Finally we have an actual insightful exploration into the conundrum of Lara's character development. Well said, silentobi, in discerning the difference between Lara's internal feelings and her external actions, which aren't always one and the same. It is far more often people act against their wishes, but act all the same because of what circumstance demands.
And given how the scavengers relentlessly continue to press Lara, forcing her grow past her misgivings, what did anyone expect? For her to cry out, "please don't attack me now, I'm still sorting out my feelings from a horrible experience I just had!!" ??
I think it also comes down to balancing story pacing with game pacing. It's not like a movie or book where the audience can sit back and take in the psychological dilemma from a gradually transitioned character exposition. This is a game after all and the player has to be involved in the action. I mean how long can Lara linger on her personal trauma (again factoring in the relentless threats of the scavengers)? 3 hours? 5 or 10? Were people really expecting half the game to be Lara wallowing in self pity?
I think people forget the point is that from the horrors Lara endures, she's supposed to grow from her experiences and be strengthened by them. May be the pacing isn't "perfect" but there is a sense of character progression which is more than can be said for most action gaming characters, especially given the medium. The set pieces do still serve their purpose, though I would say more for subtext of the character development rather than the game mechanics.
AdobeArtist
Whenever you post stuff like this it always sounds like you're just trying to explain away everything rather than actually see it as criticism and assept it for that. If we're really to believe Lara's survival instincts and training then why does she never think to put on some warmer clothes? or why does she constantly have the 2 way radio turned on? These go against any basic survival training.
The game is still good and I still find myself coming back for more, but there are some obvious major flaws in the game that can't be denied. In a game designed to show her roots and her starting out point it goes right back into the typical gaming tropes of modern times all too quickly. It has character progression but not a whoe lot of it, Lara goes from not understanding a whole lot to suddenly being thrown head first into everything and becoming rather good at it very fast. Which to me doesn't sound like the game the devs protrayed it as. Not only that but the cutscenes often contradict what the gameplay is dictating. Lara shows apprehension in climbing a huge tower and yet she does it anyway without second guessing.
And I don't know about you but if I suffered a series of falls and attacks like that I wouldn't be able to just walk up and away from it and back into the action agains o quickly, sure it's a game but when the game tries to portray a realistic young woman coming of age these things make me feel very disconnected from her and she feels more like a parod of herself rather than driving the emotion the game so desperately needs.
I get a lot of people enjoy the game and it's annoying seeing people b!tch and moan about it but I feel some people have real genuine criticisms that bug them.
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