Rolling Around in the Mud--Shadow of the Tomb Raider

Ooof!  I just finished my first full playthrough of Shadow of the Tomb Raider and, I've got to say, it is my favorite of the three Tomb Raider re-boots.  I had a great time playing it (barring some technical annoyances that I will get to) and would definitely recommend it to anyone who is a fan of the series or who is interested in picking it up for the first time.  Being my normal completionist self (*I got 97% completion...so irritating, but I refuse to look up the items I missed!) I did my best to find as many of the collectibles as I could, complete any sidequests, and, of course, to master all the challenge tombs...oh and pet the llamas.  With all these activities my completion of the story clocked in at 31 hours, which I felt was just right.

Pros:

It's a frickin' pirate ship!

+ In true Tomb Raider style, the game is absolutely beautiful.  The story is set in Mexico and South America and involves tombs and settings inspired by Aztec, Maya, and Inca ruins.  The settings vary from lush jungle zones, to ancient stepped pyramids, to small village outposts, to a crumbling mission, to creepy, monster-filled caves.  Each environment is stunningly detailed and it is enjoyable just to spend time walking around and taking in the local flavor.  The Mayan/Incan inspired outfits are gorgeous.

+Movement and camera angles are very good.  It's not perfect, but it has gotten so much better since ye olden days of Lara Croft.  There were almost no frustrating moments where the camera lodged itself into an unhelpful angle and made it difficult to traverse.  Some of the most awkward times with the camera were times when Lara was navigating an overhang--it could be somewhat difficult to figure out exactly where she needed to go.

+Oodles of collectibles.  Each zone is scattered with items that require some added incentive to fully explore.  There are documents, survival caches, relics, murals, and treasure chests.  The items that you collect help to tell stories about the civilizations, characters, and issues related to the story.  In particular, finding murals is useful because each mural helps Lara learn one of the three dialects present in the game and allows her to eventually be able to translate monoliths.  Once translated, monoliths will present Lara with a riddle to solve in order to find a hidden cache of valuable materials.

A very Mayan/Incan flair and feel.

+ Challenge tombs were fun and not overly complex (*disclaimer--I don't mean easy and I had to look up the solution to two of them.  After looking up those solutions I discovered that I missed some very stupidly obvious parts of the puzzle).  Completing these tombs isn't mandatory, but each tomb does unlock specific talents which are tied to chaining talents, so worthwhile.

+ Fast travel system allows you to return to zones that you previously explored.  The nice part about this system is that there are multiple campsites (your fast travel beacons) scattered throughout a zone and it's very convenient to have one located near your objective and not have to repeatedly traverse certain areas.  It's also basically mandatory if you're going for some degree of completion due to the fact that certain items are unlocked by progressing through the main story.

+ Wide variety of craftable gear that provides different perks depending on the set.  Lara can equip a top and a bottom piece of gear.  Some of the items give combat perks and others are more geared toward gathering.  The craftable gear has a cool, Mayan/Incan look and integrates the items that Lara finds in the jungle (like jaguar skins).  Some items are found in crypts; others are rewarded in sidequests or main storyline quests.  If you're in it for more cosmetic reasons, there are also many outfits that Lara can equip--including several skins that revert Lara to her classic look (the very geometric classic look....)

+Stellar action sequences.  I was blown away by the action sequences in the game.  Throughout the story Lara gets swept up in events that require her to absolutely run for her life.  It is extremely intense and will have you on the edge of your seat.  No other game series I've played has managed to convey that feeling of surviving by the very skin of your teeth.

+ Improved stealth mechanics.  Lara can smear herself with mud and hide in special muddy vine patches.  It's the perfect formula for hiding and waiting for Trinity goons to stumble into stabbing range.  Most of the main combat zones are sprinkled with opportunities to be stealthy, however, being completely stealthy is easier said than done.  Mud Lara is an absolute badass.

Pet those llamas.

+ Llama petting.  Every game should include animals to pet.  The end.

+ Herbs provide healing and buffs for a variety of purposes.  Those buffs are handy for combat situations and also for exploration.

+Photographer mode!  I love snapping up some sick screenshots and tweaking my photos to make them just right.

Cons:
- Technical difficulties.  I experienced a somewhat frustrating number of game freezes.  The weird part about these freezes is that they really didn't seem to hit until I reached a particular part of the game.  I tried lowering my graphic settings but still had crashes.  It wasn't until I did some researching on the cause that I read that disabling DirectX12 seems to solve the freezing issue.  Once I disabled DX12 I only had one weird crash.  The game also didn't start off on the right foot due to a strange error message I received upon my first launch--it claimed that the default settings were too high for my GPU (which is an RTX 2070....).  That problem was solved by disabling the Nvidia GeForce overlay.  It's frustrating that a game suffers issues in its default settings.

Lara facing her demons.

- Forgettable story.  I love the gameplay of the Tomb Raider series, but the stories are always something along the same lines--evil organization is hunting for powerful artifact, Lara must stop them, Lara has identity crisis along the way, lots of people die, eventually Lara overcomes issues and solves the problem.  Let's just face facts and say that we play TR for the awesome traversal system, gorgeous environments, and amazeballs action sequences.  Who cares about the plot.

I would heartily recommend Shadow of the Tomb Raider.  It's the most fun I've had with any of the modern TR re-boots.  If you're having any crashing or freezing issues, disable DirectX12 to solve your issues.