Games Inbox: What is the best Tomb Raider video game?

 

Is the original still the best? (Aspyr)

The Wednesday letters page thinks it knows what Nintendo is planning for Donkey Kong, as a reader discusses the secret to Grand Theft Auto’s success.

Ultimate Raider
I know the Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered compilation has had some criticism in the Inbox, but I’m really interested in playing it, even though I didn’t really like any of the games at the time. I’m especially interested to see if they can actually improve Angel Of Darkness, although I’m doubtful they can turn it into an actually good game.

But that made me think about what is regarded as the best Tomb Raider and I don’t think there’s any real accepted answer to that. The short list, as far as I’m concerned, are Tomb Raider 1/Anniversary, Legend, and Rise Of The Tomb Raider.

There’s usually good stuff in all the games (and usually very bad stuff too) but I honestly don’t know if there’s anything that’s overall better than Anniversary/the remaster in Tomb Raider I-III Remastered.

There is clearly a lot of space for an ultimate Tomb Raider game though, so despite how many there’ve been I feel we do need the series to continue. Whether it’ll be any good is another matter though and I feel it’s about time Crystal Dynamics gave someone else a chance with the series. Although it’s a bit late for that now.
Kraig

Back to basics
I’m fine with the Donkey Kong redesign but I do agree that it all points towards a new game early on, if not at launch, for the Switch 2. You wouldn’t make that kind of change just for Mario Kart, but you would want to do it far enough in advance that the redesign didn’t become the only thing people talked about when you unveil the new game.

I don’t know what the new game is going to be but if you don’t just want to be repeating the past, like Donkey Kong Country Returns, the obvious thing to do is go back to the original game, which in this case is the coin-op where you controlled Mario. What that looks like in a modern game I don’t know but I can easily believe the Super Mario Odyssey team are working on it.

It’s essentially the same method Nintendo used to reboot Zelda, where they used the very original game as their inspiration and ignored everything else, in order to get to the root of what the series is about.
System4

Bad odds
I’m going all in and calling it now, that the Nintendo Switch 2 will have Game Pass and Nvidia GeForce Now apps available.

I know it’s mostly wishful thinking on my part, but it makes perfect sense with the mouse function. It would also potentially entice some of the Xbox and handheld/casual PC market. Come on Inbox magic!
Wallace

Historical troubles
I can’t see why Microsoft can’t go third party if Game Pass is what they’re interested in. I’m sure if they say to Sony, ‘Let us put Game Pass on your consoles and we will leave the race all together’ I think Sony would say yes, I really do.

When Xbox brought out the Xbox One they was losing money on everyone, now they have brought out a more powerful one then that they must be losing money on again. It won’t be long now till most broadband will be perfect for streaming games and as for having the right device for playing Game Pass, you can get a Firestick for £50.

The only problem I can see in Microsoft going third party is Sony would have the golden egg, they could charge what they like, when they like. Games would go up to £100 each. PlayStation Plus would go up because there is no competition. Yes, Nintendo is still there but Sony and Nintendo are both doing their own thing. Xbox going third party would be good for them but for the players it’d be the worse thing in gaming history.
David

Virtual port
Will GC be reviewing Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O.? I admit to being a little confused as to what it actually is, as Sega were talking about a new game but I assume this is not it? Why is it only on PC?

I’ve tried to get into the series a number of times over the year, because I always hear it’s the deepest 3D fighting game, and the move lists seem to bear that out, but I’ve always found it very difficult to get into, with generic characters and no real story.
Johnson

GC: There’s not really any point, as it’s essentially just a port of Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown on PlayStation 4. A brand new game is underway at the moment, with a few gameplay snippets already having been shown off.

One and only
I’d be fine with Trevor being killed off in GTA 6, although I thought he died at the end of GTA 5, but perhaps I’m misremembering that. It’s surprising till you think about it, but there are actually relatively few characters that ever crossover from one game to the next and I think that’s one of the smaller secrets of the game’s success.

GTA’s been around for over 25 years now but nobody ever has to ask which one they should play first to catch up with the story or what they need to know about the characters or background lore. Every game is self-contained and while it’s in the same universe it’s just an exaggerated version of the real-world, so you can start playing straight away.

I don’t know how intended this was but if it’s by accident it’s really worked out for them. That’s why I don’t think Trevor will be in GTA 6, because then you’ve got to explain who he is and that’s not the GTA way.

It’s interesting that Red Dead Redemption is very different though and I wonder if they did they on purpose. Although, to be honest, I found the attempts to connect with the first game kind of annoying, especially the boring epilogue to the second game.
Rory

GC: There’re multiple endings to GTA 5.

Fixed position
The Inbox is a wee bit hard to find on the homepage these days, on mobile at least. I know the old trick of using the tags, but I wonder if there’s any way to keep it near the top of the feed like it used to be?

As a Teletext dinosaur (double-extinct) it’s a fixture of my mornings (due to quality contributions like this one).
Magnumstache

GC: Except for weekends, It’s always the second story, directly below the main one on mobile?

Ordinary people
God Of War being set in Egypt has seemed super obvious for ages, but I wonder whether it’s really as good a fit as people think. It’s probably the third most well known pantheon of gods, that aren’t worshipped today, but I don’t know if we really need to see Kratos working his way through them all, snapping their necks and whatever.

I’d hope for either a more obscure religion or something where he has to deal with the fact that nobody believes in Greek or Norse or Egyptian gods anymore and so that’s why they went away, not because Kratos killed them.

For me, the biggest fault of the reboot games is that it was never clear what time they were set in or where all the ordinary humans were. It can’t be prehistory, because the Greek games weren’t, but it certainly felt like that. Maybe I’m forgetting something, but I don’t think there were any mortals in the game at all, unless you count the dwarves and other fantasy races.

I’d like the next game to address that and explain what ordinary people are thinking about all this. Are they turning to modern religions instead or is the game just going to disconnect itself from reality and say that all the gods died? I’d be interested in either outcome but just doing the same thing again with a different set of characters doesn’t seem like the right move.
Cheetah

Inbox also-rans
I wonder if the Switch 2’s mouse controls are going to make things like The Sims a lot bigger on console? That could be why EA’s interested in bringing back the older games, as I bet The Sims 2 could be ported over really easy.
Zeard

I’d like to say that I actually like Resident Evil Zero. Or at least I really liked the train bit and the rest was okay. If I was making a remake I’d have it all set on the train, and then you don’t have to worry about the mansion overlapping with a Resident Evil 1 remake.
Gabs

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Games Inbox: What is the best Tomb Raider video game?