Patreon Pin Up 5/16/22 (Patreon)

With the news that game developer Crystal Dynamics was recently acquired from its venerated yet infamously misguided owner, Square Enix, fresh hope has sprung for new installments from the various beloved properties Square has long been sitting on. Franchises like Deus Ex and Legacy of Kain have a chance to live again, along with, of course, Tomb Raider. 

Now, I'm aware the Tomb Raider series has hardly been languishing these last few years the way the others have. In fact, we've had three recent Tomb Raider games, all the while living in a world without the Gex reboot that absolutely everyone without exception has been clamoring for. So yes, Tomb Raider is far from forgotten, but I'm still going to complain because I'm a petty little man and I didn't like how they went about the reboot trilogy. 

Here's Reinbach's hot take, everyone: I feel that modern reboot Lara is actually a regression from classic Lara when it comes to being a positive feminist icon. Let's compare. Classic Lara went on dangerous adventures because she wanted to, she collected priceless relics for kicks, and if you got in her way you were going to get capped in the head, no matter how significant a scientific find your dumbass existence might be to the world. She had agency, confidence, and most of all, she seemed to be having fun.

With modern Lara, to be fair, I get what they were trying to do with her look, at least. The old focus on sex appeal was something that had to go in this day and age if you want to sell a product to a mass market, I get that. Those breasts had to shrink, and here come the cargo pants. What I don't get is why she had to have so much of her personality stripped away. Modern Lara seems bound by a questionable (and not always consistent) sense of duty to do what she does. From what I've seen, it rarely seems like she actually wants to be involved in her own adventures. I also find the recurring theme of daddy issues to be an odd fit for the character. Classic Lara's origin was that she got disowned by her rich family for being just too fucking metal, and I thought that suited her perfectly before it was ret-conned. 

So if the reboot was the low point, when was the peak? In my opinion, the character was at her best during the PS3 era. She was redone visually with a more realistic but still stylized look that amped up the sex appeal, she retained the best parts of her personality, and the games themselves still hold up well today. Now, I know it's a long shot, but my hope is that with new owners, we just might get a return to form with the next game. When a reboot doesn't set the world on fire, (and Square consistently complained that Tomb Raider didn't) it seems to be an increasingly common practice to just go back to the original continuity with a crowd-pleasing numbered sequel. I would personally love to see a return of this Lara, improbable as it may be. 

But what do you think? Am I talking out of my ass here? I could be. I lost interest after Rise of the Tomb Raider and never even played Shadow. So if Lara suddenly became a fun-loving badass ball of overt sex appeal right at the end of that game, I wouldn't know it. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this one!