I figured I would write the review after my second playthrough but I want to get it out of the way. I dont necessarily wanna play it again but I found the normal puzzle difficulty too easy and I had wished it would have been challenging so I definitely want to give hard puzzles a chance. I also once saw this one guy who sketched / kept a journal of his elden ring playthrough which I wish I could do to every visually appealing media I consume, so I gave that a short try towards the end of my playthrough. I sketched a few puzzle pieces and it was honestly so much fun given the fact that I was high throughout my playthrough lol so I decided to keep a whole sketchbook dedicated to sh2 start to finish in my 2nd playthrough maybe it will be that one thing that recatalyses my interest in art.
About the game however; its great. Its exactly what people say it is, more or less.. Visual presentation / art style as is known is top grade. I wish I could compare it to its original but this remake looks amazing either way, they really nailed the fog and especially indoor lightning, every corner of this game looks pretty AF. Its also scary AF like actually horrifying the sound.. the visuals.. the monsters.. it eats away at you, makes your skin crawl. Soundtrack is unlike anything I've seen I am still amazed by the Toluca Prison soundtrack like woah.. the first time it played I gagged b-tch. and im gagging even NOW and its not just the toluca prison track, each and every one of them is so good and they are remastered so according to my og sh2 fan oomf its even better than the original.
Nothing major about its gameplay but combat is really fun, gunplay aside melee combat specifically feels like a duel, monsters have attack patterns so you learn when to combo and dodge but this doesnt make it any less dynamic and at some point what you are gonna do starts coming intuitively, this + when you are fighting different types of monsters at the same time in tight spaces create very dynamic scenarios. Speaking of tight spaces level design is okay i guess? I like how you create shortcuts as you progress through the levels so you dont really ever backtrack so thats always a plus for me. The survival horror balance is okayish I heard some people struggle with health packs and ammo I never had any problems cuz I was a beast with that pipe. but i also never felt on edge like I did in resident evil but of course thats a given as guns are the main source of beating the enemies there. Puzzles like I said I think they are easy which is a shame, I really had hoped game would force me to bring out a notepad and figure sh-t out. Story is kinda confusing so you kinda wish the puzzles were as confusing lol. Its a good story about guilt, grief, shame and repressed emotions but it is hard to follow as a first time player so you can only appreciate it after you finish it, you cant really analyze it as you are playing it.

dont have much to say about this one. i played this first back in end of 18' and today i was like hmm let me play this againn bc i was looking for some casual fun wout worrying much about its story and i knew i wouldnt need to worry about its story bcuz its not memorable what so ever, in fact the whole trilogy is good and whatever okay but what happened exactly??
there is no big lara croft story in place and that pisses me off right now. i love all 3 games but why did i play them exactly? i dont know sh-t about lara even though she is my sis im like who tf is she.... ? only character development i can figure out is; tomb raider (2013) was about her survival instincts kicking in and becoming tomb raider, rise of the tomb raider was about resilience and shadow of the tomb raider.. i cant put quite right, she becomes negligent impulsive and i remember her losing her sh-t at one scene and killing and burning bunch of people like omg what she became ruthless? and thats the end of modern tomb raider trilogy? we need a complete reboot babes my girls need memorable scenes, world building, romance and drama. all of the 3 games are shallow as f-ck if u ask me, mediocre characters, writing, story, gameplay, puzzles exploration traverse EVERYTHING. nothing gaggy honestly but trust you will root for my girl and that is what keeps it exciting. lara is just too c-nty im sorry, which is the only thing that makes the games soooo goood lara croft is the perfect plot device. but still i dont care about the games i only love lara croft and if you like her you will like the games. not for a second playthrough though i would assume. because you know you played it and it was fun but like there is NO reason to play this again and now that i realize these games are not making justice to lara croft IP i honestly dont see any reason why i would recommend any of the games to my adult friends. you either love lara croft or you dont know her. should have played them while yall had the chance babes, too bad yall missed out on lara croft but dont come on here saying yall love her and know her like WE DO.