Any Tomb Raider fans here?

[Jonipoon]

The problem with these modern-day game writers that want to convey a realistic sense of strong and relatable characters, is that they're obsessed with the whole concept of negative emotions. They think that an overdose of pain, suffering, anger and sadness is the key to success, but they seem to forget that you also need a good (iow well-written) story for those emotions to work. I think these modern Tomb Raider games are perfect examples of this problem.

It sort of reminds me of crappy soap operas where one of the main characters start to cry in every damn episode lol. It doesn't feel earned and comes off as forced.

 

[Ikawaru]

The problem with these modern-day game writers that want to convey a realistic sense of strong and relatable characters, is that they're obsessed with the whole concept of negative emotions. They think that an overdose of pain, suffering, anger and sadness is the key to success, but they seem to forget that you also need a good (iow well-written) story for those emotions to work. I think these modern Tomb Raider games are perfect examples of this problem.

It sort of reminds me of crappy soap operas where one of the main characters start to cry in every damn episode lol. It doesn't feel earned and comes off as forced.

Right. It's like they think they're George R.R. Martin or something, a whole ton of pain and suffering and misery, but at least in ASoIaF there's a damn good story guiding it along (Well, at least in the first 3 books, from book 4 on it gets weak).

I guess it'll take time to perfect such concepts, as they are clearly still in the prototype phase.

 

[Jonipoon]

Late news but the next Tomb Raider has supposedly started development and will be made in Unreal Engine 5.

A new Tomb Raider is coming, built on Unreal Engine 5

Crystal Dynamics announces a new Tomb Raider game is in the works, using Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 5. No gameplay or release date yet, but the developer said it plans to unify Lara Croft’s multiple timelines.

www.polygon.com

And they're still sticking to their plan of merging all three storylines (OG, LAU and Reboot) into one unified timeline. I still think it's a terrible idea, but hey, whatever floats their boat....

 

[Murderer Enshrined]

I played this Tomb Raider trilogy a lot. And as much as it p***ed me off at times, I have to admit, I'm happy to hear the news.

Maybe they should put it in first-person

NOT!

 

[Ikawaru]

Maybe they should put it in first-person

NOT!

Scared me there for a second, nothing wrong with FPS but turning games that were originally 3rd person into FPS was the worst thing since Covid!

 

[KManX89]

Late news but the next Tomb Raider has supposedly started development and will be made in Unreal Engine 5.

A new Tomb Raider is coming, built on Unreal Engine 5

Crystal Dynamics announces a new Tomb Raider game is in the works, using Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 5. No gameplay or release date yet, but the developer said it plans to unify Lara Croft’s multiple timelines.

www.polygon.com

And they're still sticking to their plan of merging all three storylines (OG, LAU and Reboot) into one unified timeline. I still think it's a terrible idea, but hey, whatever floats their boat....

How TF does that even work? I'm pretty sure reboot Lara is a completely different Lara with a totally different origin story and whole new personality and supporting cast. They never even mentioned Natla in this newest iteration.

Also, this new TR game is a continuation of Reboot Lara (SotTR sequel), right? Or is it yet another reboot? I'd ask Meagan Marie on Twitter, but she and the rest of the CD staff are probably NDA'd against that.

 

[Murderer Enshrined]

I'm sure the TR team is working very hard NOT to keep the bugs and technical issues out of the game.

Seriously, it's like they don't know that game testers exist or what their purpose is.

 

[Frag Maniac]

I avoided all 4 of the originals, as the controls were just too awkward. I bought Angel of Darkness, but it was riddled with bugs. I really enjoyed the LAU trilogy though. I've also played the new trilogy that started in 2013, but really didn't like how they dumbed down the gathering of artifacts and relics, and made tombs way too short and easy. Even starting with Underworld they'd gone from having us puzzle through elaborate rooms with timed death trap puzzles, to merely kicking open clay pots to gather such items though.

Since Embracer Group just acquired Crystal Dynamics, Eidos, Square Enix and all TR IP (among many others), and a new Tomb Raider title has been announced with Crystal Dynamics being the lead team, I don't know whether to be excited or expect even more dumbing down where graphics take precedence over gameplay. The use of the new Unreal Engine 5 could be an indication of that. I wouldn't be at all opposed to a mix of the new style with the old, but if we merely have to find artifacts and relics, vs work hard to get them, and breeze through easy tombs, it will be a bargain bin purchase at best for me.

 

[Ikawaru]

I don't know whether to be excited or expect even more dumbing down where graphics take precedence over gameplay. The use of the new Unreal Engine 5 could be an indication of that.

Are we sure about this? UE (Also, Unity engine) has always been known for its ease of accessibility, and UE5 looks to continue this but with added features like higher FPS (frames per second) capabilities and supporting the latest GPU features like Ray Tracing, DLSS etc.

Theoretically, if this turns out to be true and it turns out to be easy to use, they should be able to spend less time coding and more time enhancing gameplay. I may be way off of course but so far I've been pretty optimistic about UE5.

 

[Frag Maniac]

Are we sure about this? UE (Also, Unity engine) has always been known for its ease of accessibility, and UE5 looks to continue this but with added features like higher FPS (frames per second) capabilities and supporting the latest GPU features like Ray Tracing, DLSS etc.

Theoretically, if this turns out to be true and it turns out to be easy to use, they should be able to spend less time coding and more time enhancing gameplay. I may be way off of course but so far I've been pretty optimistic about UE5.

I'm not sure which you're asking for clarification on, the use of UE 5, or whether it will mean graphics quality over gameplay.

All indications by what they're saying show they're dead set on using UE 5, and since that's all they're saying with nothing yet said about the actual game or gameplay, I'm just saying it's not a great sign to me given the differences I explained between the LAU trilogy and the last trilogy.

Of course I hope like hell I'm wrong, because I love a good TR game as much as anyone, but I remain skeptical. Embracer Group are setting themselves up to be perhaps the biggest holding company in gaming, and as we all know, often times bigger doesn't mean better.

 

[Ikawaru]

often times bigger doesn't mean better.

This is true, very true, however I am currently of the mind that if the new TR fails it would be in spite of rather than because of the use of Unreal Engine 5. Everything on paper indicates a really good engine. We have yet to see anything so far, and there could be boatloads of contradictions, but if UE4 is anything to go by, fixing its issues like limited FPS and lack of modern GPU features and retaining it's user friendly platform sounds so far quite promising. We will see.

 

[Frag Maniac]

This is true, very true, however I am currently of the mind that if the new TR fails it would be in spite of rather than because of the use of Unreal Engine 5. Everything on paper indicates a really good engine. We have yet to see anything so far, and there could be boatloads of contradictions, but if UE4 is anything to go by, fixing its issues like limited FPS and lack of modern GPU features and retaining it's user friendly platform sounds so far quite promising. We will see.

You keep thinking I'm worrying about UE 5, but that's not at all my point. We've all seen that UE 5 looks better than UE 4. I'm just saying if all they're intent on talking about is better graphics, we may see the same graphics over gameplay shenanigans with this next game, especially given how the last trilogy compared to the one prior. Again though, this new game is still early in development it seems, so I hope they prove me wrong. I'll be keeping a close eye on it.

 

[Ikawaru]

Well you did imply that using UE5 could indicate that they are focusing more on graphics than gameplay, I simply disagreed with the notion and speculated that using UE5 could actually be beneficial to gameplay (based off of what we've seen), not detrimental.

Even CD Projekt Red, after taking a major blow to their reputation, has confirmed that they are dropping their in house engine and switching to UE5. That's quite a change in conduct considering their prior adamancy to using their own built from scratch developing tools. They seem to be well aware that using it can cut back coding grind and focus more on gameplay and world building, which could also be the case for TR developers, as they themselves used their own in house Foundation Engine for their prior Trilogy.

Add the fact that Jeff Ross, who led the development of Days Gone, has joined Crystal Dynamics, on paper I see net gains rather than net losses here.

 

[Frag Maniac]

Well, at the end of the day, it's often not the devs or dev lead that determine the limits of game design creativity, so I'm not sure Jeff Ross is going to be used to his potential. I also don't see how CDPR is a valid example when they screwed up Cyberpunk 2077 so badly. I still haven't reinstalled that game after shelving it due to tons of unacceptable bugs. It's going to be a while before CDPR gets my trust again.

It's also questionable how much UE 5 can improve gameplay, I mean after all, it can't by itself make up for placing artifacts and relics in clay pots you kick open, or make tombs bigger and harder to solve. Engines CAN sometimes be more efficient at loading assets though, which can reduce stuttering. That's really more of a performance than a gameplay improvement though.

That said, I don't mean to be a pessimist here, I really want to see another good TR game, which I feel we haven't had in some time. I'm not going to just give them 100% faith on it though, they have to earn that, and so far as I said they've said and shown nothing to warrant it. I hate to say it, but I don't see any talking points I can agree with there. At best some are wishful thinking.

At any rate I'm more worried about a resource problem I'm having in Chernobylite. Could you please reply to my post in the What's Everybody Playing thread?