Topic: Pure Xbox Game Club - Rise of the Tomb Raider (May)

@dmcc0 it is fairly different from the OGs where was more about the puzzles than the fights (at least in the early game) and here the puzzles are pretty much optional. I believe is closer to Uncharted in style, although I never played one in that series so not really sure.
Regarding going back you can definitely do after credits however there is an achievement on Xbox for solving every optional tomb puzzle prior to credits (which is fairly easy to do, as long as you explore the areas a bit before you move on)

@Balta666 The climbing and puzzle elements in Uncharted are very similar (at least the one's I've played) but Uncharted is definitely more linear and the combat is more like a cover shooter than here where stealth seems to be encouraged for the most part.

Good to know regarding being able to go back after the credits. I'm not really too bothered with Achievements or Trophies these days, so I'll probably leave it until after the credits if I do go back to explore the map. I tend to get sidetracked and I might end up losing track of what's going on in the actual story. I always find it amusing in games where the story has some time-critical element to it - like getting to the bad guy before he blows up the world or something and your character can just mooch about the map picking up crap that's just there to eek a few more hours out of the game.

@dmcc0 I totally get the feeling but I do not really play games for the immersion, I actually very much prefer when a game is full unrealistic like double jumps, carrying the world on you back, no stamina, etc.
Because of that games where you cannot do everything due to time constraints get under my skin I am afraid as I need to keep the destruction of the world waiting
For example in Mass Effect 2 (and massive spoilers for the ending) you really get pushed to go for it or face the consequences but I just ignored it and nothing happened (literally), because as I have not rushed for it nobody died and I loved that hehe

@Balta666 Yeah, I don't like actual timed stages in most games but side quests that have nothing to do with the main story don't bother me.

About 12 hours in to Rise now. On my way to try and rescue Jonah after we were reunited and then he was almost immediately kidnapped

Its definitely getting more difficult to keep to the stealthy approach at this point with some sections you just can't avoid having to shoot your way out, but there's still a good balance between the styles in my opinion and it's still so satisfying clearing out an enemy camp without being spotted. Bow and arrow head shots never get old!

I've come across a few technical glitches too - I'm playing on Series X. Had a hard crash where I've had to power off the console, and a couple of times where the game's shut down and gone back to the home screen. Latest glitch was where a cutscene paused and wouldn't continue. Pausing/resuming restarted the cutscene for a second or so and then it froze again. I did this until the end of the short cutscene then continued again briefly before the game went to another cutscene which ran smoothly this time, but with no audio. This might be an issue related to Quick Resume though, as I've never been convinced that it works very well for some games.

@dmcc0 strange regarding crashes/glitches (I had none and used quick resume everytime), not sure if the game is saved in the internal memory/expansion or in a external drive. I always try to not play games off the external to try to avoid longer load times/glitches.

@Balta666 I don't use external storage so all on the internal. The last couple of games I've played using QR (Hellblade & Hot wheels Unleashed) worked fine as far as I can remember so it might be unrelated to it - I just never feel 100% confident using it. Fine here as the game constantly saves so I don't really lose much if it crashes.

Finished the main campaign with approx. 16hrs play time and 67% completion.

Overall I really enjoyed it, although I didn't like the final stage as much as the rest of the game and it probably drops it from a 9/10 game to an 8/10 for me. The whole army of Deathless One's thing came out of nowhere and felt like it was from a Lord of the Rings game or something. I was pretty dumb that these supposedly immortal soldiers could be taken down with a few hits to the face with a climbing axe! The final fight with Konstantin was stupid too - the first time I tried it I just ran at him and started pummeling him with melee attacks...and it did nothing. I must've hit him about 50 times before I realised I was supposed to take the stealthy approach...and hit him only twice...and then to end the big climactic battle with....a simple QTE 🤦‍♂️

I actually prefer the puzzle and exploration elements more than the combat - except for maybe the stealth bits - so I'll likely go back and complete the optional tombs and the maybe some of the missions, although I'll probably not bother with the collectibles. Odd that a game called Tomb Raider makes the actual raiding tombs bit optional!

@Balta666 is the DLC worth getting? I'm not too bothered about extra game modes - I've read there's an endurance mode DLC, but I wouldn't mind playing a bit more if there's story-based DLC

Edit: Just noticed the Season Pass (which looks like it contains all the DLC) gets a fairly steep discount every so often so might pick it up next time its in a sale.

@dmcc0 the Baba Yaga dlc has an extra area with new characters, a dungeon and enemies. It is fairly short (about 1 hour give or take) but enjoyable. Blood Ties dlc on the other hand you are in the mansion solving some light puzzles and is more story focused.

I bought the 20th anniversary edition for 6€ the other day and includes all story dlc.

@Balta666 Yeah, I just checked Deku Deals and it does regularly go to about £5 here in the UK, although it looks like it's just gone back to £25, where as the season pass has been under £2, but not as regular. Might pick up the Anniversary edition next time it goes on sale - I'm not far off my latest £5 reward to so maybe I'll keep it for that. It's crazy that you can buy a game + DLC on sale for less than the regular cost of the DLC