Finished Shadow of the Tomb Raider last night. Overall enjoyed it a lot and I particularly liked the challenge tombs. These were nicely designed with a lot of thought and time put into them. I didn’t enjoy the combat and stealth aspects so much, I don’t think they control well and I suffer my way through them rather than enjoy it.
I played on X1X and graphically it looks stunning a lot of the time with really nice HDR. Particularly in caves or tombs with shafts of light coming through from above.
After the initial reboot I think the series need to decide where it wants to go now, because it feels like it’s trying to please too many people and it’s losing it’s identity. The game has toned down the combat elements but kept loads of the crafting and skills - all of which end up feeling superfluous and inconsequential for the most part. Story wise this one wasn’t quite as grim as the previous two in some respects, though the core of it was fairly catastrophic and all Lara’s fault (something I felt was skirted around and not addressed). I didn’t like the fairly gratuitous hunt endangered animals because I need a new outfit/upgrade either.
Personally I’d like to see the game concentrate on the fun, enjoyment and exploration of it’s roots. Drop the combat altogether. Add in some humour and make it more lighthearted. I’d also like to see it lose the spider sense focus. I get why they do it but with better design it’s not so necessary. I found myself over using it and it spoiling the impact of the sumptuous graphics as I kept clicking to check I wasn’t missing things. I could not use it - (or turn it off?) - but that misses the point that it compensates for stuff you need to find blending in too well with the rest of the graphics.
Should really re-iterate that I did really enjoy the game for the most part. I’d just like it decide what it want’s to be properly next time. 😀