Shadow of the Tomb Raider

---{ Graphics }---
☐ You forget what reality is
☑ Beautiful
☐ Good
☐ Decent
☐ Bad
☐ Don’t look too long at it
☐ MS-DOS

---{ Gameplay }---
☑ Very good
☐ Good
☐ It's just gameplay
☐ Mehh
☐ Watch paint dry instead
☐ Just don't

---{ Audio }---
☐ Eargasm
☑ Very good
☐ Good
☐ Not too bad
☐ Bad

---{ Audience }---
☐ Kids
☑ Teens
☑ Adults
☐ Grandma

---{ PC Requirements }---
☐ Check if you can run paint
☐ Potato
☐ Decent
☑ Fast
☐ Rich boi
☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer

---{ Game Size }---
☐ Floppy Disk
☐ Old Fashioned
☑ Workable
☐ Big
☐ Will eat 10% of your 1TB hard drive
☐ You will want an entire hard drive to hold it

---{ Difficulty }---
☐ Just press 'W'
☐ Easy
☑ Easy to learn / Hard to master
☐ Significant brain usage
☐ Difficult
☐ Dark Souls

---{ Grind }---
Nothing to grind
---{ Story }---
☐ No Story
☐ Some lore
☐ Average
☐ Good
☑ Lovely
☐ It'll replace your life

---{ Game Time }---
☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee
☐ Short
☐ Average
☑ Long
☐ To infinity and beyond

---{ Price }---
☐ It's free!
☐ Worth the price
☑ If it's on sale
☐ If u have some spare money left
☐ Not recommended
☐ You could also just burn your money

---{ Bugs }---
☐ Never heard of
☑ Minor bugs
☐ Can get annoying
☐ ARK: Survival Evolved
☐ The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs

---{ Replayability }---
☐ One and done
☐ Maybe after a year
☐ Worth a second run
☑ Played it 20 times and still not bored

---{ Microtransactions }---
☑ None
☐ Only cosmetics
☐ Slightly pay-to-progress
☐ Pay-to-win
☐ More shops than gameplay
☐ Casino Simulator

---{ ? / 10 }---
☐ 1
☐ 2
☐ 3
☐ 4
☐ 5
☐ 6
☐ 7
☐ 8
☑ 9
☐ 10

Beautiful, But Not Better Than Rise!
It is a great looking game, but empty. The story kind of doesn't have a point, no memorable characters, boring quests, not to mention the gameplay which didn't changed in any way from the previous two, it kind of felt worse to shoot than Rise to be honest, a wasted potential. I really wished they kept the quality from Rise of Tomb Raider (the best in my opinion), that game was perfect, from the exciting plot, to the action and gameplay, everything.
Puzzles were actually better than the combat. Shadow had the best combat of the trilogy, but they took all the combat encounters out. Enemies never respawned, and there were no expeditions (again, one of the best parts of Rise).
Nonetheless, I enjoyed the game to some extent, and it had its moments, thought it had a lot of passion go into the development and the Lara character model is just gorgeous looking and sounding. They couldn't have designed Lara any better than this in my opinion and I really like how they take you into the psyche of her character with certain bits and Jonah challenging her.
Thought the bit where you get to play her as a child having an adventure through her estate was really cute and a nice touch too.
Overall, Shadow of the Tomb Raider isn’t a bad game. It just doesn’t live up to the high standard set by Rise of the Tomb Raider. It has its moments, but it feels like a missed opportunity to truly end the trilogy on a stronger note.

After going through this trilogy reboot in a week and beating all the main story content, I truly have to say that this series of the reboot tomb raider games have to truly be the best 3 games I have played back to back in a very long time, I wish I got to it alot sooner than waiting years to play them. All 3 of these games were not missing at all the story, combat everything about a game just gets better and better each game you play, they are all bangers and filled with amazing thriller moments.
This trilogy has a whole is really a 10/10 and worth every second of game time you put into it.

I already fell in love with Tomb Raider after the first two games, but Shadow takes it to another level. I saw people saying the story isn’t as good as the previous games, but I honestly don’t agree. For me, this was one of the strongest stories. It builds on Rise, shows more about her family, and just keeps you interested the whole time. The graphics are amazing, side missions are fun, and I enjoyed every minute of it.

Same as the first two, 10/10, just love it.

in this game the focus was clearly put on cinematics and direction. the characters feel more believable, more realistic, and it’s much easier to emotionally trust them.
but in exchange for all of that, the game completely lost its original charm. there’s no longer that amazing level design, interesting tombs or excitement from exploring the world. the game basically turned into a regular story-driven experience.
weapon and skill progression - meh. i never actually felt the need to upgrade much even on hard mode. there was this constant feeling that the game got heavily casualized to attract a bigger audience.
yeah, the game looks beautiful and the cinematography is great. the story is dynamic, compact and the characters are well developed. but for every thing that got better, something else got worse.
i love this series too much to leave a negative review, but i really hope the developers will understand their strengths and weaknesses better when making Legacy of Atlantis.

For the first 10 hours, I was really confused why this was considered the worst in the trilogy, sure some of the side missions are pointless filler, but once I got to Paititi, that's when the cracks started to show. For those who are unaware Crystal Dynamics was about halfway through the development of this game, until the publisher Square Enix got the license to make the marvel's avengers game. Riding high on the peak popularity of the marvel movies, they tasked Crystal Dynamics to make that game and assigned Eidos-Montreal to finish this one. And it clearly shows. In the end this move was a terrible decision as the avengers game lost the publisher $200 million dollars as the game was terrible.
The story starts off really good, picking up where Rise left off, the graphics in its lush environments are beautiful exploration is the best the series has to offer. The tombs are hands down the best in the series as well also has a lot of time and attention to detail in its puzzles. And while it can be tedious to go back and collect what you missed, there is so much variation in its environments It didn't bother me too much. Especially with difficult options for puzzles, exploration, and combat its nice to have some of these more challenging puzzles have some hints if you are struggling.
Its combat is a ton of fun with a lot of new things added, like fear arrows to make enemies commit friendly fire before dying. The mud camouflage to blend with the environment, climbing up trees and either do an aerial takedown or use rope arrows to hang them from the tree. More guns to get with various upgrades, with gold to purchase things like ammo pouches, increases, and attachments, though the shotgun is pretty underwhelming. However, as people have said, there isn't a lot of combat throughout the game compared to the first one, which is a shame. It's a waste to use your skill points for combat early in the game, as it’s better used for other skills. It's also really frustrating that enemies don’t respawn in an area you revisit to add some additional combat, and worst of all, unlike Rise, there is no level selector or combat mode, so if you want to fight some more, you have to replay the entire game over. All of these cool mechanics, like the mud stealth that took a lot of time and effort to create and playtest is barely used in comparison to what you will be doing in the game. The final boss was one of the most boring and underwhelming I have experienced in a long time. Yeah, the arenas look cool, but it boils down to run and gun dodging his attacks and shoot enough times to melee him rinse and repeat like 5 times, and that's it.
Also, the game is way too easy on hard. I get that there is a harder mode above that, but it's only available on New Game Plus, and most people won’t do that, so it makes the game kinda easy, especially when you carry so many healing berries by the end. Because of this, the other things like using other berries to increase the slow down aim time or perception vision all feel pointless as i never actually used them, unless you want to 100% everything, the game is easy enough to navigate as it is.
Its story is the worst part of this game, as i said it starts off really good and I was hoping for the same level of quality as Rise did (despite that game having some pointless filler, it was still excellent), but once you get to Paititi it all falls apart. Initially, it was fine as Laura believed they had the box, but once she realized they didn’t have it that should have been the moment to move on. But no she stays and helps people with their mundane problems, as they exposition dump the tribe’s culture. It would have been fine, but the writing isn't very good as it gets boring and confusing as they mix people, places, and concepts, some you get to see in the game, and other things you don’t. In the context of how this game starts, I don’t care because I wasn’t made to care, as all we are after is the box. They throw a curveball that the villain is somehow closely connected with Paititi, and Trinity controls them. This felt like this connection was thrown together at the last minute in an attempt to make this part of the game make sense. The flashbacks of Laura as a kid were a nice touch. Also, they did my boy Jonah so dirty in this one; they get split up a lot and always seem to make it to where I take the long, dangerous path. It isn't until the last quarter of the game that he does anything to help Laura at all. And that ending, nothing makes sense, nothing is explained, nothing feels like it connects from the story prior, and you are left confused by the end as the credits roll. I did about 85% of the game and there was still a couple side missions left and some things to pick up but there isn't any incentive to 100% it
Overall, it isn't a terrible game, but this is definitely the weakest out of the three. I’d say it's still worth playing for its exploration and tombs, as that is the best part of this game. The trilogy constantly goes on sale for all of them for $10 - $15 its absolutely worth getting the bundle for that price.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider is an exhilarating and unforgettable experience that captures the very essence of what the franchise has always promised - adventure, exploration, and awe-inspiring discovery.

From the moment you start, you’re thrown into a thrilling world of climbing, crawling, diving, shooting, stealthily sneaking around, zip-lining through canopies, and hunting in dense, atmospheric jungles.

The story is compelling and mature, with fantastic performances across the board. Visually, the game is breathtaking, intricate jungle environments teeming with life and secrets, beautifully lit tombs, and jaw-dropping set pieces that are a joy to explore.

What truly stands out is the game’s commitment to exploration. More so than its two predecessors, Shadow of the Tomb Raider embraces its roots, focusing heavily on platforming, puzzle-solving, and uncovering the ancient mysteries hidden in forgotten tombs. It feels like a love letter to long-time fans, truly living up to the "Tomb Raider" name.

The jungle setting is rich and immersive, but there’s a lingering hope this won’t be Lara’s last outing. A shift to a city-based environment, perhaps a gritty, atmospheric take set in London, could be a refreshing evolution, maybe even a modern reimagining of Angel of Darkness done right.

In short, Shadow of the Tomb Raider is an exceptional game packed with memorable moments and heart-pounding adventure. It’s a fitting chapter in Lara’s journey and a must-play for any action-adventure fan.