Rise of the Tomb Raider is the sequel to the highly acclaimed Tomb Raider (2013) reboot and expands on nearly every aspect of its predecessor. We continue Lara Croft's story as she seeks to uncover the lost city of Kitezh, only whispered in legend, which could hold the secret to achieving immortality. Lara's father had spent years looking for this place, but did not live long enough to succeed. Lara thus has an almost obsessive need to complete her father's work and prove that he was right to devote his life searching for it. However, a sinister organization known only as "Trinity" is also racing to get there first and claim the spoils. This game showcases a more experienced and confident Lara, and further develops her character as the game progresses. The secondary characters, as well as antagonists, take on more prominent roles and are likewise better developed than the previous game. The story is not terrible by any means, and I did enjoy it for the most part, but it does seem to borrow some aspects from previous adventures, and at times feels slightly recycled.

As is expected this sequel continues to blend combat, exploration, puzzles and platforming elements. And all of these have seen improvements. The combat and stealth systems have been expanded with more weapons and items to take enemies down with. Platforming is a joy and generally works well, with fluid movements and plenty of environmental objects to use. Occasionally there are some issues with the odd camera angle that cause me to die during a jump. The tombs are more intricate and a lot more is involved in solving them. Exploration plays a much larger role, with a more open world that players can spend a decent amount of time getting lost in. Of course there are still linear levels as well. The crafting system has been made more complex; we can personalize weapons and outfits and resource gathering is also more in-depth as much needs to found within the environment.

As with the former game, the visuals in Rise are outstanding. There are various different and highly detailed environments from snowy and icy mountaintops, to swamps to dense forests. The weather effects are realistic, the lighting is gorgeous and the whole package brings the world to life. Lara's character model remains as detailed and polished as any I've seen. Some of the same voice actors, including that for Lara, return with stellar performances.

Rise does away with the traditional multiplayer mode we had in the first (which wasn't all that great to begin with) and adds a co-op mode which is a lot more engaging. I had a lot of fun completing the challenges with a friend in this survival style mode. Our characters need to stay warm and fed as the game progresses which adds an interesting dynamic to the Tomb Raider experience.

Rise of the Tomb Raider improves on pretty much everything introduced previously. The combat and gameplay are fluid, puzzles are a lot more fun, the crafting system is in-depth, visuals are top-tier, and even the story does an admirable job. Lara continues to evolve into the heroine we all knew and this has become one of my favourite action adventure games out there.

Played on extreme survivor difficulty and it was the most dark souls experience I've ever had i died more to platforming failed jumps and failed quick time event then any enemy the entire game i died like 7 times to enemies and more than a 100 to bad platform gameplay presented by me and had hard reset multiple times
Overall it's very easy as long as you are not as bad as me at platformers

Rise Of The Tomb Raider was an amazing game. The story, graphics, music, voice acting, puzzles, and more were amazing. This game has exciting gameplay, beautiful graphics, and intense combat. From the snowy mountains to ancient tombs every environment. Beautiful Siberia nature and Syria. The puzzles are easy and hard sometimes. There are many tombs, more challenges, more weapons, and more than Tomb Raider (2013). Amazing game. 10/10