(Played trilogy to completion on PSN)

It's easy to be impressed with this remaster's high points. Many areas have received some truly stunning graphical upgrades, the frame rate is buttery smooth, and the modern controls make traversal so much faster for experienced raiders. It's also a treat to finally be able to easily play the trilogy's 14 expansion levels, which essentially amounts to the length of a fourth game.

Unfortunately, there are a few deeply problematic issues with this release, and after 3 patches, they still haven't been addressed.

Probably the most game-breaking issue is the obscuration of critical path puzzle elements. Items in general are now much harder to see, including many key items that have become practically invisible. This affects not only items, but wall switches and levers required to progress, and even climbable walls & ceiling surfaces.

The problem is in the remaster's revamped lighting. This first poses an artistic issue which is more subjective - Tomb Raider III in particular is defined by its colored lighting, and while unrealistic, it gives each environment a very distinct palette. This has been completely scrapped in favor of more traditional lighting, which makes many areas feel flatter and less interesting.

But more crucially, this lighting has been implemented with complete and total disregard of the level design's intended focal points. You might need to cross a monkey bar-type ceiling grate, visible in classic graphics but lost in a deep inky blackness in the remaster, even with a flare equipped. You might need to find a lock to use a key with, and only by switching to classic graphics will it suddenly pop out from the environment.

You won't see many reviews complaining about this issue because most people will have only played the first game or perhaps the first few levels of its sequels before rendering a judgement on the total effort. TR1 is far and away the easiest game, and was also worked on most extensively and features the fewest amount of problems. Deeper into the collection, TR2 becomes a chore in its later levels, and portions of TR3 are basically unplayable. One puzzle in TR3 requires purchasing a ticket from a specific booth in a subway station, but this puzzle is unsolvable due to the remaster's careless disregard for making it visually distinguishable from the others.

This issue is so pervasive that players will need to regularly switch to the classic graphics to figure out what to do next.

The lighting not only makes puzzles and items impossible to find, but it has generally made the trilogy much, much darker. I was regularly switching to classic graphics just to navigate the environment with less eye strain.

There is a lot of Tomb Raider in this remaster, so I can forgive the game's rampant use of AI to spruce up textures. (By all accounts, this was developed by a very small team on a tight budget.) Textures are well done overall, but there are enough AI mishaps that the implementation looks very sloppy. It makes me wonder why an actual artist didn't spend some time at least fixing the ones that don't work. Once again, the sequels suffer more widely than the original in this regard.

Tomb Raider II in particular has the most unfinished art. Its middle chapters, for whatever reason, were obviously neglected in comparison to the rest of the trilogy, with Tibet and the water areas featuring only the most basic touch-ups. Details like the parallax effect on climbable surfaces are absent in these areas, for example, and the Oil Rig skybox looks like it was made in Microsoft Paint in about 15 minutes. Gorgeous levels like The Great Wall, Floating Islands, and the entire Golden Mask expansion counterbalance TR2's shortcomings, but it's a noticeable downgrade compared to 1 and 3.

If you're playing with tank controls, which I would still recommend for new players, Lara handles sluggishly but precisely. This is the ideal way to play, because it offers the most consistent platforming and combat.

The modern controls, however, are a total ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ mess. Patches have tweaked how they feel to a point where they're usable now, but they still feel like they are in a prototype phase, the way an amateur mod might change things for both good and bad.

With modern controls, Lara can swivel on a dime, much like any current third-person action game. She can adjust her momentum in mid-air, which allows for some new skips and subverts the level design, but the added mobility can greatly increase your speed through a level, so it's a net positive for experienced players.

However, the combat is unquestionably terrible. Tank controls rely mostly on jumping in different directions and rolling to dodge enemies and fire, and these moves are designed around the precision of being able to swivel Lara's body to realign her with her enemy. While these moves are technically available with modern controls when Lara is facing her opponent, the left joystick now faces you anywhere you point, which immediately breaks combat. The devs have implemented a half-baked auto-swivel to compensate, meaning that if you stop moving, Lara will slowly turn back to her enemy, but it doesn't work well. It's very hard to explain in words but can be felt immediately. Lara will all too often face in the wrong direction, lose track of her enemy, and jump unpredictably in the wrong ways, often into a bottomless pit because this is Tomb Raider.

Whenever the game tries to be cinematic and changes the camera angle, Lara becomes uncontrollable, forcing you to take your guns out to reset the camera behind her. You will die on virtually every camera change if you don't know it's coming. In a competent free-control camera system, your joystick movements will always be in relation to the screen, but in this baby diaper's mess of a "remaster", the directions are remapped randomly, so left is sometimes right, and forward is sometimes left. It's a joke. I've played 100+ hours of this collection and I have yet to understand how these camera changes were even programmed.

Other modern control nitpicks, like the way you can't step backwards to line up certain grabs, or how long jumps often fail because of the system's lack of precision, or how you have to do a silly 360 spin to gain momentum for certain moves - it all adds up to make you question if this was something that should have been included at all. By the time you realize that the third game is literally impossible to complete using modern controls because you can't exit a crawl space backwards or use the final area's vehicles because not all of their functions were even mapped to buttons.... you have probably already accepted the fact that you might as well be playing an alpha version of the game. When it works, it's great, and I think speedrunners should have a good time with it, but I feel bad for any new players who equate "modern" to "better".

Overall, this remaster is a sloppy, embarrassing, amateur effort. I'm sure it wasn't expected to sell this well, and it was just a way for Tomb Raider's publisher to make a few easy bucks by hiring a literal modder (look it up) to lead a massive remaster effort. But this is ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ Tomb Raider. This is the game that pioneered the third-person action genre as we know it today. It deserved so much better.

Despite all of this disappointment, at the end of the day, you can use tank controls and classic graphics and get the original experience as intended (albeit capped at 30 fps). Since this version of the game doesn't require mods to work properly and comes bundled with all of the expansion content, it's ultimately worth a purchase.

Just know that you are buying nothing more than an unfinished broken mod.

(Played trilogy to completion on PSN) It's easy to be impressed with this remaster's high points. Many areas have received some truly stunning graphical upgrades, the frame rate is buttery smooth, and the modern controls make traversal so much faster for experienced raiders. It's also a treat to finally be able to easily play the trilogy's 14 expansion levels, which essentially amounts to the length of a fourth game. Unfortunately, there are a few deeply problematic issues with this release, and after 3 patches, they still haven't been addressed. Probably the most game-breaking issue is the obscuration of critical path puzzle elements. Items in general are now much harder to see, including many key items that have become practically invisible. This affects not only items, but wall switches and levers required to progress, and even climbable walls & ceiling surfaces. The problem is in the remaster's revamped lighting. This first poses an artistic issue which is more subjective - Tomb Raider III in particular is defined by its colored lighting, and while unrealistic, it gives each environment a very distinct palette. This has been completely scrapped in favor of more traditional lighting, which makes many areas feel flatter and less interesting. But more crucially, this lighting has been implemented with complete and total disregard of the level design's intended focal points. You might need to cross a monkey bar-type ceiling grate, visible in classic graphics but lost in a deep inky blackness in the remaster, even with a flare equipped. You might need to find a lock to use a key with, and only by switching to classic graphics will it suddenly pop out from the environment. You won't see many reviews complaining about this issue because most people will have only played the first game or perhaps the first few levels of its sequels before rendering a judgement on the total effort. TR1 is far and away the easiest game, and was also worked on most extensively and features the fewest amount of problems. Deeper into the collection, TR2 becomes a chore in its later levels, and portions of TR3 are basically unplayable. One puzzle in TR3 requires purchasing a ticket from a specific booth in a subway station, but this puzzle is unsolvable due to the remaster's careless disregard for making it visually distinguishable from the others. This issue is so pervasive that players will need to regularly switch to the classic graphics to figure out what to do next. The lighting not only makes puzzles and items impossible to find, but it has generally made the trilogy much, much darker. I was regularly switching to classic graphics just to navigate the environment with less eye strain. There is a lot of Tomb Raider in this remaster, so I can forgive the game's rampant use of AI to spruce up textures. (By all accounts, this was developed by a very small team on a tight budget.) Textures are well done overall, but there are enough AI mishaps that the implementation looks very sloppy. It makes me wonder why an actual artist didn't spend some time at least fixing the ones that don't work. Once again, the sequels suffer more widely than the original in this regard. Tomb Raider II in particular has the most unfinished art. Its middle chapters, for whatever reason, were obviously neglected in comparison to the rest of the trilogy, with Tibet and the water areas featuring only the most basic touch-ups. Details like the parallax effect on climbable surfaces are absent in these areas, for example, and the Oil Rig skybox looks like it was made in Microsoft Paint in about 15 minutes. Gorgeous levels like The Great Wall, Floating Islands, and the entire Golden Mask expansion counterbalance TR2's shortcomings, but it's a noticeable downgrade compared to 1 and 3. If you're playing with tank controls, which I would still recommend for new players, Lara handles sluggishly but precisely. This is the ideal way to play, because it offers the most consistent platforming and combat. The modern controls, however, are a total goddamn mess. Patches have tweaked how they feel to a point where they're usable now, but they still feel like they are in a prototype phase, the way an amateur mod might change things for both good and bad. With modern controls, Lara can swivel on a dime, much like any current third-person action game. She can adjust her momentum in mid-air, which allows for some new skips and subverts the level design, but the added mobility can greatly increase your speed through a level, so it's a net positive for experienced players. However, the combat is unquestionably terrible. Tank controls rely mostly on jumping in different directions and rolling to dodge enemies and fire, and these moves are designed around the precision of being able to swivel Lara's body to realign her with her enemy. While these moves are technically available with modern controls when Lara is facing her opponent, the left joystick now faces you anywhere you point, which immediately breaks combat. The devs have implemented a half-baked auto-swivel to compensate, meaning that if you stop moving, Lara will slowly turn back to her enemy, but it doesn't work well. It's very hard to explain in words but can be felt immediately. Lara will all too often face in the wrong direction, lose track of her enemy, and jump unpredictably in the wrong ways, often into a bottomless pit because this is Tomb Raider. Whenever the game tries to be cinematic and changes the camera angle, Lara becomes uncontrollable, forcing you to take your guns out to reset the camera behind her. You will die on virtually every camera change if you don't know it's coming. In a competent free-control camera system, your joystick movements will always be in relation to the screen, but in this baby diaper's mess of a "remaster", the directions are remapped randomly, so left is sometimes right, and forward is sometimes left. It's a joke. I've played 100+ hours of this collection and I have yet to understand how these camera changes were even programmed. Other modern control nitpicks, like the way you can't step backwards to line up certain grabs, or how long jumps often fail because of the system's lack of precision, or how you have to do a silly 360 spin to gain momentum for certain moves - it all adds up to make you question if this was something that should have been included at all. By the time you realize that the third game is literally impossible to complete using modern controls because you can't exit a crawl space backwards or use the final area's vehicles because not all of their functions were even mapped to buttons.... you have probably already accepted the fact that you might as well be playing an alpha version of the game. When it works, it's great, and I think speedrunners should have a good time with it, but I feel bad for any new players who equate "modern" to "better". Overall, this remaster is a sloppy, embarrassing, amateur effort. I'm sure it wasn't expected to sell this well, and it was just a way for Tomb Raider's publisher to make a few easy bucks by hiring a literal modder (look it up) to lead a massive remaster effort. But this is fucking Tomb Raider. This is the game that pioneered the third-person action genre as we know it today. It deserved so much better. Despite all of this disappointment, at the end of the day, you can use tank controls and classic graphics and get the original experience as intended (albeit capped at 30 fps). Since this version of the game doesn't require mods to work properly and comes bundled with all of the expansion content, it's ultimately worth a purchase. Just know that you are buying nothing more than an unfinished broken mod.