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Old 10-06-20, 18:27   #1
shiajun
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Default Should I skip Rise and go straight to Shadow?

Hello everyone. I checked out from Tomb Raider as a whole after the reboot. While I broadly enjoyed it, I felt somewhat unenthusiastic after the game about what the series held. I stopped posting here, and Rise has been in my Steam wishlist since forever yet I can't make myself purchase it even when it has these deep discounts. I don't have that much time to game anymore, so I choose things that I feel I will like rather than be the follower of game series out of nostalgia.

Essentially, I felt the characterization of Lara was off, even considering the "first time" plotline. Her friend always having to be rescued got OLD fast. There was FAR too much focus on combat and explosions. Tomb Raider had never been a stranger to fire fights, but it just seemed to be the core experience looked for by the designers. All the tomb raiding was a side thought and dead simple, with obvious sign posts all over. It's not like I don't like combat, I do it in other games, but it seemed excessively highlighted. The exploration and ambiance was almost scratching what I wanted, but it didn't give me the complete awe of previous games like the classics and perhaps Underworld.

Why am I saying all of this? From what I see, Shadow of the Tomb Raider seems to veer more into exploration and tombs than the other games of the reboot trilogy. It has these RPG elements that just plague all games now for whatever reason, so I can't fault it for it. Storywise, I could just read a small recap of the major plotpoints about Trinity and dive straight into Shadow. However, I'd like some input from people who have already played the game based on the things I liked and disliked from TR2013.
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Old 10-06-20, 19:26   #2
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I do like Rise and some here prefer it over Shadow, but imo, you don't need Rise in order to play Shadow, even though Rise introduces Trinity. None of the enemy characters from Rise are in Shadow and aren't mentioned so all you really need to know is that Trinity are the bad guys. If you're looking for a more Tomb Raiding experience with less combat and more leaning towards traversal and puzzles, then Shadow does this. However, be warned, while Rise introduced a hub with a community of 'Remnants' living there that Lara can interact with, Shadow took the living and breathing lost city to a whole new level with the hub Paititi, which may put you off, unless you're fine with that kind of thing, but the social aspect does make it feel like the pacing slows. However if you follow the story first, then, imo, the pacing isn't too bad. In terms of gameplay, Shadow is my personal favourite from the reboot trilogy. Also, Lara's characterisation is better in Shadow than in Rise, where it fell a bit flat until the end. You won't really miss anything story wise if you skip Rise. There is some rescuing involved, but it's not as big a thing as in TR'13. Jonah from TR'13 is also a returning character and he and Lara have some nice moments. None of the other characters from TR'13 are in Shadow.

Hope this is helpful for you to make a decision. I would recommend you try Shadow though.
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Old 10-06-20, 21:30   #3
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Queen Rai said it all.

I will just add that on the spectrum..Rise is more similar to Shadow than it's similar to Reboot.
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Old 11-06-20, 08:23   #4
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Rise does come with a decent amount of content (a replay chapter mode with customizable loadouts, an actual survival mode set in a procedural map, a ludicrous amount of outfits) but the campaign is the kind of stealth-shooter that just wants you to win. Basically TR2013 with slightly bigger tombs, more empty areas in-between encounters and most encounters are designed with the possibility of stealth in mind.

It doesn't take TR in a direction you might enjoy, but it can be a casual fun ride.
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Old 11-06-20, 14:53   #5
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no, you’re missing out a very good game
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Old 11-06-20, 16:32   #6
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Originally Posted by Rai View Post
I do like Rise and some here prefer it over Shadow, but imo, you don't need Rise in order to play Shadow, even though Rise introduces Trinity. None of the enemy characters from Rise are in Shadow and aren't mentioned so all you really need to know is that Trinity are the bad guys. If you're looking for a more Tomb Raiding experience with less combat and more leaning towards traversal and puzzles, then Shadow does this. However, be warned, while Rise introduced a hub with a community of 'Remnants' living there that Lara can interact with, Shadow took the living and breathing lost city to a whole new level with the hub Paititi, which may put you off, unless you're fine with that kind of thing, but the social aspect does make it feel like the pacing slows. However if you follow the story first, then, imo, the pacing isn't too bad. In terms of gameplay, Shadow is my personal favourite from the reboot trilogy. Also, Lara's characterisation is better in Shadow than in Rise, where it fell a bit flat until the end. You won't really miss anything story wise if you skip Rise. There is some rescuing involved, but it's not as big a thing as in TR'13. Jonah from TR'13 is also a returning character and he and Lara have some nice moments. None of the other characters from TR'13 are in Shadow.

Hope this is helpful for you to make a decision. I would recommend you try Shadow though.
Yeah this is a good explanation. I personally don’t think I will ever again play Rise as a whole, only Siria and Croft Manor maybe here and there when nostalgia hits xD Rise has zero impact on both story and Lara’s character in this trilogy. Jonah is in it from the first game but only as a plot device character, nothing important happens with him and what happens gets reversed in a matter of minutes and is never mentioned again in Shadow. The rest of the characters are all confined within and conveniently killed off by the end of thegame, artefacts and myths aren’t particularly explained or even well thought out and don’t impact Shadow in any way.

Shadow on the other hand could be a direct sequel to 2013. Lara’s is that more confident self from the end of 2013 (in Rise they just deleted that part of her character or smth, she was more like in the beginning on the island) and croft family history doesn’t play too big of a role in Shadow but what role it has it’s done very well and has a little impact on some scenes and dialogues from 2013 if you plan to play it in retrospect again. The story setup is great and that much better if you pretent that Rise never happened so Shadow gets to be her first big experience after the island (I don’t count the comics as canon lore) Jonah is also here and I really liked him in the game. 2013 and Shadow fit perfectly with one another as a duo, Rise is story-wise more like an expansion, has zero impact on the whole trilogy.

Edit: sorry, I forgot to mention one more thing - Rise is combat heavy, chokful of explosions and action setpieces and waves of enemies (it’s what makes me probably never play it again) while Shadow has a veeeryyy small amount of combat and it’s scattered nicely throughout the game, focus is so much more on locations, ancient tombs and myths and puzzles... out of the 3 Shadow FEELS the most Tomb Raider. Hope that helps

Last edited by jackoimina; 11-06-20 at 16:39.
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Old 11-06-20, 18:22   #7
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As a counter argument -

I prefer a great deal of Rise to Shadow.

I think the upgrade system in Rise is more rewarding in the long term than in Shadow, where there are so many skills and weapons that you will only make genuine use of about 1/4 or less of them all.

I think the cast of Rise is more compelling over all, especially with all of its add-on chapters considered as part of the whole. The handful of side-quests in Rise for the Remnant faction do not feel overwhelming and ultimately more meaningful and applicable to conflict with Trinity, in comparison with those in Shadow which are numerous and as Rai has said, significantly slow down the pacing of the primary narrative.

Shadow does, however, do a lot of things better than Rise. If you want a massive, labyrinthine place to explore and learn about its inhabitants, Paititi is very impressive. Paititi's primary NPC is a fantastic character, and some of the minor characters throughout the game are worth your attention. Its difficulty settings, if set to the highest degree, demand a high-degree of accuracy which some fans love and others do not - failure can and will mean repeating large swaths of the game if you haven't visited a campsite recently.

There are aspects of Shadow's narrative that I outright do not like, compared to Rise where I might have been only mildly annoyed.

But, in the end, I do think Rise should be played prior to Shadow, if only because some of the events of Rise do come into play.
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Old 11-06-20, 19:43   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by shiajun View Post
Hello everyone. I checked out from Tomb Raider as a whole after the reboot. While I broadly enjoyed it, I felt somewhat unenthusiastic after the game about what the series held. I stopped posting here, and Rise has been in my Steam wishlist since forever yet I can't make myself purchase it even when it has these deep discounts. I don't have that much time to game anymore, so I choose things that I feel I will like rather than be the follower of game series out of nostalgia.

Essentially, I felt the characterization of Lara was off, even considering the "first time" plotline. Her friend always having to be rescued got OLD fast. There was FAR too much focus on combat and explosions. Tomb Raider had never been a stranger to fire fights, but it just seemed to be the core experience looked for by the designers. All the tomb raiding was a side thought and dead simple, with obvious sign posts all over. It's not like I don't like combat, I do it in other games, but it seemed excessively highlighted. The exploration and ambiance was almost scratching what I wanted, but it didn't give me the complete awe of previous games like the classics and perhaps Underworld.

Why am I saying all of this? From what I see, Shadow of the Tomb Raider seems to veer more into exploration and tombs than the other games of the reboot trilogy. It has these RPG elements that just plague all games now for whatever reason, so I can't fault it for it. Storywise, I could just read a small recap of the major plotpoints about Trinity and dive straight into Shadow. However, I'd like some input from people who have already played the game based on the things I liked and disliked from TR2013.
If I were you, based on what you say in your post, I would try Shadow over Rise. I'm not saying you will definitely love it (although you may) but it will give you the most complex exploration / platforming of the 3 reboot games. Lara's story is not perfect but there are some genuinely interesting or emotive moments, and the combat is not as intense plus stealth can be used more.

And you don't need to know anything from Rise in order to understand Shadow except possibly that Jonah is a very close friend of Lara's, supporting her and helping her to unravel things in her adventures.
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Old 12-06-20, 00:49   #9
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And you don't need to know anything from Rise in order to understand Shadow except possibly that Jonah is a very close friend of Lara's, supporting her and helping her to unravel things in her adventures.
I disagree slightly. There are elements here and there, which I don't want to spoil for the OP, which lose their context if you don't know what happened in Rise.

The primary narrative of Shadow is not affected, I agree, but I do think the experience is better for knowing the events and characters of the prior game.
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Old 12-06-20, 01:14   #10
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I disagree slightly. There are elements here and there, which I don't want to spoil for the OP, which lose their context if you don't know what happened in Rise.

The primary narrative of Shadow is not affected, I agree, but I do think the experience is better for knowing the events and characters of the prior game.
Hmm, I'm interested to know what these things are, it's possible I'm not remembering everything.
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