20% combat, 80% dicking around until the game ends
As a two-decade-long fan of Tomb Raider, since I was a kid, I waited eagerly and played the new reboot trilogy as they came out. Completed all they had to offer, and played through them again recently.
So finally, with the knowledge of how these games are in their full picture, and with a refreshed recollection of their story and mechanics, I’ll try to do an objective complete review, with hindsight. A perspective of the new trilogy of Tomb Raider. I’ll try to keep it short.
The Shadow of Tomb Raider
Last of the trilogy, this game is the closure of the new origin story of Lara. This game finally answers questions about her upbringing and finishes the forging of the Lara Croft we all know and love. The game builds on the established formula of the previous titles, just like Rise was when it came out.
The story, while well-written and interesting, misses that something for me. It's a less personal story and although it follows after the steps of the previous games, there is a lesser connection to Lara's life in my opinion. It was nice during the story to see how Lara keeps pushing herself even more past her limits putting her in danger and giving her a sort of "reality check" grounding her.
The granular difficulty options are a welcomed addition, allowing the player to customize the experience even further, should you enjoy puzzles and exploration without any hints but don't enjoy combat, for example.
Although they're all very linear games, this title is fully staged near a village that is quite large, nearly open-world. Although, sadly, compared to Rise, because of this approach, there is less environmental variety when exploring as you're primarily in the same place.
The game also features side missions with multiple-choice options, although the option only leads to different dialogues, not different end results. There's also the possibility to barter with vendors, but it's rather barebone. I guess they were both attempts to get closer to the RPG genre, although not needed imho.
Honorable mention goes to the underwater swimming! It was a staple of the series and I was happy to see it back.
Just like in the other titles, the skill trees are back, with a few new abilities. I was taken aback the first time I saw the ability page because compared to the other titles, this menu shows all abilities at the same time, color-coded for stealth, combat, and exploration, so it was honestly overwhelming to see them all at once.
The peak of the games are its puzzles, because they really are the highlight of the experience, with a lot options than the previous titles when approaching them.
DLCs
In an effort to monetize the game more, this title features 7 DLCs.
All of them add a dungeon with an ability as a reward at the end. It's not game-changing stuff, but the dungeons themselves are really fun. Sadly, all 7 are locked behind filler missions to unlock them that are longer than the dungeon themselves, but if you like puzzles and some extra goodies there is no reason not to play them except maybe the length of the filler content before the fun stuff.
Conclusion
In the end, replaying this game made me appreciate it more because I only followed the story my second time around, instead of hunting down every side activity I could find. At first, my opinion of the game was quite negative really, but I'm glad I was able to come around and appreciate this conclusion to the series looking forward to the new games that might come out in the series that really, defined my childhood.
Get the season pass if you enjoyed the puzzles in the game because there is nothing better than more.
7.9/10
So finally, with the knowledge of how these games are in their full picture, and with a refreshed recollection of their story and mechanics, I’ll try to do an objective complete review, with hindsight. A perspective of the new trilogy of Tomb Raider. I’ll try to keep it short.
The Shadow of Tomb Raider
Last of the trilogy, this game is the closure of the new origin story of Lara. This game finally answers questions about her upbringing and finishes the forging of the Lara Croft we all know and love. The game builds on the established formula of the previous titles, just like Rise was when it came out.
The story, while well-written and interesting, misses that something for me. It's a less personal story and although it follows after the steps of the previous games, there is a lesser connection to Lara's life in my opinion. It was nice during the story to see how Lara keeps pushing herself even more past her limits putting her in danger and giving her a sort of "reality check" grounding her.
The granular difficulty options are a welcomed addition, allowing the player to customize the experience even further, should you enjoy puzzles and exploration without any hints but don't enjoy combat, for example.
Although they're all very linear games, this title is fully staged near a village that is quite large, nearly open-world. Although, sadly, compared to Rise, because of this approach, there is less environmental variety when exploring as you're primarily in the same place.
The game also features side missions with multiple-choice options, although the option only leads to different dialogues, not different end results. There's also the possibility to barter with vendors, but it's rather barebone. I guess they were both attempts to get closer to the RPG genre, although not needed imho.
Honorable mention goes to the underwater swimming! It was a staple of the series and I was happy to see it back.
Just like in the other titles, the skill trees are back, with a few new abilities. I was taken aback the first time I saw the ability page because compared to the other titles, this menu shows all abilities at the same time, color-coded for stealth, combat, and exploration, so it was honestly overwhelming to see them all at once.
The peak of the games are its puzzles, because they really are the highlight of the experience, with a lot options than the previous titles when approaching them.
DLCs
In an effort to monetize the game more, this title features 7 DLCs.
All of them add a dungeon with an ability as a reward at the end. It's not game-changing stuff, but the dungeons themselves are really fun. Sadly, all 7 are locked behind filler missions to unlock them that are longer than the dungeon themselves, but if you like puzzles and some extra goodies there is no reason not to play them except maybe the length of the filler content before the fun stuff.
Conclusion
In the end, replaying this game made me appreciate it more because I only followed the story my second time around, instead of hunting down every side activity I could find. At first, my opinion of the game was quite negative really, but I'm glad I was able to come around and appreciate this conclusion to the series looking forward to the new games that might come out in the series that really, defined my childhood.
Get the season pass if you enjoyed the puzzles in the game because there is nothing better than more.
7.9/10
Oynanmaz. Bir şeyleri bozmuşlar.
É o terceiro jogo da trilogia e o pior dos três. Honestamente, é um jogo completamente esquecível, mas a única coisa que é melhor que seu antecessor são os gráficos. A história é ruim e os personagens são imaturos. Principalmente Lara e seu amigo cujo nome esqueci. Os personagens da cidade escondida, Unurato e seu filho, são ridículos, e as missões secundárias são tenebrosas hahaha.
Mas a jogabilidade e a mecânica são muito legais, e a ideia de se esconder na lama para se disfarçar é interessante, mas acho que só é usada umas 5 vezes no jogo. Todo o resto é reciclado dos jogos anteriores, o combate é o mesmo, a furtividade é a mesma, não é ruim, mas é a mesma.
Os gráficos são muito bonitos em comparação com os jogos anteriores. Existem algumas cenas que fazem você dizer: “Caralho FODAA!!”, “Caralho que mentira!!”, esses momentos foram muito legais.
Mas a jogabilidade e a mecânica são muito legais, e a ideia de se esconder na lama para se disfarçar é interessante, mas acho que só é usada umas 5 vezes no jogo. Todo o resto é reciclado dos jogos anteriores, o combate é o mesmo, a furtividade é a mesma, não é ruim, mas é a mesma.
Os gráficos são muito bonitos em comparação com os jogos anteriores. Existem algumas cenas que fazem você dizer: “Caralho FODAA!!”, “Caralho que mentira!!”, esses momentos foram muito legais.
Um bom desfecho