Tomb Raider III is the red-headed stepchild of the series. For the general public, it's the most inaccessible, and for me, it's the only game in the series I have no substantial childhood memories of; I went into this game with none of the emotional connection the other titles have for me.

Which is just as well. This game hates you. When people say this is the hardest game in the series, they're lying. Tomb Raider II is hard. Tomb Raider III is 'go fuck yourself.' Actual combat is fairly easy, and the last half of the game is surprisingly devoid of devious traps or narrow escapes. Instead, this game is deeply tedious: it's player-unfriendly to the point that I'm convinced the point was to get people to buy the strategy guide (GameFAQs didn't exist back then). I dare anyone, in the year of our Lord 2024, to beat this game without referring once to Stella's Tomb Raider site for a walkthrough. God bless that lady. It simply can't be done.

But it's no fun playing a game you have to Alt-Tab out of every few minutes to make sure you're on the right path or not. It's no fun reading ahead to make sure you won't be fucked over by the game's myriad asspulls, and it's no fun wondering to yourself if it's really worth doing this instead of just YouTubing the cutscenes and calling it a day. I tried, I honestly tried, to beat the game honestly - that was part of my intention with marathoning this series. But I also want to do it while I'm still in my twenties, and without developing hypertension. Halfway through, I caved.

If the first Tomb Raider was about the joy of exploration, Tomb Raider III is about the misery of being lost. This is a game where you do not want to find secrets, because it means you're not on the right path. And all of this is by design. When you pulled a lever or pressed a switch in the first two games, the camera would show you which door had opened so you'd know where to go. Tomb Raider III often eschews this in favour of leaving you to wander around wondering, "Now what did that switch do? Did it even do anything?"

Right from the beginning levels you know the game hates you, where certain sections of the walls are actually movable blocks - except they have the same texture as the walls on either side, and no context clue to suggest they can be interacted with. Going around tapping on walls on the off chance there will be some way out of here isn't what I play this series for. Neither is being forced to backtrack and re-do the entire level because I missed a key somewhere. The first two games were really good about closing off areas once you were done with them, and only letting you pass certain sections if you had all the items you needed. Not so in this game.

And yet, you can see they put so much effort into it. This game clearly wasn't half-assed. Everything that crazy animated Lara promised is here. The music and graphics are amazing, the environments are varied and detailed, there are so many particle effects - primitive now, revolutionary then. There's rain and snow and footprints and the fogging of Lara's breath in cold areas. There are so many vehicles to drive (the kayak level is ass though), so many outfits, so many places to visit. There are so many cinematic sequences that looks incredible for 1998. There are stealth elements (though it's no Metal Gear Solid), vengeful Hindu deities, aliens, ATVs, mutant zombies, Pacific Islanders portrayed through the extremely racist caricature of being ooga booga cannibals... This game is absolutely huge. And yet the game is so unwilling to let you enjoy it.

The story is a funny thing. Our heroine is an absolute fucking psychopath here. In the past, enemies she killed were animals trying to tear out her throat, monsters, mobsters, and genuine villains. This game, however, positions her squarely as the bad guy - there's no way around it. Without mercy, Lara kills security guards who are just doing their job, homeless people, and tribesmen who are simply defending their domain. She breaks some dangerous criminals out of an Area 51 prison to kill the guards who arrested her for trespassing, and breezily comments about how Pacific Islanders are fond of 'white meat.' It's so cartoonish it makes me laugh. This is 1998, remember. Video games no longer had the excuse of amorality.

It's a shame, but I really can't recommend Tomb Raider III to any but the most dedicated fans, who are willing to put up with it. There's no real reward to playing through this game, except learning about Lara's comically dark side, perhaps. The thought of Tomb Raider III is far, far more exciting than the actual experience. There are so many great ideas in here, and the technology is leaps and bounds above its predecessors. But the fun factor simply isn't there; it's buried under its obfuscating nature. Some folks tell me this game is better on a second playthrough. I suspect they're the same guys who told Sony, "Re-release Morbius in theatres. It'll be a massive hit."

Nothing Squeenix ever does will make me think Zack Fair is good and/or cool. In fact, the more I learn about him the more I start to actively dislike him.

There is a part of me that feels fundamentally opposed to all the "Compilation of Final Fantasy VII" stuff because FF7 on its own is such an exquisitely self-contained thing. Like, they did a great job with it! We don't need every little detail explained and expanded upon! It frequently makes things worse! Sometimes you do still end up with something that is Cool and Fun (Advent Children) but mostly you end up with stuff that is Bad and Sucks (Crisis Core).

I didn't realize just how much this game pushes Zack and Aerith together. I had always assuming the fandom shipping them was based on some crumbs but they are pretty clearly Together in this, huh. I am choosing to ship Zack with Tseng out of pure spite because both Aerith and Cloud deserve better than this dumpster boy.

Genesis constantly dropping in to quote a play is very stupid and funny. Genesis walked so V Devilmaycryfive could run.

weird prank from squeenix to name the trans woman "Cissnei" but okay

I can barely form a coherent thought about what I just finished but I feel weirdly seen by Final Fantasy VIII and its protagonist in particular as this understanding of specific feelings of capitalist alienation that I've been unable to articulate for the longest time. I don't have any official diagnosis and especially do not want people I barely know armchair diagnosing me online but Squall's struggles to process the most basic social interactions in terms of anything other than capitalist obligations like school or work, "shut up and get the job done" mentality, and specific jaded outlook are core parts of myself I never expected to see reflected in this fashion. While I narrowly prefer the basic bitch choices of VI and VII in terms of Final Fantasy games, this surreal response to the cultural zeitgeist of the latter game and weird as fuck (complimentary) use of Marxist theory (specifically the "annihilation of space by time" described in Grundrisse and expanded upon over a century later by David Harvey) in the same way that most RPGs use religious/mythological concepts solely because it sounds cool is a game that will no doubt have a special place in my heart from now on.

I am forever impressed how Sega manages to get authentically bad voice performances for these games. I'm not talking bad in the way anime dubs are bad, where the voice actors sound like Abridged Series voice actors, but bad in the way that the actors sound like they have no context for what they are ever saying. It's amazing. If a House of the Dead game has good voice acting it's not worth your quarters.

Played this at the Dave & Buster's and, gotta say, I think this is a much better game than 4 or even 3, but still retains a lot of its issues 4 introduced: gore is non-existent, zombies bodies still don't react dynamically to getting hit, the SMGs are not my favorite weapon choices, and the bosses basically fight themselves.

I love seeing The Chariot again, he is an amazing design, and in this game is actually somewhat threatening. But I have given up on HOTD ever having truly novel bosses again and just time wasters.

The game has ANOTHER SEWER LEVEL. ANOTHER ONE!!! FUCK!!! We actually start in a House of the Dead, which is fantastic, but eventually the guy on staff who fucking loves these sewers gets his slimy hands all over this shit ONCE AGAIN. This is eased by most of the levels being colorful, detailed, and interesting unlike the brown-gray stain of 4.

I can't say too much, because you can go play this in an arcade RIGHT NOW! Go to Dave & Buster's and it's THERE! The booth you play it in is one of the best arcade experiences, as it blasts air at you and has a wonderful audio setup, it feels like a very expensive cabinet and is fun enough to warrant it. Also, Kate Green is so Beautiful...

Go to the arcade and play it!! It's fun!

i've had a rocky relationship with this one to say the least

it may go without saying, but i'm the kind of person who thoroughly adores absolutely everything about this game's initial concept and presentation. i didn't grow out of my 'edgy phase' - it wasn't one. this shit's cool as fuck. it was cool as fuck 20 years ago, it still is today and it will be forever

shadow the hedgehog is a game carried by ideas, but they're executed to mixed results. this permeates the plot, script and gameplay. nothing's completely unscathed

narratively, it's incredibly ambitious - especially for such an obviously rushed game. the route structure is somewhat insane, even if the endings do split into 3-4 similar templates - almost all of which have really awkward line deliveries (shout out to 'journey to nihility' though - that one goes hard)

scriptwise... man, it's a mess. black doom is the biggest issue. he's effectively a caricature of a shounen antagonist who never shuts the fuck up. conversations tend to be pretty stilted across the board, but this dude just amps it to fucking 13. i contemplated dropping a half star here just because of how annoying his presence was during the final episode. in fact, i better stop fucking talking about black doom or else this game might be a 2/10 by the time i'm done

...on the contrary, shadow himself is thankfully as strong of a character as ever and the ability to constantly jump between routes really suits his whole mysterious/badass/what-the-fuck-is-he-thinking demeanor. that said, his stages could easily give you a positive or negative impression depending on which of those paths you end up on

personally, i started with the pure dark route... then after a neutral-only palate cleanser, pure hero - this was a fucking mistake! depending on your whims as a player your first run could consist of varied but mostly straightforward objectives, or menial tasks such as combing through multi-pathed environments for torchs to light and killing exactly specified quantities of enemies (it'll be a cold day in hell when i replay lost impact)

at his best, shadow disappoints as the star of a sonic game but actually excels as a shooter more akin to gamma's role in sa1, boasting faster movement and a solid variety of weapons that all feel fun to shoot - which is especially important because this game wants bullets to rain constantly, as it actively rewards killing enemies of both alignments, encouraging the ambivalent carnage no matter which route you're aiming for

in fact - i feel like this game would've likely gone over better with some fans if its A-ranks were stricter in places. you can basically hold forward and pass any normal mission with flying colors, but beyond that there's tons of room to optimize runs via effective usage of shadow's chaos blast and especially control powers. definitely a missed opportunity here!

with a few more months in the oven, some slower bits axed and some added speed to shadow's spindashing, homing and walljumping, this'd be a classic for sure

as it stands, it's pretty confused. i've come to enjoy the chaos quite a bit, but i'd only recommend it to someone who wished gamma had more of a presence in sa1. if you go in expecting sa3, then everything's all over before it can even start

the soundtrack, however, i can - and will - recommend to literally anyone with or without a pulse

beaten for the first time without save states. it's pretty easy sailing for most of the game (especially given you can waltz into the very first dungeon completely busted in regards to items and upgrades) until the second to last dungeon where it went to hell. extra heart containers, upgraded weapons/armor, and such can only go so far with some of the combat encounters.

i think this will always be a appreciate for what it is and what it did for the medium while never fully enjoying it by itself type thing for me.

looking forward to slowly working my way through the rest of the series. a lot of replays but there's a few that i've yet to beat in there too.

feels like i played this alongside my six year old self. we did it lil' buddy, we finally beat the one game we had no chance in hell of finishing without a gamecube memory card

as with sa1, there's really no point in arguing about this series since the detractors have long made up their shitty minds. sa2's an interesting beast though because it manages to excel just as much as its predecessor... in very different ways!

the speed stages are great, albeit nothing like sa1's. maybe you prefer these more linearly driven, setpiece-focused levels, but i might be partial to having a spindash that can blaze me across entire courses in a matter of seconds. i like going places i shouldn't and being rewarded for it. there's some of that here, but it's not nearly the same. that said, there's no city escape or final rush in sa1 so we'll call it a draw

treasure hunting is improved tenfold. i definitely prefer the newly limited radar system (it makes finding shards early super satisfying) and the overall increased difficulty. especially after knuckles' previous story was an absolute cakewalk. rouge is basically knuckles on hard mode and i generally prefer her side more for that. love her music too, though i wish it was more lyrically driven to better contrast knuckles

shooting's a more mixed bag. tails reps one of the best stages but also most of the worst. eggman on the other hand for the most part lives up to gamma's gameplay well enough - especially once he gets his booster. there's def a sense of flow to these that i feel a solid chunk of people don't give deserved credit because they just wanna go fast and grind rails

...which is a sentiment i don't completely identify with because i feel sa2 is more than the sum of its parts. the narrative is genuinely great and actively shifts moods and gameplay styles accordingly. you're always listening to a banger, you're never on the same sort of stage for more than a few minutes at a time - and you're always pushing closer to one of the greatest fuckin' finales you'll ever find in video games. the quality of direction really skyrocketed here. the last episode's preview alone completely solos every single scene in sa1

one strange oddity though: there's a surprising lack of shadow gameplay here. maybe the devs weren't so confident in him as a newcomer and didn't expect him to be such a hit?

if they knew what was good for them, sonic team would've just made a whole ass game where you play as shadow the hedgehog...

EDIT: after careful deliberation (replaying the shit out of everything) i've decided that i have 0 significant issues with this game. i'm not even standing by what i said about the speed stages before. they're all fuckin' fantastic and i think i might actually prefer these to sa1's (granted i need to spend some more time with that game too for confirmation)

on top of all of what i've said - i've still barely scratched the surface of the chao world content and that on its own is pretty impressive for being in an already tightly-packed game to begin with. how the fuck did this get made in two years?

i also learned last night via the extra video that city escape was inspired by sonic team constantly receiving parking tickets while living in san francisco. that's worthy of some merit on its own

and maybe this is cheating to mention since it's largely battle rerelease content, but i don't care: the multiplayer is some of the most fun i've ever had with a 2-player game

you know what - fuck it, 10/10

EDIT 2: got all 180 emblems. basically a perfect game