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Old 09-10-18, 00:45   #1
GabrielCroft
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Default My love for Tomb Raider Legend

hi!

I wanted to create a thread to share my love for this game. Of course, please feel free to comment here too and share with us what you think of the game. What you liked, what you disliked, etc...

For me, TRL is a incredible game and marked my childhood. 12 years has passed and I can't believe it's that old.

The only flaw for me it's the length. Too short, specially compared to previous games in the series.

Here's my story:

I was waiting for this game so bad since 2005, when I discovered it's existence by simply acessing the tombraider.com website. After The Angel of Darkness and the dark ages TR was facing (because no one knew what would happen to the series), I was happy to know a next game would come. At the same time, I was sad because Core Design wasn't working on TR anymore, but a new company: Crystal Dynamics. At least I was confident because Toby Gard, the creator, was involved. Then I watched the videos and I was so hyped, it looked incredible. Somehow I didn't know when the game would release, but sometimes I used the internet to view informations like screenshots and trailers. I remember being excited watching the peru flashback gameplay and also Japan. I played the demo when it launched and I was so, so anxious. I kept waiting every single day.

I was 10 years old, April 6th 2006. I had NO IDEA that TRL released one day earlier. I came back home from school and when I arrived in my bedroom, my father was testing Tomb Raider Legend in my PS2. I was surprised, but more confused. I couldn't understand what was going on... so I asked "What is that?"

My mother came and said: "It's just a demo", and I almost believed her when all she was doing was trying to fool me. It really could be a demo since he was playing the first level: Bolivia. Anyway, my curiosity was greater and I asked "please, open the disc tray", and so my father did.

And there it was! The Tomb Raider Legend disc.

I literally SCREAMED. I was filled with joy! I remember that I laughed for nothing and my father commented that he didn't see me that happy for some time.

Of course, I said "Thank you" a million times and asked how that happened. My mother explained she was walking through the city some hours earlier and saw the game everywhere for sale in the stores, so she talked to my dad and they went to buy it for me ♥

I was so curious about croft manor, so choosing it was the first thing I did when I picked up the controller. I was a bit angry when I discovered the game wouldn't let you explore the place before you finished the Bolivia level.

So I replayed the entire demo section and finally reached a totally new place. Then I played Peru, surprised that it was already the second level, and when Lara appeared in the flashback wearing the classic outfit I was so amazed
Japan was incredible for me. Probably the best one of these 3 and today it's still one of my favorite levels of the game. Playing with Lara using a dress (even if it's ripped xD) for the first time ever was something... badass, elegant and new at the same time.

Unfortunately, I had to stop playing to do my homework and then... sleep.

Next day I played Ghana and then I had to go to school. I couldn't stop thinking about the game. When I arrived home, I had to go out with my family to celebrate my father's birthday. It was very fun, but I was so anxious to play more of the game

In the next days, I remember playing croft manor with so much passion. I loved the new design and how it was inspired by the movies.

I finished the game on the 3rd day, playing the remanescent 4 levels. When I was finishing Nepal, my uncle, aunt and cousin came to visit us, so they watched me finish the game with my parents too.

The credits came with that incredible soundtrack and I almost teared up. This game also has this special thing for me: TRL's soundtrack is my favorite from every single TR game. I really love it. What an amazing experience! The ending was screaming in your face that a sequel would come, so I was 2x happier.

I loved the outfit system in the game and how you could unlock new ones by picking up the collectibles and doing time trials. The new costumes were such a great reward. The outfits were amazing. When I unlocked the "classic" one I just fell in love. Unfortunately, some rewards were still missing and I couldn't find them no matter how many times I replayed the levels, so I bought a magazine with a guide to all of them and completed the game 100%.

Even after completing it 100%, I replayed the game so many times. Specially Japan and Nepal. After some months, I bought it for PC believing it would run in next generation mode, but unfortunately, my computer couldn't handle it at the time. Anyway, I had a LOT of fun since I discovered outfit and level mods.

In 2011, my father gave me a gift: The Tomb Raider Trilogy for PS3 and I finally played it with the next generation graphics for the first time. Today, I can't play this version anymore because my PS3 disc reader is "broken", but I have it for Xbox360. I play it until today and maybe it's the most played TR by me, although not my favorite (it's TR2.)

Tomb Raider Legend marked me so much and it's a masterpiece for me. I love this game! I also like TRA and TRU, but this one is my favorite of the trilogy for sure. The return of Lara Croft after years missing was a blast, and the gameplay + controls were awesome.

I'll never forget. So much nostalgia writing all this

Last edited by GabrielCroft; 10-11-18 at 23:52.
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Old 09-10-18, 04:58   #2
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I think Tomb Raider: Legend has some of the best art direction and setpiece design in the series. If I had a capture card, I'd love to GIF it sometime. That's all I can contribute, other than saying I loved reading your story.
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Old 09-10-18, 05:29   #3
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Thank you!! Well, I'm certain that GIFs of this game would be awesome, since I don't remember seeing some
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Old 09-10-18, 06:17   #4
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Aww, that's a lovely story GabrielCroft.

I have a lot of memories like that from my childhood for this game. As a kid, I didn't even realize the series got rebooted; I kind of just thought they continued from where they left off in Angel of Darkness. I remember being excited for the game to come out and frequently visiting the tombraider.com site. I remember the little boulders on the site that would crash down if you hovered over them. It's the little things. I used to play Legend a lot with my sister and her friend. Our favorite back then was Japan because of the unique urban environment and the "sexy Lara dress" Haha. I also remember playing the Peru biking section with my dad which is bittersweet because it's one of the last few times we spent together before my father became ill. I spent hours and hours trying to unlock the secrets and time trials to to get the outfits. Many of the previous tomb raider games my mom and I used to work together to beat; she would read stratagie guides and help me as I played. We had good times together.

Once texmod became a thing, I had a lot of fun nodding the game, Lara's outfits, and even the entire night club.

I got the ps3 trilogy remaster so I was able to play the game in amazing nextgen graphics. My favorite level now is England because it's just so subtle yet beautiful and full of mystique. The banter between Lara, Zip and Alister was a nice touch. My favorite outfit is the blue legend for sure. Such a nice color on Lara. For me, this game is timeless, making it my third favorite in the series.
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Old 09-10-18, 16:47   #5
GabrielCroft
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Girafarig32 View Post
For me, this game is timeless, making it my third favorite in the series.
I couldn't agree more with you! And just like you, I always visited the website to check for news And wow, I never thought It was a reboot, same goes with me. Everything was still so faithful to previous games that it was just like a simple sequel. What incredible memories you got! It's the simple things, exactly...
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Old 10-10-18, 17:45   #6
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What an amazing story. <3 I have no love the Legend, myself, but thanks for sharing.
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Old 10-10-18, 18:02   #7
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That’s such a beautiful story. I also love Legend so, so, so much, especially after just recently replaying it on my Xbox One. My biggest issue with it is also the length, but what we do get is quite lovely. It told a great story and it did a good job of introducing its characters.
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Old 10-10-18, 18:44   #8
Alex Fly
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A very beautiful story, thanks for sharing. I absolutely love Tomb Raider Legend as well and it's always a pleasure for me to replay it. It's the shortest game of the franchise but certainly the one I enjoy the most.
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Old 10-10-18, 18:50   #9
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i love a story like this it reminds me of happy days.
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Old 10-10-18, 20:51   #10
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Legend always did feel like disc 1 of a multi-disc game (remember those?)

All the cut content from Nepal looked very interesting and I always wondered what would've happened had Legend gotten maybe 2-3 more years of production on it.
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