played with the remaster version (patch 2) on PC. Used tank controls and got the achievements for using less than 86 saves.

I never played the original so I didn't have nostalgia but I think they did an amazing job on Lara's model (it's basically what the pre-rendered model looks like) and most non-human enemies. Some human enemies lost some of their charm, especially the male ones.

On the aesthetics of the environments and lighting of the remaster, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. I prefer some places in the remaster and some other in the original but I'm not complaining since you can toggle between both. I think the lighting doesn't work correctly on Lara's remastered model for some reason though, she sometimes looks way too bright in some dark environments and it looks out of place.

I do not recommend the modern controls scheme of remaster - I think a lot of enjoyment of TR comes from mastering the controls.

Onto the game itself - I might write something in the future but let's just say it's everything I love in video games. Great atmosphere, no handholding, challenging gameplay - just a banger. It's the kind of game you can go back to and constantly improve at.

my favorite of the trilogy by far. It has some 'dull' gameplay sections of walking around and doing nothing but the atmosphere is so great I don't really mind it. It nailed the theme of addiction, depression, anxiety and overcoming it while not having any weak pretensions of morality. Loved it.

I also really like the arcade mode even if the scoring system might be a little too simple to make it deep.

mp3 > mp1 > mp2 (they are all great)

Great story, a bit better than the first one (although they were going for something different to be fair) but the story of MP2 does appeal more to my sensibilities. If it was just for the story, I would probably give this game a 5. Not because it's super complex or anything. Just reinforces my belief that men will do the dumbest shit in the world for a woman (but is it dumb in that case?). Besides that and some minor QoL improvements that are expected from a sequel I enjoyed the first game more although the runtime of this one makes it a little more replayable. I do like the conspiracy theme of the first one though.

The 3D spaces you traverse in the first one are way more memorable and some of the assets are very charming (Max Payne's face for one) - the atmosphere in other words. It's also harder which is a plus for me.

The setting of New Jersey has been a little too overdone in media and I think a lot of the atmosphere and charm these games have come from the assets and graphics so I'm not optimistic about the upcoming remakes.

got to chapter 19 blind, might continue playing this later.

(yes, I recruited Xavier)