Just finished the game last night, and I have mixed feelings on it. I loved the gameplay in TR2013. I loved the combat and I loved how every new thing you got, whether a weapon or a traversal ability, felt like it was greatly paced.
Some of the things I wanted in the sequel were gymnast Lara, proper boss fights, better tombs and less QTEs (among other things, but that's what stands out from memory). In RotTR, we don't have boss fights, have less (if not any) QTEs in cutscenes, but you still have gameplay prompts (that you can't turn off, right?) and some tombs are great, but others are just as simplistic as before. And Lara can swim and dive, both of which end up underwhelming.
Worse though, is that the core gameplay is lackluster. The best thing I liked from TR2013 didn't feel great anymore. I'm not even sure why. I played TR2013 on Hard, while I played RotTR on Normal (due to time constraints), but still, I expected to like it more. I've been reflecting, and I think it is due to the level design for combat sections. They just aren't fun bar 1 or 2 moments. Most of it is just being thrown in a confined area with enemies flowing in until the end, which sounds horrible to tackle in Hard. Maybe I mis-remember TR2013 overall, but there are sections I still fondly remember tackling in TR2013 combat-wise. There was also a lot less of it in RotTR, so the best part to me, the fluid combat, doesn't stand out. It also sucked that I forgot you could dodge while aiming for 80% of the game, something that I only saw mentioned in a loading screen, which was too late. It makes the fluid combat even better. Also, couldn't you throw sand in peoples faces while dodging in TR2013? I missed being able to do that in RotTR. The crafting mechanic cheapened encounters too, imo.
I felt the pacing was bad too, in terms of weapons/traversal abilities gained. Some of it felt redundant too, like the arrow jumps, which ended up just being similar to pick axe climbing. The grapple hook was super cool, if not ultimately game altering.
What stands out mostly is exploration, which is fine for certain rewards, but is absolutely boring for hunting materials. I do hate the survival mechanic and crafting mechanic. I couldn't be bothered doing optional tombs nearer the end because the end reward felt cheap and stupid. In TR2013, doing optional tombs gave you treasure and you saw a different side of Lara, one giddy at finding treasures vs story Lara. It was cool. Here, the story invades the optional tombs and cheapens it. I don't care for some crappy ability I'd likely have never unlocked if available in the level up screen. It took the joy out of the optional tombs for me. Some optional tombs were pretty basic too.
It's a shame, I loved the Syria part. When you first approach the tomb, it's awesome, reminiscent of old school TR. The Siberia section is dull and boring to me. Too much snow and cloudy skies mean a dull atmosphere. To me at least, especially compared to Syria. Some tombs and puzzles are great, again reminding me of old school TR, but the survival stuff and material hunting I really dislike.
The story: What can I say, it was less interesting than in TR2013. I had some hope coming in having heard people saying it was better than TR2013. Your 'companions' are better in RotTR than in TR2013, but everything else is worse. Worse antagonist and worse Lara. I could not care less for Lara's motivations, and it went on and on. It was pretty bad, at least in TR2013, it was a basic 'save friends' thing. Lara's motivation in RotTR just comes off as stupid. In terms of antagonist, I actually liked Mathias in TR2013, he could've been better, but nothing in RotTR comes close. And now Trinity may return in the future? Bleh. It also doesn't help that the thing everyone is chasing, the 'power to cure all illnesses', is a crap plot. The hyper realistic motion capture is also uncanny to me. Everyone looks like they're over-acting. That said I got used to it by the end, and the game looks super pretty, but I'd take money put elsewhere over it.
Lara's outfits are mostly forgettable too. At least in TR2013, even though it was a single outfit, it got damaged throughout the game and shared Lara's scars. That was cool. In RotTR, most don't even look good, and come with annoying abilities that I don't want attached to them.
I did like the side-missions (the ones people give you, not the crappy random ones like take down rabbit entrails or some BS), but again, they could've been handled better. Have more meaning to it, and don't have a mission be 'do all optional tombs'. Come on.
TL;DR - I dunno, RotTR isn't what I wanted from the sequel to TR2013. There are plenty of good stuff, but the game could've been much better. I was more forgiving in 2013, not so much now.
