i can't lie, i didn't have the best impression of the past lara croft games, but this one really won me over. the environment is immersive and well-crafted, the action scenes are exciting and cinematic, and it's consistently good throughout, front to back. the story is pretty light and can be a bit nonsensical. i still find it funny that in the midst of an ongoing kidnapping sacrificial ritual, lara keeps getting distracted by shiny trinkets like, "oh, a vase!" like girl sam is going to die 😭😭