Tomb Raider: Legend

Some great locations and outfits, and I really like exploring Croft Manor. But if I have to deal with this janky game ever again, I'm gonna lose my mind. Crappy QTEs, buttons not doing what they're supposed to, a camera that ends up being the worst enemy in the game, and terrible checkpoint placement. An overall interesting journey, but man, I'm glad they DON'T make them like this anymore...

Generally speaking, you're either a fan of Tomb Raider games, or you're not. This is your pretty typical split between combat and platforming sections with a bold line between them: You'll almost always either be in fight or platforming mode. Overall however, the platforming is the attraction (as it should be). While combat is decent for a game of this time period, there is rarely any need to use the new fancy moves and instead you can largely rely on your starting pistols and staying at range for most of the game. If you're already a TR fan like I am, absolutely pick it up. If you're not and looking to try the franchise, there are better installments.

I'm a relatively new player of this series, so my view is not really influenced by nostalgia. (I do remember some friends of mine with a Playstation a long time ago playing these, but that's about it.) In fact, aside from some random memories of the very first title, I started off with the more recent "Survivor" reboot. With the exception of the TR 2013 reboot game, I think I prefer this over the more modern series. To be honest, "Rise" and "Shadow" felt like Ubisoft games with a Tomb Raider wrapping. Lara had no personality in those, and, to be frank, while the stories were fine, I felt like they took the collectible hunting to unnecessary extremes. Plus, there were large sections of intense shooting that I was not expecting to deal with. The Good (for me): There are large areas of just pure platforming and puzzles (even if they are a bit too straightforward in places), which is what I appreciate from the series. Combat is present but is not usually overbearing. Level design is streamlined and relatively linear, which makes for more convenient gameplay (I don't have infinite gaming time, so I appreciate this). The soundtrack is lovely and miles better than anything I heard in the Survivor trilogy. Exploring the Croft Manor with that lovely manor theme song was also a highlight. The Bad: The Kazakhstan motorcycle sequence is not particularly enjoyable (at least the Peru one has an awesome song to go with it), and that final boss fight was just absolutely horrendous. I somehow beat it on normal difficulty by spamming attacks and hiding behind pillars while madly dodging all of the energy blasts. Actually, I was trying to beat all of the game at the hard difficulty level, but I had to lower it for that last fight. It felt more like a Dark Souls boss but mostly because the targeting system would not lock on to or reliably hit that Amanda-monster thing. In short, it's fine for what it is. A solid action adventure game with some unnecessary jank.

I still remember when I played this game when I was a kid and I still love it all the same, brigs to em the best of memories

This game is sooo good, easily my favorite TR game!. The graphics are great (I recommend not using Next gen because is a bit buggy), controls are great, the story and characters are great, but most of all, Lara is amazing in this game. It's not a hard game, but it's a fun one. Buy it, you won't regret it!