The main thing I'm expecting from Shadows is tough puzzles, more open areas than in TR2013, and pretty graphics (which I can see are there). I'm trying to be prudent by setting the bar low.
Not low enough. If I'm right you'll understand exactly what we mean a few hours into the game. Come back when you do.
It's funny reading my stuff one year later. Actually, as I keep playing Shadow, my good impressions are gradually rising, not unlike a boner would... but nevermind.
While it's basically the same game in a different setting, there are slight but steady improvements in each part of the formula. When put together, they make for a noticeable difference.
The biggest for me is exploring a jungle instead of an arctic/taiga environment. The jungle just feels a lot more exotic, inspiring and believable as a setting for an adventure. It's also a much better environment to show off the graphics with. Playing at fully maxed settings and on my native 4K feels great, and makes me wish I was playing on a big TV instead of on my 27-inch display.
The jungle made me want to larp around with stealth and use the bow exclusively, which leads me to the stealth mechanics which feel improved, and the environments actually incite me to use stealth. Maybe it's just me, but in Rise it usually felt like too much trouble instead of simply shooting up everyone instead of sneaking. In Shadow I got killed a couple of times when I took on 4 guys at once. Stealth on the other hand, feels fun.
The one time I used the pistol and a bit of assault rifle in one side mission, the gunshot sounds actually felt excellent, and popping headshots gave that nice and very satisfying feeling.
I strongly approve of the idea of having dangerous explorable environments (tombs) which reward with outfits, and other such locations that reward with unique skills. Finding parts of weapons in Rise felt silly and less of a reward if you're not going to use that weapon. The outfit at least has the upside that you can check out how Lara will look in it, even if you never use it, and so far all of them have some contextual use that makes them worth having at your disposal.
The game generally feels rebalanced towards more careful playing, compared to Rise, and if you want you can configure the difficulty to make it quite punishing.
The skills tree made me want to buy many upgrades at a time, so the scarcity of skill points is felt, and most of the skill upgrades are impactful, although you can't seriously speak of "builds", but I don't think that was ever the intention. In any case it's a big improvement over the previous games where I was maxing out skill trees just out of pedantism, without needing the skills.
I'm not far into the story, just passed the trials, but with regard to the characters, I like the idea of Lara being a wilful brat who gets her nose rubbed, learns and struggles with the feeling of responsibility. The villain also seems miles ahead of the Rise or TR2013 levels.
Since some guy recommends that I try Uncharted 4, I wonder how does that compare in terms of gameplay? Are puzzles and combat even more simplistic, and it's just an interactive movie where you press buttons from time to time, or is it comparable to Shadow of the Tomb Raider
