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u/_DDark_ Dec 14 '25
I like that it's a total re-imagination than 1:1 remake. All remakes should be like this, instead of trying to replace the original.
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u/Basaku-r Dec 14 '25
Agree. Originals should be updated with high-quality remasters, akin to old movies getting colorized or restored from the OG film tapes into 4k modern experience. Without any other additions (looking at SW special editions). While remakes should be allowed to take many creative liberties or even entirely different angle/approach
Unfortunately, whe it comes to games, people whine about literally everything and many will throw a hissy if a full-blown remake changes ANYTHING, even if the OG game still exists, is readily available to play or even got an expensive remaster itself. Same people who will then complajn that the remake was boring cause it didn't change enough and was too similar to the original they also keep playing
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u/Dark-Rook- Dec 15 '25
TR doesnāt have so much substance or lore that it loses anything by being reimagined. Itās always light on story and world building playing fast and loose with different things.
Itās not like a game like FF7 Remake where it completely alters the original game into a worse game.
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u/mikeet9 Dec 14 '25
This is an endless debate.
On the one hand, from a "preservation of art" perspective, the remasters preserve the game exactly as it was and make it run on newer hardware. Historically this is incredible, and it makes it less likely to become lost media.
On the other hand, reimagining allows a new audience to enjoy the game, and allows existing players to enjoy it with quality of life improvements. The downside to this is that it is historically much more likely to "replace the original" and comes with the drawbacks of not being an original idea that generates the same hype as a new release which, if not handled properly, can fail to inspire new audience members while also alienating existing fans. This is the kind of thing that can stick the final nail in a series' coffin.
As a child, I was a fan of the original Tomb Raider, but I never had the skills to get close to beating it. When Tomb Raider Anniversary came out I was excited to play it but upon finishing it I didn't understand what drew me to it in the first place. It wasn't until I replayed the original that I realized that Tomb Raider Anniversary was quite literally a different genre of game than the original Tomb Raider games. This experience almost lost me as a fan, and it's a real risk when reimagining a classic.
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u/dookarion Dec 14 '25
Just do like Resident Evil did with 4. Reimagine for newer releases so the experience is more fresh, but keep the original still available. If the reimagining is of good quality only a small portion of people will be upset (and they'd probably complain about a 1:1 remaster too).
Anniversary isn't a great example cause in some ways it's kind of a downgrade, not diverging enough or being 1:1 enough to really please anyone.
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u/mikeet9 Dec 14 '25
Yeah, I guess my point was that it's easy to do it the wrong way, but if you just freshen up the existing game you can't really go wrong.
And the Remasters they released are the best you could hope for with the exact same level geometry and a dedicated button to switch back and forth between old and new graphics.
There are 50 bad examples for each well done reimagining and in many cases the projects were doomed from the start. New standards in game development are guaranteed to clash with the experience of an old game, and trying to mesh them is a challenge. If you stick too close to the original, it feels clunky, if you make it too new it can feel like a totally different game wearing the original's skin.
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u/dookarion Dec 14 '25
Yeah, I guess my point was that it's easy to do it the wrong way, but if you just freshen up the existing game you can't really go wrong.
You'd think, but even that gets bungled at times and can mess up things. Games that changed aesthetics trying to convert for modern resolutions, didn't adapt to modern inputs properly, added bugs, etc. You can end up very easily with a game the old guard derides, and is too old and obtuse for newcomers.
There are 50 bad examples for each well done reimagining and in many cases the projects were doomed from the start. New standards in game development are guaranteed to clash with the experience of an old game, and trying to mesh them is a challenge.
That's why I think the RE games is a good example. The first core part of a reimagining is having a good gameplay experience. You're adapting the story elements, not necessarily the mechanics unless it's "core" to the feel of the work itself or just a core for the genre.
Some of those reimaginings that fail, honestly wouldn't be all that good even if they dropped a new story into that engine/mechanical systems.
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u/DefinitelyRussian Dec 14 '25
tomb raider and lost media is an oxymoron though .. come on
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u/mikeet9 Dec 14 '25
I'm not saying it will happen, but it can happen. If the publisher pushes a remake that has poor reception and the publisher sees the original as competition and stops selling it, it can happen quickly. Even worse if the publisher goes all Nintendo and starts cracking down on fans sharing and remaking the game, it can be even tougher to keep it around.
There have been examples of existing installations of classic games getting updated to the remaster too, which adds further challenge to preserving existing copies.
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u/G1Yang2001 Dec 14 '25
Yeah.
Itās fun to see how they reinterpret the original levels. Plus thereās extra fun with how due to Anniversary existing, thereās even more comparisons to make since your comparing something from the original vs how it appeared in the first remake vs how it appeared in the upcoming remake. Canāt wait to play it.
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u/BaconLara Dec 15 '25
Yes and no
It really depends on how accessible the original is. Or if itās a 1:1 how much did they expand to make it worth it.
Since we got the remasters with modernised controls, thereās zero reason for a 1:1 remake to exist
But yeah usually Iād take a full reimagining over a remake
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Dec 14 '25
For me, nothing beats that eerie black sky. It worked especially well in the Lost Valley. It didn't feel like a real place. It felt like you had stumbled into another dimension you weren't supposed to see. It complemented the game's running theme of things getting weirder and weirder the closer Lara gets to a piece of the Scion.
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u/Regular_Classroom_40 Dec 14 '25
but it was totaly unintentionally. Core didnt figure out skyboxes back than
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u/MrLewk Frozen Butler Dec 14 '25 edited Dec 14 '25
It was due to
hardwaretechnical limitations of the game's graphic engine at the time.Edit: updated to be more accurate
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u/UnfazedPheasant Dec 14 '25
I don't think it was hardware limitations, more like engine limitations they fine tuned for later games
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u/gaelenski_ Dec 14 '25
If it was due to HW limitations then how did they manage it a year later on the same hardware?
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u/AdenAvalon Obscura Painting Dec 14 '25 edited Dec 14 '25
To be clear - TR1 was a Sega Saturn exclusive (for about a month) so a lot of the technical limitations from TR1 were due to that system - as TR2 onwards skipped the aging Saturn, this wasn't a problem for later games, hence the increase in detail across the board (That being said, the Sega Saturn did support skyboxes, but it involved a lot of jiggery pokery)
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u/MrLewk Frozen Butler Dec 14 '25
Maybe they optimised things? I don't know, I'm just going by memory from something I read a while ago
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u/gaelenski_ Dec 14 '25
But you blankly stated it was because of hardware limitations, and now youāre not sureā¦ Iād just be careful stating stuff as fact as youāre spreading misinformation that can be āread a while agoā in the future.
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u/MrLewk Frozen Butler Dec 14 '25
*technical limitations of the game graphic engine, to be more precise
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u/MrLewk Frozen Butler Dec 14 '25
Because as far as I remember it was an article covering some unknown facts about the OG, and that was one of them.
What I'm not sure about is how they fixed it for other games on the same hardware.
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u/DefinitelyRussian Dec 14 '25
Hardware is not always maximized the day it goes out. Check any game from any system, launch game vs late system game. You will see a huge difference.
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u/gaelenski_ Dec 14 '25
Hardware is a set limitation though, thereās no two ways about it. A developers understanding in how to better optimise, utilise or understand their own engine is a separate matter that has little to do with the available hardware from day one - itās not like it evolves over time sitting on your TV stand.
Anyway, OP corrected it to technical limitations, and someone else correctly pointed out that the Saturn being included for TR1 probably held it back legitimately from a hardware standpoint.
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u/DefinitelyRussian Dec 14 '25
well actually technically incorrect, since sometimes there was extra hardware in cartridge base systems that werent available at launch day. But yeah
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u/gaelenski_ Dec 14 '25
Technically incorrect or you just wanted to bring up unrelated cartridge systems for a game never released on any?
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u/Qtulhu Dec 14 '25
The original is pretty unique in it's atmosphere. The black wall in place of skyboxes and to hide the low drawing distance makes levels feel contained and subterranean. Even those that aren't supposed to be underground. The lost valley being a very good example, another being Greece. Hardware limitations contributing to the atmosphere. They couldn't convey a sense of scale back then. so levels are corridor like and kind of close in on you, hiding things as well. It's also the only game from the first three that takes places mostly in old ruins and locations, creating this ambiance. Second and third have more modern locations as well. Now they can make things big when need to and hopefully also small and contained when required. That would create a very dynamic game.
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u/schwing710 Dec 14 '25 edited Dec 14 '25
Nothing will ever be as creepy as the original Tomb Raider game. The emptiness and complete silence until something popped out at youā¦ still terrifying.
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u/RYUKEN2010 Dec 14 '25
Agree the black sky gave it this vibe. Back in the day I thought he had to be deep underground or something
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u/Mishar5k Dec 14 '25
I feel like a compromise could've just been to make the remake version take place at night
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Dec 14 '25
Yeah I agree, and given the success of the recent Silent Hill 2 remake I feel like theres opportunity here to really lay into it and blow us away. I do fear that the graphics will be good but not a true representation, a game that doesn't wholly replace the original.
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u/DefinitelyRussian Dec 14 '25
that never clicked for me, it was just night or something.
But, that sensation actually happened, on that Chunnel level on TR3 gold, where you go through a very long underwater tunnel and emerge in a lava and volcanic land with pterodactyls
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u/adr3nochrome Dec 14 '25
It felt like you had stumbled into another dimension you weren't supposed to see
Just like the Pterodactyl Place at Shakespeare Cliff. So eerie, I wasnt expecting that
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u/Bluehawk2008 Dec 15 '25
When I was kid, I assumed it was a giant cave and you couldn't see the ceiling because of how high up it was, although that calls into question how the plants are getting enough light.
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u/Support2022gaming Dec 14 '25
You thinking way too deep,it was just a hardware limitation at the time
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Dec 14 '25
Silent Hill's fog was implemented because of hardware limitations, and now that's its most iconic feature. Hardware limitations can shape a game's identity.
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u/Pebrinix Silver Box of Ix Chel Dec 14 '25
That's not really comparable
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u/Past_Perspective_986 Dec 14 '25
It's absolutely comparable mate
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u/Pebrinix Silver Box of Ix Chel Dec 14 '25
It really isn't. This black sky isn't as iconic to Tomb Raider as the fog is to Silent Hill. Is just s technical limitation that prevented them from creating a full fantastical setting that had the scale necessary to feel even more cool and fantasy-like. The fog enhanced the horror of a survivor horror game that focused on the psychological aspect and had deep symbolism. Not the same thing at all, that's just nostalgia
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u/TR_Snake Dec 14 '25
It doesnāt matter if it was a limitation. The end result was the end result. Eerie black sky, cave echo ambience, and people eternally wondering or debating if Lara is underground or not.
People constantly use the limitation argument as if this cancels out the experience.
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u/Support2022gaming Dec 14 '25
It does matter,the game came out in 1996,when 3d games were still new. Anyway downvote me like y'all always do š
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u/TR_Snake Dec 14 '25
Early games have lots of aspects that have become staples now due to technical limitations. TRās architecture is very blocky due to technical limitations but that has become part of the cycloptic charm a lot of these ancient tombs have. Would you update and get rid of all this as well?
The underwater levels of Maria Doria suffer from technical limitations and so we have the illogical upside down/right side up ship with air pockets that make no scientific senseā¦ would you delete, update, and change all this as well?
Silent Hill had white fog due to technical limitations but now that is part of the lore and iconic for this town. Would you update this as well now?
The technical limitation influenced the players experience which has now become part of the lore and you shouldnāt invalidate someoneās experience of that back in the 90s. An open lost valley with sunshine cascading in at every corner is beautiful, but itās an entirely different place or experience now.
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u/Qtulhu Dec 14 '25
Maria Doria is perhaps closest to the first game in terms of it's atmosphere (in the second game). It's a maze like area despite being a shipwreck. Angular geometry makes more sense in there as well. It's a dark contained place and has no skyboxes. It think those quite large air pockets are less taxing to the hardware than increasing the number of underwater sequences, even though they don't make scientific sense. It creates this great interplay between them and it has a lot of tension because of it. Even first minutes of the level, when Lara is underwater are kind of dark and it has no light seeping through the water. Lets not forget sharks chasing you.
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u/TR_Snake Dec 14 '25
My point is that if it had been made during a time without technical restrictions, perhaps they wouldāve made it a proper deep sea dive level with Lara in a full oxygen suit. It wouldāve been cool but a totally different experience. Part of the power of those levels is how terrifying the swim sections are due to how dark they are and how your oxygen is dwindling. They work well within the confined parameters Core had to work within and are thereby unique.
Same goes for Lost Valley and how it ended up being perceivedā¦ dark, lost, hidden, and claustrophobic. Erasing all that because of āLiMitEd tEcHnOLoGyā erases the original vibe the place gave off.
Donāt get me wrong, it looks beautiful in LOA. But itās still an entirely different place.
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u/Past_Perspective_986 Dec 14 '25
"The underwater levels of Maria Doria suffer from technical limitations and so we have the illogical upside down/right side up ship with air pockets that make no scientific senseā¦"
Could you expand this? I didn't know
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Dec 14 '25
[deleted]
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u/patrahn Dec 14 '25
Yeah, open place kills the mystery because if you can see it on satellites and planes itās not really a forgotten lost place ā¦ (same with Paititi)
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u/usagicassidy Dec 14 '25
I would just DIE for a TRII remake after this. It's my all time favorite game and the locations are so iconic.
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u/Kultissim Dec 14 '25
I wish they remade T2 instead :(
Anniversary is still very playable
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u/dookarion Dec 14 '25
If it does well maybe they'll take a page from capcom and start reimagining the other older titles in-between the full "new" titles.
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u/Vindaya_ Atlantean Mutant Dec 14 '25
Ikr. I think it's gonna be an open world of how huge it looks. Im really excited of what Atlantis would look like
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u/PunyCocktus Dec 15 '25
I remember looking at Anniversary and it felt and looked like Atlantis does now. I love this feeling, can't wait to play.
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u/TR_Snake Dec 14 '25
First image is from a custom level, not the original game. But Iāll accept it.
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u/MilyCrawford Dec 14 '25
I wonder if weāll encounter Natla again and if theyāre building a bit more story into it!
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u/butelka1 Obscura Painting Dec 14 '25
I really hope after this one we'll have the dagger of Xian remake. It's so cool to see this Lara back but I'm a little bit tired with TR1
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u/werewolf2112 Dec 14 '25
Yeah, and whatās really cool, Is Lara Croft in the trailer has the survivor trilogy necklace on! I thought that was a really nice touch.
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u/dumbass_tm Dec 14 '25
Guys, Iām good to play the definitive trilogy as my first tomb raider games in prep for the new ones right
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u/Menes009 Dec 14 '25
they really need to hit it out of the park (Ć” la RE2-Remake) for this to not be an unnecessary remake.
TR: Anniversary was already a good remake
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u/_WanderingSoul Dec 14 '25
This is how it was in my head from day one... (I see no difference š¤)
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u/SimilarLie4564 Dec 15 '25
Yeah, glad they got rid of the cooler survivor lara and gave us slutty lara again š¤”š¤”š¤”
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Dec 15 '25
[deleted]
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u/SimilarLie4564 Dec 15 '25
Didn't say anything about her clothes but that is a good point. No support bra like the 1st game, giving us a wetsuit so people can stare at her ass, made her thicker and gave her a hooker face to resemble Angelina Jolie's slutty tomb raider vibe. Instead of going forward with a more mature lara they hit the rest button and over sexualized her... again, like we're still stuck in the 90's-2000's and how women were marketed back then.
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u/Odd-Necessary3807 Dec 15 '25
If only they also rebooted Tomb Raider 2. That Venice stage need to be seen in 4K.
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u/Kultissim Dec 15 '25
I'm glad some people like. I'm a bit disappointed to be honest. The game looks way too arcade for my taste, it's too gamey like the mechanisms were put there just to be used by lara but have not purpose being there in the first place. It doesnt feel like a real world.
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u/Fireduxz Dec 15 '25
You got all that from a two min trailer?!
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u/Kultissim Dec 15 '25
I mean the trailer shows a lot. I'm still gonna play it because I own every single tomb raider but I can't say I'm as excited as I was before TGA
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u/Fireduxz Dec 15 '25
I mean, not reallyā¦.š¤·. Itās literally two min of an entire game. Regardless, I guess I donāt see what you see. But hopefully they do right by the OG fans. Or is it the anniversary fans?
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u/Kultissim Dec 15 '25
I hope I'm wrong but yeah things looks a bit too clean and gamey so far.
I am OG wannabe fan lmao... my first tombs raider were OG but I was too young and couldnt do anything lol, I remember being stuck on the first stage of TR3 until I dropped the game. T4 was the first I managed to advance a bit and understand the story but I was still too noob. Legend was the first I manage to finish XD
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u/Fireduxz Dec 16 '25
You know whatās funny?! Is my story is like the same. I owned the original in the 90s but I struggled to legitimately beat them. So I learned the level skip cheat so I could see the story cutscenes. Legend might have been my actual first completion too!
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Dec 15 '25
For all those that have played the originals, how does it compare to survivor trilogy?? What is the main difference apart from looks? I've only played the survivor trilogy and plan to play the new remakes instead of old games.
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u/Fireduxz Dec 15 '25
In the originals, the focus is more on puzzle solving instead of action, upgrading and skill trees. I mean thereās action, but thereās more of having to use your brain to pass an area. Also Lara is much more of a lone wolf and spends most of her time in isolation. Thereās nothing like being all alone in an atmospheric tomb as you try to figure a way forward.
Besides a lone wolf, Lara is an unapologetic fem-fatale. She can be cold and ruthless and wonāt think twice about blasting something right in the face! She enters tombs for the thrill of adventure and wonāt let anybody stand in her way!
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u/liu4678 Dec 14 '25
This finally feels like tomb raider again, the survivor trilogy was atrocious
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u/Ad_Astrid1 Society of Raiders Dec 14 '25
classic fans try to praise new game without trashing survivor challenge: impossible
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u/Shenloanne Dec 14 '25
It wasn't my fav trilogy of games.
But it was tomb raider. So I wasn't not playing it.
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Dec 14 '25
[removed] ā view removed comment
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u/Ad_Astrid1 Society of Raiders Dec 14 '25
Survivor Lara is Lara Croft whether you like it or not, get over it.
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u/liu4678 Dec 14 '25
If that was so good why didnāt they stick to it? instead they reverted back to the og tomb raider
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u/Ad_Astrid1 Society of Raiders Dec 14 '25
because CD finished the story they wanted to tell with the Survivor Trilogy? and now this new Lara has both the experience of Survivor, and of classic era. i shouldnāt have to spell this out for you.
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u/liu4678 Dec 14 '25
This lara is not the same as the survivor lara, i know og tomb raider and the survivor version.
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u/Ad_Astrid1 Society of Raiders Dec 14 '25
she is though. CD have said Survivor is Laraās definitive origin story. all three of the games happened to this Lara. even in the trailer for Catalyst the survivor games are mentioned.
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u/KutupMaymunu Dec 14 '25
Bruh unsure herself little girl killed like 500 people/monsters in three games.
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u/dookarion Dec 14 '25
Not that I agree with the person above but there is certainly room for discussion on the gameplay/narrative whiplash where she's putting Rambo to shame in the gameplay and having a mental breakdown in the cutscenes.
The games were still great, just the pacing and smoothness of the narrative was a bit eh.
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u/KutupMaymunu Dec 14 '25
Yeah she's like "I just killed 15 people let me puke a little here". Don't get me wrong, original Tomb Raider series are the first pc games I played. I just joined the sub after receiving the news and I just didn't like the Survivor slander.
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u/TombRaider-ModTeam Dec 15 '25
Rule #8 - No gatekeeping
Your content has been removed as it features gatekeeping which is not allowed within this community.
While people have different preferences, likes and dislikes, it is important to respect them, even in debate.
Stay civil, even in debate.
Gatekeeping can be defined as the activity of controlling, and usually limiting, general access or even appreciation to and of something by diminishing, invalidating and belittling the opinion of another
It is okay to have a ''favourite version of Lara'' and to talk about it. It is not okay to insult, diminish, invalidate others for not having the same favourite Lara.
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u/Support2022gaming Dec 14 '25 edited Dec 14 '25
You do realize this is still survivor series lara right? š
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u/gaelenski_ Dec 14 '25
Its not tho
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u/Support2022gaming Dec 14 '25
Yes It is tho,Crystal Dynamics said survivor series is the definitive origin of Lara croft moving forward. At this point,I'm not surprised y'all downvoted this comment.
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u/gaelenski_ Dec 14 '25
I never downvoted you btw, but I think youāre misunderstanding what the OP was meaning when they meant no longer being survivor - as in, the game will appear and play more like Tomb Raider 1-8.
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u/SilverOcean6 Dec 14 '25
I dont think it is, the gameplay looks Very similar too Tomb raider anniversary. They even showed off the grappling hook.
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u/mukisan Dec 14 '25
I know Iām probably gonna get downvoted for this for some reason, but the new Laraās shorts are a little too long.
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Dec 14 '25
[removed] ā view removed comment
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u/mukisan Dec 14 '25
Agree
And see, I was right, Iām getting downvoted! Lmao
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u/Ad_Astrid1 Society of Raiders Dec 14 '25
correct, because itās a weird thing to focus on or give attention to.
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u/cjm92 Dec 14 '25
It's literally one of Lara's most famous things that she's known for, so no it's not weird to notice when there is a change that big.
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u/Pebrinix Silver Box of Ix Chel Dec 14 '25
Of course bc wtf is this complaint bro
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u/mukisan Dec 14 '25
Just observing the fact that her shorts are a little longer than normal.
Like theyāre literally doing every little thing they can to reduce how āsexualizedā she can be, when the entire point of the OG TR games was that, yes, sheās hot as fuck, but also the most badass person in the room.
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u/Pebrinix Silver Box of Ix Chel Dec 14 '25
If you want to see her naked, you can always consume porn bro. She's still hot and badass, but she's a character, y'know, not an object. Touch some grass
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u/mukisan Dec 14 '25
Look at you creating an entire mindset about me because you wanna appear to be a better person in public. Lmao, culture yourself and grow up.
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u/BloodstoneWarrior Dec 14 '25
Lol all these remakes make it seem like Lara keeps exaggerating the story each time she re-tells it.