Lara croft is now the worst video game character of all time - by Mr Biffo

[dex3108]

Interesting article that I kinda agree with.

You see, I'm some way into the new game Shadow of the Tomb Raider, the third in the Lara origin series which began back in 2013. I've not played enough yet to feel I'm ready to review it, but I've played enough to know this: I don't care for the story, or for Lara Croft. In fact, I actively dislike her. I mean, I hadn't exactly warmed to her murdering ways over the previous two games, but I went into this one with something of an open mind.

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I mean, what were they thinking?!? In movies the Save the Cat moment is a point early on where the lead character - even if they're otherwise reprehensible people - does something selfless, in order to make them more likeable, so the viewer will buy into their story arc. In Shadow of the Tomb Raider this is replaced with the double whammy of the drown-everyone-and-stab-the-cat-in-the-brain moment.

Worse still, Lara's best friend Jonah even seems to go off her a bit. If secondary characters' responses to our antagonist tell the audience what they should be feeling, then clearly Shadow of the Tomb Raider is telling us that Lara is an unlikeable dick.

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https://www.digitiser2000.com/main-...-video-game-character-of-all-time-by-mr-biffo

While title of the worst character ever is obvious hyperbole she is not good character in Reboot series. Over 3 games (I am currently playing SotTR so I could be wrong) they failed to achieve what they wanted in my opinion. Even in the first game (TR2013) you could see that they are failing to portray her path from vulnerable girl to strong woman. They went from 0 to 100 really fast (more less as soon as she does her first kill she became killing machine). And that stuck with her character in all 3 games.

While they toned down combat in Shadow (that makes game much better in my opinion and closer to original Lara Croft vision) she is still cold character that you really don't care about that much. She did became stronger and more confident but there is always question why she is doing things she is doing. In Shadow I love exploring world but Lara doesn't react to anything you encounter.

And then we get section in Shadow early on that makes you wonder even more what they wanted to do with the character.

Spoiler: Section in SotTR

When you get to play as young Lara and see how much she knows and how much she is excited to talk about items in the manor, you simply can't stop and wonder what happened to that. Did her father's death really cause of that? I mean he wasn't there for majority of her life, but she was still so excited about archeology and history.

In the end I really can't say that I like what they did with Lara in these new trilogy compared to the previous versions. I miss clever and witty Lara that is full of confidence. Older Lara did things because she enjoyed doing them and because she was rebellious. New Lara is simply confusing, I don't know what she wants, and I have feeling that devs didn't know either. I am still enjoying playing these games (especially Shadow) because there are not many of them out there, but I really hope that if Square Enix decides to continue making them (and not put IP on ice like Deus Ex) they do something to at least improve character writing.

And if mods thing that this doesn't deserve new thread lock it or move it here

https://www.resetera.com/threads/lara-crofts-characterization-reboot.67230/

 

[Gradon]

I haven't played Shadow yet, but I didn't like how all of her motivations seemed to change completely in Rise Of from her own motivations to just her fathers motivations, like she cared more about what he wanted to do than her own interest.

And that felt very flipped from how she was portrayed in 2013 where her friends safety and survival seemed to be her motivations. But yeah I definitely agree she went from helpless girl to killing machine really fast.

I didn't like how they portrayed the therapy in the games DLC, it seemed completely tone deaf in comparison to the original Rise Of trailer they showed which was an interesting concept.

It's been a while since I've played them though, so I could be reading it wrong based on hazy memories.

 

[kubev]

I agree that they didn't do enough with her character, but that doesn't make her the worst video game character of all time. By this article's logic, Chloe from Life is Strange should probably be considered the worst video game character of all time, because the developers absolutely failed to make a large chunk of the player base (myself included) sympathize with her by the end of the game.

 

[Peru]

Misses the point that Shadow.. problematizes her life and 'career' deliberately

 

[MosquitoSmasher]

I seriously don't get the hate towards her. I for one didn't find her interesting at all in the classic games. As a character, is she as strong and interesting as Nathan Drake and his crew/friends? No absolutely not, ND just nails that with their Uncharted games and TLOU. But worst character? Oh not by a long shot. And her murdering ways? So I guess he rather not have had any combat? How exactly is it different from, yep again, Nathan Drake who kills tons of people as well?

If anything I would say Lara has grown throughout these three games. You can see the change in the reboot, albeit a bit quick but in Rise you see a more experienced person, less afraid of shit she encounters and in Shadow she's basically ready for it all.

 

[ItIsOkBro]

im playing sottr right now and

Spoiler: early gsme spoilers

i hope the villian telling lara she caused all the storms and shit is some kind of mind game to make her guilt ridden and she did not legit actually cause it. because that would make her one of the worst character.

 

[Zacmortar]

I agree that they didn't do enough with her character, but that doesn't make her the worst video game character of all time. By this article's logic, Chloe from Life is Strange should probably be considered the worst video game character of all time, because the developers absolutely failed to make a large chunk of the player base (myself included) sympathize with her by the end of the game.

Click to shrink...

Chloe is the most popular character among fans

 

[spam musubi]

Yeah the reboot series just does its damnedest to make her unlikeable. Part of it is Rhianna Pratchett's writing, part of it is the game they want to make not jiving with the story they want to tell, and overall it's just incredibly off putting. The games give you no reason to care about her. The premise for the trilogy was "you will want to protect her" (which is a really objectifying perspective btw) but it's never actually delivered.

 

[MosquitoSmasher]

im playing sottr right now and

Spoiler: early gsme spoilers

i hope the villian telling lara she caused all the storms and shit is some kind of mind game to make her guilt ridden and she did not legit actually cause it. because that would make her one of the worst character.

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But still unknowningly, right?

Spoiler

Her reaction says it all when she heard about what is happening. When she took that dagger she didn't know this horrible shit was gonna go down beforehand. Or did she? I don't believe so.

It would be a horrible deed but did that unknowningly.

 

[Dust]

Yep, Lara is the worst thing about this reboot.
Miserable character.

 

[Lackless]

"I'm going to write an article on how I feel about Lara in Shadow but completely ruin it with a shitty title."

 

[CaptainKashup]

I've played TR 2013, I tried Rise and the trailer of Shadow really cemented my opinion : The new Lara Croft is one of the blandest character in gaming.
She doesn't have any personality nor any real goal. She's just kind of there.
I've got the feeling that they tried waaaay too much to make her a badass and forgot that, along the way, they need to make hear an actual human being to make us care.

 

[sir_crocodile]

btw, Biffo (who is one of the biggest names in UK gaming journo history) generally writes in a humourous style so don't take "worst of all time" that seriously.

 

[Arkeband]

Looks like it's time for another...

 

[Chaos2Frozen]

Worse than the Protagonist from Ride to Hell Retribution?

 

[SundayAfternoon]

There's a great review by waypoint that touches on Lara and how unlikable she is, ties in with what this game tries to tackle. I think it's half on purpose, it has to be.

Here's the article

https://waypoint.vice.com/en_us/art...tries-but-fails-to-tackle-its-own-colonialism

 

[matrix-cat]

It feels like they're writing New Lara as this Batman analogue who reluctantly goes out into tombs solely to save the world from Trinity's evil machinations, and not because of any kind of enjoyment or interest. She always seems so put upon, like she's exhausted by this self-imposed burden. You don't get any sense of what she's like as a human being when she isn't in a life-or-death struggle to save the world. What does she do on her day off? Who is she? Does she even know any human beings other than Jonah? After three full games as protagonist she still has no personality beyond "Got to get the thing".

And the worst thing is that every game seems to end with a stinger for the next game that promises something closer to OG Lara, back when she was raiding tombs for the sheer love of the act, but then the next game rolls around and she's right back to square one again. It's like they just can't get past the origin story.

 

[ItIsOkBro]

But still unknowningly, right?

Spoiler

Her reaction says it all when she heard about what is happening. When she took that dagger she didn't know this horrible shit was gonna go down beforehand. Or did she? I don't believe so.

It would be a horrible deed but did that unknowningly.

Click to shrink...

Spoiler: early game spoilers

well they did a pretty good job at making her seem knowledgeable about the artifact, to the point that she locates it before the villian. that she just ups and grabs it, and the villian has to explain to lara why that was bad is awful, even if unknowingly she grabbed it.

 

[Eolz]

Talk about overreaction.
Also, what's the point to say "now" if you start with "I've not played enough yet to feel I'm ready to review it, but I've played enough to know this: I don't care for the story, or for Lara Croft. In fact, I actively dislike her.". Seriously. I've played enough to say the reverse.
edit: and I disliked her in the reboot. She evolved in a good way in Rise and Shadow (while she's obviously not as interesting nor as badass as Classic Lara)

 

[chanunnaki]

I'm really at a loss seeing what Lara Croft has turned into, also at a loss trying to figure out what they should do. I loved the originals, and I hope they include TR1 or 2 with the new PlayStation Classic so younger players can see what the real Lara Croft is all about.

 

[saenima]

Apart from the hyperbolic title, i agree with the sentiment. Nu Lara is extremely unlikeable.

 

[Kongroo]

I agree that they didn't do enough with her character, but that doesn't make her the worst video game character of all time. By this article's logic, Chloe from Life is Strange should probably be considered the worst video game character of all time, because the developers absolutely failed to make a large chunk of the player base (myself included) sympathize with her by the end of the game.

Click to shrink...

lol One of the most agreed upon things with Life is Strange is that Chloe is the best part of those games.

 

[ClickyCal']

I mean to me it's better than classic lara.

 

[Faiyaz]

Worse than Superman from Superman 64?

 

[Gold Arsene]

And her murdering ways? So I guess he rather not have had any combat? How exactly is it different from, yep again, Nathan Drake who kills tons of people as well?

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And people complain about Nathan all the damn time.

 

[Yasamuu]

The character of Lara, IMO, is always going to be hamstrung by what came before. The reboot trilogy is an origin story for a character of a series of games which existed when perhaps the problematic notion of a middle class English explorer raiding tombs/"collecting" things from other cultures wasn't really acknowledged. It almost makes the Tomb Raider series a bit of a poisoned chalice.

Now, it seems quite difficult for the series to find some sort of balance between resolving Lara's problematic position and the actual hook of the gameplay - which is both killing enemies and plundering your way through tombs and settings to swipe collectibles.

I should say, I've not played Shadow yet, and I do intend to come back to it and complete the trilogy. It sounds like from what I've heard, without getting to deep into stuff that might spoil the story for me, that it's worth acknowledging that Shadow tries to tackle these issues but that it's kind of impossible to do so successfully without some kind of dissonance.

I do feel like the character of Lara herself is pretty vapid. I don't find her unlikeable or get enough of her personality to find her especially likeable either. I think part of what makes Nathan Drake so likeable is his rapport/banter with side characters, it doesn't help Lara that her side characters are also fairly forgettable.

I wonder if this series wasn't an origin story whether they could position Lara as a figure like Joel in TLOU, he's certainly not the hero of that story. Trying to really unpick the unlikability of the character.

Edit: I do think that title of the article is pretty ridiculous.

Aaaand the waypoint article above is really worth a read.

 

[The Praiseworthy]

They turned a tough unique badass ICONIC character into something completely opposed.

She was supposed to change after the first game of the Reboot trilogy, and she should have had her Iconic dual pistols back... but no we are stuck with this character and her how for the whole trilogy.

I don't even have hope that the old Lara will be back even after this origin trilogy... she is gone.

 

[Bony Manifesto]

My favourite bit in Rise of the Tomb Raider was very early on, when you pick up an audio log from one of the mercenaries saying how much he enjoys killing people (hey, it's a video game). Lara comments on what a psychopath he is, then immediately sneaks up behind someone and calmly strangles them to death with her bow without saying a word.

 

[saenima]

The problem with writing a Lara Croft these days is that Uncharted exists and is very successful. Nathan Drake is pretty much what Lara Croft was in the height of her popularity. The reboot games then tried to make something different with the character and completely fail to make something interesting or coherent.

 

[Youngfossil]

The problem with writing a Lara Croft these days is that Uncharted exists and is very successful. Nathan Drake is pretty much what Lara Croft was in the height of her popularity. The reboot games then tried to make something different with the character and completely fail to make something interesting or coherent.

Click to shrink...

Old TR and unchrated games arent very similar. Combat in old TR was sparse.

 

[Bjones]

Every time I read " Lara's a murder " I give the biggest eye roll .

Out of every game in the history of games tomb raider isn't any worse than any other game.

 

[ClickyCal']

My favourite bit in Rise of the Tomb Raider was very early on, when you pick up an audio log from one of the mercenaries saying how much he enjoys killing people (hey, it's a video game). Lara comments on what a psychopath he is, then immediately sneaks up behind someone and calmly strangles them to death with her bow without saying a word.

Click to shrink...

Yea but she isn't smiling or laughing when doing that. It's like when people say drake is a psychopath, but he is killing mercs or people that will kill him if he doesn't kill them.

 

[shaneo632]

I liked that Shadow addressed Lara's destructive behaviour but it ultimately felt a bit like safe lip service. I was hoping they were gonna take it further. It felt more like a marketing hook than a fleshed out through-line in the end.

That hyperbolic title is really offputting though and not exactly a good way to start out a discussion.

 

[saenima]

Old TR and unchrated games arent very similar. Combat in old TR was sparse.

Click to shrink...

I'm talking about the character.

 

[Youngfossil]

Every time I read " Lara's a murder " I give the biggest eye roll .

Out of every game in the history of games tomb raider isn't any worse than any other game.

Click to shrink...

I think they are comparing it to the old TR not other games

 

[CurseVox]

I've only played the first one of the rebooted series, but I liked her character a lot. Lara is fierce and motivated, flawed in character but driven and determined for the right reasons. She is underestimated in her badassery and whoops ass. I love it. Lara is a much better character than the 16 year old fantasy girl with huge, weird pixel tits. Where did things go wrong? Why does she all of a sudden suck?

 

[Wolfgunblood]

I tried to like this series and gave Rise a good shot and I did enjoy it a lot for a bit, but overall I'm not a fan of what they're doing to TR. I did watch a bit of Shadow on Twitch for a few minutes and

Spoiler

it was a cutscene where Lara is crying because she is coming to a realization that she is just making things worse.

I can see why the series went in the direction it did, I get it. To me that's not nearly as appealing or fun as the pre-reboot character, although I get why that character isn't as acceptable these days.

 

[Deleted member 6949]

Her character is awful. It takes dozens of hours to play those 3 games and by the end there is still basically nothing to latch onto. They should have just made her an anti-hero.

 

[Pilgrimzero]

Lara accidentally kills hundreds/thousands of innocent people and goes about her business.

I'm hoping she has some kind of mental break down soon instead of "oh well, gotta stop Trinity!"

As for new Lara in total, I don't know why she can't be an adventurer instead of the Trinity stalker. Why was that the plan? Mommy issues, daddy issues, and now evil corporation issues. Can she just not go hunt a McGuffin?

 

[Messofanego]

The bodycount and the action in Shadow of the Tomb Raider is no greater than in the vast majority of games, but the difference is most games don't feel the need to draw attention to it. Uncharted - a series that is both influenced by Tomb Raider and a huge influence on this new trilogy - gets away with it by presenting the player with genuinely likeable characters who are rich, and rounded, and frequently funny.

On the one hand you could argue that there's a certain degree of responsibility displayed by Tomb Raider's decision to make you feel uncomfortable with the violence and the relic-smashing, and not dismissing it with a quip. On the other hand, there's no way through the game without engaging with the murdering and relic-smashing. Instead, you're just made to feel sort of a bit bad about it.

It results in a weirdly passive-aggressive game, where the player is forced to question actions they have to engage with in order to play the game.

In a lot of ways, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, and the games which have preceded it, is a product of our time. If Lara Croft has a social media account - a Twitter or a Facebook - she'd be one of those friends you end up muting because all they ever do is post things like "FFS. I am done with some people" and "I know who my real friends are", with Jonah constantly replying "U okAy hun?".

In short, they've made Lara boring and annoying, and - as the premiere female video game character - that's an enormous shame. She isn't strengthened by their desire to deepen who she is, and explore the very idea of a "tomb raider", but weakened in a most profound sense.​

Lmao this reboot Lara really would be the emo vagueposter on social media.

They didn't realise that if they're gonna go down the Spec Ops The Line, Hotline Miami, Kane and Lynch route where your rampage is questioned that you're playing as bad guys. I still think Uncharted doesnt get to get away with it, Nathan Drake is kind of a psychopath too but there is likeability in play.

 

[Vaibhav]

Why are good characters only likeable ones?

If you dislike her, it means its a good character.

If you are indifferent then thats a bad character. Like say, master chief. Or Gordon Freeman.

But Gordon was a scientist so he probably prefers to lay low. Master Chief was a soldier so perhaps he also preferred to lay low. Or perhaps writing team was lazy. I dunno. There is some justification to it.

 

[FantaSoda]

OG Lara was a better character in that charismatic rogue way but was hamstrung by the legacy of that mid-90s pandering character design. New Lara has a better design but isn't very likable. I think the core problem is that the gritty brutal gameplay style is completely at odds with the legacy of that character. Like, sure OG Lara had a gun but she wasn't garroting people in the shadows. You didn't have to go back to formula for that character.

 

[Xenon]

Lets see what happens to Mr Biffo's personality if he had to crawl through corpse invested caves with deathtraps all while being attacked by Trinity. Seriously though, Croft has always been a bit dry. She's British, that's their thing. The fact that she takes everything too seriously and is totally self involved has more to do with her age than anything else. Hopefully the next trilogy will jump ahead to 30-35 year old Lara who is more seasoned and less intense.

 

[dex3108]

I also wonder if this is her origin story how the hell she will go from character she is in this trilogy to one she was in previous games?

 

[Yopis]

I enjoyed this character and the tone of the games. Everything doesn't need a comedy tone. Cool that they went serious.

Uncharted the longer it went .Became more and more of a comedy. Didn't like that at all.

For the record I enjoyed and have all the old games. Really liked the u turn they took with this trilogy though.

Some stuff like the spikes or death scenes calls back to the originals.

 

[enkaisu]

"She is constantly whining; introspective in a way that ends up frustrating. Almost every five minutes there is a cutscene of Lara waxing lyrical about herself in a dour and melodramatic way. She has gone from the wisecracking, enigmatic Lara of the original series to a whiny, bratty child."

This little passage from firenewsfeed's review of Shadow is exactly how I've felt about reboot Lara since the beginning. She's trash and a sad excuse of a character compared to the confident, competent, and wisecracking Lara of the past.

 

[spam musubi]

Why are good characters only likeable ones?

If you dislike her, it means its a good character.

If you are indifferent then thats a bad character. Like say, master chief. Or Gordon Freeman.

But Gordon was a scientist so he probably prefers to lay low. Master Chief was a soldier so perhaps he also preferred to lay low. Or perhaps writing team was lazy. I dunno. There is some justification to it.

Click to shrink...

It's not just that she's unlikeable. The game wants you to like her real bad, but it's completey misguided. She comes off as a sociopath but the game is serving you a sob story about her. It's incredibly tone deaf.

 

[saenima]

I've only played the first one of the rebooted series, but I liked her character a lot. Lara is fierce and motivated, flawed in character but driven and determined for the right reasons. She is underestimated in her badassery and whoops ass. I love it. Lara is a much better character than the 16 year old fantasy girl with huge, weird pixel tits. Where did things go wrong? Why does she all of a sudden suck?

Click to shrink...

Well if you reduce a character that was developed over the course of nine games to the bolded, it's understandable that you miss the point of the criticisms towards the reboot version. Old Lara was not particularly complex but she was more than a pair of tits. She was pretty much everything that Nu Lara is not: witty, snarky, charming, confident and fun. She also had a better origin story and a simpler yet better motivation for tomb raiding, she actually enjoyed it.

 

[saenima]

I also wonder if this is her origin story how the hell she will go from character she is in this trilogy to one she was in previous games?

Click to shrink...

They retconned her origins. It's not the same character.

 

[angel]

I've always found her unlikable. Shes charmless, self centred, and of course a mass murderer. Shes never fought a worthy cause either, I know its a joke from Spaced but I genuinely find myself throwing her off cliffs and stuff, shes rubbish.