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Old 15-07-21, 01:27   #1
gr00tcake
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Default Classic Tomb Raider Games Revised

What if's are the closest thing we'll get to our fantasies. If Eidos hadn't rushed CORE during their run on the series, I feel like this should have been how the franchise went.

ORIGINAL TRILOGY (PS1)
Late 1996 - Tomb Raider
Early 1997 - Unfinished Business DLC (good mini adventure that branches perfectly off of the main game)
Late 1997 - Tomb Raider 2
Early 1998 - Adventures of Lara Croft DCL (As much as I LOVE TR3, I think the concept would have been best left as a TR2 expansion as it was originally started as, simply because it the mediocre story works best as a fun expansion, likely keeping 2 levels from each section)
Late 1998 - Tomb Raider 3: The Last Revelation (TR4 would have worked better as the trilogy finale, as it has a great storyline that would lead into the next trilogy as well as an epic climax)
Early 1999 - Chronicles of Lara Croft DLC (Let's admit it, this game should have been a mini DCL. It was a fun collection of stories and adventures, but wasn't really a main game in my eyes)

THE ANGEL OF DARKNESS TRILOGY (PS2)
2001 - The Angel of Darkness (After wrapping up the original trilogy in 1999, CORE would be able to put all their focus onto the first instalment of the next generation game, and we would end up with what should have been a polished, critically acclaimed and finished AOD, spawning a trilogy, as well as coinsiding with the movie's release)
2002 - The Dark Renaissance
2003 - The Lost Dominion

AVALON TRILOGY (PS3)
2006 - Tomb Raider Anniversary (After the successful AOD. trilogy, the series takes a breather before going back to the beginning and remaking the original game to coincide with it's actual anniversary)
2007 - Tomb Raider Legend (Legend would be made after Anniversary, better flow I guess, but I would also bring back hints of Marco Bartoli plot line, similar to how we got the connection with Natla. This would be a great way to really go back to the roots of the series by incorporating old enemies into the current storyline, having Natla and a connection to Bartoli working together, but not in this game, just hints that Amanda is working for someone)
2008 - Tomb Raider Underworld (The main antagonists would include Natla and someone connected to Bartoli's mafia working together, I think this would be a really great full circle moment in the series)


As for the survivor reboot, I would have preferred if they stuck with the Ascension concept they started with, instead of rebooting the series.

Last edited by gr00tcake; 15-07-21 at 01:31.
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Old 15-07-21, 03:24   #2
charmedangelin
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DLC didn't really exist back then. We had the gold expansions, but they were separated completely from the main games.

Also TR3 is way too big of a game to be put into a DLC. The original release would have been

TR1-3 for PS1

TR4 for PS2
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Old 15-07-21, 07:53   #3
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Main Games:

"Tomb Raider: Featuring Lara Croft" for Playstation1,DOS,Windows, Sega Saturn, 1996 as it is now

"Tomb Raider: Adventures of Lara Croft" for Playstation1, N64, Windows, Mac, 1999 in the graphical quality of TR4/5

"Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation" for Playstation2, Xbox and Gamecube, 2003 in the graphical quality of TRL and does not contain any references of Lara's past (including Werner, there is a different antagonist).

"Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness" for Playstation2, Xbox, Gamecube and Wii, 2006 (as the anniversary's release) contains the trilogy as one game

"Tomb Raider: Anniversary Edition" which is remade TR1 for Playstation2, Xbox, Gamecube and Wii, 2006


Handhelds, DLCs, and Spin-Offs:

"Lara Croft: Prophecy", 2001 for Gameboy Advance, basically Cambodia and Ireland Sections.

"Tomb Raider: Dagger of Xian", 2002 for Gameboy Advance in the graphical quality of Tomb Raider: Prophecy.

"Lara Croft: Relic Runner" for iOS, Android, 2009 which is basically Adventures of Lara Croft in an endless runner

"Tomb Raider: The Book of Light" for iOS, Android, 2010 which is Point&Click Adventure which tells the story of what happened in Egypt after TRLR.

"Butler Shooter" for iOS, Android which is Moorhun but with Winston, Willard, Natla, Horus and other bosses, 2011

"Rick Dangerous x Lara Croft", Comic/Manga, which is a silly crossover between Rick Dangerous and Tomb Raider.
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Old 15-07-21, 10:09   #4
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Tomb Raider, 1996 (PS1)
Unchanged

Tomb Raider II, 1997 (PS1)
Unchanged

Tomb Raider III, 1999 (PS1)
Mostly the same game but with an additional year of development, so it will be polished. It would have the same graphics as TR4, she could turn angles while climbing and going out from crawl space like TR5.

Tomb Raider The Last Revelation, 2001 (PS2)
Massive graphics update and controls up to date. The hub system would be seamless. That way the franchise wouldn't have that much of the fatigue feeling.

Chronicles of Lara Croft, 2002 (PS2)
It wouldn't be a brand new game but an extension pack with the same engine from TR4, in an episodic form. Maybe it must be a bit of science fiction for the time. The little team from the Gold games would operate. Core would be fully prepared for the next big game...

Tomb Raider Angel of Darkness, 2004 (PS2)
A big update from TR4 engine and a brand new direction for the franchise. With three years of development and good management, the game would be like intended. With Germany and Turkey as locations as well.

Tomb Raider The Lost Dominion, 2005 (PS2)
Hopefully one year isn't too short to create a good sequel from AOD. Nothing else to add as we don't know that much of this unproduced game. It would be the last game from Core who will peacefully pass the torch to a new studio.

Tomb Raider Anniversary Edition, 2006 (PS3)
The Gold team still there with support from Crystal Dynamics. Will be released at the launch of the PS3. Big success of course.


There it is. Maybe there will be remasters from Core in this future, or even a Tomb Raider II Anniversary Edition in 2016 for PS4.

PS : While I only referred to playstation for each generation, it's just because it's quick to write, the games would not be exclusive to Sony.

Last edited by Chamayoo; 15-07-21 at 10:13.
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Old 15-07-21, 11:30   #5
gr00tcake
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Quote:
Originally Posted by charmedangelin View Post
DLC didn't really exist back then. We had the gold expansions, but they were separated completely from the main games.

Also TR3 is way too big of a game to be put into a DLC. The original release would have been

TR1-3 for PS1

TR4 for PS2
It would be a scaled down version of TR3, only including a level or 2 per section just to keep it as a mini adventure.
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Old 15-07-21, 12:15   #6
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I agree with the OP's proposed list. I have nothing to add here.
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Old 15-07-21, 12:52   #7
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I would probably leave them all as is. Also didn't Chronicles had a planned Gold edition at some point? I remember something about a voodoo island or something. But it was only mentioned during an interview or something.

The final part of the Lost Artifact is so trippy I am not even sure what's going on But I loved the locations more than the main TRIII.

I will be the odd one here, but I kind of wish that AOD was just a one big game instead of a game with direct sequels. I read all about the planned sequels, but the original game seems to be the most polished.
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Old 15-07-21, 13:38   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Profc View Post
I would probably leave them all as is. Also didn't Chronicles had a planned Gold edition at some point? I remember something about a voodoo island or something. But it was only mentioned during an interview or something..

I will be the odd one here, but I kind of wish that AOD was just a one big game instead of a game with direct sequels. I read all about the planned sequels, but the original game seems to be the most polished.
This I prefer AOD to be one big game with Egypt/Paris/Germany/Prague then Capadocia.

For me

1996 : Tomb Raider : The original game
1998 : Tomb Raider II (but with a better plot and new levels)
1999: Tomb Raider III : Adventures of Lara develloped by Core Design US (with the Lost artifact storyline and more cutscenes etc)
2000 : The Last Revelation on Playstation one
2004 : Tomb Raider : The Angel of Darkness (with what I have described) no spin of games with Kurtis develloped by Core and Crystal Dynamics.

2007 : Tomb Raider Legend with a fusion between the minds of CD and CD wich is an entire story without any cliffanger at all.

2009 : Tomb Raider : Shangri Là : A new adventure following Lara at the search of the mythical city into the mountains.

2013 : Tomb Raider : A Survivor is Born (but with less action and a big fight with Himiko)
2015 : Rise of the Tomb Raider : But with an emphasis into Lara's psyche with hallucinations etc and a slice of her life in London with Kaz and Sam.

2019 : Shadow of the Tomb Raider : The epic conclusion finishing with Lara infiltrating Trinity headquarters and all the DLC from the définitive édition packed up into the story with a full hallucination séquence dream à la Inferno (the comic not the movie or the novel).

2023 : Tomb Raider : Exodus : The continuation of the reboot storyline
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Old 15-07-21, 17:58   #9
ToMbRaIdErxFtW
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1996: (PS1) Tomb Raider 1 - Unchanged

1998: (PS1) Tomb Raider 2: The Adventures Of Lara Croft - 1 extra year of development would allow TR2 to have the same graphics and engine as Tomb Raider 3 and a better story. A mix between TR2 and TR3.

2000: (PS1) Tomb Raider The Last Revelation - Mostly the same but with some of the improvements of Chronicles and unused content and also some of the more boring sections shortened to make the game more streamlined. The game would end the same way albeit with a slight hint at the end that Lara may still be alive. This would be the swansong for the PS1.

2002: (PS2) Tomb Raider: The Angel Of Darkness - With Chronicles never being made, The devs would of had more time to focus on making AOD the best it could have been.

2004: (PS2) Tomb Raider AOD sequal 1

2006: (PS2) Tomb Raider AOD sequal 2 - PS2 Swansong

2008: (PS3) Tomb Raider: Anniversary

2010: (PS3) Tomb Raider: Legend

2012: (PS3) Tomb Raider: Underworld


Not sure if this would be the best or most realistic timeline but I wanted to cut of some of the filler titles and make sure each game got at least 2 years of development dedicated to it.

Last edited by ToMbRaIdErxFtW; 15-07-21 at 18:01. Reason: Chnaged my mind about some of the dates.
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Old 16-07-21, 21:55   #10
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(All in the same Core classic universe.)

PS1:
1996 - TR1
1997 - TR2
1998 - TR3
1999 - TR4: Last Revelation

PS2:
2002 - TR5: Angel of Darkness (this should always have been a stand-alone story)
2004 - TR6: Excalibur (stand-alone Legend story adapted into the classic timeline)
2006 - TR7: Ragnarok (stand-alone Underworld story adapted into the classic timeline)

PS3:
2007 - Remastered Legacy Collection (with updated analogue controls for TR1-4
2008 - TR8: Survivor (also on PS2) (stand-alone reboot story adapted into the classic timeline)
2010 - TR9: Divinity (stand-alone Rise story adapted into the classic timeline)
2012 - TR10: Eclipse (stand-alone Shadow story adapted into the classic timeline)

PS4:
2013 - (Updated) Remastered Legacy Collection
2014 - TR11 (also on PS3)
2016 - TR12
2018 - TR13

PS5:
2020 - TR14 (also on PS4)
2022 - TR15

Last edited by _Seth; 16-07-21 at 22:09.
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