I'm not saying that you did. But it was definitely not the engine's fault either.
Well, the engine had an important part in the original trilogy's failure; the late 90's were times of fast-paced technology advances, times when most of the things we take for granted in 3D games were being invented or discovered. You just couldn't release a game with the same technology in year 2000 compared to 1996 and expect it to fly, we're talking Duke Nukem to Deus Ex levels of change. Tomb Raider was an early PlayStation game, at the beginning of the 3D revolution, while the late entries were released well after Metal Gear Solid. Those grid-based caves and environments, amazing in TR just because you could explore them in 3D and that was something new, were already considered crude and outdated even before the PS2 released.
That was the game's concept and thanks to clueless,idiotic reviewers who wanted the series to re-invent the wheel they criticized unfairly the lack of innovation.
I totally agree. I also find the call for innovation terribly misguided.
I'm perfectly happy with franchises fitting a position, with their characteristic gameplay, protagonist, theme, world, etc. I like innovation, but when it is presented as a new thing. Existing franchises should focus on their existing value proposition. However, lack of innovation shouldn't mean lack of improvements. The TR reboot was well received but there was also a lot of room for improvement (the writing is almost universally reviled, for example) which have been left untouched, with the two sequels essentially following the same formula to a fault. That was also true in the original trilogy, and not only due to the engine. For example, the commitment to movement by animation, tank controls, and fixed size steps made Lara hard to control (using the walking button to prevent unintended falls was a kludge), combat was horrible with crude damage avoidance options, and camera handling was extremely primitive. AOD tried to fix most of those things, but it also tried to do a hundred other things at the same time, and it tragically collapsed under its own weight.
Don't get me wrong, TR platforming was very good for the era. It successfully translated the Prince of Persia mechanics to 3D (actually doing a much better job than the real Prince of Persia 3D). It was understandably primitive, though, and should have been replaced with better platforming in later entries. We got… other things instead. Same thing with environmental puzzles, exploration, etc.
