19-11-18, 16:36 | #21 |
Member
Joined: Sep 2018
Posts: 1,471
|
St Francis Folly is the best level in TRA/TR1 period. I liked it in the original, but TRA’s version still looks beautiful today.
An honourable mention should go to Natla’s Mines, sure it was a little bland & simple but I did enjoy it in the remake. |
19-11-18, 21:00 | #22 |
Inactive
Joined: Oct 2016
Posts: 3,888
|
|
20-11-18, 02:46 | #23 |
Inactive
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 3,594
|
|
22-11-18, 21:30 | #24 |
Member
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 16,804
|
Anniversary's worst sin was merging The Cistern and Tomb of Tihocan. Not so much because of ToT, but The Cistern is one of the most memorable and complex levels of the first game. I could say it's iconic...and they destroyed it.
The other big sin was murdering TR1's hardest level: Atlantis I loved Anniversary back in the day, though (I'd have to replay it to see if it holds up). Like others said, St. Francis Folly or Sanctuary of the Scion put TR1's original levels to shame. Combat was truly enjoyable (the best in the series, in my opinion...so it was a shock to see Underworld failing so miserably in this department). The soundtrack felt powerful enough (somehow, I adore the Rat Theme) and added to the atmosphere. It had some nice puzzles and I quite liked Natla, Larson (who sometimes seems to have feelings for Lara) and Pierre. If Kid and Kold weren't there, I wouldn't notice. I don't mind the washed out colours as much as I suppose I should. Like with many of Crystal's products, the positive stuff pretty much makes up for the flaws. |
27-11-18, 10:11 | #25 | |
Member
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 6,334
|
Quote:
Ok, (slight) jokes aside, Anniversary felt best whenever it built and expanded upon the constructs and concepts established in the original, with the updated technologies allowing for a sense of spectacle and a full realisation of some of the original intent of TR1 that was impossible at release, such as the Anniversary iterations of the Lost Valley and Atlas and Midas statues. Conversely, it was always at its weakest when they subverted the original vision to satisfy moronic requirements of retconning into CD's LAU story arc, or watering down content to justify a family-friendly ELSPA certification (looking at you, conspicuously fleshless Atlantis). I think having Gard on board hurt the project too. I don't actually care that he is the original character creator, he has always had this unhealthy, patrician Madonna/whore attitude towards Lara ('she's classier than that...', 'she's got more depth than that approach would imply...' etc. etc.). It's as if being involved in the remake allowed him to live out his fever dreams or holdover resentments regarding how the original was scripted/directed, suggesting that even then he was uncomfortable with the handling of 'his' character by his colleagues. Get over yourself, dude. What subsequently has made the removal of any even slightly mature content from Anniversary harder to digest is the series' current ultra-violent direction since rebooting. Gentle, emotional-feelz Lara in TRA was doubtlessly a Gard stipulation too, however. So, yeah. When Anniversary stuck to what made the original great, it really performed. When it tried to put its own spin on the material most people were, at best, indifferent or, at worst, were actively facepalming from behind their gamepads. Make of that what you will, I suppose. |
|
27-11-18, 14:01 | #26 |
Moderator
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 16,996
|
TRA did some things right, but CD never quite got that nooks and crannies and rooms to explore are not useless if they don't feed the main goal, but interesting on their own. If they knew that, they wouldn't have streamlined levels like the Cistern or Midas' Palace.
Take the Croft Manor level in TRU: you pass by all these cells that you can't enter. Every single one of those cells should be explorable. Maybe there's nothing in there, maybe there is just a medipak, maybe it's one of those freaking journal things CD thinks is so mesmerizing, but things to explore make the game fun. If you "grew up" on the Core games, all you want to do is find some new place to explore: a new area, the top of a building to which there's a hidden path, some dark shadow that's actually a entrance, a hidden lever that opens a door and NONE OF IT has to be required to beat the level. Finding it is a reward all its own, and gosh, if they tucked a reward in there, happy dance! You found it! Now they've gone too far the other way, where there's too much and none of its meaningful, which sounds like I just contradicted my first point, but IMO, there's a difference between exploring and busywork. |
27-11-18, 15:01 | #27 | |
Member
Joined: Jun 2015
Posts: 8,193
|
Quote:
|
|
29-11-18, 21:15 | #28 | |
Member
Joined: Jun 2018
Posts: 6,529
|
Quote:
I got the Alydwch Rocket Launcher on my first full play though of TR3 by accident and I felt like I could take on the world once I found it. Classic Video game secrets are so fun, nothin' beats finding a super powerful weapon early. I'm not too opposed to non-useful collectables, but they should be with classic-style secrets instead of replacing them. (Chronicles was the worst for this.) Last edited by Samz; 29-11-18 at 21:16. |
|
03-12-18, 13:25 | #29 |
Moderator
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 16,996
|
Well, Aldwytch wasn't early for me because I did London last in the rotation.
|
03-12-18, 22:23 | #30 |
Member
Joined: Oct 2016
Posts: 10,356
|
Yeah, the railway-track linearity of the Crystal Dynamics games (both LAU and Reboot) has been consistently the biggest problem. What I miss is those branching levels, where there's multiple ways to go and it's not obvious which way you go first. It's trial and error, you keep exploring until you have that "aha!" moment where you find what you need to progress in another area. I think that should be a pillar of Tomb Raider gameplay and it's sad that it's been lost.
Some levels in the classic games truly felt like a series of small-scale hubs, it was like one little hub after another connected together. It made some levels feel extremely intricate and complex. |
Thread Tools | |
|
|