Rise of the Tomb Raider

[Babooo]

Just started playing this tonight and put in a solid 4 hour session (which is ALOT for me). Cleared the first 3 areas of the game and I'm loving it. I was slightly apprehensive about this as I enjoyed the remaster ALOT and doubted whether this could live up to that. So far, so good.

 

I've come across a few people who have mentioned the combat and voice acting is below par but I don't think they're bad at all - definitely above average for the gaming industry.

 

BIG FAN OF THIS. Looking forward to putting in ALOT more time into this throughout the rest of the week. WOO

[Shorty]

The only thing bugging me about the VA is Lara never shutting up. I don't need a narrator....

[Babooo]

28% done so far. Did the Baba Yaga DLC last night which was decent. Nice boss battle.

 

Back to the main story!

[Fierce_LiNk]

I've agreed to let @Eenuh play this first and then I'll get on this after she's finished it. Trying to avoid spoilers. Tempted to play The Last of Us.

[Zell]

What are people's thoughts on this compared to the first game? Better/worse? Really enjoyed the first game so will probably pick this up at some point.

[Babooo]

What are people's thoughts on this compared to the first game? Better/worse? Really enjoyed the first game so will probably pick this up at some point.

 

If you enjoyed the first, it's more of the same - deffo pick it up!

 

In saying that there is one thing that is pretty annoying - aiming. Seems I waste half a round shooting around my enemy before managing a hit. Controls are a bit iffy, could be tighter!

 

Minor criticism though. Great, great game.

[Shorty]

What are people's thoughts on this compared to the first game? Better/worse? Really enjoyed the first game so will probably pick this up at some point.

I really, really like it. The areas I've reached so far have so much to explore and do. It's a great game in terms of building on what they had already, plus you get all the extra content included. The only real negative I can find about it so far is that some of the scripted action sequences are a bit samey but they still feel like watching a cool chase scene or something.

[Shorty]

People who've finished this, what did you think about the game once you got into the geothermal valley? I haven't initiated "the battle" yet, but I suddenly found my interest in the game tanked as it was just a repeat of the first areas' mechanics but suddenly not fun or new or interesting.

 

Animals that take 20 arrows (is this a call back to Tomb Raider 2?), fetch quests that anyone could do (kill two boars that are literally 15 metres away and 2 mushrooms you were already carrying), awkward platforming sections (swing from a branch into a scramble half-way up a tower? how is that possible) and a bunch of challenge caves blocked off by arbitrary abilities that feel like they have one singular, unrealistic application like the spinning top from Twilight Princess...

 

Unless someone says it picks back up I might have to give up here :/

[Eenuh]

People who've finished this, what did you think about the game once you got into the geothermal valley? I haven't initiated "the battle" yet, but I suddenly found my interest in the game tanked as it was just a repeat of the first areas' mechanics but suddenly not fun or new or interesting.

 

Animals that take 20 arrows (is this a call back to Tomb Raider 2?), fetch quests that anyone could do (kill two boars that are literally 15 metres away and 2 mushrooms you were already carrying), awkward platforming sections (swing from a branch into a scramble half-way up a tower? how is that possible) and a bunch of challenge caves blocked off by arbitrary abilities that feel like they have one singular, unrealistic application like the spinning top from Twilight Princess...

 

Unless someone says it picks back up I might have to give up here :/

 

Aren't all/most of the things you mention optional? If you don't enjoy those fetch quests and optional tombs, you could just ignore them really. The tombs do give you new skills, some of which can be useful.

 

I actually just 100% finished the game, got every challenge and document and cache etc. :P

 

To me the game felt like more of the same as the first one, but maybe because it is the same it won't be as exciting anymore? In any case, you could just continue with the story and ignore the missions and challenges and see if you still like it then or not?

[Shorty]

Yeah I was starting to think that but... its the exploration that should be setting this game apart. And it's the way I normally would play. Beyond that exploration and the occasional puzzle, it's just fairly ham-fisted firefight sequences (ok if you're in the woods but many fights are small room, minimal cover and too many enemies, feels like throwing lots of explosives is the only real way to get ahead) and a lot of scripted running-away-from-things-that-are-collapsing sequences.

 

It also contains my biggest personal gaming bugbear: collectibles only read out their contents as long as you have them open. This should always be done the Bioshock way, where you can keep playing and listen to the audio alongside it.

 

Maybe I need to give it another go... in the first area I was really, really enjoying it, the Baba Yaga DLC was great and I adored the first game. One last solid attempt, I'll push on with the story a bit and see what happens

[Fierce_LiNk]

I started this last week and didn't have any more time to go back to it until yesterday evening. I'm enjoying it. Obviously, it won't blow my mind as much as its predecessor as that was one of my first PS4 games and I've played loooooads since then. I'm finding it very fun and satisfying to play.

[Fierce_LiNk]

I've just made it to the geothermal valley section of the game. I'm finding the game pretty addictive, just like the first. It's very satisfying to fire with the bow and the guns have a nice weighty feel.

 

It's interesting how there are more characters in this game. More NPCs to interact with. It's different and it stops the game feeling identical to the first. It has its own identity.

[Blade]

Finished the game today. I really enjoyed it, although it was more of the same as the last one they have fine tuned the formula.

 

I have got every trophy apart from the score artach ones. I did enjoy getting them too and didn't find them a chore. However, I have had a go at the score attack mode (for the trophies) and I don't think I can be arsed with learning the courses and enemies inside out. I thought it would be dead easy but it isn't.

[Tales]

Copy the card set of the top ranked player on the leaderboard, cost like a fraction of what you get for completing a level. They have cards that significantly increase your high score and/or poison arrows. As long as you don't die you should clear the majority of them with one or two tries. Use a youtube video along with the card set if you're still struggling with a few ones. The tombs will most likely still require some practice though.

 

Copying the cards from the leaderboard made it more of a grind than a challenge.

Edited February 23, 2017 by Tales

[Blade]

Copy the card set of the top ranked player on the leaderboard, cost like a fraction of what you get for completing a level. They have cards that significantly increase your high score and/or poison arrows. As long as you don't die you should clear the majority of them with one or two tries. Use a youtube video along with the card set if you're still struggling with a few ones. The tombs will most likely still require some practice though.

 

Copying the cards from the leaderboard made it more of a grind than a challenge.

 

Thanks! Just managed to nab the Platinum!

 

Score attack became a chore in the end. Some parts also did my head in and causing me to nearly snap my DS4 in two.

 

Overall I loved the game. I enjoyed that some of the bigger areas felt open world. I always did a lot of exploring and did as much as I could before moving on with the main story.

 

I enjoyed the DLC too especially the witch boss fight.

[Fierce_LiNk]

This is £19.99 on PSN as the Deal of the Week. Fantastic price for an awesome game!

[gaggle64]

I've been staring at it on sale for a couple of days now but there's so much other stuff I want to play first. Way too many cool games around right now.

[Hero-of-Time]

Seeing Lostmario playing Shadow of the Tomb Raider got me in the mood to play a Tomb Raider game. Rather than buying that ( although I did snap it up after finishing this) I decided to dig into the backlog and fire up Rise of the Tomb Raider. According to my trophies, I started playing this back in Oct 2016 but I only put an hour into it before shelving it for something else ( think it was DQ Builders).

I started the game from scratch on the Survivor difficulty and I just finished it last weekend. I thought the game was great, at least in terms of gameplay. The story was very meh and throwaway but I found the actual game to be a lot of fun to play through. I’m a sucker for an Ubisoft style open world game where there are collectibles to find, especially when you can get these to appear on the map. I quite like the way it is handled here, where finding satchels, monuments and documents will then make these things pop up on your main map. The 9 tombs that you find scattered around the areas you visit were very satisfying to complete. They weren’t overly hard and offered just enough challenge to make you think about what you needed to do.

I really did love the combat in the game, especially the versatility of the bow. Being able to set enemies ablaze or fire an explosive arrow there way was always a joy to pull off, even more so when doing it to a deer or rabbit. However, I do think that the poison arrows were a little OP. Once those are upgraded you can then pretty much take care of most combat situations by firing a cloud of poison at a group of enemies. I think the only one this didn’t work on was the ones with a flamethrower strapped to their backs. Luckily the explosive arrows can make short work of those.

I had a bit of a trophy scare during my play time on it last night. I reached 99% completion on the whole map and I couldn’t for the life of me find out what I had missed. Not only that but I seemed to be around 25 coins short of being able to buy everything. The trophies were apparently pretty glitchy at launch and I wondered if this is what had happened to me. Turns out that I completely forgot about the Syria area of the game! Completing that netted me everything I needed to complete the map 100%.

The Score Attack mode was a lot of fun. They kind of remind me of the Time Trial mode that was in Tomb Raider Legend back on the 360. I remember having to learn the level layouts and repeating the stages over and over until I got the times I needed and that was the case here.

I dabbled with some of the DLC that was with the game, mainly the Baba Yaga stuff. It was a nice little area to explore and the boss fight was pretty fun. I don’t think I’ll bother with any of the others. By the time I nabbed the platinum and played the DLC I mentioned I had my fill of the game.

Overall I think that I probably had a more fun and satisfying experience with this than I did with some of the Uncharted games. Don’t get me wrong, I love those games to bits, and the characters and narratives in them are leagues ahead of what Crystal Dynamics showed off here, but in terms of pure gameplay I do think this was a better game. Finding loot, crafting gear, exploring tombs and taking on enemies and hunting animals gave me plenty to do and kept things nice and varied. Great game!

[Fierce_LiNk]

Nice impressions, @Hero-of-Time. I loved the reboot and Rise felt like a nice evolution on it. They're both great games and are just very satisfying to play. Will have to get onto Shadow at some point. 

Tomb Raider is a little unlucky that it exists in an era with the Uncharted games. They almost steal each other's thunder at times, although I guess the aim of both is slightly different. 

[Ronnie]

Yeah I really enjoyed this. I wouldn’t say it’s a game that will necessarily stick out in my mind years down the line, but it’s a well-made, polished adventure game with fun gameplay and lots to do. Like you said, great game. 

Will get to Shadow eventually. 

[Dufniall]

I played this game a couple of weeks ago. I love what they've done with the reboot. Tomb Raider felt fresh with the new mechanics (although I wouldn't have minded if survival would have played an even bigger role), and Rise of the Tomb Raider really built on that. The Baba Yaga DLC was good, as it is a bit different from the main game. Combat I found easier than in part 1, maybe because of the stronger weapons and arrows like @Hero-of-Timepointed out. The snow environments looked beautiful, but I'm glad the game is not all in the snow as that would have been a bit too one-sided.

I think it will be a while before I play Shadow, as I think it would feel too similar to Rise. But it will be played eventually, if only because I think part plays in Peru and I've been there.  Plus, you know, it is a great series.