Support NeoGAF

[SSfox]

You’re in for a rough awakening. They’ll double down on the open world. New Tomb Raider will be a copycat of Horizon. Massive open world with hundreds of characters to talk to for quests, endless skill trees, some kind of mount, small villages with bad guys to conquer. It’s going to be a nightmare.

Will sell millions.

Last TR game didn't sell that much.

 

[Wildebeest]

They should just go all in and give Lara Croft exactly the same origin story as Batman this time. Make her arch nemesis Jaquelline "The Japer" Natla. Nobody will notice, and it's a guaranteed crowd pleaser of a story setup.

 

[BadBurger]

She definitely has a point.

 

[sankt-Antonio]

Would actually like it if she just started out raiding tombs for money, getting filthy rich, buying the mansion, getting a Buttler, living the live, for it to be taken from her, starting the hunt down of the people who did that, yada yada yada.

I want to smuggle artifacts over boarders, paying of cartel people to bring me to forbidden islands and bribing police etc. She can become this perfect beacon of hope in the last installment of the trilogy. But the first two need to be her rise to power. I want to be a ruthless cunt.

 

[tommib]

Would actually like it if she just started out raiding tombs for money, getting filthy rich, buying the mansion, getting a Buttler, living the live, for it to be taken from her, starting the hunt down of the people who did that, yada yada yada.

I want to smuggle artifacts over boarders, paying of cartel people to bring me to forbidden islands and bribing police etc. She can become this perfect beacon of hope in the last installment of the trilogy. But the first two need to be her rise to power. I want to be a ruthless cunt.

You should play Mafia.

 

[DeepEnigma]

From daddy issues, to just issues. Stripper pole mini games?

 

[sankt-Antonio]

You should play Mafia.

But I want to be globe trotting and exploiting people on nice islands.

 

[Killer8]

I want the next Tomb Raider to finally bridge the gap between the original games and the latest trilogy. I always thought the new trilogy was meant to be the origin story that would culminate in Lara getting her trademark style, but it never quite led to that.

 

[Excess]

I agree, the story should have been more realistic. She should've been swinging around a brass pole with those father issues, not exploring ancient tombs.

 

[ShaikhCroft]

Rhianna wrote the first two in the reboot trilogy, hope she will be back for more in the future!

 

[Barakov]

Tomb Raider Writer Wants Lara to Evolve Past Her Father

Rhianna Pratchett, a writer for the Tomb Raider games, says that she wants Lara Croft to have less father issues and become her own person.

gamerant.com

Speaking at the 2022 BAFTA awards, narrative writer Rhianna Pratchett spoke about the evolution of Lara Croft and how the story of Tomb Raider has changed following the reboot of the franchise. Pratchett discussed that she'd like to see more in terms of Lara's growth, with her character development relying less on her father. For some fans, Lara's discovery of her father's past was a negative point for the story, as it meant the focus was taken from Lara and placed upon the mystery of her father.

Pratchett would love to see Lara move on from this relationship with her father, instead working on becoming the Tomb Raider fans have known for decades. Speaking on where the character could go in future entries, Pratchett said that she "would like to see probably less father issues... [W]hen we wrote the reboot game, she was really on her way to becoming a Tomb Raider." Pratchett then went on to say that she hopes in the future fans see Lara as an independent Tomb Raider, free of her father's past. With an upcoming Tomb Raider title being announced recently, there's hope these changes will come sooner rather than later.

Yeah....it took far too long to get to the point where she's....ya'know The Tomb Raider. The nu Raider games were fine and all but it's time for it to be more Tomb Raider and less Uncharted.

 

[DAHGAMING]

Shes guna end up with a cock aint she.

 

[01011001]

she already did, and then you rebooted her story and made it 10x more lame

 

[Airbus Jr]

Three games into the reboot and she still hasn’t become Lara Croft yet?

Just skip ahead and make her badass again.

No man for me this new crystal dynamics lara croft design is better

 

[cireza]

Wow. So deep. Definitely the stuff I want from a Tomb Raider game.

 

[Filben]

About time. Why they thought making three games as an origin story is a good idea is beyond me. I wish she became the tomb raider after the first part of the rebooted trilogy and a real globetrotting bad ass.

I wouldn't mind a Tomb Raider Legend-esque game.

 

[Warablo]

Can we get a Lara mansion hub area back? Could be cool.

 

[SkylineRKR]

You and me both.
The fact that during the first Crystal Dynamics trilogy it was all about "where's my mother" and the second trilogy (and reboot) was all about daddy is honestly annoying.

That said...i wonder how the series will evolve? Having Lara Croft going god knows where to shoot near-extinct animals won't be done in 2022. Hopefully they will focus on puzzles like Shadow and leave the shooting for games like Uncharted. Tomb Raider doesn't need that to be good.

Some people said Shadow was "boring" but this IP was never about action setpieces and scripted events of Lara falling and nearly dying every step of the way....it was always much better when it was about puzzle solving and i hope they follow that direction.

Shadow was weirdly unbalanced, I enjoyed it, but it could've been much better. All the tombs had stupid XP and combat upgrades. Why. There wasn't much fighting in this game to begin with. There was not much incentive to do them, just for stupid XP drops.

I just want classic TR, drop Lara in some desolate tomb with only nature as the enemy and perhaps a few mercs and explore.

 

[Fess]

On a more general note, I think its about time to give more complex relationships to female protagonists (specifically, heterosexual). We get them all the time with male protagonists, but it seems many developers make their female protagonists homosexual (maybe because they are concerned to what a hetrosexual relationship will effect how male players view the character?). (This isn't trying to be a political comment, just something I noticed).

I don't know. Would be cool to me.

Lara had lovers in movies and games in the past, but there was no real focus on that and that’s how they should keep it going forward in upcoming games if then want to go back to the roots. Old Lara would never waste time and energy on some relationship, she’s too obsessed about treasure hunting.

That’s something the writers has done right with the new games tbh, fans has been talking about who she should hook up with but the devs never took it to that point. And tbh it was weird to see Nathan living some standard family life in UC4, it was much more believable when he was just fooling around with Chloe (whom btw is a great Lara Croft in Lost Legacy).

I really just hope we eventually get the old badass treasure hunter back, with focus on exploration, wild life, traps and puzzles. Tomb Raider used to be more like a 3D Prince of Persia. Somehow the devs lost their ways and turned Tomb Raider into a third person shooter instead. Remember that there used to be auto-aiming in the old games, that’s how little focus it was on the shooting.

 

[Fess]

Last TR game didn't sell that much.

The serie is on a decline but it’s still selling well.
Shadow sold 8.9 million copies.
Rise, 11.8 million.
Tomb Raider 2013, 14.5 million.

SALES FIGURES FOR TOMB RAIDER SERIES PUBLISHED

[ 4 December 2021 ]

A new edition of Treasure Hunters has been published on the official Tomb Raider blog that provides insight into the financials behind Shadow of the Tomb Raider. The Lara Croft-helmed adventure game cost 135 million dollars to produce (including promotion) and has sold 8.9 million units to date.

In contrast, Rise of the Tomb Raider cost 100 million dollars to produce, mostly recouped from an exclusivity deal with Microsoft, and sold 11.8 million units. The most successful of the rebooted Tomb Raider games is Tomb Raider, selling 14.5 million copies to date.

Previous editions of Treasure Hunters have revealed Tomb Raider Underworld sold 3.8 million units, Tomb Raider Legend sold 6.4 million units, The Angel of Darkness sold 2.5 million units, Tomb Raider Chronicles sold 1.5 million units, The Last Revelation sold 5 million units, Tomb Raider III sold 6 million units, Tomb Raider II sold 7 million units and the original Tomb Raider sold 7 million units.

As of September 2021, the Tomb Raider series has sold 85 million units worldwide, according to data from Square Enix. Square Enix regularly tally the total units sold for their main intellectual properties and a summary of this data can be found at the bottom of most press releases. The Tomb Raider franchise continues to be a solid performer for the Japanese publisher.

 

[MrJTeera]

Oh, I thought she meant Terry.

 

[Varteras]

Fuckin Larry Croft over here.

 

[Spaceman292]

Tomb Raider Writer Wants Lara to Evolve Past Her Father

Rhianna Pratchett, a writer for the Tomb Raider games, says that she wants Lara Croft to have less father issues and become her own person.

gamerant.com

Speaking at the 2022 BAFTA awards, narrative writer Rhianna Pratchett spoke about the evolution of Lara Croft and how the story of Tomb Raider has changed following the reboot of the franchise. Pratchett discussed that she'd like to see more in terms of Lara's growth, with her character development relying less on her father. For some fans, Lara's discovery of her father's past was a negative point for the story, as it meant the focus was taken from Lara and placed upon the mystery of her father.

Pratchett would love to see Lara move on from this relationship with her father, instead working on becoming the Tomb Raider fans have known for decades. Speaking on where the character could go in future entries, Pratchett said that she "would like to see probably less father issues... [W]hen we wrote the reboot game, she was really on her way to becoming a Tomb Raider." Pratchett then went on to say that she hopes in the future fans see Lara as an independent Tomb Raider, free of her father's past. With an upcoming Tomb Raider title being announced recently, there's hope these changes will come sooner rather than later.

You already had three games to do that but Lara was still bitching about him the whole time

 

[cormack12]

This is the writer of 2013, that just swapped dad reliance for Roth reliance right? Until the big 'omg he's dead (again), I have to be my own person now'. I liked the reboot series, but let's not pretend these are pillars of light in narrative. With ham fisted scenes like the below to show how much stronger Lara got - 'Run you baaaaaastards!!!'



Rise actually won an award for its writing which was by the same person (and probably my favourite of the three reboots). Ironically it did use the dad trope in a 'proper manner'. Lara is young so she has to stand on the shoulders of the work her father did, especially with Yamatai and Kitezh because there were years of research - his lifes work. If not his, then who? Ana?

Lara's backstory isn't as worldly or driven by treasure hunting as Nathan Drake so the plots have to be built around that. At the end of the day what's the difference between reading years of ancient notes gathered by your late father (who was actually on expeditions with first hand knowledge and a trusted source), or touring world libraries and reading the notes/artifacts there? Sometimes the simplest plot devices are the best and are only ever mentioned in passing.

I think the writer is just manufacturing a problem here. One she originally wrote as well.

 

[Zeroing]

This is the writer of 2013, that just swapped dad reliance for Roth reliance right? Until the big 'omg he's dead (again), I have to be my own person now'. I liked the reboot series, but let's not pretend these are pillars of light in narrative. With ham fisted scenes like the below to show how much stronger Lara got - 'Run you baaaaaastards!!!'



Rise actually won an award for its writing which was by the same person (and probably my favourite of the three reboots). Ironically it did use the dad trope in a 'proper manner'. Lara is young so she has to stand on the shoulders of the work her father did, especially with Yamatai and Kitezh because there were years of research - his lifes work. If not his, then who? Ana?

Lara's backstory isn't as worldly or driven by treasure hunting as Nathan Drake so the plots have to be built around that. At the end of the day what's the difference between reading years of ancient notes gathered by your late father (who was actually on expeditions with first hand knowledge and a trusted source), or touring world libraries and reading the notes/artifacts there? Sometimes the simplest plot devices are the best and are only ever mentioned in passing.

I think the writer is just manufacturing a problem here. One she originally wrote as well.

Argh, exactly, so many problems, first writers join after the devs have already have set pieces and ideas for the game, so the writers have to work around that. That is why Lara seems to be suffering from multiple personalities in the latest trilogy.
Why does Lara needs a motive and a backstory? She likes history, adventure and she's naturally curious... make a story about that and keep it simple.

 

[GrayFoxPL]

Er... When does father ever come into play?

Few mentions into story and that's it?

Most of father's story was in Tomb Raider Revelations when Lara was a kid.

 

[The_Mike]

Move on from dad and onto the newly announced transgender sisterbrother of Lara (in keeping with woke modern game narratives that have to be controversial)

 

[cormack12]

Argh, exactly, so many problems, first writers join after the devs have already have set pieces and ideas for the game, so the writers have to work around that. That is why Lara seems to be suffering from multiple personalities in the latest trilogy.
Why does Lara needs a motive and a backstory? She likes history, adventure and she's naturally curious... make a story about that and keep it simple.

Yup, the father things only needs to be a footnote and a plot device.

• Lara's dad died and she decided to follow in his footsteps.
• Lara needs info, oh it's in her dads notebook.

That's as much as we need as players, lol.

 

[Yoboman]

Is she starting an OnlyFans?

 

[Tiago Rodrigues]

This is the writer of 2013, that just swapped dad reliance for Roth reliance right? Until the big 'omg he's dead (again), I have to be my own person now'. I liked the reboot series, but let's not pretend these are pillars of light in narrative. With ham fisted scenes like the below to show how much stronger Lara got - 'Run you baaaaaastards!!!'



Rise actually won an award for its writing which was by the same person (and probably my favourite of the three reboots). Ironically it did use the dad trope in a 'proper manner'. Lara is young so she has to stand on the shoulders of the work her father did, especially with Yamatai and Kitezh because there were years of research - his lifes work. If not his, then who? Ana?

Lara's backstory isn't as worldly or driven by treasure hunting as Nathan Drake so the plots have to be built around that. At the end of the day what's the difference between reading years of ancient notes gathered by your late father (who was actually on expeditions with first hand knowledge and a trusted source), or touring world libraries and reading the notes/artifacts there? Sometimes the simplest plot devices are the best and are only ever mentioned in passing.

I think the writer is just manufacturing a problem here. One she originally wrote as well.

There were some clashes between the writing team and the publisher or studio though. You can tell that even with Shadow of the Tomb Raider writing.

They didn't know what to do with this character. One moment she's fighting for survival, the other one she's a murderous psycho. I'll show you an example of what i mean. This next scene made no sense to who this character was even in context:



I kind of cringed at all this. Her coming out of the water to murder a guy running away from her...the Terminator-like scene that followed...how is this Lara Croft and how is this the last part of her "beginning" as an unexperienced fighter? We also don't see this explosive rage anywhere else in the game.

This very same game...had a much better directed and acted scene of Lara coming out of the water in fact, as it follows:



I mean it's night and day. I wanted more of this...really. Not that first video.

The way she would go from 8 to 80 made no sense and it kept happening throughout the entire trilogy.

 

[Y0ssarian]

 

[Bo_Hazem]

Will she get a boner now?