Looked around and saw we didn't have a dedicated topic for Lara's latest, which launches later this week on Friday 14 September (or Wednesday 12 for Croft Edition pre-orders).
As a brief primer, Shadow of the Tomb Raider is the concluding part of the Tomb Raider reboot trilogy showing Lara Croft's origins and transformation from adventure-fuelled teenager to full-fledged archaeological action expert. The previous two games have been well-received, but are much darker and more violent than other entries in the franchise's 22-year history, and were developed by Crystal Dynamics with several other studios in support; this third and final game is being developed by Eidos Montreal (one of the previous support studios) in collaboration with Crystal Dynamics.
Chat here about anticipations and then subsequently thoughts, feelings and emotions as you play.
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
well i'm getting it for sure, i loved the last 2 although i'm not sure if i can get it day one because i'm a bit short on my gaming funds this month (this is the money i put away to buy games)
"I pity you. You just don't get it at all...there's not a thing I don't cherish!"
"Now! This is it! Now is the time to choose! Die and be free of pain or live and fight your sorrow! Now is the time to shape your stories! Your fate is in your hands!
@KALofKRYPTON The lightbar did fire stuff before...?!
@Tasuki I'd guess that the connections to Rise, in particular, will be stronger this time around, since it ended on something of a cliffhanger and contained some pretty serious revelations about the Croft family. Helpfully, the marketing folks over at Square Enix have you covered.
WARNING: Heavy Spoilers for Tomb Raider (2013) and Rise of the Tomb Raider!
Skip five-and-a-half minutes in for the Rise recap, if you played the first one before.
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
I won't be getting it just yet, but having never played the others I'm hoping to pick them up at some point next year and blast through all three, so I'll be keeping an eye on everyone's thoughts!
Good job, Parappa. You can go on to the next stage now.
@RogerRoger Thanks for posting that summary video. I had forgotten some of the plot and that helped to refresh my mind. So excited now!
I’ve just got to figure out the order I’m going to play these new releases now! Kinda considering putting Spider-Man off for a bit. I ran into delays getting started on it and I’ve read some of the gamer reactions being more lukewarm than I expected. It’s possible that I’ll prioritize SotTR first, it’s only 3 d away.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
I've pre-ordered it, but I'm not sure when it's going to be shipped. Anyway, by the time it comes I should get that platinum in Spider-Man so I'll be all over it. I'm a big fan of the previous two games and this one sounds like a perfectly good sequel. Nothing revolutionary, but a good nice sequel for the fans. I haven't watched many videos of it so I should have some surprises
The recap video does miss off the mid-credits scene from Rise, in which just before she can tell Lara some big secret about her father, Ana is shot by a sniper, who then zeroes in on Lara and says something like "not yet" in a British accent.
My best friend and I are convinced that it's the same accent as Lara's uncle, who is heard via narration in the Blood Ties DLC which came included in the PS4 release of Rise. He's the one who tries, unsuccessfully, to force Lara to sell Croft Manor. Our theory is that Lara's uncle (therefore her father's brother, the secret Ana was about to impart before her death) is the head of Trinity, and that he'll be the eventual big villain in Shadow.
It's just a theory, but it's one we'd love to be true!
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
My lightbar is covered with a custom blackout sticker (the only "gaming mod" I've ever done; I didn't like seeing its reflection in the television, especially since I play a lot of games which always seem to take place at night) so I'd completely missed that.
Thanks!
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
I bought some stickers too, but found that once they'd updated with the dimming function that my TV screen is matte enough for the reflection to not really be too distracting.
The TR lightbar thing was a nice touch I thought. Especially as I was playing in low light most of the time.
@KALofKRYPTON As much as I'd never play a GTA game, I do love the idea of the controller suddenly breaking out the blues-and-twos whenever you're chased by the fuzz.
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
@RogerRoger Yeah, it's not a series I've stuck with. Vice City was the last one I played through, and that was more for the setting and the tunes than the game really.
All of the recent PS1 talk does make me want to grab a copy of GTA London though. I suspect nostalgia has a good kicking on standby for me if I do though
PSN: KALofKRYPTON (so you can see how often I don't play anything!)
Twitter: @KALofKRYPTON (at your own risk, I don't care if you're offended)
"Fate: Protects fools, little children, and ships named Enterprise." - Cmdr William T. Riker
@KALofKRYPTON@RogerRoger I was playing a game recently where the DS4 light bar kept changing color and reacting to on screen action. I think maybe it was Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture. I think it also pulses or changes color in Yakuza 0 when you are about to get into a street brawl. Actually, I think there are several games that the light changes color or something, but the flickering torch in TR is one of the coolest.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
So, just spent about 90 minutes clearing the prologue. I thought I'd been pretty thorough, but upon getting to the game proper I looked back on the menu and it said it was 17% complete, and showed me a bunch of icons with 0/1 and 0/3 next to them. Good ol' Tomb Raider!
It makes a good first impression. Obviously, if you didn't like the previous two reboots, the smaller tweaks won't do much to change your mind, but I appreciate them. Subtle additions in terms of sound and animation are great, and environment traversal is made even more spectacular by the new rappel ability. There was a nice bit of narrative, both in cutscenes and in a walking-simulator-style gameplay section, and everything was given a solid introduction, with a light puzzle following that traversal section and then a simple-but-effective slice of combat.
Graphics are gorgeous (I'm playing on a PS4 Pro using Resolution Mode, which is 30fps and full detail, rather than Performance Mode, which is 60fps and less detail) although I found the colour palette to be quite muted throughout the prologue; that said, it does take place in the dead of night, and so maybe it was just the HDR being "realistic". I might switch it off later and see what happens, but the jungle I'm now in looks stunning so perhaps it was an artistic choice. I tried to stay away from Photo Mode, but ended up capturing three shots before I forced myself to ignore it.
I love how the game knows it's the third in an established trilogy. I found it odd in Rise, when Lara had rope arrows but couldn't use them to pull down doors until she'd learnt the skill (or found some kind of stronger rope or something) despite it being a progression skill in the previous game. Here, there's no need to re-discover what she already knows; I was pulling down obstructions within minutes. I also could craft fire arrows right off the bat.
The story from the opening couple hours had been heavily publicised and / or featured in trailers, so little of it was surprising, but I still enjoyed seeing it unfold. The music (which is composed and performed by an expert in native South American instruments, giving everything an authentic ethnographic feel) is great as a backdrop to your exploits, but I feel won't be all that stunning to listen to separately, because it's quite subdued and restrained at times; maybe that's a good thing, as it certainly adds to the somewhat-darker atmosphere. Solid voice-acting across the board, and I definitely dislike Lara's obsessive, petulant attitude thusfar (which is fine, because I'm supposed to at this stage; it'll live or die by the narrative's conclusions and her personal character arc).
A good start. A very good start. The jungle awaits!
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
@RogerRoger thanks for that short summary! My pre-order was canceled due to some problems with paypal, so now I have to wait a little longer to play it even though I'd like to play it right now, and you have only fueled my desire. I'll be going for platinum as according to powerpyx it doesn't take so long to obtain it and it's not that difficult. I usually don't do it (have only 3 plats besides telltale games) but I like rebooted TR games so why not.
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