rjkclarke Posted September 23, 2021 Author Share Posted September 23, 2021 (edited) 22 hours ago, YaManSmevz said: No need for being self-conscious! Your shit's great, and nobody minds the wait. Until you're getting paid, your schedule is at your leisure! Also, is it true that in the UK, leisure is pronounced 'lye-zyur-ey?' Thanks for the much needed and probably annoying at this point pep talk ? Although - the length of Rise of the Tomb Raiders review, you'll see why it took a while. I might have to consciously shorten the Shadow of the Tomb Raider one, because it's got so much DLC in it. I don't think anyone from the UK would pronounce it like that - not even the ultra posho UK folk that speak the queens English. I think it's different to how you guys do in the US though - that sounds more like Leee-shure. Although like in the US we've got loads of regional dialects so that pronunciation will change depending on where you are too I suppose. 22 hours ago, YaManSmevz said: I actually never played the second one (or Scarface, for that matter) because I didn't want to overdo it with open world games. I missed out on The Getaway - a huge gaming regret that I'll one day remedy with my thankfully still alive-and-kicking PS2 - but none of the rest outside of Rockstar stuff (barring Sleeping Dogs, of course) really appealed to me. I might do a post on The Godfather on my checklist... why not? The whole point of doin your own thread is to make your own rules, right?! The second one is actually quite a good time. Michael at least doesn't look quite so bad in that one. Although he sounds nothing like Pacino, which isn't ideal. Scarface was actually pretty good - I never finished it, but I played quite a lot of it. I remember getting hackedoff because I lost most of my in game money in a failed drug deal and I didn't want to play the game much after that, because I had to rebuild all of my fortune. I don't know that making it a direct sequel to the film was necessarily the best idea. It made sense to set it within the events of the movie, but nope it's set after the film... Go figure. I never played all that much of The Getaways, I remember it having some pretty funny dialogue. Like the cockney Brits were super cockney..... I've got such a vivid memory of one line in particular where one of the characters is distraught and delivers a line in such a weird way, with " OH MY GOD.... YOU KILLED SUZY!! YOU BLOOODY WANKERS" ........ It's just not what you expect to hear from someone in that situation and it's always made me chuckle a bit. Yes!! Go write that post on your checklist, why the hell not, like you said, your thread your rules. I'm planning to do some games without trophies at some point myself. I'd sure as hell like to read in some more depth what you thought of that Godfather game. I'd really like to read that, I'm sure plenty of other people would too. 22 hours ago, YaManSmevz said: Quistis ate the monsters too! Lucky monsters! I loved that pixely teacher lady! I can't remember how she conventionally learned her blue mage skills in that game, I think you feed her items, so I guess it is similar. I remember making her loads of good blue magic attacks out of Cards. I think you're right, she probably did eat them. 22 hours ago, YaManSmevz said: Well of course there is, they met by the tree and went bowling with my last roommate's copies of GTAIV and Ocarina of Time. He actually confirmed this, so don't be silly - it is in fact a real thing That makes sense.... Who am I to question that ? I doubt GTAIV probably liked having to go bowling though..... You'd think it'd be absolutely sick of it, because of y'know............... ROMAN I don't know why he gets so much hate though, he asked me to " go see girls " far more than he ever asked me to go bowling. 7 hours ago, The_Kopite said: There is probably an image somewhere on the internet of it hahah Haha well yeah I can believe that. I liked Snow as a character overall, though a lot didn't I think. Troy Baker is an awesome guy so was cool he voiced him (Got his autograph) I'm looking forward to what will probably be a whole forum page essay on XIII-2 lol maybe longer if you end up ranting about Noel....:P I hope there is, that Noel image needs to happen. I like Snow as well - I wasn't aware that he wasn't popular? Shame, there's much worse characters in XIII to rag on before going for Snow........ Y'know like Hope I like Troy Baker too - even if he does seem to have the ambition of looking as close to the human equivelant of a 99 Ice Cream without the flake as humanly possible. I hope it isn't a whole forum pages length, that'd be crazy - I'll give myself carpel tunnel syndrome at that rate, if I did something like that. I won't do that game for a while though - I'm a little Final Fantasy'd out for the time being as far as reviews go. 7 hours ago, The_Kopite said: No interest in the Dead Space remake? Very excited to see that KOTOR is being remade, well very looking forward to that as long as they do it justice. Oh sometimes all you see when looking at criticism of a game is the shock and disappointment from people regarding the trophy tiles. It's a bit random really. Sure I appreciate nice looking images and clever worded trophy names but it's not going to take away that enjoyment of a game if it isn't there.... I'll be honest I had fogotten the Dead Space remake was happening...... So yeah I guess I'm excited for that too - although not as excited as I am for KOTOR - I'm looking forward to wandering around the sandy bits of Tatooine hacking up Tusken Raiders like Anakin would if Obi Wan had grounded him. That's strange that people would make a huge criticism of a game because of what it's trophy tiles look like - as you said they don't remotely change how the game plays, so what's the point in that. Some people really do like exercising their right to complain huh...... 7 hours ago, The_Kopite said: I try my best but I inevitably come across some information and then you can't unsee it. Sometimes in the most random places. The Rocky films can go in the massive film backlog me and the wife have lol (Think she has watched some of them) though Rocky IV is a musical? Consider me perplexed I'm far too cautious around stuff like that - so I tend to just avoid any information altogether, so I end up just being completely oblivious about whatever it is as a result. I'll let you discover what Rocky IV is when you watch it - but a musical seems the most apt way to describe it. I guess I'd better post Rise of the Tomb Raider's review as well, before I forget to. Edited September 23, 2021 by rjkclarke 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post rjkclarke Posted September 23, 2021 Author Popular Post Share Posted September 23, 2021 (edited) Classic Review Platinum #171 Rise of the Tomb Raider (PS4) Platinum You unlocked every trophy in the game A Few Trophy Stats Platinum Earned - 10 May 2018: 4:28:29 AM Time taken to Platinum - 2 weeks, 1 day, 14 hours Platinum Rarity - 6.82% 100% Rarity - 2.02% Trophy Number - # 9,158 Rise of the Tomb Raider – the difficult second album in the second Tomb Raider reboot trilogy, sees a slight return to its more grounded Tomb Raider roots in this entry, whilst also managing to maintain some of the very unique hooks that make the new trilogy compelling in its own right. The plot takes place, one year on from the events of the previous game – the effects of the previous game have somewhat taken their toll on Lara’s psyche, which is something that is delved into in quite a large depth in this title. I’ll keep the nature of that as brief as possible – because as always, you’ll get virtually no spoilers from me. This entry also sees a slight return of the supernatural element to the Tomb Raider series, I’m aware it was present in the previous entry, but it’s something that is so minimal in that game that it barely warranted mentioning. Whereas here, it’s a little more integral to proceedings, and is done in a way that thankfully doesn’t strangulate the plot in quite the same way it did in Tomb Raider: Underworld. I know some people are quite fond of those elements, I certainly can be myself – I just think they are best suited to being something that compliments the plot, rather than drives it forward. However, the main focal point is still Lara’s overall character journey – that may seem like I’m minimising the importance of this games plot, yet that’s not the case at all. I just have always felt that the prevailing theme of all three of these titles is Lara’s personal journey more than it is an overarching three part narrative. Yes – each game has elements of the plot that carry through all three entries in the reboot series, but I don’t think they really prioritise moulding the story around them in the same way the Keeley Hawes trilogy does. Rise of the Tomb Raiders plot – whilst probably not its strongest feature, is still interesting throughout and provides several more layers of character development – I think there exists a slight irony, in that some of the best plot elements are actually found within some of the DLC chapters, which if the DLC wasn’t a free component, I would imagine could be an incredibly egregious thing to some. Camilla Luddington returns to both provide motion capture and her vocal talents as Lara – in a performance, which – well, I believe at least, she has never received enough of the credit that I think she deserves. This isn’t personal bias creeping in either, otherwise this write up would consist of me saying “Camilla Luddington is good but Keeley Hawes would have been better.” Luddington just gives her all as Lara, if you ever watch any interviews with her, something I recommend by the way – you’d get a real sense of how much, she understands and loves this character. What makes her performance so impressive is that as I alluded to in my previous Tomb Raider review – this Lara isn’t an easy character to like, not in the traditional sense anyway. I can’t really delve into it too much, because it’d be going into spoiler territory, but I’ll say this; Luddington has the rare ability wherein, and I’m going to sound like a broken record again – but she has the ability to really make you understand Lara’s character, even if you don’t quite like her. It’s in the pursuit of making Lara a much more relatable human character that this aspect really shines through, her vocals at times have such a raw energy to them, that especially in the more emotive scenes, you can’t help but feel for her character. This is particularly the case in Shadow of the Tomb Raider, but we’ll get there soon. You could definitely argue they pile a lot of misery onto this version of Lara – but part of me thinks that’s Crystal Dynamics doubling down on a lack of character development for Lara across the history of the series. It isn’t a new facet of her character; Lara has always been somewhat of a tragic heroine, but with less of the explored depth that she has here. We see and experience the events alongside her, instead of hearing about Lara’s past trauma as you did in previous titles – which ultimately ends up going a long way as far as empathy towards her character is concerned. Perhaps their mentality was one of go big or go home. Rise of the Tomb Raider, marks the first time really since Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness – all the way back on the PS2, that there have been a few lite RPG elements added into the gameplay mix. This game even contains side quests, which at the time I remember finding such a jarring experience seeing a quest list in the Tomb Raider game, it’s one I ended up welcoming though, these quests however, small do add quite a large amount of depth to the overall world this game is seeking to build. I think you can definitely make the argument that there is probably an overabundance of collectibles here – a slight by-product of having quite a large semi open area to explore. Sometimes though – I definitely think there’s a lot to be said for quality over quantity, which is something I wish Crystal Dynamics had paid a little more attention to. This ends up being something that plagues all three entries in this series a little bit, I’m all for collectibles if they actually mean something, but what motivation do I have for picking up the games GPS caches and scavenger spots, if trophies were taken out entirely, you never really get low enough on resources to have to rely on these either, so unfortunately it renders this aspect a little bit redundant which is a shame. Unfortunately, the immersion breaking chalky surfaces of platforming sections return. It’s something I’ve never quite understood about this series, is how they can go for added realism in almost every area, and then completely breaks the immersion by reminding you the situation is completely unreal. Crystal Dynamics might as well have written please go here in large friendly letters on every chalky ledge, because you’re never stuck for very long on where to go. It’s a small gripe I understand, and one the Tomb Raider series has always been a little guilty of, but I can’t help but think, this game and the previous one was the time to abandon that formula. The thing I was most happy to see return – and in reality, the games title somewhat plays into this too, is the return of the tomb raiding element factoring in with more prominence. From what I understand, from everything I’ve read it was Crystal Dynamic’s intention to show us as players, how Lara becomes the Tomb Raider, so as a result of this, the tomb raiding element is interwoven intrinsically into the plot in a much more satisfying and organic way than it was previously. Yes, the game still does contain some optional Tombs and crypts, but I think these only enhance the experience further; they don’t detract from anything, unless you are particularly offended by puzzle elements. Each of these bespoke Crypts and Tombs, have a litany of unique puzzles attached to them that are all very intricately and interestingly designed. As a result I feel like the game embodies much more of an authentic Tomb Raider experience than its predecessor. Thankfully, it manages to strike that balance between elements of Tomb Raider’s past and the at the time current plan Crystal Dynamics had for the franchise. Something of particular note regarding the gameplay is some of the very slight metroid-vania aspects of this title, which reward both exploration and diligence in finding collectibles. What I mean by that is this game has languages tied to certain collectibles (called monoliths, which add the locations of the collectibles to the map) the interesting feature here though, is that to be able to read these monoliths you have to become proficient in the language that they use. In this games case, Greek, Mongolian and Russian – this is something you can only do by finding other collectibles and slowly learning the language. In a way this really enhances the experience, as it gives you so much more motivation to go back and explore some of the previously visited areas, with the various upgraded gadgets and tools that you’ve discovered along your travel, which even include the area found in the prologue, to find new and exciting secrets you hadn’t realised were there. Whilst I may have criticised the overabundance of collectibles, some of them are meaningful, and do add some much needed flavour, so I’m thankful the monoliths encourage the player to seek some of them out. In much the same way sequels often do – there is a significant graphical leap, between this game and Tomb Raider. The jump onto the PS4 made a huge difference in several areas, none more so than visually. This game is a real treat to look at visually. I don’t just mean graphically either – there is so much fine attention to detail with how the more realistic art style, returning from the previous game was implemented into Rise of the Tomb Raider. Almost every component has such a rich atmosphere to it, dilapidated long forgotten relics of the cold war, look exactly as they should, flecked with rust, and various amounts of wear and tear. The crypts and tombs feel suitably, unsettling – which is especially pertinent with this game, as they have reintroduced more of the supernatural elements back into the series, which means that you never quite know what might be lurking in some of the Tombs and Crypts. I could write reams and reams just about how intricately designed many of the games locations are, and how well they represent the specific eras they are attempting to evoke, but I’ll leave that joy for anyone who decided to play the game to discover. I think it goes without saying that some of the voice acting in this game is phenomenal – not just from Lara either, many of them add a lot to the characters, they aren’t all perfect of course. Jonah is a particular highlight throughout this trilogy, but this is the game where his character really starts to develop much further than his “little bird” lines from Tomb Raider. Unfortunately a friend and I always refer joke about the little bird line, so I struggle not associate it with that now. Earl Baylon’s performance aside, there are a few low lights too unfortunately, both Konstantin and Ana do become, well - fairly clichéd antagonists, and their respective voice performances do suffer in this department. It’s probably fair to criticise the writing here a bit too, as the characters themselves unfortunately flounder a little bit as a result. It’s a shame, there are some intriguing elements to them, but those elements don’t really get explored in any great detail. Much like Tomb Raider before it, Rise of the Tomb Raider, maintains a highly filmic original soundtrack. There almost isn’t a single thing about it that sounds like a video game soundtrack. There’s good and bad with that, it makes all the cinematic moments feel more grandiose, but elements of the gameplay tend to lose some slight atmosphere as a result of having less material. It does have a smattering of ambient elements, but for the most part it remains rather cinematic. The sound effects themselves are also quite well produced, whilst this doesn’t contain the same amount of attention to detail with crafting an atmosphere, by use of a complex soundscape as the Keeley Hawes trilogy does this won’t actually affect your enjoyment of the game, unless that aspect is something that particularly is important for you, or bothers you. Due to the fact that Rise of the Tomb Raider was a timed exclusive for Michael-Soft, the version we have here on PS4 contains all of the DLC for the game for free. So as a result of this, there is a mammoth 125 trophies available to everyone that might want them in this title. You’ll essentially have to play a highest difficulty playthrough, attain 100 percent completion in the open world, and then a full run through of score attack. Which tasks you with having to do the story sections again, but with a score based system (hence the name), scoring points based on time and other gameplay elements (headshots, multi kills, things of this nature). I actually really enjoyed score attack mode, it adds an extra level of challenge to the game, that isn’t as present in the main game, even on the hardest difficulty. I’m grateful that Score Attack exists, even if others aren’t. There are also plenty of trophies tied to collectibles, but they’ll all unlock in the pursuit of the 100%. I always like to try and give advice where I can in this section, but outside of the DLC – there isn’t a whole lot to talk about, most of the trophies are either very self explanatory, or they just aren’t that difficult. There is a very specific piece of information in the trophy guide here, regarding the score attack mode – which is to essentially pay 2000 credits and rent the cards that the person at the top of the leader boards used, trust me on this one – this one will save you a lot of frustration, as a lot of those have figured out the perfect balance between giving yourself an advantage whilst also being able to maximise your score. DLC As the DlC is free for us all, I’d thoroughly recommend people play it. There’s both deeper meaning added to the story, as well as some really interesting gameplay tweaks, that lend a bit of replay value to an already high quality game. As I’m sure a lot of you that have read a lot of my previous write ups will know – I love variety in the games that I play, and this DLC definitely does a wonderful job of providing lots of that. This DLC might deviate a little bit, as it’s more a collection of my thoughts on the DLC themselves as opposed to a review in the traditional sense. So I hope nobody minds that. It would take far too long to intricately deconstruct every aspect of the DLC. Endurance I went into the Endurance DLC fully expecting to hate it. I didn’t, thankfully. I really enjoyed it, and I’ll probably play it again in the future. So what is the Endurance DLC? Essentially – it’s a survival mode, with a lot of depth to it too – a surprising amount actually. Of particular note is the fact that this mode has specific challenges set out for you to try and achieve, which all have varying rewards including trophies. You can only have several active at once however. In a way it leads to a lot of re-playability as you can essentially make up your own challenges by combining many of the ones that are on offer. This mode tasks you with having to keep an eye on your hunger and water levels, as well as making sure you’re warm enough. There is also a slight risk versus reward elements with looting Tombs, which can give you a slight edge, like random perks, but are littered with traps so you can completely kill your attempts if you aren’t careful. I wouldn’t like to admit how many of those I lost to clumsily stepping on a trap. As a result of this, the game mode ends up being a fine balancing act, but a very enjoyable one nonetheless. Elements of this game mode can become so tense as a result, especially as you are working on trophies, you could be on the tenth day of survival, and you unexpectedly run into a group of enemies when you are low on resources, those kind of moments can really give you a shot of adrenaline, as you know that even on the simplest difficulty settings, some of those high level enemies can dispatch you within seconds. Baba Yaga Baba Yaga is such a wonderful piece of story content; it’s got so many fantastic visual elements to it, that I’d argue probably gives it quite the edge over the other ones. Some of the visual elements of it are fantastic – one in particular you can’t help but draw comparisons with something like Howl’s Moving Castle – so to see something like that represented in a Tomb Raider game was such a pleasant surprise. It doesn’t quite fit into the overall narrative though, so I can understand why it was relegated to being DLC. Don’t let that put you off it though; it’s absolutely worth anyone’s time. On top of the already stellar visuals, the new area you are tasked with exploring – The Wicked Vale, has such a rich an interesting environment to marvel at. I’d love to go into more depth with this one, but again it’d be incredibly spoilerific, so I’ll just leave this brief, but I think this one in particular is such a worthwhile experience as part of the game, it’s one that absolutely shouldn’t be missed. Cold Darkness Cold Darkness ends up being a slight hybridisation of Baba Yaga and the Endurance DLC. Whilst altogether far more story centric than Endurance is, it’s also based around a lot of very random elements being at play (weapon placements, collectible locations), you could almost argue it has some roguelike/lite elements I suppose. Don’t panic too much though, the DLC is not much more than about half an hour long, so whilst losing an attempt can be frustrating it doesn’t feel quite as egregious as you don’t lose too much time. One of the trophies does involve doing the complete run without dying This aspect of it does remain very interesting though, as it can really heighten the intensity of certain situations – especially the ones where you’re primarily looking for collectibles, and you’re aware that one wrong move that might get you killed. In situations like that I find it’s so easy to just go into auto pilot, and just look for the collectibles, but because you’re surrounded by unpredictable zombie like enemies, and some of the collectibles themselves can be in a randomised location - no run is ever quite the same as a result, so whilst it is quite a short experience, it remains a memorable one as a result. I can’t help but appreciate all the variety that was on offer across all of these DLC packs. Croft Manor The old school Tomb Raider fan in me was left a little bit disappointed by this pack. Neither Croft Manor nor Lara’s Nightmare are bad or anything of that nature, it’s just not quite what I envisioned this version of Croft Manor being from a gameplay stand point. I don’t really think gunplay and Croft Manor really go together very well; as a result of this you have the jarring imagery in Lara’s Nightmare of the odd zombie-esque creatures from the Cold Darkness DLC running afoul of your family home. Whilst I guess that is a nightmare, as a result of all of the zombie presence, you end up fairly unable to drink in any of the atmosphere you might have done from a dilapidated Croft Manor. As everything is so frantic and frenzied. What I do appreciate, is what both of these added to Lara’s back-story, and to her overall character development – whilst I think Croft Manor is done much, much better in the next game, what we see of it here, and how it pertains to Lara’s mental state going into Rise of the Tomb Raider is very noteworthy indeed, so to experience that I didn’t mind having to wade through hoards of zombies, which unfortunately does get tiresome pretty quickly. Endurance Co-Op This was actually the first mode that I tackled, when I played Rise of the Tomb Raider, one of my friends had an urge to play something Co-Op and we both had this available and decided to give it a go. Coincidentally, it was the same friend who was involved with that same story about me telling that lady I loved her the same day I met her. So it’s funny how that happened. I was always going to play this eventually though. It’s surprising how much fun the co-operative side of Endurance can be – at least it can be if you allow it to be. Don’t go into this with the negative mindset that you are going for some hard trophies just treat it as two people having a good time. There absolutely is a good time to be had as well, it was such an enjoyable experience being able to co-ordinate with a friend during the Tomb Raiding sections, as you can basically work as a spotter for them or vice versa, in disarming or avoiding traps, which end up making the experience that much more engaging. I hope I’m not misremembering this, but I was sure that you can basically just wander around the map independent of one another too - which means one of you can be out gathering food, whilst the other gathers wood to keep the fire burning. I’ve never been a huge fan of the way some co-op experiences limit your freedom by not letting you go further than a certain distance than your partner. However, it’s easier to stick together as you survive longer though, as it can be a lifesaver if there’s another person to act as a lookout to tell you which way an enemy is facing to help with stealth takedowns and the like. I ended up being so pleasantly surprised by this game mode, as it’s one I never really expected to get that much out of. Concluding Statement I’d definitely recommend Rise of the Tomb Raider, even to those that aren’t particularly fans of the series; there are enough interesting features and gameplay quirks to keep people interested for quite a while. I’ll say this now though, of the three games in this second reboot trilogy, I think I like this one the least, there’s just something about it, that doesn’t really make me want to go back to it, apart from to dip into Endurance on occasion. Whereas I don’t have that feeling regarding the other two, I’d happily replay them. I think that’s a story preference though – I think I just prefer the story the other two are telling, despite being very fond of some of the puzzles in this game, that’s the only thing I slightly struggle with. No doubt this review might be littered with the odd grammatical error, or two or two hundred, but I'll try and read through this again in the next day or two and correct it if there is. Edited February 2, 2022 by rjkclarke 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrunkenEngineer Posted September 23, 2021 Share Posted September 23, 2021 Good write up on Rise! I played this last spring on Steam, and the amount of DLC achievements was overwhelming to me, and the Co-Op mode was a serious non-starter for me. I'll do that on PSN for the trophies, but not worth the effort for me on other platforms. I did find the actual Tomb Raiding very fun, and as you noted a great improvement over the first game's implementation. Eventually I'll check out the last game! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrBloodmoney Posted September 23, 2021 Share Posted September 23, 2021 1 hour ago, rjkclarke said: Classic Review Platinum #171 Rise of the Tomb Raider (PS4) brilliant review mate - see what I mean... if I can't at least attempt to compete with this, then I'm not putting anything on my page at all ? I'm a big fan of Rise - I think overall it is my favourite of the modern trilogy - there's just something about the individual areas that I just really found to be a lot more memorable than the other two games. I've played Shadow more recently, yet certain areas of Rise still stick in my mind, and I think I would know my way around immediately, in a way I wouldn't with Shadow. Might be as much to do with me enjoying the snowy setting, I guess!. That's actually an interesting thing that the modern Tomb Raider trilogy does that is kinda unique - the very specific, cohesive settings. If you think about other games like it - say, the Uncharted games, there is a broad 'snowy' theme to the second one, a broad 'desert' theme to the third, but really, aside from the first being totally on the island, they are still quite globe-trotting games - in the same way the older Tomb Raider games were. They give the player variety, by changing 'biomes' throughout the game. These ones though, with each game being set in one, very cohesive, completely distinct environment 'type' for each separate game, it's pretty unusual. The second you see even a screenshot of each game, you know which one it is by the environment alone. I couldn't really think of any other games that do that. It takes some balls - avoiding paying lip-service to 'level-based variety' and stick to narrative cohesion - and it's risky, given that it opens the game up to accusations of being 'one-note' or a little repetitive artistically, but I think it really pays off here. They don't have the environmental variety to fall back on, so they really have to work doubly hard to add variety in terms of raw level design - but they manage it - and it means they not only avoid the downsides, but get to have a really specific flavour to each entry. Glad to see I'm not the only one who also really liked the score attack and the Endurance DLC too - I feel like every time anyone mentions those on this site, it's to rag on them, but I had a lot of fun with them! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjkclarke Posted September 23, 2021 Author Share Posted September 23, 2021 3 hours ago, DrunkenEngineer said: Good write up on Rise! I played this last spring on Steam, and the amount of DLC achievements was overwhelming to me, and the Co-Op mode was a serious non-starter for me. I'll do that on PSN for the trophies, but not worth the effort for me on other platforms. I did find the actual Tomb Raiding very fun, and as you noted a great improvement over the first game's implementation. Eventually I'll check out the last game! Thanks man! I worried I wasn't thorough enough in the DLC but it's a bit much to write something very in depth about each of them, so glad to hear you and Doc enjoyed the write up. Definitely don't be put off by the Co-Op mode, it's definitely way more enjoyable than you'd expect it to be going into it. It can be such a fun experience if you let it. I hope you enjoy the last game - I'm very fond of that one..... Or to be more precise I'm very fond of the story in that one, I think some of the areas tend to feel a little too gated and disconnected compared to what they do in the first title and Rise. It's still of a very high quality though. So I hope you have a lot of fun with it when you get to it. 2 hours ago, DrBloodmoney said: brilliant review mate - see what I mean... if I can't at least attempt to compete with this, then I'm not putting anything on my page at all Thanks mate! I do really appreciate that - although it's your constant stream of such high quality content that is one of the huge factors in making me really put more effort in, in trying to make these enjoyable for people to read. I'm sure you'll get back in the groove in no time... I know how long writing these takes me, and I don't have to contend with ranking them either. I guess this comes under us talking shop a bit about writing, but do you find that when you have to add bonus games to the rankings that it somewhat throws your rhythm off? I found recently when I did the two Harry Potter games that coming back to Tomb Raider was - not necessarily a struggle, but it was hard to get straight back into that groove and talk about something so wildly different. I probably should have got those Tomb Raider ones out first, but I didn't want to rush them and I still don't with Shadow. That's probably just me though. Once I've written the actual review part I can sort of cut and run so to speak, so it must be a little bit of an extra battle for you when you've also got to figure out where they go on your rankings. 2 hours ago, DrBloodmoney said: I'm a big fan of Rise - I think overall it is my favourite of the modern trilogy - there's just something about the individual areas that I just really found to be a lot more memorable than the other two games. I've played Shadow more recently, yet certain areas of Rise still stick in my mind, and I think I would know my way around immediately, in a way I wouldn't with Shadow. Might be as much to do with me enjoying the snowy setting, I guess!. That's interesting - for the record I like Rise very much too, there's very fine margins for my preference for each game in this trilogy - I guess that's a testament to its quality. It's very probably a bit of recency bias for me when it comes to why I think I probably like Shadow the most. It's the one I've played most recently, yet also the one that has the most standout moments for me as a NARRATIVE at least - I put that in caps, because I think Shadow is weaker than Rise in almost every other area, but some parts of that have just stayed with me, for such a long time. That scene with Lara in the oil fields in Shadow is absolute dynamite, and really that one thing is what slightly pushes it higher for me personally - it's the culmination of a lot of hard work and pretty decent character writing that I think went into this version of Lara, sometimes things like that just don't quite come off the way I think they were desired to, whereas there, it's so well realised. Anyone that would remotely question Camilla Luddington's performance as Lara as being bad (as one of my friends often does) after seeing those scenes following those moments, should probably just find the PC version of the original play a Nude Raider mod and have themselves a hand party, because this just might not be their thing. 2 hours ago, DrBloodmoney said: That's actually an interesting thing that the modern Tomb Raider trilogy does that is kinda unique - the very specific, cohesive settings. If you think about other games like it - say, the Uncharted games, there is a broad 'snowy' theme to the second one, a broad 'desert' theme to the third, but really, aside from the first being totally on the island, they are still quite globe-trotting games - in the same way the older Tomb Raider games were. They give the player variety, by changing 'biomes' throughout the game. That's very true! I think that's something that works exceedingly well in pretty much each game in the modern Tomb Raider trilogy, except not quite as strongly with Shadow - for as much as I like that game, and obviously I do - there are elements of the areas you visit that feel quite meandering and even claustrophobic at times - particularly in the hidden city (ironically, I also feel that really adds to the atmosphere, so perhaps I'm making an Everest sized problem for myself out of a relatively small mole hill). It's something that you yourself alluded to further down in your post that doesn't quite work so well in it, as the areas themselves don't have quite so much narrative cohesion - at least not in my mind at least. It doesn't appear to flow quite as naturally as it did previously, or at the very least doesn't compliment it in the same way. 3 hours ago, DrBloodmoney said: These ones though, with each game being set in one, very cohesive, completely distinct environment 'type' for each separate game, it's pretty unusual. The second you see even a screenshot of each game, you know which one it is by the environment alone. I couldn't really think of any other games that do that. It takes some balls - avoiding paying lip-service to 'level-based variety' and stick to narrative cohesion - and it's risky, given that it opens the game up to accusations of being 'one-note' or a little repetitive artistically, but I think it really pays off here. They don't have the environmental variety to fall back on, so they really have to work doubly hard to add variety in terms of raw level design - but they manage it - and it means they not only avoid the downsides, but get to have a really specific flavour to each entry. I'm probably about to massively contradict what I previously said - but that's a great point man, it really is - what they lack in environmental variety they really did double down in level design. Especially in the first two. Each area in those first two titles feels so distinctly like it's just a natural extension of the same place, which seems obvious, but things like that really help with immersion I find. I didn't talk about it enough in that review of Rise, because I want people to experience it for themselves if they ever play it - but I think that is this trilogies peak of level design, everything just flows naturally together, and you could imagine that each distinct location could be geographically linked with the next. The geothermal valley is tremendous, it's a feat of impressive game design that's on a similar level to what they did with Peru all the way back in Tomb Raider anniversary, it just flows together in such a satisfactory way. That's where Shadow fails a bit (I'm sure ragging on it a lot considering how much I like it huh? Although I did try and explain why I primarily like it ?) there's almost too many locations - and they don't all flow together in quite the same way. As if you couldn't tell I've got quite mixed feelings about that one, 3 hours ago, DrBloodmoney said: Glad to see I'm not the only one who also really liked the score attack and the Endurance DLC too - I feel like every time anyone mentions those on this site, it's to rag on them, but I had a lot of fun with them! I think you and I seem to like backing the underdog more often than not anyway - but I couldn't figure out why people didn't really get on with either of those things... Score attack was really fun for me, I found it such a satisfying experience playing through all those areas again, and noticing what little adjustment you could make to get a slightly faster time, or corners you cut with avoiding enemies. It's actually quite the testament to Rise' quality I'd say, the fact you and I both enjoyed score attack. Regarding Endurance - do you think it's just people didn't like the change in gameplay? Or just the mechanical difference sort of thing - DLC is absolutely the place to experiment with things like that. It can lead to some really amazing avenues that you'd never think a game would go down. That's why I'd probably put Resident Evil 7's DLC pretty high atop the tree as far as high quality DLC's go, it has so much variation on the normal gameplay, that takes the concepts in such interesting directions. Those are things that are absolutely worth paying money for. They feel like a worthy edition, instead of some cut content that should have been there to begin with. I'll be interested to see where we both sit regarding Shadow once I've gotten to writing about that one soon - I'm curious to see if my opinion changes on it once I give it a bit of a revisit, I definitely think I appreciated Rise a little more as a result of going back over it, even more so after reading through your post. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YaManSmevz Posted September 24, 2021 Share Posted September 24, 2021 9 hours ago, rjkclarke said: Thanks for the much needed and probably annoying at this point pep talk Never that!? 9 hours ago, rjkclarke said: Scarface was actually pretty good - I never finished it, but I played quite a lot of it. I remember getting hackedoff because I lost most of my in game money in a failed drug deal and I didn't want to play the game much after that, because I had to rebuild all of my fortune. I don't know that making it a direct sequel to the film was necessarily the best idea. It made sense to set it within the events of the movie, but nope it's set after the film... Go figure. I was never fully sold on that concept, as much as I enjoyed the movie. Then when I heard that HP or power up units or whatever were referred to as "balls," I tuned out? 9 hours ago, rjkclarke said: Yes!! Go write that post on your checklist, why the hell not, like you said, your thread your rules. I'm planning to do some games without trophies at some point myself. I'd sure as hell like to read in some more depth what you thought of that Godfather game. I'd really like to read that, I'm sure plenty of other people would too. Thank you! I think I will. I really enjoyed that game, as silly, campy, and derivative as it was? 9 hours ago, rjkclarke said: Lucky monsters! Agreed, she was quite the hottie. I remember being blown away by the incredible cinematics, admiring the technical achievement, soaking in the beginnings of the story, then she popped up and I suddenly remembered I was a teenage boy! 9 hours ago, rjkclarke said: I doubt GTAIV probably liked having to go bowling though..... You'd think it'd be absolutely sick of it, because of y'know............... ROMAN I don't know why he gets so much hate though, he asked me to " go see girls " far more than he ever asked me to go bowling. The one I got most was "Cousin... let's get DRUNK together!!" 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Kopite Posted September 24, 2021 Share Posted September 24, 2021 17 hours ago, rjkclarke said: I hope there is, that Noel image needs to happen. I like Snow as well - I wasn't aware that he wasn't popular? Shame, there's much worse characters in XIII to rag on before going for Snow........ Y'know like Hope I like Troy Baker too - even if he does seem to have the ambition of looking as close to the human equivelant of a 99 Ice Cream without the flake as humanly possible. I hope it isn't a whole forum pages length, that'd be crazy - I'll give myself carpel tunnel syndrome at that rate, if I did something like that. I won't do that game for a while though - I'm a little Final Fantasy'd out for the time being as far as reviews go. HAHA! I think some people think Snow is too OTT, but yeah lots through negativity at Vanille and Hope. My wife liked Vanille and I never had a problem with her personally. Hope was a bit whiney but in the end he grew which was important for his character development. I have certainly never heard anyone describe Troy Baker in that way lol Yeah I figured you would be. You are working through the new Tomb Raider trilogy and other games nicely. 17 hours ago, rjkclarke said: I'll be honest I had fogotten the Dead Space remake was happening...... So yeah I guess I'm excited for that too - although not as excited as I am for KOTOR - I'm looking forward to wandering around the sandy bits of Tatooine hacking up Tusken Raiders like Anakin would if Obi Wan had grounded him. That's strange that people would make a huge criticism of a game because of what it's trophy tiles look like - as you said they don't remotely change how the game plays, so what's the point in that. Some people really do like exercising their right to complain huh...... I can understand with Dead Space remake it'll be intriguing how it goes about considering the people who used to work with EA on the Dead Space franchise, now are making that game which is their new version of a Dead Space (It's called something like the Calabro Incident? Man I've forgot lol) KOTOR remake excitement is definitely very high from me. Probably not the game I am the absolutely most excited for, but it's very much up there. O yeah certainly, but that is the world at the moment sadly... 17 hours ago, rjkclarke said: I'm far too cautious around stuff like that - so I tend to just avoid any information altogether, so I end up just being completely oblivious about whatever it is as a result. I'll let you discover what Rocky IV is when you watch it - but a musical seems the most apt way to describe it. I guess I'd better post Rise of the Tomb Raider's review as well, before I forget to. Well it certainly has worked for you! Definitely intrigued. Whenever I get around to watching it, I'll let you know. Maybe by the end of the decade lol As I said earlier, you're doing great with the reviews 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrooba Posted September 25, 2021 Share Posted September 25, 2021 Awesome review! I think it's a necessity for a game to have a distinct visual theme, something that really makes it pop to either it's predecessors or other games of the genre. Alongside the ton of added content, it definitely seems as though it's the type of game to really get invested in! On 24/09/2021 at 2:23 AM, rjkclarke said: It’s surprising how much fun the co-operative side of Endurance can be – at least it can be if you allow it to be. Don’t go into this with the negative mindset that you are going for some hard trophies just treat it as two people having a good time. This is definitely the best mindset to have for co-op trophies. Stuff can be hard, but ultimately it's about having fun with another person and you'll eventually have it done! Reminds me heavily of the Still Alive trophy from Portal 2 where you need to do an entire course without either partner dying. When I played it on the 360, doing the co-op was one of my best memories with it. Unfortunate that the 100% is unobtainable on the PS3 version! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KindaSabbath Posted September 26, 2021 Share Posted September 26, 2021 As always - almost too much quality content for me to keep up with in here dude. The writing for your Tomb Raider reviews is consistently awesome. Looking forward to Shadow! Always look forwards to a big cup of coffee and having a good read through here. I wish I had a bit more to say regarding Tomb Raider but not having played through these new iterations, I'm just enjoying reading about your experiences with them! Keep up the great work mate! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post rjkclarke Posted September 26, 2021 Author Popular Post Share Posted September 26, 2021 (edited) It turns out my first impressions of Agents of Mayhem were just that, a first impression I am in a desperate need of a little vent I think - and my own thread seems as good a place as any to do that... Well - before I really get into this, my goodness did my good will towards Agents of Mayhem evaporate quickly. It's one of those games that are one of the most frustrating examples of wasted potential. I said months ago when I was playing Vampyr, that, that would probably be the most negative review I'll write all year, I think I surpassed that anyway, when I played WWE 2KBattlegrounds - I'm thinking there is a possibility this surpasses even that. As some of you will know - negativity doesn't exactly come easy to me, but my goodness is this game testing my patience, and I have a lot of that. It's genuinely the first time in a long time where I considered just shelving the game completely and leaving it unfinished - the fact I joined the Winter Backlog event means that I won't though,so I'll plug on through. Bloodlust in Final Fantasy IX was bad, but at least I had an awesome ending, and a whole other playthrough left to enjoy. The trophies in this are not even the problem, it's that the game itself is just so barren and shallow(I stick by what I said in my first impressions post, nothing wrong with a bit of dumb mindless fun, but the key word is FUN and this isn't it), that I'm really struggling to muster the will to play on. It's as if the developers had a load of quite decent ideas, yet decided to follow through on absolutely none of them. Now that I've played way more than 50% of the game, I can safely say that this game is one of the most egregious and laziest examples of re-using assets that I think I've ever encountered in a fairly big budget title. It's almost like playing Warframe from 2015, where they had very little map variety - except not only that, you could only play one game mode, and it's one that doesn't stand up well to repeated play, something like the original version of Mobile Defence. Agents of Mayhem essentially has so little depth to it's gameplay loop, that what you are initially exposed to, is actually for the most part it seems all you're going to get. That's to say nothing about the absolutely horrendous "story" that manages to be both childish (not in a good way) and unfunny. Who actually is the target audience for this game? Apart from people that have played Saints Row, even then it's got none of the humour or charm that those games have.I've got the games case not too far from me and I was surprised to find out it was an 18, yet it has all of the humour that would appeal to people who are around 12-16, the kind of look everyone, look how funny it is that that character just said a swear world TEEEEHHEEEEEHEEE, that's it too. There are ways of doing that, where it absolutely works, but this wasn't it. Lastly, because I need to save at least some of this for an eventual review I guess - some of the characters in this game are almost offensively bad - but in the pursuit of the developers I guess trying to give the characters some global flavour, what you get ends up being really one dimensional and borderline offensive cultural stereotypes. They go way too overboard with it too - I cringed so hard when I heard the voice acting for Oni's daughter who is Japanese in his personal mission, it's like someone watched some outdated performance from years ago, and thought " yep, that's fine, we'll do that........" I'm not kidding it's not too far removed from being like Mr Yuniyoshi from Breakfast at Tiffany's - I'll leave a link here for any who aren't familiar with that monstrosity. Unfortunately that's only really scratching the surface in this games Carnival of Craptacular Crapitude. ......... And....... Breathe, felt good to get all that out anyway. On 24/09/2021 at 3:12 AM, YaManSmevz said: I was never fully sold on that concept, as much as I enjoyed the movie. Then when I heard that HP or power up units or whatever were referred to as "balls," I tuned out Oh yeah - I forgot about that element...... I don't know either, as, well, as bad as this sounds - balls were plastered all over that game for want of a better word. On 24/09/2021 at 3:12 AM, YaManSmevz said: Thank you! I think I will. I really enjoyed that game, as silly, campy, and derivative as it was I did too - so I'm looking forward to hearing what you write about Godfather in your checklist, I don't want to say they are underrated because I think those Godfather games have got a fanbase - but I'd say they are definitely a little under appreciated. I guess they got a little lost in a sea of GTA clones. On 24/09/2021 at 3:12 AM, YaManSmevz said: Agreed, she was quite the hottie. I remember being blown away by the incredible cinematics, admiring the technical achievement, soaking in the beginnings of the story, then she popped up and I suddenly remembered I was a teenage boy! Haha! Squall must have been the most unusual 17 year old ever - I mean Quistis lays everything out on the table, says that she's interested, and he's all " nah, not interested babe, sorry...... I'm erm, too busy nonchalantly leaning against this pillar, I'm too cool for you..... Sorry" Talk about emotionally stunted ? On 24/09/2021 at 11:31 AM, The_Kopite said: HAHA! I think some people think Snow is too OTT, but yeah lots through negativity at Vanille and Hope. My wife liked Vanille and I never had a problem with her personally. Hope was a bit whiney but in the end he grew which was important for his character development. I know Vanille gets a lot of hate - which I don't understand either - my favourite moment from Final Fantasy XIII involves Vanille, the bit where her and Sazh fall out, in that resort place - I think the build up and the pay off to that moment were really well done. That Snow criticism people have is weird - he has like the inverse character arc of almost every other Final Fantasy character - he starts off with ideas about being the hero, and that's desperately wants to be, but everything that happens to and around him, ends up knocking him down and effecting his psyche so much, that by the time Lightning Returns rolls around he's so far removed from what he started as that he's almost at that point where characters are ready to " become the hero" in their respective Final Fantasy game. It's certainly an interesting take they decided to go with. On 24/09/2021 at 11:31 AM, The_Kopite said: I have certainly never heard anyone describe Troy Baker in that way lol I think Troy Baker is awesome as a voice actor - but are you seriously telling me this guy - isn't trying really hard to look like an ice cream... To be fair people would probably tell me I look like a hippie, so maybe being a human ice cream is the better choice anyway. On 24/09/2021 at 11:31 AM, The_Kopite said: Yeah I figured you would be. You are working through the new Tomb Raider trilogy and other games nicely Now that I've opened up the possibility of people requesting reviews, I guess if people were feeling really sadistic they could request a Final Fantasy game, y'know just to torture me haha. On 24/09/2021 at 11:31 AM, The_Kopite said: it'll be intriguing how it goes about considering the people who used to work with EA on the Dead Space franchise, now are making that game which is their new version of a Dead Space (It's called something like the Calabro Incident? Man I've forgot lol) That's interesting, I'll have to look that up later - I guess that will be quite strange then if the people that originally worked on Dead Space aren't actually onboard for the remake. It'll be interesting to see how much changes in the remake as a result of that, then. On 24/09/2021 at 11:31 AM, The_Kopite said: Well it certainly has worked for you! Definitely intrigued. Whenever I get around to watching it, I'll let you know. Maybe by the end of the decade lol As I said earlier, you're doing great with the reviews Absolute caution has definitely worked so far with avoiding spoilers that's for sure.... I still think I would have enjoyed something like Final Fantasy IX even if I had known spoilers, but it was nice to experience it completely fresh. Thanks for the kind words by the way about my long arse reviews haha! On 25/09/2021 at 9:53 AM, Shrooba said: Awesome review! I think it's a necessity for a game to have a distinct visual theme, something that really makes it pop to either it's predecessors or other games of the genre. Alongside the ton of added content, it definitely seems as though it's the type of game to really get invested in! Thanks Shrooba - much appreciated as always! Definitely - there's a whole lot to like in Rise of the Tomb Raider - I hope people got that from the review, even if I said it was my least favourite of the three, I still think it's bloody excellent. It's just very small margins of preference. It's absolutely one to get invested in, you're on the money there. It's just an all round very enjoyable time, and it's so easy to get drawn into the atmosphere that games world presents. On 25/09/2021 at 9:53 AM, Shrooba said: This is definitely the best mindset to have for co-op trophies. Stuff can be hard, but ultimately it's about having fun with another person and you'll eventually have it done! Reminds me heavily of the Still Alive trophy from Portal 2 where you need to do an entire course without either partner dying. When I played it on the 360, doing the co-op was one of my best memories with it. Unfortunate that the 100% is unobtainable on the PS3 version! I'm so glad you said that - because it's so true, co-op trophies don't have to be a bad experience at all. It's exactly as you said it's about having fun with the person you're playing it with. I mean, I sure wouldn't have had as much fun with Resident Evil 5 and 6 had I not played them co-op whilst going for the trophies, but I have quite fond memories of both, just from the huge amount of laughs that me and my friend got from playing those. That must have been an intense one - that Portal 2 achievement? It's awesome that you've got that memory from it though, it does make those kinds of experiences all the more special doesn't it, when you've experienced those things with a friend alongside. On 26/09/2021 at 10:13 AM, KindaSabbath said: As always - almost too much quality content for me to keep up with in here dude. The writing for your Tomb Raider reviews is consistently awesome. Looking forward to Shadow! Always look forwards to a big cup of coffee and having a good read through here. I wish I had a bit more to say regarding Tomb Raider but not having played through these new iterations, I'm just enjoying reading about your experiences with them! Keep up the great work mate! That's awesome to hear - thanks man! There's a solution to not having much to say about the new iterations of Tomb Raider - which is to go and play them. There's definitely a fun time to be had there, although I know you've got a bunch lined up to play, so it's not exactly like you'd need to rush to it. I'm hoping that I can get Shadow done soon - honestly, Agents of Mayhem has really killed some of my motivation to do anything - but now I've had a nice rant about it, I should find it easier to just get back to writing about Tomb Raider ? Edited September 27, 2021 by rjkclarke 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deadly_Ha_Ha Posted September 27, 2021 Share Posted September 27, 2021 Hey congratulations on finishing Final Fantasy IX man. I don't know if I noticed everything you've done but your list is really impressive. Last time we were talking about Kingdom Hearts but yeah your rpg's are nothing to sneeze at. Okage which I LOVED, and you've done both Symphonia games on PS3 which is also a goal of mine now that I started doing PS3 titles. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjkclarke Posted September 27, 2021 Author Share Posted September 27, 2021 (edited) 15 hours ago, Deadly_Ha_Ha said: Hey congratulations on finishing Final Fantasy IX man. I don't know if I noticed everything you've done but your list is really impressive. Last time we were talking about Kingdom Hearts but yeah your rpg's are nothing to sneeze at. Okage which I LOVED, and you've done both Symphonia games on PS3 which is also a goal of mine now that I started doing PS3 titles. Thank you! Thanks for stopping by again! I think you're going to love Final Fantasy IX yourself - I know you're very fond of the soundtrack, so when you see how well that's implemented in the game it's going have an even deeper impression on you. I'll erm, shut up about Final Fantasy IX now, it'd be too easy to wax lyrical about it, which is why my review of it was so ridiculously long. But I hope you have an absolute blast whenever you play it, be sure to let me know how you're getting on with it, because I'd love to hear about it. I definitely have got a big love for RPG's, be they Western or JRPG ones - I need to experiment a bit with the genre too I think, because there's games like the Banner Saga that I've been recommended regularly by plenty of people who seem to think I'd love it, so I need to give them a go at some point. I'm always up for trying out new things. I'd probably have more RPG's on here, but I'm fighting against that constant thing we all are, which is free time, I just don't have enough of it, or not as much as I'd like. I still plan to try and get all the available Star Oceans done at some point, it'll be fun chronicling the trip that takes me on, but the time sink is probably the thing that's holding me back the most, I don't really deal well with juggling multiple games at once. I'm always up for a Kingdom Hearts discussion - I was so glad you posted that story that you did about it, I'd never question anyone's love for any game franchise, but if people can't understand why that series is so special to you after reading that, then that's a THEM problem, not a you problem. You've got a hell of a profile yourself too ( that's an understatement really). Which with your ultra high standards is only going to look higher and higher quality as a result. I'm planning to play Bastion next; which I see you've done too - after I've gotten through the torture that Agents of Mayhem is currently bringing me. Nice to see you've gotten Dark Cloud 2 done as well. I haven't played that one yet, despite really loving the first one, I'm looking forward to it and I have no reasonable excuse for why I've not started it yet either. Tales of Symphonia is my favourite entry in that series ( I mean probably it'd be in my top 10 favourite games ever too) - despite it's very outdated and archaic gameplay - it's one of the greatest video game stories I've ever played, with a raft of characters that just get under your skin in such a positive way. Are you planning to put any Tales of' titles on your profile at any point in the future? I think you might have a good time with them. I'm glad someone else is a huge fan of Okage - I probably waited a good fifteen years to play that, as it never released here in the UK but what a fantastic game that is, the wait was worth it, it didn't disappoint. It's brimming with so much charm. I'm really looking forward to playing Rogue Galaxy as well, that's another one that I didn't quite get around to playing in the PS2 era. Edited September 28, 2021 by rjkclarke 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deadly_Ha_Ha Posted September 28, 2021 Share Posted September 28, 2021 22 hours ago, rjkclarke said: You've got a hell of a profile yourself too ( that's an understatement really). Which with your ultra high standards is only going to look higher and higher quality as a result. I'm planning to play Bastion next; which I see you've done too - after I've gotten through the torture that Agents of Mayhem is currently bringing me. Nice to see you've gotten Dark Cloud 2 done as well. I haven't played that one yet, despite really loving the first one, I'm looking forward to it and I have no reasonable excuse for why I've not started it yet either. Tales of Symphonia is my favourite entry in that series ( I mean probably it'd be in my top 10 favourite games ever too) - despite it's very outdated and archaic gameplay - it's one of the greatest video game stories I've ever played, with a raft of characters that just get under your skin in such a positive way. Are you planning to put any Tales of' titles on your profile at any point in the future? I think you might have a good time with them. I'm glad someone else is a huge fan of Okage - I probably waited a good fifteen years to play that, as it never released here in the UK but what a fantastic game that is, the wait was worth it, it didn't disappoint. It's brimming with so much charm. I'm really looking forward to playing Rogue Galaxy as well, that's another one that I didn't quite get around to playing in the PS2 era. Dark Cloud 2 is one of the finest gaming experiences I've ever had. It is a clear example of how good a game can really be and what more devs should strive to achieve. Music is godly, I love the gameplay, the story is phenomenal, the voice acting is perfect, the whole game is just a timeless masterpiece. Level-5 on the PS2 was untouchable. Dark Cloud 2's plat is actually the stuff of nightmares though. Not everyone who's done it agrees with that but for me, it was a waking nightmare. I'm not trying to scare you off, because if the game wasn't as good as it is, there's no way the plat would be worth it; but it is that good, and so the plat is worth it. Just be ready for some shit. Yes, I am planning on putting Tales games on my account. My first Vita game to go on this account will probably be Tales of Hearts R. I intend to do both Symphonia games, Berseria, and an assortment of other ones which I can't think of off the top of my head lol. But that is a series I have a desire to heavily invest in moving forward. Rogue Galaxy was a better game in my opinion than Dark Cloud 2. It's crazy, I had never played it until I got the plat as my 49th on this account, but without hesitation I make what I see as a bold claim which is that yeah, Rogue Galaxy is better than Dark Cloud 2. I won't say that it replaces the significance that Dark Cloud 2 has for me, nor that Dark Cloud 2 is in any way diminished because of this, especially since they're both Level-5 games, but I was more blown away by Rogue Galaxy than I could have ever envisioned. It feels like Level-5 wanted to make a statement that they were leaving the PS2 with one of the best games the console had ever seen, cementing it as the best console in history which is where the PS2 remains to this day. Dark Cloud 2 is a perfect game, somehow it turns out that Rogue Galaxy is a perfecter game. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Kopite Posted September 29, 2021 Share Posted September 29, 2021 On 9/26/2021 at 9:34 PM, rjkclarke said: I know Vanille gets a lot of hate - which I don't understand either - my favourite moment from Final Fantasy XIII involves Vanille, the bit where her and Sazh fall out, in that resort place - I think the build up and the pay off to that moment were really well done. That Snow criticism people have is weird - he has like the inverse character arc of almost every other Final Fantasy character - he starts off with ideas about being the hero, and that's desperately wants to be, but everything that happens to and around him, ends up knocking him down and effecting his psyche so much, that by the time Lightning Returns rolls around he's so far removed from what he started as that he's almost at that point where characters are ready to " become the hero" in their respective Final Fantasy game. It's certainly an interesting take they decided to go with. I think a lot of people i.e. critics didn't like her voice, which never bothered me. Vanille is critical to the story and for me, a likeable character. Got one of those Play Arts Kai figures of her and Snow. Yeah you are absolutely correct about Snow. It is certainly an interesting reverse of the typical story for such a character and to be fair, having the trilogy of games let them have the time to explore that properly. On 9/26/2021 at 9:34 PM, rjkclarke said: I think Troy Baker is awesome as a voice actor - but are you seriously telling me this guy - isn't trying really hard to look like an ice cream... To be fair people would probably tell me I look like a hippie, so maybe being a human ice cream is the better choice anyway. Haha well hey it's working for him and each to their own. ? On 9/26/2021 at 9:34 PM, rjkclarke said: Now that I've opened up the possibility of people requesting reviews, I guess if people were feeling really sadistic they could request a Final Fantasy game, y'know just to torture me haha. Ooooo, now there's a thought.............haha On 9/26/2021 at 9:34 PM, rjkclarke said: That's interesting, I'll have to look that up later - I guess that will be quite strange then if the people that originally worked on Dead Space aren't actually onboard for the remake. It'll be interesting to see how much changes in the remake as a result of that, then. No they made their own company after EA screwed them over (Go figure). Can't remember the name of the game for the life of me though haha On 9/26/2021 at 9:34 PM, rjkclarke said: Absolute caution has definitely worked so far with avoiding spoilers that's for sure.... I still think I would have enjoyed something like Final Fantasy IX even if I had known spoilers, but it was nice to experience it completely fresh. Thanks for the kind words by the way about my long arse reviews haha! Yes I know you would have done, sometimes it doesn't matter too much as you can get a lot from your own experience and journey with a game even if you've been spoiled on something. Anytime man, wouldn't say it if it wasn't true. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjkclarke Posted September 29, 2021 Author Share Posted September 29, 2021 On 28/09/2021 at 7:22 PM, Deadly_Ha_Ha said: Dark Cloud 2 is one of the finest gaming experiences I've ever had. It is a clear example of how good a game can really be and what more devs should strive to achieve. Music is godly, I love the gameplay, the story is phenomenal, the voice acting is perfect, the whole game is just a timeless masterpiece. Level-5 on the PS2 was untouchable. Dark Cloud 2's plat is actually the stuff of nightmares though. Not everyone who's done it agrees with that but for me, it was a waking nightmare. I'm not trying to scare you off, because if the game wasn't as good as it is, there's no way the plat would be worth it; but it is that good, and so the plat is worth it. Just be ready for some shit. That is some very high praise of both Dark Cloud 2 and Rogue Galaxy - so it sounds like I'm in for an absolute treat once I get to those! You don't have to worry about scaring me off because of a harder or objectively not very good trophy list. I don't ever judge a games quality by it's trophy list, if I did there'd be a bunch of really excellent games I'd judge unfairly. in which I'd be a little too blinkered to heap praise on, despite being incredible games. I worry people get a little hung up on the trophies at times, I know, stupid thing to say on a trophy tracking site, but I'm glad you seem to be in a similar boat, where you can appreciate the games quality despite it having some terrible trophies tied to it. That might be your experience with Final Fantasy IX as well. On 28/09/2021 at 7:22 PM, Deadly_Ha_Ha said: Yes, I am planning on putting Tales games on my account. My first Vita game to go on this account will probably be Tales of Hearts R. I intend to do both Symphonia games, Berseria, and an assortment of other ones which I can't think of off the top of my head lol. But that is a series I have a desire to heavily invest in moving forward. Take this with a pinch of salt - because I haven't played Hearts R, on account of not having a Vita, but I'd heard that wasn't exactly the strongest entry in the Tales of' series. I'm going to assume it wouldn't be your first one? If it was, I'd be worried you'd never want to go back and play any others. I've heard people compare that to a soap opera in the past. I'd start with the two Symphonia games, mainly because the first one has such archaic gameplay, that if you play it after playing some of the more recent titles, it'll feel incredibly outdated and you might struggle to get into it. Which is a shame as it's my personal favourite Tales of' title. It's all up to you of course, you've gotta play whatever you want in whatever order you want. You probably already know, but Berseria is a prequel to Zestiria so you might want to play Zestiria first, although you're going to have a different reaction to certain things whichever order you tackle those two games - either order will give you a unique perspective on the other. 8 hours ago, The_Kopite said: I think a lot of people i.e. critics didn't like her voice, which never bothered me. Vanille is critical to the story and for me, a likeable character. Got one of those Play Arts Kai figures of her and Snow. Yeah you are absolutely correct about Snow. It is certainly an interesting reverse of the typical story for such a character and to be fair, having the trilogy of games let them have the time to explore that properly. Wow - that's even more surprising. I thought her voice was fine. I'm in 100% agreement with you on that one. She's very important. Isn't that a little bit harsh on Australian people for the critics to complain about her voice - only voice worth complaining about in that trilogy is Mog's from the next game, that is a voice I could do without having to hear say Kupo in about a thousand different sassy ways haha 8 hours ago, The_Kopite said: No they made their own company after EA screwed them over (Go figure). Can't remember the name of the game for the life of me though haha That company really don't do a whole lot to make themselves popular do they. When will they ever learn. I'll look up what the team turned into later on, because I'm quite curious about what the new game those people are working on is. 8 hours ago, The_Kopite said: Yes I know you would have done, sometimes it doesn't matter too much as you can get a lot from your own experience and journey with a game even if you've been spoiled on something. That is a very good point! I mean I had a huge thing from Metal Gear Solid 4's ending spoiled for me, but that didn't stop me enjoying the ride getting to that point, because what I'd found out actually turned out to fairly inoccuous anyway and doesn't really impact on the game as a whole, so knowing about it as you said didn't really detract from the experience all that much. Would have just been an even bigger ?... Haha Guess I'd better go post up my Shadow of the Tomb Raider review - it's going to be a long one, so apologies in advance everyone! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post rjkclarke Posted September 29, 2021 Author Popular Post Share Posted September 29, 2021 (edited) Classic Review Platinum #242 Shadow of the Tomb Raider (PS4) Chalice of Torment Earn all Trophies A Few Trophy Stats Platinum Earned - 7 January 2020: 1:54:13:AM Time taken to Platinum and 100%: 4 weeks, 1 day, 7 hours Platinum Rarity - 13.42% 100% Rarity - 3.56% Trophy Number - # 12,180 In Shadow of the Tomb Raider – we pick up two months after the events of the previous game. An idea that often works much better in video game form, as unlike in film and television you aren’t reliant on an actor’s previous appearance for continuity purposes. Due to the nature of video games however, that isn’t something you have to ever worry about – yet I think it’s interesting nonetheless, that hypothetically you could make a sequel to – I don’t know, Tales of Monkey Island, and set it minutes after the conclusion of the last, and not have to worry about how much older Guybrush looks since his last appearance. I wouldn’t mind seeing a wrinkly old Guybrush at some point though; it’d be an interesting new dimension, a bit like Christopher Lloyds version of Graham in the latest Kings Quest. But I digress, what’s new there right? This is meant to be a Tomb Raider write up and somehow I find a way to mention Monkey Island. Ahem - Shadow of the Tomb Raider follows Lara and Jonah’s further efforts to thwart the paramilitary group Trinity, whilst also indulging in a bit of teeny bit of grave robbery and Tomb Raiding - kick-starting the adventure we see here, and the end (for now at least) of Lara’s origin trilogy, which I believe is what it’s now being dubbed. Shadow of the Tomb Raider, is slightly less isolated than its predecessors, which ends up – for better, or worse makes the game feel much larger as a result. Taking my own opinion out of the equation, which if I’m pursuing objectivity, I must – what you end up getting in Shadow of the Tomb Raider, is a slightly unusual juxtaposition. You have the conclusion of a meticulously crafted story arc for Lara – which doesn’t quite get the room it deserves to breathe, because of the location changing fairly often, yet it’s also one of the aspects of this particular title that manages to fuse the new and old of Tomb Raider in perhaps it’s best form across all three entries in this trilogy. Whilst I plan on delving into this in greater detail further in, I’d just like to point out how interesting the overarching thematic trajectory is across all three of these games – it’s something I’ve only really noticed upon a bit of reflection – and writing these reviews. What I hadn’t ever previously considered, was how each game in this trilogy takes a certain fundamental aspect of what had always been Lara’s core character (no, not breasts and guns), but builds on it in a way that feels very organic, leading nicely into this game – where by its conclusion as a player we see where this version of Lara could grow into a character not too dissimilar to the one long time Tomb Raider fans might be more familiar with – just with a much greater amount of depth. If you’ve read my two previous write ups of this trilogy - then you’d know how highly I rate Camilla Luddington as Lara. You’d be hard pushed to find motion capture and voice performances that are performed as intricately and emotively as hers are. One of the games difficulty settings is named Deadly Obsession, which ironically is a fairly apt description of one of Lara’s key character traits. At this point in her life, her thirst for knowledge and dedication to her cause has essentially become a deadly obsession. This will sound cheesy as the largest cheese wheel in the cheesedom – but this version of Lara truly is an Angel of Darkness (there that’s all the lip service I’m willing to give that abysmal game). A performance like Luddington’s here are difficult to achieve at the best of times – but to really free herself and put so much raw emotion into her performance, whilst also wearing a motion capture suit and camera rig attached to her is truly commendable, as most actors would find that such a difficult task. Granted she gets far superior material to work with than Keeley Hawes does in her trilogy and yes as Keeley Hawes is my favourite actress, this does frustrate me terribly. I’ve mentioned many times, over the past two write ups about how, you might not like this version of Lara (I know plenty of people who both do and don’t), but by the end you’ll definitely understand her. That was deliberate, I was always planning to follow through on my statement – this version of Lara is incredibly complex, and often quite unlikeable, but the whole way through the trilogy it was building up to this one moment. I believe she gives her best performance to date in Shadow of the Tomb Raider. This is one of those rare times where I’d love to break my own rules and delve deeply into spoilers, but I won’t – however much I might like to. It’s rare for video games to actually effectively pull off slow-build storytelling across multiple games, it does happen on occasion – The Legacy of Kain series was certainly going in that direction, before the series was ended prematurely. Whereas in this trilogy – Crystal Dynamics had a very clear plan from the beginning, and I think for the most part they managed to stick the landing, which is something they should be commended for. Whilst I don’t think this game is the best in the trilogy – it is my personal favourite one, for one reason and one reason only, the scene where Lara completely unravels in the oil fields. It’ll be no secret to anyone who reads a lot of my reviews to know that I’m incredibly passionate about film – and this section in the oil fields, is so immaculately produced that it wouldn’t look out of place in a high quality cinematic affair. The acting is superb, which is a given at this point, the sound design and soundtrack complement each other brilliantly, the cinematography and the lighting especially are so atmospheric yet also evocative of films like Apocalypse Now, that you can’t help but get drawn into the abundant quality on offer here. I’ve both replayed and watched this scene several times, and the only thing that are negatives, are some of the stiff facial animations. Luddington absolutely excelled herself here – my words won’t ever do it any sort of real justice, I don't think - but the culmination of three games worth of suffering and turmoil, and never really dealing with her built up anxieties, all culminate in the huge crescendo seen here as Lara just unleashes her primal rage. For what it’s worth, I find it hard to like this version of Lara at times too, but that doesn’t mean I was never invested in her character, or couldn’t appreciate how immaculately written I thought her entire character arc was, especially when you compare her to some of the more bare bones iterations of Lara in Tomb Raider’s gone by. That unfortunately includes the Legend trilogy version, even if that was more of a step in the right direction. Although I only really mentioned Lara – Shadow of the Tomb Raider, does contain a decent amount of other interesting characters. Jonah returns, and is given a much more pivotal role in both the story and Lara’s own personal struggles, yet also manages to stand on his own two feet and feel much less like a spare part than he does in other titles in this trilogy. Watching his friendship with Lara grow over the course of the three games is rather interesting, especially when you notice there’s quite a lot of distance between them in the first title. Just like in its predecessor, this game contains a few lite RPG elements, so you meet a fair few interesting characters just as a direct result of taking on side quests. I’m not going to list every single one of them of course – Unuratu is an interesting character, that I think Lara sees quite a lot of herself in, so the dynamic between the two characters is quite interesting as a result of that. I would say a fair criticism to level at this recent Tomb Raider trilogy, is the fact that after three iterations not a whole lot of improvements are made regarding gameplay. I’ve heard the words stale and unoriginal thrown around on occasion too. Both of those descriptions seem a little harsh – whilst not a whole lot changes on the surface from a gameplay perspective, that doesn’t mean there aren’t any – or that Crystal Dynamics themselves didn’t want to implement them. I spoke at length in the last two reviews about my personal frustration with the immersion breaking chalky white ledges - the ones that might as well have served as a sign post saying “please go here.” The thing about those is that Crystal Dynamics wanted to get rid of them too – yet were very fearful that if they did remove them, then newer players would feel very lost and wouldn’t react positively to the game as a result. The crafting system for example is a vast improvement, as even outfits themselves can give you bonuses in combat, instead of just serving an aesthetic purpose. Those improvements do exist though – they just aren’t particularly apparent. People don’t level the same criticism at Uncharted do they, that on the surface the four main games don’t change all that much on a mechanical level across all three of the series sequel games. I don’t think there’s all that much difference between the gun play and platforming in Uncharted between the first and the fourth game. That’s not a dig at those games, but it’s worth mentioning, when the same people that often criticise these recent Tomb Raider entries wouldn’t be quick to do the same for the Uncharted series that people often hold to such a lofty standard. Both respective series implemented improvements gradually over each title. When you break it down and you really consider it for a moment, there is a smattering of improvements across all three games in the new Tomb Raider trilogy. With each progressive entry the platforming feels tighter and more concise – even if in Shadow of the Tomb Raider it is still a little cumbersome and – well, for want of a better word, finicky. Newer climbing gadgets are available to you than before – spoilers! These will get you killed quite often. Despite at its core being a puzzle platformer since Tomb Raiders inception it’s never actually had particularly satisfying platforming controls – Shadow of the Tomb Raider suffers from the same problem that has almost always plagued the series, that some of the jumping manoeuvres often-times don’t work the way they should, so more often than not you plummet to your death, through no real fault of your own. The gun play itself is also improved upon (despite it never really being one of this trilogies strong suits to begin with,) yet it does see a vast improvement. None more so than the stealth aspect of Shadow of the Tomb Raider, coating yourself in mud, and blending in with areas only to come out of hiding and silently take down your enemies is such a satisfying feeling – and looks like something straight out of Rambo. It isn’t that I don’t want to speak at length about the gameplay; it’s more that I’ve covered pretty much all of the changes between games. If you’re looking for a game filled with a huge depth of gameplay, then this might not be for you, but I believe the story more than makes up for that. Whilst I think Rise of the Tomb Raider does a far superior job of melding both the old and the new with this version of Tomb Raider. Shadow of the Tomb Raider still does a very impressive job of that. Rise, just edges it out slightly on its far superior map design. But I’m here to discuss Shadow of the Tomb Raider right? It’s just an obvious direct comparison, especially when it leads onto my next point. This game contains much more of a focus on puzzle solving than even Rise did. Which in turn feel far more integral to the plot than they did beforehand. Lara lives up to her name as a Tomb Raider at this juncture. Although, it can definitely be said that Tomb Raider’s plots have never been all that original – how many follow the mcguffin plots actually are? Yet that still doesn’t stop them being entertaining, look at Indiana Jones after all. Whilst puzzles aren’t as complex as they were in other titles, they still require a decent level of thought in some cases. For me personally, a particular highlight was The Path of the Eagle puzzle, which whilst not being particularly taxing mentally – it is incredibly satisfying to see how well designed it is, especially when you learn to do it quickly for subsequent playthroughs. Again – I could write reams about how well designed the puzzles are in this title, but I’ll refrain, or we’d be here all day. You’ll probably notice that I often write in as much detail as I can about soundtracks and sound design, yet hadn’t in great detail up to this point in this trilogy, because in all honesty, they aren’t all that spectacular or stand out (they are good though). Until now that is, I hadn’t realised it until I started writing this review, but I think Shadow of the Tomb Raider plays host to my favourite Tomb Raider soundtrack. That’s high praise too, because I think the Keeley Hawes trilogy has an incredibly large amount of skilfully written music across all three entries, pieces that perfectly evokes the feeling, be it culturally or emotionally, of the areas each are set in. Shadow of the Tomb Raider does that in a similar fashion, but in a much more streamlined and focused way, due in no small part to Shadow of the Tomb Raider having less globe-trotting, as each area is geographically or tonally connected to another. So what you end up getting is a very uniform soundtrack that at no point feels jarring. Words won’t really do it justice, but it is astoundingly good in places, and it does a tremendous job of elevating everything around it. If I ever make an in depth post about my favourite video game soundtracks, I’ll expand on it there. Nevertheless, take a bow Brian D'Oliveira. I did briefly mention earlier that this game has slightly stiff facial animations – that’s still something I stand by. Although in all fairness that could be a case of over ambition - as opposed to incompetence, like it can be with some video games. Those aside, the overall visual design and art-style are still impressive nevertheless. The level of detail in almost everything else is incredibly intricate and impressive, and goes a long way in building the world in which the game inhabits. I know I’m going to compare it to Rise of the Tomb Raider again, but it’s unavoidable, Rise, is designed a little better than this game – everything feels that much more interconnected than it does here – whereas Shadow of the Tomb Raider contains some truly stunning individual locations. It’s a small criticism (or not depending on whom you are,) but Shadow is lacking in that department and so the stand out singular locations, doesn’t quite make up for that lack of interconnectivity in my opinion. Don’t misinterpret what I’m saying though, it’s still excellent – I just wish it could have been better. I know, I have high standards right? The Oil fields previously mentioned, Paititi and The Church of San Juan are incredible locations in Shadow of the Tomb Raider though, locations that would be incredible whatever series they were a part of. It’s a little too easy to get lost in Paititi, as there are so many interesting secret Crypts and Tombs to discover. Croft Manor also makes probably it’s most unique appearance in any Tomb Raider entry in this game, as much like it was done in Tomb Raider: Underworld, it’s woven into the narrative, yet in this instance, it has a unique gameplay quirk, as you play as young Lara – adding a slightly different dimension to the usual dynamic. Now then – how do I tackle this divisive subject? Shadow of the Tomb Raider’s trophies – I say divisive, because I have seen some absolutely uncalled for bile thrown at this game for its difficulty trophies. On this very site I’ve seen people call this the worst game ever made because of the Deadly Obsession difficulty trophy. It’s not even that bad, I know difficulty is subjective, but you at least get save points, even if they are few and far between. Trophies are optional, nobody is forcing you to do them, and usually at least, they don’t in any way diminish the quality of a game. So either do it or don’t. Just don’t lose out on what could be an awesome experience for you as a result. Deadly Obsession difficulty is frustrating I grant you – but don’t let one thing ruin your experience of a very high quality game. Yes, whilst you’re almost certainly going to fall off a ledge a few times to something that was out of your control, they could have made it much worse. Ironically the hardest part of the game is the first section, as there’s about an hour and a half without any campfires to save at. I died here far more than I did in any other part of the game, several times too, one about two minutes from the save point - which was honestly quite brutal, yet funny in a way. The other trophies are fairly innocuous though – they are the usual fare that can be found across the other entries in this trilogy, and open world games in general. You end up collecting a lot of collectibles of course, that’s a given, doing plenty of side quests as, and the odd miscellaneous thing thrown into the mix. Pointless but fun fact that I noticed when playing this game at the time, the completionist trophy also happened to be gold trophy number 1000 for me, so that was a fun little coincidence. DLC Much like I did with Rise of the Tomb Raider, these DLC sections won’t be reviews in the traditional sense, more a brief collection of my thoughts and experiences with each one. I’m self conscious about how much I write as it is, so I’ll try and keep these fairly minimal – which is not to diminish their quality either, I think they’re all very good. One thing of note though, is that if you have the DLC pre-installed before playing the game, they actually slot into the story in a very satisfactory way, and can serve as a welcome break from the main plot if you just want to momentarily break off for a bit and do something else. So in that regard I really appreciated the fact they are tied to quests. Each one takes the form of its own bespoke quest, containing a degree of replay-ability factor with each one, a clever idea, taking the form of the returning score and time attack modes seen in Rise of the Tomb Raider. They also serve somewhat of a practical purpose too, as they reward you with some incredibly powerful outfits and weapons that can really give you an edge in gameplay. The Forge Starting off with a bang – almost literally in this case – The Forge, is such an interesting puzzle, I loved the way this was structured, and playing through it quickly for the time attack trophy, it gives you such a heightened sense of urgency. This ends up making the time attack trophy feel really tense as a result. The Forge is one of the most interesting examples of a seamless meld of both physics manipulation and verticality. It’s a simple joy, when you figure out that you have to propel yourself higher and higher using gas cloud explosions from fire arrows. I found it such an interesting concept. This is another fine example of how much Crystal Dynamics “get” Tomb Raider – its puzzles like these that make me frustrated that the Tomb Raider (2013) was a little too light on puzzles. The Pillar Whilst The Pillar, is both very atmospheric, and to be honest, very well designed. It unfortunately suffers from the same problems that plague the main game. That of – very, very finicky platforming mechanics, and as this DLC isn’t actually a puzzle in the truest sense, more of a platforming challenge, therein lays the problem. It could be that I was just terrible at using the grapple axe (that is more than likely the case,) yet I always seemed to press the square button at exactly the wrong time and leap to my doom screaming instead of actually latching myself onto something. I did enjoy this, but its relative simplicity compared to The Forge makes it a little less enjoyable. The Nightmare The Nightmare definitely seems as if it isn’t an entirely inaccurate description – well, for me at least, this could definitely have come straight from one of my own nightmares all the way back in 2017 – when I was absolutely stuck on the Taiko Drum Master completion metrics from Yakuza 5 and I’m sure I had a nightmare not too dissimilar to this DLC. Except, it emanated from my own psyche, so it wasn’t quite as intricately designed unfortunately – however, this is a thing of beauty. The scale of it all is so impressive, from the way the huge idols are rhythmically banging the drums you traverse across - To the way in which the puzzle itself is structured, with an interesting mix of platforming and timing. Some of the ambient sound design in this DLC has a huge amount of attention to detail in it, that I couldn’t help but appreciate too. The Price of Survival The Price of Survival is one of the shorter DLC experiences, it’s probably a little over simplistic too, and there isn’t a whole lot to say about it really. Whilst, the way in which you solve the puzzle is quite satisfying, as it’s an interesting mix of the old “pushing crates” trope which is abundant in many puzzle games, the issue is, it’s all just a little bit too brief, and aside from some quite horrific imagery, it isn’t all that memorable. The Serpents Heart If you put a gun to my head and forced me to choose which DLC it was that I liked the most, (please don’t,) then I’d probably say it was this one. It’s such an interesting meld of all of the elements of the gameplay found within this Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Shooting, platforming and puzzle solving. You’d think that given the DLC is essentially an on-rails segment, that it’d suffer because of it, but it doesn’t, you aren’t truly on-rail so to speak, but on a moving raft, which you have to keep going towards its destination, dodging spikes, and shooting symbols to correct your course, or to avoid more traps. These all give it a much needed injection of pace, especially as you go further in and you transition seamlessly from dodging under a rod full of spikes, to shoot a symbol, to then doge out of the way of a wall of flames. Each element works in great harmony with each other, and ultimately makes for a really satisfying experience. The Grand Caiman This is another one that’s a little tough to really talk in depth about – it’s perfectly fine, it just feels like the unloved ginger step-child (no offence to any of you lovely red headed folk out there, it’s just an expression,) of The Forge DLC. As a result, it’s basically the same thing, but with less of the satisfaction involved. Oh and Crocodiles...... Crocodiles that breathe fire – I’m not sure even Steve Irwin would have been up for that. This entire DLC essentially amounts to, “Go upwards” the video game, and as a result it wasn’t all that fun to play. It’s visually very interesting, on account of the fire breathing Croco’s, yet nothing about it really wowed me. The Path Home The Path Home – feels fairly unique as a part of this rebooted Tomb Raider trilogy. Everything about it, feels like something out of either the PS1 era Tomb Raiders or the Keeley Hawes trilogy. Not that I minded of course, it was nice to wrap up the final bit of DLC for this game, by having a wonderful set of puzzles to solve that truly wouldn’t have felt out of place in some of the more puzzle centric titles of old. I don’t actually recall there being many pressure plate puzzles across all three of the new Tomb Raider trilogy, granted I play a lot of video games, and I can’t remember every single detail of them, despite how hard I might try. So to find some pressure plate puzzles here, I remember being very happy about seeing them, not only that, but the final puzzle, can be quite slow and deliberate, which I think is something that’s a little missing in the modern titles, yet I understand why they are absent as it would definitely slow the pace down far more than I think Crystal Dynamics would like it too. Yet, The Path Home’s slower pace and purer format really appealed to me. Concluding Statement. It seems a little redundant to say would I recommend this, because obviously I would. I’d recommend this entire trilogy in fact, it has its fans sure, but I don’t think it quite gets any of the love that it deserves, so I decided to give it some of mine. It seemed fitting to review all of the Tomb Raider games with trophies on its twenty-fifth anniversary year. I just hope I did them justice. So if you’ve never played it, but were on the fence about it, because it’s not quite like any other Tomb Raiders, please just play it anyway, it might just surprise you. In the process of looking back and reviewing these, I have come to realise how much I really do like them, as fond as I am of the previous trilogy, this one is just objectively superior. I really hope Camilla Luddington comes back to voice Lara in the upcoming Netflix animated series, because to me she, just, is Lara now. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There we are then folks - the end of the line with All six mainline Tomb Raider titles reviewed. It's been an absolute blast. I think I have a much deeper appreciation for this recent trilogy than I actually thought I did, so that's a nice little bonus too. Even if this one did take considerably longer because of all the DLC. I might have to figure something else out when it comes to a game like Drive Club that has about twenty plus DLC packs. Still I don't have to worry about that until I do. I'll iron out any grammatical errors or spelling and punctuation gaffs if I re-read it in the next day or two. So that's me completely freed up now to go write those requested reviews, so coming up next is Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, then Yakuza 0, and finishing off the requests with Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain - I kind of lucked out a little bit I think, in that my first two reviews people requested were also from two of my favourite game series. So I shall have to get to work on them soon. if you want me to review anything specific, all you have to do is let me know and I'll get onto it, it's a good way to focus my attention, instead of me suddenly deciding out of the blue which game to tackle next, although no doubt that will still happen. The only requirement for a requested review, for any that didn't read that post a few pages back, is that I either have the 100% or the platinum in it,otherwise it's off the table, but anything else is pretty much fair game. I ought to nominate myself to review Monkey Island right? ?..... I don't think it works like that haha! Catch you in the next one! Edited February 2, 2022 by rjkclarke 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrBloodmoney Posted September 30, 2021 Share Posted September 30, 2021 (edited) Great write up as usual mate - nice to see someone else who didn't decide, because Deadly Obsession difficulty wasn't a walk in the park, to shit all over the whole game as their electronic revenge! This: 8 hours ago, rjkclarke said: I would say a fair criticism to level at this recent Tomb Raider trilogy, is the fact that after three iterations not a whole lot of improvements are made regarding gameplay. I’ve heard the words stale and unoriginal thrown around on occasion too. Both of those descriptions seem a little harsh – whilst not a whole lot changes on the surface from a gameplay perspective, that doesn’t mean there aren’t any – or that Crystal Dynamics themselves didn’t want to implement them. I spoke at length in the last two reviews about my personal frustration with the immersion breaking chalky white ledges - the ones that might as well have served as a sign post saying “please go here.” The thing about those is that Crystal Dynamics wanted to get rid of them too – yet were very fearful that if they did remove them, then newer players would feel very lost and wouldn’t react positively to the game as a result. The crafting system for example is a vast improvement, as even outfits themselves can give you bonuses in combat, instead of just serving an aesthetic purpose. Those improvements do exist though – they just aren’t particularly apparent. People don’t level the same criticism at Uncharted do they, that on the surface the four main games don’t change all that much on a mechanical level across all three games. I don’t think there’s all that much difference between the gun play and platforming in Uncharted between the first and the fourth game. That’s not a dig at those games, but it’s worth mentioning, when the same people that often criticise these recent Tomb Raider entries wouldn’t be quick to do the same for the Uncharted series that people often hold to such a lofty standard. Both respective series implemented improvements gradually over each title. I think is well stated, and could warrant an entire topic on the subject. I never quite understand what the difference is, where some iterative franchise games get praised for "not messing with the formula", while others get "meh, this does nothing new". I swear, when a game is well received, and people finish it wanting more, then a sequel comes out giving them exactly that, it feels like the internet just gets out a coin from its pocket with "YAY" written on one side, and "FUCK YOU" on the other, then flips it to decide how they will collectively react ? Edited September 30, 2021 by DrBloodmoney 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjkclarke Posted September 30, 2021 Author Share Posted September 30, 2021 (edited) 5 hours ago, DrBloodmoney said: Great write up as usual mate - nice to see someone else who didn't decide, because Deadly Obsession difficulty wasn't a walk in the park, to shit all over the whole game as their electronic revenge! Thanks man! Much appreciated as ever. I find it really frustrating when people do that - in fact I ended up editing out a huge bunch of that section, because it probably read as if I was attacking the people that take a big dump on games, just because of one specific trophy, or use the trophy list as some measuring stick for the games quality. It's pretty redundant ultimately. I think in a way your review of Through the Darkest of Times almost perfectly illustrates that, your enjoyment of it was diminished a little because of repeat playthroughs - but that didn't mean for a second that you lost sight of the quality aspects the game does have to offer. 5 hours ago, DrBloodmoney said: I think is well stated, and could warrant an entire topic on the subject. I never quite understand what the difference is, where some iterative franchise games get praised for "not messing with the formula", while others get "meh, this does nothing new". I swear, when a game is well received, and people finish it wanting more, then a sequel comes out giving them exactly that, it feels like the internet just gets out a coin from its pocket with "YAY" written on one side, and "FUCK YOU" on the other, then flips it to decide how they will collectively react Something tells me - that there are far too many people who just have a double sided coin with the latter written on it, who aren't going to be truly happy whatever they get. I mean - I can be apprehensive about sequels myself on occasion, as you know but I always keep an open mind. You're right though.... What do people actually want? Do they want the game to be a fuzzy comfort blanket just like the last game - because they enjoyed it so much, and the idea of change frightens them. Or is it to encourage them to innovate new ideas, and explore interesting new avenues that you'd never have expected the sequels to go into? I know I'm guilty of the former when it came to NieR -I came round to Automata eventually, obviously, but initially I wanted it to be more in line with the original. That's one of the things I appreciated about Beholder and Beholder 2, there's such a huge leap in between those two games, and they took a commendably big risk in its sequel, yet still kept the games core principals the same. it's a fairly interesting talking point for sure, one I considered cutting out, just in case people got the wrong end of the stick and thought I was taking a shot at Uncharted, tempting as I might find that ? Those sorts of topics always descend into mayhem on here though don't they, I've read plenty of topics all over this forum (not specifically this subforum obviously,) where a perfectly measured and reasonable discussion starts and then descends into utter mayhem... Eurgh why did I say Mayhem, that just reminds me of that,absolute puddle of dog excrement of a game I need to get through - it's becoming my version of what Space Overlords did for you I think. Edited September 30, 2021 by rjkclarke 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YaManSmevz Posted October 2, 2021 Share Posted October 2, 2021 Hello, stranger! Can't be away for long periods of time, you and @DrBloodmoney alone have me with so much great material to catch up on!! Dude. I absolutely adore the passion with which you've been tackling Tomb Raider as a franchise, to the point where I'm kinda like the hell with trophies, I just wanna get in on this action! ...WAIT WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE GAMES AREN'T CARBON COPIES???? I don't think most gamers understand the courage it requires to tinker with a successful franchise, particularly one with a towering cultural presence like Tomb Raider. To (heavily) paraphrase Jay-Z - we're on the new shit, if you got a problem with that and you want the old shit, then go buy the old shit! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destructor-8 Posted October 2, 2021 Share Posted October 2, 2021 On 26/09/2021 at 9:34 PM, rjkclarke said: I am in a desperate need of a little vent I think - and my own thread seems as good a place as any to do that... Well - before I really get into this, my goodness did my good will towards Agents of Mayhem evaporate quickly. It's one of those games that are one of the most frustrating examples of wasted potential. I said months ago when I was playing Vampyr, that, that would probably be the most negative review I'll write all year, I think I surpassed that anyway, when I played WWE 2KBattlegrounds - I'm thinking there is a possibility this surpasses even that. As some of you will know - negativity doesn't exactly come easy to me, but my goodness is this game testing my patience, and I have a lot of that. It's genuinely the first time in a long time where I considered just shelving the game completely and leaving it unfinished - the fact I joined the Winter Backlog event means that I won't though,so I'll plug on through. Bloodlust in Final Fantasy IX was bad, but at least I had an awesome ending, and a whole other playthrough left to enjoy. The trophies in this are not even the problem, it's that the game itself is just so barren and shallow(I stick by what I said in my first impressions post, nothing wrong with a bit of dumb mindless fun, but the key word is FUN and this isn't it), that I'm really struggling to muster the will to play on. I haven't put a post here in awhile although I see some fantastic reviews here that will be a good read. I didn't know if you needed anyone for this game for one of the trophies as if you do I don't mind starting it, however you might be almost done with the game. I'm looking forward to this review a lot. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrunkenEngineer Posted October 2, 2021 Share Posted October 2, 2021 Fantastic review as usual, boss. I’ve played both Tomb Raider 2013 and Rise on another platform and really enjoyed both (except for some odd view bobbing in 2013 that made me mega motion sick.). I have Shadow on my “do want” list now! That’s the curse and blessing of these checklists - the backlog and interest grows and grows with every review I read. If only I did have a job and you know, life commitments ? Consider yourself nominated for a Monkey Island review! Pick any of them! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrooba Posted October 2, 2021 Share Posted October 2, 2021 On 30/09/2021 at 7:37 AM, rjkclarke said: An idea that often works much better in video game form, as unlike in film and television you aren’t reliant on an actor’s previous appearance for continuity purposes. Due to the nature of video games however, that isn’t something you have to ever worry about – yet I think it’s interesting nonetheless, that hypothetically you could make a sequel to – I don’t know, Tales of Monkey Island, and set it minutes after the conclusion of the last, and not have to worry about how much older Guybrush looks since his last appearance. I wouldn’t mind seeing a wrinkly old Guybrush at some point though; it’d be an interesting new dimension, a bit like Christopher Lloyds version of Graham in the latest Kings Quest. On 30/09/2021 at 7:37 AM, rjkclarke said: A performance like Luddington’s here are difficult to achieve at the best of times – but to really free herself and put so much raw emotion into her performance, whilst also wearing a motion capture suit and camera rig attached to her is truly commendable, as most actors would find that such a difficult task. Granted she gets far superior material to work with than Keeley Hawes does in her trilogy and yes as Keeley Hawes is my favourite actress, this does frustrate me terribly. I’ve mentioned many times, over the past two write ups about how, you might not like this version of Lara (I know plenty of people who both do and don’t), but by the end you’ll definitely understand her. That was deliberate, I was always planning to follow through on my statement – this version of Lara is incredibly complex, and often quite unlikeable, but the whole way through the trilogy it was building up to this one moment. I believe she gives her best performance to date in Shadow of the Tomb Raider. I've always found this to be a bizarre yet amazing thing about acting in video games; in fiction, you can have an idea or concept, and no matter who it's made by, it can be considered the same thing. Sometimes this can be done like the many iterations of Spider-Man, or perhaps even the concept of the same exact character receiving a new voice actor; the material is different, yet it's in a way the same. Even through motion capture especially, you're truly "becoming" the character in the most literal sense. Usually in live action, you portray a character as normal, but when it comes to a character having a defined model in a game, motion capture is also just putting the raw emotion of acting as a basis for the 3D character model's skeleton. While cash-grabbing movies today puts the actor at the forefront, games put the performance of the character on the forefront. Similarly, this concept of prioritizing status over talent also applies to animated films; whilst games have actors portray characters with motion capture/voice acting as a basis, animated films with celebrity cameos make the celebrity the focus. Take the new upcoming Mario film for instance, with Chris Pratt as Mario. Why not have Charles Martinet who's been voicing Mario forever? Because Chris Pratt, in the context of the Mario movie IS the face of Mario, not Mario himself. In this medium, the actor is no longer just a tool to showcase a character, it's vice-versa: it's now a character used to showcase the actor. This doesn't make it bad necessarily, but it's an interesting switch that I find quite absent in video games, you don't see Chris Pratt acting as Kratos for instance! ? In the Tomb Raider games, especially with motion capture: the actor is the skeleton, and a basis for Lara. In the Mario movie? The actor is the basis, and the character is the skeleton; it's a complete switch. The day that video games start prioritizing having actors play characters purely for their celebrity status is the day games will lose a lot of integrity. I think Detroit: Become Human handled this very well by casting Clancy Brown as Hank for his talent, not his status. He was a perfect fit for the role. And with this said, it's great that the Tomb Raider games have integrity too! And that brings to highlight this line right here: On 30/09/2021 at 7:37 AM, rjkclarke said: this version of Lara is incredibly complex, and often quite unlikeable, but the whole way through the trilogy it was building up to this one moment. I believe she gives her best performance to date in Shadow of the Tomb Raider. The people behind this game went and made a version of Lara who may not have been likable at times, but it led to something. It took a meaningful risk to supply a meaningful part. When writing a character, you could take the easy route and slap on a hotshot actor and get attention, but the makers of this game willingly decided to do something different with an actor who gave it their all. That's something I respect. That being said, making something controversial for the sake of controversy doesn't always work either, but in this case, they did it with "Lara" in mind, with the actor serving as the skeleton for Lara, not vice versa like with Mario. So I applaud the people who made this game given your praise of Lara! That means the performance was done well. Good stuff man, I look forward to the next! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjkclarke Posted October 2, 2021 Author Share Posted October 2, 2021 (edited) You folks really know how to put a smile on someone's face.... Especially after a fairly joyless rainy afternoon spent finding pointless shards in Agents of Mayhem.... Still that's done now at least. 21 hours ago, YaManSmevz said: Hello, stranger! Can't be away for long periods of time, you and @DrBloodmoney alone have me with so much great material to catch up on!! Dude. I absolutely adore the passion with which you've been tackling Tomb Raider as a franchise, to the point where I'm kinda like the hell with trophies, I just wanna get in on this action! ...WAIT WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE GAMES AREN'T CARBON COPIES???? I don't think most gamers understand the courage it requires to tinker with a successful franchise, particularly one with a towering cultural presence like Tomb Raider. To (heavily) paraphrase Jay-Z - we're on the new shit, if you got a problem with that and you want the old shit, then go buy the old shit! Didn't you say in the Backlog thread you were off on vacation/holiday this week? Or am I just remembering that wrong - I hope you had a great time whatever you've been up to! Thank you - I appreciate that, Doc's had a much more productive output than I have the last week, very impressive - Agents of Mayhem really is the Buzz Killington of video games, I had to really get myself motivated to write about Tomb Raider, and I'm very fond of them as you can tell. Agents of Mayhem, is just so freaking draining. I'm a little disappointed I've run out of Tomb Raider titles to talk about for the time being, yet I've had such a great time revisiting them, so I'm really glad you enjoyed the reads - but hey, there's other awesome game series and franchises to discuss - so every cloud has a silver lining and all that? You're totally on the money with that, about it taking a hell of a lot of courage to tinker around with a successful franchise, it's a real risk that they took when doing that. It'd be like turning Metal Gear Solid into a crafting and survival game...... Oh wait, that did happen - screw Metal Gear Survive..... Okay it would be like turning Hitman into a point - and - click adventure title, full disclosure, I'd still play that. I think unfortunately, the new Tomb Raider trilogy sits in Uncharted's shadow somewhat - quite unfairly too, it'd be easy for someone to see the similarities from a distance, but they really are very different. 8 hours ago, Destructor-8 said: I haven't put a post here in awhile although I see some fantastic reviews here that will be a good read. I didn't know if you needed anyone for this game for one of the trophies as if you do I don't mind starting it, however you might be almost done with the game. I'm looking forward to this review a lot. I can only hope you enjoy them if you give them a read. Good to see you're still bossing plenty of racers at the moment! Nah you're pretty good on Agents of Mayhems front - you only need an Online connection, the only people you have to rely on are people to do the contracts alongside you, otherwise you'll be grinding a lot by yourself. So you can start it whenever you like.... Or erm - don't. That trophy seems incredibly finicky too, I feel like it should have unlocked for me by now, but it hasn't it's literally the only trophy that I'm missing. I feel like I've done way more than 15 - but who knows. You can only do 3 a day as well, so it's five days minimum for the platinum. It's not going to be a positive review of Agents of Mayhem, I can say that much - in fact I'll be mentioning how I think that game is the perfect indictment of why reviewers should play all of a game, instead of just bits of one. My first impressions are almost the complete opposite now haha ? 8 hours ago, DrunkenEngineer said: Fantastic review as usual, boss. I’ve played both Tomb Raider 2013 and Rise on another platform and really enjoyed both (except for some odd view bobbing in 2013 that made me mega motion sick.). I have Shadow on my “do want” list now! That’s the curse and blessing of these checklists - the backlog and interest grows and grows with every review I read. If only I did have a job and you know, life commitments Consider yourself nominated for a Monkey Island review! Pick any of them! Thanks man! That's great to hear that Shadow is on your do want list now - sorry to hear about the original giving you motion sickness. All it gave me was, thisgameismakingmesabotagemylovelife-itis haha! ?.. Do you get motion sick a lot? I don't usually myself, but there's a select few games that have made me really motion sick in the past, like Warframe and the Lite-Gun Resident Evil games on PS3.... It's not what you want at all when it comes to games is it. That's the irony of these checklists isn't it - sometimes they're meant to serve a purpose of decreasing your backlog, yet mine seems to keep growing from all the awesome games everyone has been playing.... You're 100% right, blessing and a curse - lets repurpose the Sam Raimi Spiderman line of "This is my gift, this is my curse.... Who am I? I'M BACKLOG-MAN" Are you sure you're okay with me doing a Monkey Island - I feel like I've cheated my own system there..... If you'd rather I did something else, I'm perfectly happy to do that. Otherwise, I guess I'd add a Monkey Island to the list. 7 hours ago, Shrooba said: Even through motion capture especially, you're truly "becoming" the character in the most literal sense. Usually in live action, you portray a character as normal, but when it comes to a character having a defined model in a game, motion capture is also just putting the raw emotion of acting as a basis for the 3D character model's skeleton. While cash-grabbing movies today puts the actor at the forefront, games put the performance of the character on the forefront. That's a great point you make actually - sometimes I wish it was done a little more extensively than it is... I believe in Yakuza, Takaya Kuroda, only does the facial motion capture for Kiryu, which I wish I didn't know, because the guy who Mo-caps Kiryu's body has one of the most distinctive walks I've ever seen - yet I know that walk doesn't come from the same person providing the voice, so it's a bit of an odd one that. Brilliant point there you made about actors not being the thing to sell video games... Whereas with film, it's an altogether different thing... People have their favourites and will watch who they like - the producers know this too. Often times, it's simply because they find a specific actor/actress attractive, although try doing that after reading anything Laura Mulvey has ever written, but the fact does remain the same, people will watch something with someone they like in, and like you said they'll be more inclined to play a video game with a character they like in it...... I literally fell into the former today, I watched a show called Mrs Wilson (which was pretty decent actually) - primarily,because I knew Keeley Hawes was in it, and I hadn't seen it before, so using actors that people like definitely does work. on this: 7 hours ago, Shrooba said: Take the new upcoming Mario film for instance, with Chris Pratt as Mario. Why not have Charles Martinet who's been voicing Mario forever? Because Chris Pratt, in the context of the Mario movie IS the face of Mario, not Mario himself. In this medium, the actor is no longer just a tool to showcase a character, it's vice-versa: it's now a character used to showcase the actor. This doesn't make it bad necessarily, but it's an interesting switch that I find quite absent in video games, you don't see Chris Pratt acting as Kratos for instance! I agree with this, and I'm glad it's something you brought up.... Charles Martinet should play Mario, yet he won't because he isn't going to bring droves of fans of Chris Pratts other work in to see the film. The irony is, that's who Mario fans would want to play Mario, yet when it comes to a big budget blockbuster release, which I assume this'll be, the existing fans aren't actually even the target audience, it's really odd right? It's a shame too, I think Chris Pratt will probably do a decent job...... I never understood why Camilla Luddington couldn't have played Lara in the actual Tomb Raider film that was released a few years back - I mean, Lara has her face, it's her likeness, and she can act (so very well).... I know she's a little older than Lara was at that point. I guess it was a risk to cast someone, who'd primarily done Television at that point, so they went with a proven Academy Award Winner - that was easier to market, but Luddington knew and loved the character. Obviously it's all just what ifs at this point. I definitely wouldn't mind seeing Chris Pratt do Kratos as Johnny Karate from Parks and Recreation.... That would crack me up SOOOO much. 7 hours ago, Shrooba said: The day that video games start prioritizing having actors play characters purely for their celebrity status is the day games will lose a lot of integrity. I think Detroit: Become Human handled this very well by casting Clancy Brown as Hank for his talent, not his status. He was a perfect fit for the role. Interesting you bring that up actually - because I always thought Quantic Dream, almost did a little bit of "stunt casting" when it came to Beyond Two Souls..... I'm sure plenty of people purchased that game,who hadn't played a Quantic Dream title before, because of the celeb factor of having Willem Dafoe and Elliot Page as the lead characters... I think the intention was to really solidify David Cage's idea (in his own head) that he's a "real film-maker" because he used real actors. So in that regard, it's interesting that they course corrected for the next game and used Clancy Brown for his talent, as opposed to who he is... Let's fact it, almost every project is elevated by having him be a part of it. 7 hours ago, Shrooba said: The people behind this game went and made a version of Lara who may not have been likable at times, but it led to something. It took a meaningful risk to supply a meaningful part. When writing a character, you could take the easy route and slap on a hotshot actor and get attention, but the makers of this game willingly decided to do something different with an actor who gave it their all. That's something I respect. That being said, making something controversial for the sake of controversy doesn't always work either, but in this case, they did it with "Lara" in mind, with the actor serving as the skeleton for Lara, not vice versa like with Mario. So I applaud the people who made this game given your praise of Lara! That means the performance was done well. Precisely - that's the thing I appreciate the most, is the fact they followed through on it all, it would have been easy for them to course correct, and listen to peoples negative feedback about her, but they had a plan... They kept the faith - and we got what I think is one of the best, if not most underappreciated character arcs for a video game character in recent years, and an incredibly interesting reimagining of a tired and stale character to boot... So I think Crystal Dynamics deserve the praise I've been heaping on them ? Oh and by the way Shrooba - I hope you don't mind, but I haven't strictly read all of your Miles Morales review yet... As you can tell by my avoiding Final Fantasy IX spoilers for twenty years I'm a bit of a stickler for that - but I have no doubt it'll be a hell of a great read,on account of the awesome feedback and you being an awesome writer. I've bookmarked it though, so that'd the first thing I do when I've played through the story of Miles Morales will be to give that a read... So it's something to look forward to. I appreciate all the effort you put into writing it, so I just want you to know that I will definitely look forward to discussing it with you in future. 7 hours ago, Shrooba said: I look forward to the next! Shouldn't have to wait too long.. Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes tonight. Although that will be a fairly short-ish one to be fair. Whilst we're clinging onto the embers of Tomb Raider for a little bit longer... Look what I found @DrBloodmoney...... Keeley came back as Lara - just this year too... Even if it is in a terrible mobile title! Edited October 3, 2021 by rjkclarke 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrBloodmoney Posted October 2, 2021 Share Posted October 2, 2021 (edited) 18 minutes ago, rjkclarke said: Whilst we're clinging onto the embers of Tomb Raider for a little bit longer... Look what I found @DrBloodmoney...... Keeley came back as Lara - just this year too... Even if it is in a terrible mobile title! Me: “hey, I’m not snobby about mobile games, and this makes the cutscenes at least look pretty nice… I’ll look up some gameplay… this could be okay... I like to be optimistic!” *watches gameplay trailer* ”oh… so that’s what the death of optimism feels like…” ? Edited October 2, 2021 by DrBloodmoney 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YaManSmevz Posted October 2, 2021 Share Posted October 2, 2021 15 minutes ago, rjkclarke said: Didn't you say in the Backlog thread you were off on vacation/holiday this week? Or am I just remembering that wrong - I hope you had a great time whatever you've been up to! I did! The wife and I travel a lot, but the world being what it is nowadays, it had been two years since we'd so much as seen an airport - a very long time for us. Thank you, we had a blast, and we desperately needed it! We're both quite recharged now, I'm happy to say? 18 minutes ago, rjkclarke said: Thank you - I appreciate that, Doc's had a much more productive output than I have the last week, very impressive - Agents of Mayhem really is the Buzz Killington of video games, I had to really get myself motivated to write about Tomb Raider, and I'm very fond of them as you can tell. Agents of Mayhem, is just so freaking draining. I'm a little disappointed I've run out of Tomb Raider titles to talk about for the time being, yet I've had such a great time revisiting them, so I'm really glad you enjoyed the reads - but hey, there's other awesome game series and franchises to discuss - so every cloud has a silver lining and all that? You're totally on the money with that, about it taking a hell of a lot of courage to tinker around with a successful franchise, it's a real risk that they took when doing that. It'd be like turning Metal Gear Solid into a crafting and survival game...... Oh wait, that did happen - screw Metal Gear Survive..... Okay it would be like turning Hitman into a point - and - click adventure title, full disclosure, I'd still play that. Yo, I would happily jump on a point-and-click Hitman title! It would definitely avoid the genre's pitfall of linearity - if each mission didn't have at least six different endings, we would riot! Well, a nerd-riot, so we wouldn't be able to push over cars or blow up stuff. But the online comments we leave would be utterly blistering!! Note to self: look into Hitman Go... 25 minutes ago, rjkclarke said: You're 100% right, blessing and a curse - lets repurpose the Sam Raimi Spiderman line of "This is my gift, this is my curse.... Who am I? I'M BACKLOG-MAN "Bro, the town is a mess and criminals are running rampant! Where the hell is Backlog Man?" "Oh, he's holed up in the Backlog Cave. Apparently he started reading psn profile checklists." "....God help us all." 31 minutes ago, rjkclarke said: That's a great point you make actually - sometimes I wish it was done a little more extensively than it is... I believe in Yakuza Takaya Kuroda, only does the facial motion capture for Kiryu, which I wish I didn't know, because the guy who Mo-caps Kiryu's body has one of the most distinctive walks I've ever seen - yet I know that walk doesn't come from the same person providing the voice, so it's a bit of an odd one that. I assumed they got an actual former Yakuza to do the body work - from what I've been told, in Japan you can spot a Yakuza from a mile away, with one of the dead giveaways being mannerisms. 2 hours ago, Shrooba said: I've always found this to be a bizarre yet amazing thing about acting in video games; in fiction, you can have an idea or concept, and no matter who it's made by, it can be considered the same thing. Sometimes this can be done like the many iterations of Spider-Man, or perhaps even the concept of the same exact character receiving a new voice actor; the material is different, yet it's in a way the same. Even through motion capture especially, you're truly "becoming" the character in the most literal sense. Usually in live action, you portray a character as normal, but when it comes to a character having a defined model in a game, motion capture is also just putting the raw emotion of acting as a basis for the 3D character model's skeleton. While cash-grabbing movies today puts the actor at the forefront, games put the performance of the character on the forefront. Similarly, this concept of prioritizing status over talent also applies to animated films; whilst games have actors portray characters with motion capture/voice acting as a basis, animated films with celebrity cameos make the celebrity the focus. Take the new upcoming Mario film for instance, with Chris Pratt as Mario. Why not have Charles Martinet who's been voicing Mario forever? Because Chris Pratt, in the context of the Mario movie IS the face of Mario, not Mario himself. In this medium, the actor is no longer just a tool to showcase a character, it's vice-versa: it's now a character used to showcase the actor. This doesn't make it bad necessarily, but it's an interesting switch that I find quite absent in video games, you don't see Chris Pratt acting as Kratos for instance! In the Tomb Raider games, especially with motion capture: the actor is the skeleton, and a basis for Lara. In the Mario movie? The actor is the basis, and the character is the skeleton; it's a complete switch. The day that video games start prioritizing having actors play characters purely for their celebrity status is the day games will lose a lot of integrity. I think Detroit: Become Human handled this very well by casting Clancy Brown as Hank for his talent, not his status. He was a perfect fit for the role. And with this said, it's great that the Tomb Raider games have integrity too! And that brings to highlight this line right here: The people behind this game went and made a version of Lara who may not have been likable at times, but it led to something. It took a meaningful risk to supply a meaningful part. When writing a character, you could take the easy route and slap on a hotshot actor and get attention, but the makers of this game willingly decided to do something different with an actor who gave it their all. That's something I respect. That being said, making something controversial for the sake of controversy doesn't always work either, but in this case, they did it with "Lara" in mind, with the actor serving as the skeleton for Lara, not vice versa like with Mario. HOO! Snaps all day? I feel like Rockstar caught themselves before they got too out of hand with celebrity voice actors, after San Andreas this aspect all but disappeared, and it seemed that they became aware of the dangers of feeding into this and contributing to a fad that might be to gaming's detriment. Again, big up to casting Clancy Brown in that role, although if David Cage's first choice was Channing Tatum or something like that I wouldn't be surprised? 39 minutes ago, rjkclarke said: Shouldn't have to wait too long.. Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes tonight. Although that will be a fairly short-ish one to be fair. WOOHOO!! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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