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Old 10-11-19, 04:22   #1
charmedangelin
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Default Tomb Raider Reboot Trilogy Thread

Thought I would make a thread about this since the trilogy is finally over. It's been 6 years since the start of this trilogy and there have been many ups and downs. Lots criticized the story for not being consistent, Lara's character actually regressing throughout the trilogy and of course the lack of proper Lara and Tomb Raider development as a whole. That's why I'm pretty sure some folks will do a trilogy replay in order to get a true understanding of the reboot trilogy and access whether or not the games really tie together in a single origin narrative. Did the trilogy over all build up to what they had promised, marketed or teased? Is this how you see the trilogy end? This is a thread where we can talk about the trilogy as a whole and share our experience playing the trilogy as a whole, back to back.

I already did one, but I plan on doing another one now that Shadow is 100% complete.

Have fun guys
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Old 10-11-19, 04:43   #2
TrustyBow
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It didn't need to be a trilogy but I didn't mind it as one.

IMHO, it's actually pretty easy to look at each title as being standalone.
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Old 10-11-19, 09:55   #3
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Good timing! I am replaying the reboot trilogy now after DE is out. I can't believe it's been six years, it made me realize I really put the entire franchise on hold nearly six years after losing hope with TR2013. I am only halfway through TR2013 on my replay, this game still annoys me a bit with the excessive action sequences. I hate it now even after I had a 180 of opinon on the trilogy.

Back in 2013, I was rather bitter about the reboot. I hated the action-oriented direction; I hated the new Lara because she was almost unrecognizeable from the classic character; I liked the bow but hated how it replaced the dual pistols; I liked the mythology and the setting but hated how most of the ancient structures were used in action sequences and not truly explorable. All those things made me put the franchise on hold and move on to other games.

Now in 2019, I played the rest of the trilogy and had a 180 on my opinion of the trilogy. Action was downplayed and actual tomb raiding became the spotlight again (gracias a dios); new Lara is nothing like the old Lara, but I found her extremely likeable and admirable in her own ways; once I dissociate new Lara from old Lara, the bow becoming her new signature was fine as well; and both Rise and Shadow gave me so much opportunity to actually explore ancient locations that made me a happy happy man.

I honestly believe this trilogy has evolved really well and has brought a ton of great tomb raiding content to modern gaming systems. I believe in time people will remember it more fondly (too much drama right now, but maybe, hopefully that will change)

Last edited by aquaflute; 10-11-19 at 12:50.
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Old 10-11-19, 10:49   #4
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Basically the same experience as aquaflute !

I loath the reboot at the time of its release. I hated the direction, too much Micheal Bay action, too much cinematic set pieces, not enough puzzles, too linear... On the top of that, I really hated all this effort to forget the past of the franchise, I missed too much things rather that I welcomed the new things.
Also I didn't feel close to Lara. I didn't hate her but felt indifferent about her, as well as the Endurance crew.
While I soften myself, Tomb Raider (2013) still is difficult to like sometimes and still my least favourite game of the franchise. I always said it's a nice and well done game, but a questionable reboot and very not good Tomb Raider.

So 2010 to 2014 was a difficult time for me as a TR fan. All this success, all this hype, all this praise and I didn't feel that at all and wonder if it was time to move on from a franchise I once loved but don't find myself happy anymore.

So when Rise was announced, I was still curious but didn't feel any excitement about it. AND let's not talk about the (happily failed) Xbox exclusivity at August 2014.
Ok fighting bears could be nice and why not a cold setting. I imagined a game even more appart from its roots. I really believed they will remove the challenge tombs for good and make it 100% combat. Why to bother, general public and critic love our game !
Fortunately... I was wrong. Every little bit of interviews that talk about more tombs, manual health, swimming felt like a miracle. It was a direction I liked and the Game Informer issue at February 2015 filled me with hope again.
I ended up enjoying Rise, I appreciate the reboot formula, at last ! The game was better in every points for me. Lot's of things to discover thanks to crypts and bigger tombs, combat was far better sparse and stealth helped a lot to make them more enjoyable. The game was clearly baby steps (wtf the swimming and swinging mechanics) and felt too close to its predecessor, but it was well done this time. Lara was decent and I appreciate the secondary characters.
The 20th anniversary was the cherry on the cake. I love Blood Ties and the "forget everything about TR" era was definitely over (a relieve !).

2016 left me with a new and better appreciation with the Reboot era and I was even looking for the next installment...
2017 was so empty but the tiny leaks were exciting. Lush jungles ? A refined rope system ? A spear system like GOL ? Ok the last thing wasn't on the final game but I really liked this teasing.
Then Eidos Montreal was hint and announced as the main developers this time. What a weird move, I was very curious : this time it would feel different ?
Yes and no. Shadow was surprising and unsurprising at the same time. A true swimming and grappling system, a refined stealth mechanic, bigger tombs. All very welcomed but totally expected. The true surprise was the departure of the dark and gritty environment to something more luminous and colorful. The option to remove the white paints was the most surprising feature.
Shadow was released and it has everything to be the best of the trilogy and pleased me. Better music, better challenges, more exploration, felt of lot more like a Tomb Raider... and ended up just liking it but a little less than Rise.
Why ? Just why ? Why I am not enjoying this game as much as Rise ? All the stars were aligned for me ! It was a big question for the first months. Then I finally find my answers. I guess the formula is getting a bit old, the mechanics remain the same as well as the animation, the restrictive movie like gameplay was still there and I still don't like that. Most importantly I didn't like how hubs were portrayed in Shadow. They were my favourite things of the previous games (with challenged tombs) and it ended up like big spaces with as only target to talk to NPCs. The exploration, the freedom, the lack of platforming on them, it wasn't really the same.
I finished with somehow a bad note, but Shadow was mostly a good game with a really good direction to finish the trilogy.

So... I'm really hopeful for the future. 2019 was... a mess year as (clowns) TR fans. It started good as I liked the seven DLCs but ended with a bitter taste. Nevermind ! The origin is over and we can look forward to an unknown but seemingly better future !
I'm sure the reboot formula will be revamped, Square Enix hinted Shadow wasn't novel enough, even as a sequel to an established formula. Surely the next game will change that. No character growth and inexperiences for Lara Croft anymore, with a certainty Lara will be seasoned and professional, much more closure to previous Lara(s). I very doubt we'll encounter family issues. Now that the "era" isn't really finished I'm looking for FINALLY a game that will put solid new bases but not ignore the past ! I swear if they will ignore the good things Shadow bring to the trilogy, I will not be that kind.

So let's see what the future will bring.

Last edited by Chamayoo; 10-11-19 at 13:40.
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Old 10-11-19, 11:26   #5
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I was waiting all this time for the 8th DLC to do a Shadow/Trilogy replay, but after everything that's happened in the last couple of weeks/months, I don't think it's a good idea for me to replay Shadow right now. I'm livid. I'm so mad at whoever was in charge for creative direction. They just simply didn't have player fun as a priority and that's such a turn off. The total refusal to talk to the fans made me lose respect for the companies involved with the franchise.

TReboot, it's been a long while since I last played. I remember liking this game a lot. I was and still am critical about the overwhelming amount of combat and the few and far inbetween puzzles we've had, but overall it was a great game from beginning to end. Crystal knew how to create memories with this one. It's a game that will be remembered by the public for a long while. No wonder the devs at Crystal said they were making THE game of their careers.

Rise... oh god. I remember losing interests in the franchise as a whole when the exclusivity was announced. Then I remember PC got it just 2 months later anyway, but my computer was so weak, I had to put the game off for an additional 6 months. Having said that, Rise is definitely the total package in the trilogy. They improved on all fronts where I had criticism for TReboot. They gave us replayability, they gave us fun DLC, better secondary characters, a bunch of fluff to play around with, the list goes on. If you don't count TReboot's multiplayer, I definitely sunk the most hours into Rise and in retrospect I'm not surprised one bit.

Shadow is somehow my favourite and least favourite game in the trilogy. What it does good, it does VERY good. And then there are a bunch of small things, that individually don't amount to a lot, but they add up and piss me off to no ends. We've BEGGED Eidos to get these fixed for 14 months straight and they didn't give a ****. NOT. A. WORD.

I think I'm going to wait until I'm finished with this semester at university in January to replay the trilogy. Hopefully by that time I won't be as salty about all the insults to injury that Shadow's DE has caused me.
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Old 10-11-19, 11:40   #6
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I think it has been a great era (at least when it comes to the actual games. Not going to comment on everything surrounding them because we know how that turned out).

The games were well crafted, with new mechanics added with each entry but respecting what the reboot started. They feel like a trilogy to me (although I guess one could start playing Shadow and enjoy it just as well), and I've enjoyed Lara's journey from a naive girl who didn't believe in the supernatural to the hardcore badass she has become in Shadow. Side note: I'm thinking about her first kill and how terrified she was, and then you compare it to the oil refinery scene and I just have goosebumps. People keep saying she regressed but I'll always defend that she's evolved thorough the games in a significant way (it's just that maybe she didn't evolve into a more classic version, which is what most people expected). But I'm ok with where she is now at the end of Shadow. It felt pretty organic and I liked that. I expect a time jump so hopefully she'll be even more confident and sassy going forward.

As for the games themselves, as I said, they're well crafted, they're of great quality, and you can tell they left a mark in the gaming industry (TR2013 and Rise specially). I'm always happy to see mechanics from TR2013 being part of other games (UC4, Horizon Zero Dawn, etc), and I always smile whenever someone wants to see how powerful a laptop is, and you can see they're using Rise for that.

As I said in another thread, the trilogy had a lot to offer and it delivered: from crazy action and setpieces in TR2013, amazing vistas and new mechanics in Rise, and jaw dropping tombs and puzzles in Shadow.

I truly feel that the games will be praised in the future (we are already seeing some fans praising TR2013 now after it being such a disgrace to the franchise for so long) and I have no doubt they will be considered superior from LAU in almost every way. I feel bad for LAU, though. They weren't the best games but they had something unique about them and it seems like they have no fans left (or at least nobody seems to care or defend them) and even the devs made an effort to just erase them almost completely. Every nod to the past is almost always a classic one, but there's little love left for LAU. Sigh.

Last edited by iWANEX; 10-11-19 at 11:43.
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Old 10-11-19, 11:50   #7
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Reboot was very disappointing.

I love LAU though and for me it is superior to reboot
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Old 10-11-19, 12:04   #8
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You can’t deny that the reboot era put Tomb Raider on the map and for that I’m grateful. TR’13 had the perfect ending to Lara’s origin story and thats where they should have left it, there was no reasoning to extend her origin story through three games, have the games in the same universe sure but they didn’t need to be Lara’s “first tomb raiding” or “Laras defining moment”.

One thing that bugs me is the inconsistency between Rise and Shadows story; Not once is did Richard mention that Amaru was the head of trinity considering he was working close to Richard but the biggest plothole for me was Amaru killed Richard because he “would have lead the public to Paititi”... I thought Richard was killed because he was close to finding the Divine Source.

So which was is it?
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Old 10-11-19, 12:19   #9
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Ah I didn't discuss Lara's growth on purpose, just because I didn't have the strength. This thread has been discussed numerous time on daily basis and it bored me to death now, you have no idea.
I will just say I agree with iWanex, Shadow Lara is the most badass and enjoyable of the three, and it's not the dead looking Taylor Swift drawing clumsily the dual pistols at the end of TR'13 that will change my mind.
Of course I agree the evolution has been not executed well and was underused but it didn't bother me as much.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Lara_Fan1 View Post
One thing that bugs me is the inconsistency between Rise and Shadows story; Not once is did Richard mention that Amaru was the head of trinity considering he was working close to Richard but the biggest plothole for me was Amaru killed Richard because he “would have lead the public to Paititi”... I thought Richard was killed because he was close to finding the Divine Source.

So which was is it?
Haha true. Probably both. It should annoy Trinity to death !

Last edited by Chamayoo; 10-11-19 at 12:23.
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Old 10-11-19, 12:38   #10
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have to agree with tomee on tr2013 being the most well-put together and memorable title. it is. i can totally see why some fans’d have issues with the game and i do too, but damn it’s such a good video-game. there’s no single filler moment.
and it kinda needed to stop at that. rise and shadow could’ve easily been stand-alone games and it would’ve all worked so much better because the trilogy themes are literally shoehorned in in the ugliest ways possible and it’s sad.
although i do like all three games individually (they’re all kinda ****ed up in their own ways and it’s a shame and it’s a waste but i try not to think about it and enjoy them for what they are).
although in the case of shadow there’s just so much that gets in the way of what could’ve been one of THE greatest tomb raider experiences i just cant ignore it.

now the way the trilogy marketing has been handled was... interesting to say the least.
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