Rise of the Tomb Raider is a great, albeit slightly bloated game. It takes the formula of Tomb Raider (2013) and, in classic Tomb Raider fashion, adds more on top of it without really addressing the problems of its predecessor; though I will say that it does a better job than that of the original ps1 games. The mini open world makes its return from TR 2013 and is stuffed full to the brim with tombs to raid, treasures to find, and enemies to fight. This time around, however, the survival mechanics that took a back seat to the combat and parkour in the first game are now at the fore front. While in TR 2013 you had the option to hunt animals for XP, you are now highly encouraged to because Lara can salvage materials from them to upgrade and craft weapons. On top of that, there are trees, bushes, birds nests, ore deposits, and mushrooms that can all be harvested for resources to for the same purpose. But despite all that effort, the crafting system never goes anywhere beyond mindlessly grabbing upgrades for Lara's gear whenever the game tells you that one is available. The world has so many of these resources to the point that, once clear the first hour or so of the game, you will always have max amount, and if not max then very close to. Its an interesting idea that just didn't get to reach it's full potential. As well, there is now an item shop that you can purchase special items and weapons by spending coins you find while exploring. This shop is almost entirely comprised of items from TR 2013 that didn't make the full jump into this game. Mind you, none of the items in the shop have any real baring on the progression of the game, there are no puzzles that require you to have the rope ascender, and not having the grenade launcher mod wont make the combat any harder. And while that may not seem like a bad thing, I do wish there was more incentive to get these items other than just "it's cool". The combat has also gotten some new additions; you can now craft explosives out of cans and enemy radios using the resources you find, and they've added different gun variants in addition to the standard bow, pistol, shotgun, AR; think a break action double barrel or a bolt action hunting rifle. these new guns allow for a little more play expression during combat and spruce up the gameplay if it begins to feel a little stale. Other than that the game is almost entirely the same as TR 2013, the optional tomb puzzles are highly enjoyable, the combat is fun and addictive, and the movement is fluid. The story even covers many of the same plot beats; accident leaves Lara in a new unfamiliar land, enemy faction discovers her and hunts her down, fights against both said enemy faction and the mystical undead army protecting the mystical mcguffin, Lara saves the day. The only new addition is the good natives that help Lara along the way. Despite the similar structure, the story is a direct improvement over the first games. I wont go into detail for the sake of spoilers, but the antagonists are much more fleshed out than in TR 2013, and Lara's motivation is more personal, which I liked. Overall amazing game, I have really enjoyed seeing the direction Crystal Dynamics has taken the series since the 7th generation entries. The only negatives I have with this one is the slight amount of bloat from the crafting system and that no real substantial improvements were made since the Tomb Raider (2013).