8 More Video Games That Totally Wasted Their Biggest Selling Point

8. Becoming The Classic Lara Croft - Rise Of The Tomb Raider

rise of the tomb raider
Crystal Dynamics

After putting Lara through hell in 2013's Tomb Raider and chronicling her transformation from a helpless young woman into a genuine hero, Rise of the Tomb Raider was set to pick up with a version of the character closer to the confident, capable adventurer found in the original series. Unfortunately, that's not exactly what players got.

The problem is perhaps inherent to being the middle part of a trilogy; Lara Croft had come a long way since the first game, but she still wasn't quite where she needed to be, stuck in a kind of developmental limbo.

The devs still had the punishment=growth mentality of the first game, putting her through the wringer in order for her character to evolve. But after so much torment in the initial title it felt a little gratuitous, and in away rendered her arc in the original a little redundant.

Consequently, it made for fractured characterisation and diminishing returns, making a lot of fans wonder why Crystal Dynamics were dragging this origin story out over three whole releases.

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Josh has over 11 years of experience as a published writer, having worked nine of those years as a full-time content producer at WhatCulture. In that period he has created hundreds of articles, videos and podcast episodes for multiple WhatCulture channels, specialising in gaming, horror and film & TV. He now primarily works as a senior content producer and presenter on WhatCulture Gaming where he co-hosts the WhatCulture Gaming Podcast, a top 3 UK most listened to gaming podcast that he co-created in 2018. Over the years he has reviewed several high-profile gaming releases, covered industry events with on-site reporting, opined on breaking news, and even kicked off his interviewing career by chatting to childhood hero, Tommy Wiseau.