Shadow of the Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition

Graphically, it's the best in the series, as expected, but overall, it's the weakest of the trilogy. The game focuses almost entirely on one tribe, which takes away the surprise of discovering new scenarios, a common feature since the first PS1 game. Fortunately, GOG is bringing back these classic titles, because video games are no longer entertainment. From now on, we'll only see political activism and ideological content embedded in games.

If you liked the new versions of Tomb Raider you will like this one as well - bigger and better. Continuation of Lara's journey.

Nothing but good things about this game. One of my favorites.

I enjoyed my time playing this game, as Shadow of the Tomb Raider is the best in the trilogy gameplay mechanics-wise, but collectibles-wise, this game got the short end of the stick. These collectibles ruined the story for me. Not that the story is bad, but the collectibles just made it harder for me to digest the story. Let me explain in my points below, starting with the pros: Pros: - Stealth. I have to put it here, as the devs have just improved its stealth mechanics even further in this third installment than what was already possible in the second game. Starting with the mud, Lara can now cover herself in mud and camouflage herself to the muddy walls around here. Not only that, she can now pull enemies up to her level in the tree canopies using her bow and arrows. These additional elements to Lara's stealth allows her to lurk between enemies undetected with even more creative freedom in regards to how should Lara approach her enemies. Even better, Lara can now re-enter stealth after being detected if she got far enough and found cover fast enough before her enemies could notice. This wasn't possible in the second game (if I remember correctly), let alone the first game. This, in my opinion, is one of the more welcome improvements in the game, as I always prefer the stealthier approach when playing games - Swimming! Yes! Swimming! Lara can now freely swim and dive to whatever depths she desires - Puzzles and tombs. Just like the second game, the puzzles and tombs in this game do not disappoint. The addition of swimming with complete freedom also allowed the devs to incorporate that feature to the way the game's puzzles and tombs are designed, adding more variety and complexity to the puzzles. And I thought Rise of the Tomb Raider's puzzles couldn't have been refined even more - Sceneries. I'm not sure about you guys, I enjoy the sceneries in all the three games in the Survivor Trilogy, but I think I like the ones in this game better, with the second game taking a close second spot - Side quests. Unlike the second game, the side quests are much more diverse here. And some side quests even take you to explore secret tombs that you otherwise might not have stumbled upon had you not taken the quests. Heck, one of the side quests even made you help the investigation of a murder lol - Story. I was at quite a bit of a predicament in deciding whether I should've placed this game's story in the pros or decent side of my review, but I've finally chosen to put it here. Although not as engaging as the second game, this third game also isn't without its merits when it comes to its storytelling. To be more specific, I really like how the conversations/dialogues were written between the important characters of the story, be it between themselves, or between them and Lara. How despite the villain being the evil person that they are for the bloodshed they have committed, we also got to know the story behind them and how some of the hard decisions they'd taken were forced upon them to make, in order to protect what they hold dear. Moreover, the villain was also pretty reasonable in this game too, and how the good side characters were also willing to listen and have normal discussions with the villain - Game's performance. This game is by far the most optimized compared to the other two games in the trilogy. I've never once experienced a crash in this game, and no freezings, something that happened quite a bit in the second game Decent: - Combat. I don't think much has been improved in terms of combat when it comes to this third installment - Graphics. It's clear to me that the texture details for the character models definitely experienced a downgrade, especially Lara. Back in the first and second games, we would see dirt, mud, or other grit in general to give Lara that more gritty and serious look to her. However, she no longer has those said details, and her expressions kinda look a bit dead to me most of the time. Only during cutscenes do I see those details appear the most, and during stealth whenever I let Lara cover herself in mud. Could be a deliberate choice from the devs to really emphasize the difference between when she's in her clean mode vs dirty muddy stealth mode. That said, I don't believe them to be mutually exclusive, and do very much prefer for the devs to have kept both Cons: - Collectibles. This game really embodies the perfect example of quantity over quality when it comes to its collectibles. Why? It's apparent to me that the devs tried to make the player explore and learn about the cultures and polytheistic religions of the Maya, Inca, and Aztec civilizations through its collectibles. I actually appreciate the devs wanting us to study these things through gaming, but doing it through collectibles entirely is just not the right choice to make in my opinion. Imagine all those civilizations' information packed into collectibles and spread throughout the game's map for you to search. You know how many of them can there be? Too many. And this affected my immersion with the game's story because I couldn't quite pinpoint which of the information I got from the collectibles actually had anything to do with the actual main story, because there were just so many of them and how you got introduced to the numerous deities from each civilization made you feel that you need to remember them as they might be important to the story and only to be disappointed afterwards as only a portion of them turned out to actually matter. Again, I thank you Crystal Dynamics for this enlightening journey, but why not just make the whole literature an extra that you get upon completing the game which you can access anytime (again, after you've completed the game) from the main menu. That's a much preferable alternative than the current one. That way, you (the devs) could've focused more on making use of the collectibles to allow the player and Lara to explore more about the Maya civilization and Trinity instead, thus fortifying the story even further as support blocks for whatever information that were not clearly explained through playing the main story alone - Save game bug. I still don't know what caused it, and couldn't find a solution online. So I tried solving it on my own, and I did. If you're lucky, you might never have to encounter this bug, and that's great. But if one day the game suddenly resets and you can no longer continue and load your game, know that there's a good chance your save files are still there in your PC/laptop. Just open "Document/Shadow of the Tomb Raider", and you'll see two folders named with numbers only. There's only supposed to be one, but the game would somehow make a new folder with a new profile. So what you need to do is just open one of the numbered folders that has the save.dat files in it, and copy and paste those save.dat files to the other numbered folder that only has a profile.dat file in it. Open the game again and you should be able to continue from your latest progress - (NITPICK) I kinda wish the devs could've stuck with the older format where the individuals' journals would be read by the people who wrote them instead, hehe. Hey, Lara needs an extra pay for reading all those people's journals you know! And if they're no longer with us, who's gonna pay her huh?! Some of those journals are at least four hundred years old, you know! This game has the best gameplay mechanics in the Survivor Trilogy, and the worst collectibles in the trilogy, with the first game taking the close second spot (that game's individuals' journals had their own problem which I've explained in my previous reviews for Tomb Raider (2013) and Rise of the Tomb Raider). Overall, Shadow of the Tomb Raider could've been a better game, but a great game nonetheless.

Played this on steam a couple of years ago, and I enjoyed it the most out of the Survivor Trilogy (well, it's a tie between this and the 2013 one). I love the stealth gameplay, and the puzzles are actually quite engaging. As engaging as the 1-6 Remasters? No. But they're great in their own right. I'd recommend playing on the second to hardest, and the hardest difficulty. It really makes you feel like you're a Guerilla fighting badass archeologist hellbent on getting her way. The story is okay, but it has some great set pieces, and I doubt you're playing this for the story anyway. All in all, a very fun game...!