At the time of my review I have completed Tomb Raider 1 and 2 in their entirety and am about to start on III. So far I am incredibly satisfied with this collection, as it makes my favorite game series instantly playable without having to deal with the nasty ass PS1 load times or the incredible flimsiness of the PC Ports. Unfortunately, for as long as they made me wait for this thing I'm kind of stunned at how bare bones the whole thing really is.
I want to state first and foremost that the use of A.I artwork is deplorable. I understand this game was no doubt made with a woeful budget by an overworked team, so I'm going to direct my anger more towards the publisher for not giving these games the respect they deserve to have a proper art team remastering the visuals. As it stands, the remastered visuals largely clash with the original artistic intent, don't line up properly along the grids, and generally look cheaper than the original's, as the original game was textured by artists and not a piece of shit A.I.
I am also annoyed at the OG visuals having a frame cap on them, allegedly due to animations being locked to 30 for the old visuals. Even though there are PC Ports available right now that have those same visuals at 60 FPS. There is no reason these games should be stuck at 30 FPS, unless the Switch was having too much trouble running these games, which I would believe.
I also lament the loss of save crystals, which I hypothesized could have been a fun difficulty adjuster for long-time fans of the series, as the save crystals made Tomb Raider 1 and 3 very intense games when you can't save scum through them. Tomb Raider 2 is borderline impossible without save scumming so there no change there.
I think the asking price for some fantastic games is worth it, even though I resent the business practices being used within the package. I also don't anticipate all the terrible discussion we are in for about how these games aged by guys who are obsessed with fucking Pokemon or whatever. If you enjoy these types of games there is a nice handy package here to play them, which honestly, is what I've been dying for for years.
I want to state first and foremost that the use of A.I artwork is deplorable. I understand this game was no doubt made with a woeful budget by an overworked team, so I'm going to direct my anger more towards the publisher for not giving these games the respect they deserve to have a proper art team remastering the visuals. As it stands, the remastered visuals largely clash with the original artistic intent, don't line up properly along the grids, and generally look cheaper than the original's, as the original game was textured by artists and not a piece of shit A.I.
I am also annoyed at the OG visuals having a frame cap on them, allegedly due to animations being locked to 30 for the old visuals. Even though there are PC Ports available right now that have those same visuals at 60 FPS. There is no reason these games should be stuck at 30 FPS, unless the Switch was having too much trouble running these games, which I would believe.
I also lament the loss of save crystals, which I hypothesized could have been a fun difficulty adjuster for long-time fans of the series, as the save crystals made Tomb Raider 1 and 3 very intense games when you can't save scum through them. Tomb Raider 2 is borderline impossible without save scumming so there no change there.
I think the asking price for some fantastic games is worth it, even though I resent the business practices being used within the package. I also don't anticipate all the terrible discussion we are in for about how these games aged by guys who are obsessed with fucking Pokemon or whatever. If you enjoy these types of games there is a nice handy package here to play them, which honestly, is what I've been dying for for years.
First time finishing the original TR and I fucking loved it!
Honestly, the game is transformed just by having a save anywhere feature (I know this is in the PC version). The new visuals and 60fps help too.
New art is great and being able to switch back to the original visuals with the press of a button is very helpful when you need its brighter lighting.
No handholding, minimal HUD, great puzzles, a suitably creepy and lonely atmosphere, and a classic soundtrack. What a game.
(Yes, it can be tough at times but it’s far easier - and fairer - than its sequels. Speaking of which, TR2 next.)
Honestly, the game is transformed just by having a save anywhere feature (I know this is in the PC version). The new visuals and 60fps help too.
New art is great and being able to switch back to the original visuals with the press of a button is very helpful when you need its brighter lighting.
No handholding, minimal HUD, great puzzles, a suitably creepy and lonely atmosphere, and a classic soundtrack. What a game.
(Yes, it can be tough at times but it’s far easier - and fairer - than its sequels. Speaking of which, TR2 next.)
Eu amo de paixão toda a série Tomb Raider desde pequeno. Lembro muito bem do meu primeiro contato com um PS1, que foi justamente com a Lara Croft em Tomb Raider 1. Com o passar do tempo, acabei jogando basicamente todos os jogos da franquia, incluindo os três que estão ganhando um remaster neste ano de 2024.
Apesar de amar esses jogos de coração, senti que este remaster deixou a desejar. Toda a sua execução é meio estranha de explicar. No entanto, é sempre importante lembrar que esses jogos foram lançados em meados de 1996 a 1998, então é meio óbvio que o controle tipo tanque, a plataforma, a câmera e alguns elementos de level design seriam um fator meio limitador no jogo, o que eu meio que já esperava, principalmente quando falamos do primeiro jogo. Entendo também a importância de preservar a experiência original e, de fato, não esperava muito nesse aspecto, a partir do momento em que falaram em experiência original, já imaginei que o foco seria principalmente no visual.
Inclusive é no visual que Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered se destaca. Os visuais remasterizados são a cereja do bolo da coletânea. Apesar de achar que poderia sim ser um pouco mais caprichado e poderia sim ter mais elementos remasterizados, não vou ser chato em apenas reclamar, até porque 1-3 Remastered melhora muito em relação aos clássicos, principalmente no quesito iluminação, sombras, efeitos de partículas, folhagem mais detalhada e o level design um pouco melhorado. As texturas e também os modelos de personagens foram completamente remasterizados, dando um brilho a mais ao jogo. Antigamente, nossa Lara era apenas uns quadrados, e agora tem um visual bem mais moderno, puxando mais para uma Lara que lembra a de Tomb Raider: Legend, por exemplo. Realmente, nessa parte o jogo está incrível. Se você buscar agora vídeos no YouTube de comparativos, a diferença é nítida. As expressões faciais durante as trocas de diálogo também estão bem melhores.
Quando você começa a jogar o primeiro jogo, a experiência pode levar um tempo para se acostumar. Os controles tipo tanque originais permanecem e são talvez o difíceis de manusear, principalmente para quem é mais novo e não teve a experiência com a jogabilidade original. Os controles modernos resolvem um disso, permitindo que você controle totalmente a câmera com o stick direito, o que por sua vez pode ser também talvez mais estranho do que jogar com a câmera original, já que rapidamente fica aparente que a câmera, assim como nos originais, não quer cooperar com os controles modernos. Eu particularmente tive muitos problemas com a câmera moderna e sinceramente preferi os controles tanque clássicos mesmo, que funcionassem melhor que os modernos, por incrível que pareça. Nesse sentido, temos aqui um ponto que eles facilmente poderiam ter dado um pouco mais de atenção e ter um melhor desempenho com uma jogabilidade mais modernizada nesse remaster.
Admito que em algumas situações os controles modernos funcionaram melhor do que os controles tank, como por exemplo na exploração mas apesar disso esse estilo de câmera ainda sofre com a jogabilidade limitada e tem diversos momentos onde você vai dar um bilhão de tiros e simplesmente todos vão errar. Então, apesar de existir uma "câmera moderna" no jogo, ela é meio fake, parece muito o modo primeira pessoa do GTA V, que era literalmente só uma aproximação de câmera e não necessariamente um modo primeira pessoa de fato.
Apesar de todas essas reclamações, o jogo no geral me agradou muito. Tomb Raider 1 começa de forma bastante simples temos basicamente que encontrar interruptores, abrir portas, localizar objetos como chaves e retroceder para avançar enquanto examina seus arredores em busca de pistas.
Em Tomb Raider 2, as fases são mais complexas, com plataformas mais difíceis e situações como fugir de algumas pedras para saltar sobre armadilhas de espinhos.
Tomb Raider 3 parece um pouco mais saturado nesse aspecto, com algumas fases mais abertas, mas pouco que você não tenha visto antes.
Vale ressaltar que Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered é bem estranho em uma coisa básica que são os salvamentos automáticos que simplesmente não existem no jogo. Então, se você morrer, é melhor esperar que tenha sido perto de onde você salvou pela última vez ou esteja preparado para perder todo o seu progresso. Você nem mesmo pode salvar rapidamente.
Outro ponto intrigante é se você abrir o menu de salvamento, ele aparentemente o direciona automaticamente para a tela de carregamento, então você pode acabar acidentalmente carregando seu último salvamento (aconteceu duas vezes comigo) e perder novamente o progresso. Eu geralmente sou bastante crítico em relação a remasters muitas vezes sem precisar ser. Vejo muita gente argumentar que um remaster tem que manter a jogabilidade original do jeito que tem que ser e eu meio que concordo em parte, porém recursos básicos como esse citado certamente é uma vergonha simplesmente existir uma situação desse tipo.
Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered é difícil de recomendar para aqueles que nunca jogaram os originais. Os visuais renovados podem valer a pena conferir, e certamente de longe são o grande destaque do jogo e é interessante ver como os originais eram jogados, porém além de manter uma jogabilidade original, ele mantém até mesmo todos os elementos irritantes que tinham na versão original também. Se você amou todos os jogos originais de coração apesar de todos os seus defeitos assim como eu, certamente vale muito a pena pegar esse jogo sem nem pensar duas vezes. Mas para quem é mais novinho nos games, certamente eu recomendo o Anniversary e o Legend, que têm uma jogabilidade mais moderna e certamente serão uma experiência bem mais divertida para vocês.
Pontos Positivos:
- Visuais Remasterizados
- Controles modernos ajudam na hora de explorar o ambiente
Pontos Negativos:
- Praticamente todos os problemas que tinham no original ainda estão aqui
- Resposta dos controles muitas vezes não funciona muito bem
- Não há salvamento automático
Versão utilizada para análise: XSS
Apesar de amar esses jogos de coração, senti que este remaster deixou a desejar. Toda a sua execução é meio estranha de explicar. No entanto, é sempre importante lembrar que esses jogos foram lançados em meados de 1996 a 1998, então é meio óbvio que o controle tipo tanque, a plataforma, a câmera e alguns elementos de level design seriam um fator meio limitador no jogo, o que eu meio que já esperava, principalmente quando falamos do primeiro jogo. Entendo também a importância de preservar a experiência original e, de fato, não esperava muito nesse aspecto, a partir do momento em que falaram em experiência original, já imaginei que o foco seria principalmente no visual.
Inclusive é no visual que Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered se destaca. Os visuais remasterizados são a cereja do bolo da coletânea. Apesar de achar que poderia sim ser um pouco mais caprichado e poderia sim ter mais elementos remasterizados, não vou ser chato em apenas reclamar, até porque 1-3 Remastered melhora muito em relação aos clássicos, principalmente no quesito iluminação, sombras, efeitos de partículas, folhagem mais detalhada e o level design um pouco melhorado. As texturas e também os modelos de personagens foram completamente remasterizados, dando um brilho a mais ao jogo. Antigamente, nossa Lara era apenas uns quadrados, e agora tem um visual bem mais moderno, puxando mais para uma Lara que lembra a de Tomb Raider: Legend, por exemplo. Realmente, nessa parte o jogo está incrível. Se você buscar agora vídeos no YouTube de comparativos, a diferença é nítida. As expressões faciais durante as trocas de diálogo também estão bem melhores.
Quando você começa a jogar o primeiro jogo, a experiência pode levar um tempo para se acostumar. Os controles tipo tanque originais permanecem e são talvez o difíceis de manusear, principalmente para quem é mais novo e não teve a experiência com a jogabilidade original. Os controles modernos resolvem um disso, permitindo que você controle totalmente a câmera com o stick direito, o que por sua vez pode ser também talvez mais estranho do que jogar com a câmera original, já que rapidamente fica aparente que a câmera, assim como nos originais, não quer cooperar com os controles modernos. Eu particularmente tive muitos problemas com a câmera moderna e sinceramente preferi os controles tanque clássicos mesmo, que funcionassem melhor que os modernos, por incrível que pareça. Nesse sentido, temos aqui um ponto que eles facilmente poderiam ter dado um pouco mais de atenção e ter um melhor desempenho com uma jogabilidade mais modernizada nesse remaster.
Admito que em algumas situações os controles modernos funcionaram melhor do que os controles tank, como por exemplo na exploração mas apesar disso esse estilo de câmera ainda sofre com a jogabilidade limitada e tem diversos momentos onde você vai dar um bilhão de tiros e simplesmente todos vão errar. Então, apesar de existir uma "câmera moderna" no jogo, ela é meio fake, parece muito o modo primeira pessoa do GTA V, que era literalmente só uma aproximação de câmera e não necessariamente um modo primeira pessoa de fato.
Apesar de todas essas reclamações, o jogo no geral me agradou muito. Tomb Raider 1 começa de forma bastante simples temos basicamente que encontrar interruptores, abrir portas, localizar objetos como chaves e retroceder para avançar enquanto examina seus arredores em busca de pistas.
Em Tomb Raider 2, as fases são mais complexas, com plataformas mais difíceis e situações como fugir de algumas pedras para saltar sobre armadilhas de espinhos.
Tomb Raider 3 parece um pouco mais saturado nesse aspecto, com algumas fases mais abertas, mas pouco que você não tenha visto antes.
Vale ressaltar que Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered é bem estranho em uma coisa básica que são os salvamentos automáticos que simplesmente não existem no jogo. Então, se você morrer, é melhor esperar que tenha sido perto de onde você salvou pela última vez ou esteja preparado para perder todo o seu progresso. Você nem mesmo pode salvar rapidamente.
Outro ponto intrigante é se você abrir o menu de salvamento, ele aparentemente o direciona automaticamente para a tela de carregamento, então você pode acabar acidentalmente carregando seu último salvamento (aconteceu duas vezes comigo) e perder novamente o progresso. Eu geralmente sou bastante crítico em relação a remasters muitas vezes sem precisar ser. Vejo muita gente argumentar que um remaster tem que manter a jogabilidade original do jeito que tem que ser e eu meio que concordo em parte, porém recursos básicos como esse citado certamente é uma vergonha simplesmente existir uma situação desse tipo.
Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered é difícil de recomendar para aqueles que nunca jogaram os originais. Os visuais renovados podem valer a pena conferir, e certamente de longe são o grande destaque do jogo e é interessante ver como os originais eram jogados, porém além de manter uma jogabilidade original, ele mantém até mesmo todos os elementos irritantes que tinham na versão original também. Se você amou todos os jogos originais de coração apesar de todos os seus defeitos assim como eu, certamente vale muito a pena pegar esse jogo sem nem pensar duas vezes. Mas para quem é mais novinho nos games, certamente eu recomendo o Anniversary e o Legend, que têm uma jogabilidade mais moderna e certamente serão uma experiência bem mais divertida para vocês.
Pontos Positivos:
- Visuais Remasterizados
- Controles modernos ajudam na hora de explorar o ambiente
Pontos Negativos:
- Praticamente todos os problemas que tinham no original ainda estão aqui
- Resposta dos controles muitas vezes não funciona muito bem
- Não há salvamento automático
Versão utilizada para análise: XSS
como alguém que jogou os mesmos na era do playstation 1, venho dizer que esses remasters estão impecáveis! dá até uma sensação breve de novidade por ver tudo igual mas ao mesmo diferente e bonito.
é visível o quanto tudo foi feito com muito carinho pela aspyr e isso se tornou raro nos jogos de hoje... isso me deixa encantada e com certeza continuarei jogando!!!
as legendas em pt-br te deixam por dentro da história, coisa que eu não conseguia entender quando criança apenas ouvindo os personagens falando inglês.
além dos três jogos clássicos estarem lindos, a adição das DLC's é o que completa a obra, já que muitos não puderam jogar na época, assim como eu.
vale a pena testar quem nunca jogou 💕
é visível o quanto tudo foi feito com muito carinho pela aspyr e isso se tornou raro nos jogos de hoje... isso me deixa encantada e com certeza continuarei jogando!!!
as legendas em pt-br te deixam por dentro da história, coisa que eu não conseguia entender quando criança apenas ouvindo os personagens falando inglês.
além dos três jogos clássicos estarem lindos, a adição das DLC's é o que completa a obra, já que muitos não puderam jogar na época, assim como eu.
vale a pena testar quem nunca jogou 💕
From the view point of a collection basis the Remastered Collection is an excellent way to experiance the original Tomb Raider games. There isn't much in the form of extra's but honestly that's okay. The redone graphics are great and being able to swap from the original and new styles is a really great choice and I found myself switching constantly. The new graphics could use some tweaks in the lighting department though. Sometimes I found it too dark. Modern controls were added but the original controls still work better honestly but if it gets some people to play then thats great. The collection makes the games feel fresh all the while really there's not much changed in the core games. A solid deal all things considered.
A Solid remaster with the fans of the original trilogy in mind. The only issue are those damned spiders, who are tougher than the Tigers and T-Rex. Maybe it is me switching between modern and classic graphics during the cutscene, but there is lag with the speech and animations.
It's been lovingly remastered and rebuilt in an entirely new engine. The visuals are gorgeous and it keeps all the extra content (even finishing some for TR3 that never came out).
Modern controls are ass tho. Back or slide flipping are limited to the guns being out and it just doesn't work. The free camera also breaks endlessly to the point where it's impossible to see.
I'd also say that the remastered visuals make some pickups almost impossible to see.
Other than that, pretty damn good.
Modern controls are ass tho. Back or slide flipping are limited to the guns being out and it just doesn't work. The free camera also breaks endlessly to the point where it's impossible to see.
I'd also say that the remastered visuals make some pickups almost impossible to see.
Other than that, pretty damn good.
Una preciosa experiencia para recordar la necesidad de volver a los clásicos. Porque los clásicos son inmortales y la figura de Lara Croft permanecerá por siempre en el imaginario colectivo de los videojuegos. Pero la realidad hoy en día es que ni con un intento tosco de controles modernos ni con una capa de pintura (literal esto, es loable, pero es lo que es) se consigue despegar la trilogía inicial de TR de lo que es: un producto de su época. En concreto de los 90. Es tremendo lo que consiguieron hacer con las capacidades técnicas de aquella. También se entienden bien los ciclos de desarrollo y de costes al ver cómo están hechos y planteados.
Es un producto interesante y una experiencia a la que hay que acercarse al menos una vez en la vida para entender lo que Tomb Raider dejó de legado, pero ya está. Es una colección importante y necesaria, pero ya está. La serie Legend cambió demasiado el estilo de juego y la serie Survivor convirtió a Lara Croft en otro personaje.
Quizá necesitemos ver a esta Lara de nuevo en acción en un juego nuevo, pero si es así, ojalá sea reflejando lo mejor que tenían estos juegos (los rompecabezas, el plataformeo, los secretos, la ambientación y el SILENCIO de la exploración) y aprendiendo de lo que ha funcionado y lo que no por el camino.
Es un producto interesante y una experiencia a la que hay que acercarse al menos una vez en la vida para entender lo que Tomb Raider dejó de legado, pero ya está. Es una colección importante y necesaria, pero ya está. La serie Legend cambió demasiado el estilo de juego y la serie Survivor convirtió a Lara Croft en otro personaje.
Quizá necesitemos ver a esta Lara de nuevo en acción en un juego nuevo, pero si es así, ojalá sea reflejando lo mejor que tenían estos juegos (los rompecabezas, el plataformeo, los secretos, la ambientación y el SILENCIO de la exploración) y aprendiendo de lo que ha funcionado y lo que no por el camino.
The remaster is fine. It's the first three tomb raider games bundled together in one easy to navigate and use package. So why am I giving this such a low rating, then? The EULA. I recommend you read it. Two things stood out. They reserve the right to own and sell any mods made by fans and they can terminate the agreement without any warning including taking away our right to play the game. Buying this game means you don't own it. So I suggest pirating it. Since you don't own it when you buy it, pirating it isn't stealing it.
me emocionei do início ao fim, exemplo de como fazer um remaster perfeito que respeita o produto original!
I loved getting back to this.
My opinion hasn't changed much regarding what I like or dislike about each entry, except maybe for the third game who feels undercooked in some parts.
But I did have a good time
For The French - https://lacritiquedumoment.wordpress.com/2024/04/18/tomb-raider-iiiiii-remastered/
My opinion hasn't changed much regarding what I like or dislike about each entry, except maybe for the third game who feels undercooked in some parts.
But I did have a good time
For The French - https://lacritiquedumoment.wordpress.com/2024/04/18/tomb-raider-iiiiii-remastered/
I enjoyed the first and second games well enough, but that third game really soured my experience.
This collection definitely shows the cracks that happen from an annual development crunch. Very few things to really make the games feel fresh, but they do feel distinct.
As it stands I liked each game significantly less than the last one.
This collection definitely shows the cracks that happen from an annual development crunch. Very few things to really make the games feel fresh, but they do feel distinct.
As it stands I liked each game significantly less than the last one.
Excellent remaster! They accurately preserved the originals, and the graphical updates done are toggleable, but honestly I prefer them to the originals. This is a very respectful, high quality remaster that I wish most remasters were like.
A wonderful package including the first 3 games and all of their expansions, lovingly remastered with new visuals and various fixes and features. I feel like a kid again - I couldn't be happier!
Lovely remasters of the first three games, even though you can really tell that the game mechanics are outdated and no longer quite as nice to play by today's standards. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed my time with all of them <3
Boggles the mind how people can play FromSoftware games and be like "Oh these games are amazing, they don't hold your hand or tell you where to go and they're incredibly hard to master but so rewarding when you do" then they play OG Tomb Raider and just instantly assume it's shit because the controls are hard to get used to.
Maybe it's because platforming in AAA games has been dumbed down to an insulting degree or maybe it's because modern Tomb Raider is more action focused, but these games have always been primarily exploration, puzzle and platforming games with a specific control set designed for that, not action games with shit controls.
If you're new to this trilogy then please, take your time to get to grips with it and you'll experience some absolute masterclasses in level design and atmosphere.
What an absolutely beautiful remaster so clearly made by people full of love for the source material. Tomb Raider fans spent well over a decade begging for this to happen and it's far better than I could have ever imagined. Fingers crossed for The Last Revelation, Chronicles and Angel of Darkness next, then even Legend, Anniversary and Underworld.
Lara Croft is back, baby!
Maybe it's because platforming in AAA games has been dumbed down to an insulting degree or maybe it's because modern Tomb Raider is more action focused, but these games have always been primarily exploration, puzzle and platforming games with a specific control set designed for that, not action games with shit controls.
If you're new to this trilogy then please, take your time to get to grips with it and you'll experience some absolute masterclasses in level design and atmosphere.
What an absolutely beautiful remaster so clearly made by people full of love for the source material. Tomb Raider fans spent well over a decade begging for this to happen and it's far better than I could have ever imagined. Fingers crossed for The Last Revelation, Chronicles and Angel of Darkness next, then even Legend, Anniversary and Underworld.
Lara Croft is back, baby!
Me perdoem pessoal, mas os controles desse jogo são horríveis, tanto o modo tanque, quanto o modo moderno. O jogo parece ser muito interessante, mas não consigo jogar com esses controles. Vou deixar para a próxima...
I'm one of those freaks that never stopped playing (and replaying) the original Tomb Raider games, so I have a very strong familiarity with this series and these three games in particular. So a lot of the typical barriers to entry that these games present to newer fans, and maybe even older fans (the controls, the camera, the grid system etc.) weren't really an issue. I do still recognise that these remasters are probably a hard sell in 2024 and I've read plenty of reviews that support that. Personally though, these remasters delivered exactly what I expected and was hoping for.
Not to speculate but it feels like the devs were given no time at all to get these remasters made. My guess is that they were maybe given a year? We have the updated graphics sure but everything else (aside from the new control scheme) remains untouched. The in-game cutscene use the exact same head- bobby animations from the original when it would have been beneficial to clean those up a bit. The voice acting is the same, the music is the same, there's no extras to speak of... TRIII also chugs quite a bit which supports my theory that these might have been rushed. The FMVs drop frames like crazy, even when they're compressed which is wild to me.
Like, as a piece of video game history/ preservation I think these games are the gold standard for how older games should be made available for modern audiences. But I can't help but wish there was been a way to tighten up the newer versions while leaving the original games as they were, jank and all.
It's insane that they chose to remaster the graphics the way they did, basically just pasting new textures over what was already there. I love this decision even though it doesn't always work from a readability stand point. I'd prefer that the game take a big swing with the art direction and make a mad choice like this then have the games lose their charm striving to match modern graphical sensibilities. Lara's character model is also the best it's ever looked.
The photo mode has the potential to break the game altogether!? The camera isn't tethered to Lara so you can just straight up map out the whole level if you feel like it and get a sense of what lies ahead. Again, a crazy decision that I 100% support. These games are hard!! It's good to give players a useful tool like that. I don't know if that was the intended goal for the camera but regardless, I hope they never patch it.
I really enjoyed revisiting TR I, II and III in this way. I hope that some new fans can get some enjoyment out of them too. I hope we'll get The Last Revelations and Chronicles eventually but maybe that's asking for too much.
Not to speculate but it feels like the devs were given no time at all to get these remasters made. My guess is that they were maybe given a year? We have the updated graphics sure but everything else (aside from the new control scheme) remains untouched. The in-game cutscene use the exact same head- bobby animations from the original when it would have been beneficial to clean those up a bit. The voice acting is the same, the music is the same, there's no extras to speak of... TRIII also chugs quite a bit which supports my theory that these might have been rushed. The FMVs drop frames like crazy, even when they're compressed which is wild to me.
Like, as a piece of video game history/ preservation I think these games are the gold standard for how older games should be made available for modern audiences. But I can't help but wish there was been a way to tighten up the newer versions while leaving the original games as they were, jank and all.
It's insane that they chose to remaster the graphics the way they did, basically just pasting new textures over what was already there. I love this decision even though it doesn't always work from a readability stand point. I'd prefer that the game take a big swing with the art direction and make a mad choice like this then have the games lose their charm striving to match modern graphical sensibilities. Lara's character model is also the best it's ever looked.
The photo mode has the potential to break the game altogether!? The camera isn't tethered to Lara so you can just straight up map out the whole level if you feel like it and get a sense of what lies ahead. Again, a crazy decision that I 100% support. These games are hard!! It's good to give players a useful tool like that. I don't know if that was the intended goal for the camera but regardless, I hope they never patch it.
I really enjoyed revisiting TR I, II and III in this way. I hope that some new fans can get some enjoyment out of them too. I hope we'll get The Last Revelations and Chronicles eventually but maybe that's asking for too much.
Now that the embargo is over, I can finally review this remaster!
Although I am far from finished due to work, I did play the original ones, including Unfinished Business, so I am here to comment on what the remake has brought us.
Other than enhanced HD textures and remade models (Lara looks amazing!), the CGI cinematics are upscalled, and the sound has been enhanced as well (both music, SFX and dialogues). The items are now 3D instead of 2D textures, we have achievements (some are funny, some are easter eggs that people who played the originals will understand - like getting that Large Medkit through the corner glitch).
The tank controls remain as an option, thankfully, because the modern controls are buggy (Lara doesn't backflip, for example). The classic visuals are also an option, if you press F3 you can switch between them and the modern visuals. The essence of the classic Tomb Raider games is fully here, it's like reliving memories but with higher quality!
I experienced a few texture bugs (especially places with the ceiling missing), and had friends that experienced progression bugs too, which I hope they get fixed now during launch.
Overall, it's an amazing remastered trilogy that comes with the add-on levels! My favorite of these three will always be Tomb Raider II, of course!
Special thanks to Crystal Dynamics for the early access and free key! Thank you for this oportunity to try out the game so we could report the bugs to be fixed!
Although I am far from finished due to work, I did play the original ones, including Unfinished Business, so I am here to comment on what the remake has brought us.
Other than enhanced HD textures and remade models (Lara looks amazing!), the CGI cinematics are upscalled, and the sound has been enhanced as well (both music, SFX and dialogues). The items are now 3D instead of 2D textures, we have achievements (some are funny, some are easter eggs that people who played the originals will understand - like getting that Large Medkit through the corner glitch).
The tank controls remain as an option, thankfully, because the modern controls are buggy (Lara doesn't backflip, for example). The classic visuals are also an option, if you press F3 you can switch between them and the modern visuals. The essence of the classic Tomb Raider games is fully here, it's like reliving memories but with higher quality!
I experienced a few texture bugs (especially places with the ceiling missing), and had friends that experienced progression bugs too, which I hope they get fixed now during launch.
Overall, it's an amazing remastered trilogy that comes with the add-on levels! My favorite of these three will always be Tomb Raider II, of course!
Special thanks to Crystal Dynamics for the early access and free key! Thank you for this oportunity to try out the game so we could report the bugs to be fixed!
An excellent collection of the first three Tomb Raider games. Some minor issues with the graphics aside, it's a completely authentic experience. The photo mode is also a bit lacking, but it's supplementary content, so it can be forgiven. However, it can pan over entire levels if you want it to. All three games are preserved pretty well with this collection, and I can only hope that the other three Core Design games get a fair shot at being remade.
Just amazing. I keep forgetting that I’m even playing the remaster, and then oops! Just pressed the options button on my controller. Jumspcare!
The only bug I’ve run into is the one where the water turns into a painting, but it hasn’t affected gameplay at all imo.
Mother has returned.
The only bug I’ve run into is the one where the water turns into a painting, but it hasn’t affected gameplay at all imo.
Mother has returned.
Tomb Raider 1:
Couldn't earn the game completion trophy due to a power outage which corrupted my save (ON THE LAST LEVEL TOO), and I couldn't be bothered to play everything all over again so I cheated to get back to the last level. It really dampened my feeling of accomplishment. But that aside, I had a blast with this! It was so fun to replay this classic with a new coat of paint. It was lovely. Honestly big recommendation from me already. Excited to go to 2 now. I played these games all the time with my mom as a kid so this rerelease in general feels really special to me.
[Will update after beating 2 and 3]
Couldn't earn the game completion trophy due to a power outage which corrupted my save (ON THE LAST LEVEL TOO), and I couldn't be bothered to play everything all over again so I cheated to get back to the last level. It really dampened my feeling of accomplishment. But that aside, I had a blast with this! It was so fun to replay this classic with a new coat of paint. It was lovely. Honestly big recommendation from me already. Excited to go to 2 now. I played these games all the time with my mom as a kid so this rerelease in general feels really special to me.
[Will update after beating 2 and 3]
muito daora masterizar os controles desse clássico!!!
os controle moderno num funciona direito e eu sou burro com os controle classico fica pra proxima.....
I never played the originals so the nostalgia card doesn’t work with me. I basically though this was going to be a good game because everyone say it is, and surprise, it’s not. I mean, it probably was when it first released, but it aged really poorly so a remaster so true to the main source doesn’t work nowadays.
It honestly looks like they wanted easy money from nostalgics with a lazy remaster.
It honestly looks like they wanted easy money from nostalgics with a lazy remaster.
- Decent remakes, very faithful to the original.
- The modern controls aren't that better for this game as some of the jumps require precision of the old controls.
- This remaster is weird, its unnecessary but at the same time i cannot begrudge it as the games are old enough.
- The modern controls aren't that better for this game as some of the jumps require precision of the old controls.
- This remaster is weird, its unnecessary but at the same time i cannot begrudge it as the games are old enough.
São clássicos, não tem muito o que falar... O que envelheceu foi por conta da época, mas são divertimento puro. A remasterização ficou uma gracinha e os controles modernos... funcionam, mas necessitam de melhorias (principalmente por conta da câmera do controle clássico impactando) e polimento.
No mais, me diverti do começo ao fim.
No mais, me diverti do começo ao fim.
A fun nostalgia trip and also a reminder that you can never really go home again.
To start, as a remaster this is pretty good but also kind of basic and has some notable flaws. The graphics upgrades are nice: it looks "retro" while also being much easier on the eyes than the original graphics. It's kind of a "looks how you remember instead of how it actually looked" kind of thing. I do also appreciate that the original graphics are a button press away, if only as a reminder that those blocky tiles that looked great on a 17" CRT really don't cut it on a 55" OLED. The original graphics would probably look better if they'd let them run at 60 FPS, but they don't for some reason, and even for 30FPS they feel jittier or jerkier than they should.
The modern controls, which have prompted much discussion since release, were a nice idea but are bad in practice. Fundamentally, the early TR games are precision platformers with many puzzles built around the nuances of the tank controls, and if you can't set up your jumps exactly you're gonna get frustrated. The modern controls can still do most of the maneuvers you'd need to do (hop back, back flip, and so on), but they were all flakey for me and trickier to execute than with the tank controls. I still don't think there's a way to side-step. Even if you do end up preferring the modern controls, there's no official explanation of how they work AFAICT, and they work kind of weird in some ways. E.g. separating "interact with item" (action) from "fire weapon" (labeled "secondary" in the menu) makes some sense, but if you're separating those why would you put "grab" on secondary? I'm no fan of tank controls, and it took me a little while to get used to them again, but ultimately I think in this case the original tank controls are more effective and less frustrating than this clumsy attempt at modernization.
The modern graphics do also have a few issues. Mostly legibility: there were several cases where the new sprites for keys you need to pickup were very difficult to see against the tiles they sat on, with very low contrast and the keys themselves being smaller than the original. Unless you remember where all the key items are or are using a walkthrough, I think it's easy to miss an item and get a bit lost some places. The lighting can also be a bit weird: areas in TR2 that were pitch black to encourage use of flares are merely "dim" now, which isn't a huge deal but does change how you play the game and make flares even less necessary. I also hit a weird bug at the end of TR2 where I couldn't grab the dagger out of the dragon's heart on modern graphics, but it worked the first time I tried when I switched to original graphics.
So it's nice, but most of the pitch here is just making these classic games convenient to access on modern platforms.
As for revisiting the games themselves, I enjoyed the trip down memory lane, but I also am reminded that early works in developing mediums/genres/etc. often have some very rough edges and I think that applies here. I am often a little cranky at how homogeneous modern high-budget games can seem, and it's nice to go back to an era when patterns hadn't been as firmly established and things were a little more zany (Lara never fought any dinosaurs in the survivor trilogy, and I kind of miss how acrobatic her movement was in these early games), but on the other hand some of the puzzles are frustratingly obtuse and when combat is challenging it's more because of the clunky controls than good game design. I originally played TR1 when it came out on a PlayStation, meaning there were save crystals, and only a child with effectively unlimited free time could have the patience to get through TR1 with save crystals (and before widespread Internet access made walkthroughs easy to get! I might have had the Prima guide at the time, I can't remember). Nowadays I'm grateful for save scumming and the ability to quickly look up a solution when I'm stuck.
Even with those complaints, there's still a lot to like in these games! As early action-adventure games they're rough around the edges, but they also have a lot of really fun sequences and do a great job of setting up atmosphere within the limits of the technology they had. And my complaints above about obtuse puzzles mostly apply to TR1: TR2 is a much more confidently made game with better level design. Lara Croft is an iconic character who's carried some rough baggage over the years, between being a poster-child for video game culture's toxic objectification of women and then being demoted from "stone-cold uber-competent treasure hunter" to "traumatized grad student" in the survivor trilogy; it's nice to have her early games back with some modern polish.
All of which leaves me glad I dipped back into these games to remind me of my childhood, and also keenly aware that I am no longer that child.
To start, as a remaster this is pretty good but also kind of basic and has some notable flaws. The graphics upgrades are nice: it looks "retro" while also being much easier on the eyes than the original graphics. It's kind of a "looks how you remember instead of how it actually looked" kind of thing. I do also appreciate that the original graphics are a button press away, if only as a reminder that those blocky tiles that looked great on a 17" CRT really don't cut it on a 55" OLED. The original graphics would probably look better if they'd let them run at 60 FPS, but they don't for some reason, and even for 30FPS they feel jittier or jerkier than they should.
The modern controls, which have prompted much discussion since release, were a nice idea but are bad in practice. Fundamentally, the early TR games are precision platformers with many puzzles built around the nuances of the tank controls, and if you can't set up your jumps exactly you're gonna get frustrated. The modern controls can still do most of the maneuvers you'd need to do (hop back, back flip, and so on), but they were all flakey for me and trickier to execute than with the tank controls. I still don't think there's a way to side-step. Even if you do end up preferring the modern controls, there's no official explanation of how they work AFAICT, and they work kind of weird in some ways. E.g. separating "interact with item" (action) from "fire weapon" (labeled "secondary" in the menu) makes some sense, but if you're separating those why would you put "grab" on secondary? I'm no fan of tank controls, and it took me a little while to get used to them again, but ultimately I think in this case the original tank controls are more effective and less frustrating than this clumsy attempt at modernization.
The modern graphics do also have a few issues. Mostly legibility: there were several cases where the new sprites for keys you need to pickup were very difficult to see against the tiles they sat on, with very low contrast and the keys themselves being smaller than the original. Unless you remember where all the key items are or are using a walkthrough, I think it's easy to miss an item and get a bit lost some places. The lighting can also be a bit weird: areas in TR2 that were pitch black to encourage use of flares are merely "dim" now, which isn't a huge deal but does change how you play the game and make flares even less necessary. I also hit a weird bug at the end of TR2 where I couldn't grab the dagger out of the dragon's heart on modern graphics, but it worked the first time I tried when I switched to original graphics.
So it's nice, but most of the pitch here is just making these classic games convenient to access on modern platforms.
As for revisiting the games themselves, I enjoyed the trip down memory lane, but I also am reminded that early works in developing mediums/genres/etc. often have some very rough edges and I think that applies here. I am often a little cranky at how homogeneous modern high-budget games can seem, and it's nice to go back to an era when patterns hadn't been as firmly established and things were a little more zany (Lara never fought any dinosaurs in the survivor trilogy, and I kind of miss how acrobatic her movement was in these early games), but on the other hand some of the puzzles are frustratingly obtuse and when combat is challenging it's more because of the clunky controls than good game design. I originally played TR1 when it came out on a PlayStation, meaning there were save crystals, and only a child with effectively unlimited free time could have the patience to get through TR1 with save crystals (and before widespread Internet access made walkthroughs easy to get! I might have had the Prima guide at the time, I can't remember). Nowadays I'm grateful for save scumming and the ability to quickly look up a solution when I'm stuck.
Even with those complaints, there's still a lot to like in these games! As early action-adventure games they're rough around the edges, but they also have a lot of really fun sequences and do a great job of setting up atmosphere within the limits of the technology they had. And my complaints above about obtuse puzzles mostly apply to TR1: TR2 is a much more confidently made game with better level design. Lara Croft is an iconic character who's carried some rough baggage over the years, between being a poster-child for video game culture's toxic objectification of women and then being demoted from "stone-cold uber-competent treasure hunter" to "traumatized grad student" in the survivor trilogy; it's nice to have her early games back with some modern polish.
All of which leaves me glad I dipped back into these games to remind me of my childhood, and also keenly aware that I am no longer that child.
(Initial thoughts while I slowly play through the first game)
A very well-made facelift to the classic games with much love and care, including new modern controls that feel alot more in-line with current sensibilities. However, the lack of an autosave and the sometimes frustrating platforming does show the game's age somewhat.
A very well-made facelift to the classic games with much love and care, including new modern controls that feel alot more in-line with current sensibilities. However, the lack of an autosave and the sometimes frustrating platforming does show the game's age somewhat.
this review is the first tomb raider:
while this game shows it's age like crazy it does have a sort of "getting over it" charm to it. throughout the 10 hour play time I could notice that you the player get better at the platforming and kind of becomes fun by the end. the combat is always awkward mainly because the camera is terrible.
while this game shows it's age like crazy it does have a sort of "getting over it" charm to it. throughout the 10 hour play time I could notice that you the player get better at the platforming and kind of becomes fun by the end. the combat is always awkward mainly because the camera is terrible.