Shadow of the Tomb Raider
The game was enjoyable to play. I have a lot of little nitpicks and criticisms, but really I've had fun with the recent Tomb Raider trilogy and this works okay as an ending or a break point in a larger story. The game looks good. It (mostly) plays well. I might revisit it if there is some story-ish DLC in the future.
So what would I criticize about the game? Well, I ran into a few technical issues where the game slowed to a crawl - primarily in cut scenes or interactive sequences. Maybe my hardware is starting to show its age, but that's a drag. Also, it's one of those games where you might die a couple times in combat situations over the course of the game... but half a dozen times or more in sequence during an interactive/QTE scene because something comes up after 20+ seconds of quick reactions and you may not have time to process what you're doing wrong that causes Lara to miss a jump. I'd also say the pacing feels a bit off overall and I wish the scenes of being stuck in a map area with enemies to deal with (which reminds me a lot of how games like MGS 3 were configured) and the scenes of free-roaming exploration were interwoven better. It might be weird to have cultists and Trinity soldiers scattered all through the jungle, but the two main types of areas feel so isolated, it's almost like different games. Also, the game overall felt a bit short. I didn't collect everything, but I hit every tomb and finished the story and definitely felt like there should have been more.
The story itself works, but also feels like it could have used a bit more depth. Lara has gone from survivor to adventurer and in Shadow is... well, "avatar of destruction" comes to mind with the way she takes down enemies. She starts the game neck-deep in competition with Trinity to find relics before they do and in a heat-of-the-moment decision miiiight sort of touch off a possible apocalypse. There are times that can be seen weighing on her that I feel could/should have been fleshed out a little more. Of all things, it reminds me of Mass Effect 2, where I really wished the implications of Shepard being remade from a charred husk were better explored. Lara is still convinced Trinity's goal to "remake the world" is not the way to go, so she never really wavers in her opposition to them, but her questioning of her own direction could have used more depth. Jonah remains as her faithful companion and support, perhaps even a bit more present (at least in story scenes) than in previous installments. I found it cute when he hit it off with another girl. There's an air of destiny draped over the whole story, though the directly supernatural doesn't really come into play until the end.
So yeah, overall a game and series I've enjoyed and would like to see more of.
So what next?
I'm still reasonably keeping up with WoW, though I'm nearing exalted with all the basic BfA reputations and finding the rewards there to be lackluster. I still have a wing of LFR to see now that it has opened, and at some point will probably try to wrangle mythic Siege of Boralus. But I think I've reached a point where upgrades (and any story stuff) are getting very difficult to find without more serious content, so I'm easing back a little bit.
I'm considering Star Control Origins. Setting aside the legal issue over series rights, it looks like a reasonable re-envisioning of Star Control 2, which was awesome. I'm just not entirely sure that awesomeness would work the same 26 years later. I want it to, but I fear disappointment.
I will probably play Assassin's Creed Odyssey, though that's a couple weeks away and not necessary something I need to dive into on day one.
It's also almost October, and there's some costume work I feel I should do. Hmm...
So what would I criticize about the game? Well, I ran into a few technical issues where the game slowed to a crawl - primarily in cut scenes or interactive sequences. Maybe my hardware is starting to show its age, but that's a drag. Also, it's one of those games where you might die a couple times in combat situations over the course of the game... but half a dozen times or more in sequence during an interactive/QTE scene because something comes up after 20+ seconds of quick reactions and you may not have time to process what you're doing wrong that causes Lara to miss a jump. I'd also say the pacing feels a bit off overall and I wish the scenes of being stuck in a map area with enemies to deal with (which reminds me a lot of how games like MGS 3 were configured) and the scenes of free-roaming exploration were interwoven better. It might be weird to have cultists and Trinity soldiers scattered all through the jungle, but the two main types of areas feel so isolated, it's almost like different games. Also, the game overall felt a bit short. I didn't collect everything, but I hit every tomb and finished the story and definitely felt like there should have been more.
The story itself works, but also feels like it could have used a bit more depth. Lara has gone from survivor to adventurer and in Shadow is... well, "avatar of destruction" comes to mind with the way she takes down enemies. She starts the game neck-deep in competition with Trinity to find relics before they do and in a heat-of-the-moment decision miiiight sort of touch off a possible apocalypse. There are times that can be seen weighing on her that I feel could/should have been fleshed out a little more. Of all things, it reminds me of Mass Effect 2, where I really wished the implications of Shepard being remade from a charred husk were better explored. Lara is still convinced Trinity's goal to "remake the world" is not the way to go, so she never really wavers in her opposition to them, but her questioning of her own direction could have used more depth. Jonah remains as her faithful companion and support, perhaps even a bit more present (at least in story scenes) than in previous installments. I found it cute when he hit it off with another girl. There's an air of destiny draped over the whole story, though the directly supernatural doesn't really come into play until the end.
So yeah, overall a game and series I've enjoyed and would like to see more of.
So what next?
I'm still reasonably keeping up with WoW, though I'm nearing exalted with all the basic BfA reputations and finding the rewards there to be lackluster. I still have a wing of LFR to see now that it has opened, and at some point will probably try to wrangle mythic Siege of Boralus. But I think I've reached a point where upgrades (and any story stuff) are getting very difficult to find without more serious content, so I'm easing back a little bit.
I'm considering Star Control Origins. Setting aside the legal issue over series rights, it looks like a reasonable re-envisioning of Star Control 2, which was awesome. I'm just not entirely sure that awesomeness would work the same 26 years later. I want it to, but I fear disappointment.
I will probably play Assassin's Creed Odyssey, though that's a couple weeks away and not necessary something I need to dive into on day one.
It's also almost October, and there's some costume work I feel I should do. Hmm...
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