I've been playing the Tomb Raider series since the original on PS1. In fact, I had a copy of Tomb Raider before I even had the console. I'd put the disc in my CD player and listen to the music while imagining what adventure was to come. Over the years, I've loved and hated the series but I remained loyal.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider released about a month ago. Nobody is talking about it. Reviews were modest. I preorpre-or the Croft Edition but, for whatever reason I wasn't as excited as I'd hoped. I put the game off to the side while I played Spider-Man, Resident Evil 4-6, and Valkyria Chronicles 4. In the meantime, I'd watch the occasional YouTube recommended review. Yesterday, I finally gave Shadow another go.

It was good.

Damn good, actually. I haven't finished the game (though, at one point I'd thought I was at the end). Doing side missions, exploring the world, facing enemies, solving puzzles--there were a lot of times when I got flashbacks of Uncharted 4, The Last of Us, and Horizon Zero Dawn. All the while, the game looked and ran like a dream. There was even a couple of emotional moments that had me totally absorbed.

Like i said, I've loved and hated this series over the years. From the highs to the lows. I feel like I can look at the games objectively. I saw many complaints from previous games and it looks like they've created something that should please everyone. But they haven't. If anything, this game seems to be the most overlooked of them all. Even I, a confessed fan of the series, was discharged by the game's launch. Now, it kinda feels like there was an acting effort to not like this game. I don't know.

Anyway, I don't get it. A game with great production value, plenty of content, a ton of depth, great gameplay, ingenious puzzles, etc. It seemingly does everything right but here we are. I guess I should be happy that I have the game and the series reached its (I assume) conclusion. I just wish it had more appreciation. It really is great and I'd love another.

I liked it a lot and it is sad that the franchise seems to end with a whimper. Square has made so many mistakes after seemingly expecting that the first game would sell so much that they considered 5 million units a disappointment.

Haven't played Shadow yet, and while I did like both the 2013 reboot and Rise of the Tomb Raider a lot, it seems to me that while the gameplay is still fun, the story and Lara's character especially haven't really progressed all that much in these three games. The first game was supposed to be Lara's origin story about how she became the tomb raider, but then Rise was basically just chapter 2 of her origin story about how she became the tomb raider, and now Shadow, from what I've heard, is just another part of her origin story.

By this point we should have already moved past all that, and gotten to see Lara as a fully developed, confident adventurer. Instead she still feels like the same character she started as in the beginning, except more willing to murder people I suppose. Lack of meaningful character development was one of my biggest issues with the first two games, and the fact that Lara never really becomes a truly engaging protagonist. She's just kinda dull and overly serious. If this series continues after this, I really hope they inject some sense of fun or attitude to Lara. Give her character a little bit of edge instead of this bland "just kinda there" girl who very seriously and stoically states how she "has to do this" all the time.

I havnt played it, but from what I gather not everyone loves it as much as you did.

The "core" old school Tomb Raider fans (of which there are probably fewer these days) enjoyed it more than past entires because of more exploration+puzzle elements, more akin to the older games. The fans of the rebooted series are used to tomb raider being more of a killing machine rampage escapade type deal, and thought this game lacked as much shooting as the others had.

Story telling? alot of people say its too dark, and doesnt go anywhere, like theres no progression or character developement to Lara.

So its a probably a solid 8 outta 10 game,  but it released to competiton from Spiderman a week before.
That took much of the hype or talk about, that shadow of the tomb raider probably deserved.
It was just over shadowed by bigger games I guess.

I only played the original reboot and really didn't like it. It didn't feel anything like the older games at all. It felt like Tomb Raider ripping off Uncharted, and I don't like Uncharted, either. So I skipped Rise and now Shadow. Tomb Raider didn't take itself too seriously originally. It was an Indiana Jones knock-off with a female lead. People seem to forget how campy Indiana Jones is, and that was intentional, since they were tributes to the old film serials. And campy does not mean it's not great quality. The classic Tomb Raider games had the right amount of camp to make it fun. The new ones are so gritty and gloomy that it doesn't feel like an adventure anymore.

Older games you didnt go on murdering spee's for 1 thing.

Eurogamer says it well:
"Lara Croft was an unstoppable force, smirking in the face of danger and racing forward to the next challenge. She was beautiful and curvaceous, yes, and intelligent too. She was also a millionaire who could afford home gyms and butlers and walk-in freezers - she didn't need the money or the infamy that all these dusty old relics provided. That's why I loved her; she did it all and risked everything just for the thrill of the hunt, and had a damn good time while she did it.

That Lara was dead and buried in her tiny 90s sunglasses with 2013's Tomb Raider reboot, which cast Croft as a frightened and shaken ingenue thrust into horrific circumstances on the island of Yamatai, where she was forced to do whatever she could to survive. This chain of events supposedly started her down the path to becoming an iconic adventurer, but ever since that outing, I've been waiting for her to regain that thrill-seeking bravado that I fell in love with, which coincidentally happened to be the reason she's willing to put herself in any of these ridiculous life-threatening situations in the first place. After playing this, the third of the prequel trilogy and the first from Eidos Montreal, I'm sadly still waiting."

I was one of those people! Based on the first couple of hours, I made the thread! After what I played this morning, seeing Lara kinda broken and not knowing what to do or where  togo, I changed my tune.

I haven't been able to finish it yet, as I've been out of town for a bit, but from what I've played so far, it's mostly more of the same. Fine by me, as I very much enjoyed the last two games, but I don't know that there is a whole lot there to talk about in terms of this new entry. I very much appreciate certain changes they've made, in regards to giving more difficulty options for things outside of combat. It really adds to the sense of exploration, and makes the puzzles a bit more engaging as well. Outside of that, it's very much the same game as it's been.

As others said, this trilogy is too doomy and gloomy and takes itself too seriously. I could accept the direction that Tomb Raider 2013 took, but Rise was too much, at one point it started feeling like Skyrim in that village and that was where I quit and have no desire to play this new one. I find the new Lara to be annoying too - I HAF to save dees PEEPL. well good luck to you but I'm out.

It lost its identity to me,

I was excited for the initial reboot simply because it was an ambitious step and a step in the right direction in regards to presentation, story telling and cinematics.I think they done an excellent job and thought the uncharted comparisons were a sign of this. But after 2 games, this one just feels like it hasn't really evolved in ways I would like. I have no doubt of its quality but it just doesn't stand out amongst action and adventure games.