standalone expansions rarely make sense from a profit margin perspective - or so ive heard - but the chance to safely iterate on and tinker with systems nevertheless has strong allure for many a design team. and for my part, ive grown to appreciate what these AAA novellas can bring to the table, not only for their occasionally radical departures from convention but also because they recognize that most players will have completed the entry the expansion stems from, and therefore no longer have to spend as much time establishing stakes, outlining the pace in staccato rhythm, and overtutorializing players to their chagrin.

these three traits are endemic to naughty dog's seventh-gen-onwards gameography and each and every entry in their canon suffers immensely for it, while something as contained and compact as the lost legacy is able to flourish as the chaste tomb raider spinoff this franchise was always meant to be. in a fraction of the time a regular entry in this constipated series takes, you'll contend with more varied setpieces and encounter design, more experimentation (chiefly in the form of an open-district level, my vote for the most traditionally enjoyable segment in any of these titles), and more controlled direction than ever before. the narrative dimension here continues to err towards shallow but its simplicity is honestly complementary rather than transparently ingratiating. it's as close to a thrilling action romp as any uncharted game has ever been, and for its efforts in finally getting me to tolerate this series it's worthy of my respect.

and look, im not blind, one of the strongest contributors to my bias here is playing as arguably one of the most attractive ladies ever created for vidcon purposes instead of a character who constantly irritates me and whom i would purposefully pilot off cliffs into steep ravines. naughty dog should return to this level of Understanding i think.