narrative, I'd recommend having extremely low expectations.

The characters are ok. Lara is as boring as usual, no sense of humor. The problem is the setting.

What would happen if a developer made a game set in China and mixed Japanese, Korean and Indian histories in it and pretended they were all the same? You would start an Internet war with angry weebs and offended nationalists from those countries.

This is pretty much the world of this game. They are supposedly Incas, but they mixed 3 different cultures that were separated by space and time. I can't get a hold of what I am supposed to be seeing. Is this Inca architecture? Are those gods Mayan?

What a wasted opportunity to show something different. Greek mythology is overdone and in a distant second comes Norse mythology, because of The Avengers and God of War mostly. They could have shown something from the Incas, but they had to screw it up with this mishmash of Latin American stereotypes that make no sense.

It's a disagrace.

I am not related to any of these cultures by way, and I not offended on their behalf. But this is too distracting. I can't unsee it.

Jeez that sounds shitty, gonna wait for a humble monthly or something.

What the hell, this is what Deus Ex had to die for? Kill me now.
 

Nikana

Go Go Neo Rangers!
Does Wolfenstein include a ton of historical write-ups of ancient culture objects and religious themes? Even then, I don't think anybody expected much in this regard, but it would have been a better experience if they had took the background more seriously. I mean, why does everybody, even in the most obscure corner of the world, have to understand or even speak English?

Turn the native language feature on and enjoy the game Instead.
 
Top Bottom