"Remastered" vs Anniversary?

[Luxurychoccie]

Tomb Raider Anniversary came out for the Wii in 2007 and was a pretty beautiful remaster of the original- looking at this "Remaster" I'm sorta confused as to the appeal when it's a massive step DOWN from the 2007 version graphically? It seems like more of an upgrade from PS1 graphics to maybe PS2 graphics, but we're in 2024 right now and it just seems an odd choice when the Wii literally brought us a proper remaster in graphical terms.

I know Anniversary was just the first game and not the first three, but couldn't something of that level of polish be achieved today? Or is this remaster supposed to capture the "feel" of playing on a PS1 but with a bit more... texture to it? I'm wondering if I'm going to find that more jarring/distracting if anything but I'm not sure, interested to hear what others think.

If I am going to purchase it'll be because I want those shiny little achievements But forking out £20 for achievements is a bit of a steep one even for me.

[sounar]

This stays true to the original gameplay & artwork of the original Tomb Raider.

The Remastered you speak of was not 1 to 1 remake, but more of a re imagining of the original with quite a bit of changes.

[Marcelo Sampaio]

While Anniversary isn't bad, I prefer the original.

For starters, I'm not a fan of the modern controls in Tomb Raider games. Also, I'm not a huge fan of the easier to navigate levels in anniversary.

Again, Anniversary isn't bad. I just prefer the originals.

[ganJ]

Originally posted by Marcelo Sampaio:

While Anniversary isn't bad, I prefer the original.

For starters, I'm not a fan of the modern controls in Tomb Raider games. Also, I'm not a huge fan of the easier to navigate levels in anniversary.

Again, Anniversary isn't bad. I just prefer the originals.

The problem that I had with Anniversary was that game was released in these "happy times" when developers were adding quick time events and I hate them in every game... :D

[Luxurychoccie]

I guess I should have been a bit clearer in my title, but I was more gearing this towards the aesthetics of anniversary. The gameplay is different for sure (that T Rex gimmick left me pretty unimpressed), but aesthetically the game was pretty nice to look at and it just seems odd that 17 years on we get another one that is a total regression in terms of style.

Are the remastered graphics really worth paying for the game *again* when the originals are already on steam? As others have suggested in reviews, they almost look like a mod. And it's reminiscent to me of when point-and-click game Simon The Sorcerer got a "remaster" ie, they put a filter over the screen to turn the classic pixel-look into an airbrushed smooth monstrosity.

[webcider]

Originally posted by Luxurychoccie:

I guess I should have been a bit clearer in my title, but I was more gearing this towards the aesthetics of anniversary. The gameplay is different for sure (that T Rex gimmick left me pretty unimpressed), but aesthetically the game was pretty nice to look at and it just seems odd that 17 years on we get another one that is a total regression in terms of style.

Are the remastered graphics really worth paying for the game *again* when the originals are already on steam? As others have suggested in reviews, they almost look like a mod. And it's reminiscent to me of when point-and-click game Simon The Sorcerer got a "remaster" ie, they put a filter over the screen to turn the classic pixel-look into an airbrushed smooth monstrosity.

I say it is a proper remaster, i don't know what else to say here... This does way more than any mods would had been able to do alone the Toggle Graphics option is seven times higher level than what the modding community are able to do. let alone adding effects and new assets. creating depth perception to important textures like doors and moveable blocks.

So i say yes they are worth it.

[sounar]

Originally posted by Luxurychoccie:

I guess I should have been a bit clearer in my title, but I was more gearing this towards the aesthetics of anniversary. The gameplay is different for sure (that T Rex gimmick left me pretty unimpressed), but aesthetically the game was pretty nice to look at and it just seems odd that 17 years on we get another one that is a total regression in terms of style.

Are the remastered graphics really worth paying for the game *again* when the originals are already on steam? As others have suggested in reviews, they almost look like a mod. And it's reminiscent to me of when point-and-click game Simon The Sorcerer got a "remaster" ie, they put a filter over the screen to turn the classic pixel-look into an airbrushed smooth monstrosity.

This stays true to the original artwork of the original Tomb Raider with far cleaner graphics and modern support. I'm not sure what the issue is here.

[Marcelo Sampaio]

Originally posted by ganJ:

Originally posted by Marcelo Sampaio:

While Anniversary isn't bad, I prefer the original.

For starters, I'm not a fan of the modern controls in Tomb Raider games. Also, I'm not a huge fan of the easier to navigate levels in anniversary.

Again, Anniversary isn't bad. I just prefer the originals.

The problem that I had with Anniversary was that game was released in these "happy times" when developers were adding quick time events and I hate them in every game... :D

Yup, I also had issues with them. I hated QTEs back then and I still hate them. :p

But the biggest issue I have with Anniversary (well, other than the fact that it doesn't use tank controls anymore) is the fact that they started "auto-correcting" your jumps there. While not as bad as in the 2013 TR Reboot, you can still notice how the game seems to "correct" your jumps, making, making it harder to mess up.

The PS2 era is when they started to streamline the gaming experiences. And, to me, it is also when the TR series started going downhill.

[Marcelo Sampaio]

Originally posted by Luxurychoccie:

I guess I should have been a bit clearer in my title, but I was more gearing this towards the aesthetics of anniversary. The gameplay is different for sure (that T Rex gimmick left me pretty unimpressed), but aesthetically the game was pretty nice to look at and it just seems odd that 17 years on we get another one that is a total regression in terms of style.

While Anniversary indeed looks better, I don't have a problem with the graphics in this reboot. They ARE old games, after all, and I expect them to look like PS1 era games, only with higher resolution and some enhanced models here and there.

In this aspect I think the reboot nails it. It does look worse than Anniversary, yes. But I wouldn't expect anything different from a reboot.

Originally posted by Luxurychoccie:

Are the remastered graphics really worth paying for the game *again* when the originals are already on steam?

Yesn't. :p

Yes, the originals are still on Steam (without the expansions though), and they CAN be played on modern PCs with some tweaks.

But honestly, the reboot is a "buy and play" kind of thing. TR1 is a MS-DOS game and it looks like one. You CAN make the game look better with Open Lara (I think this is how it is called). TR2 has issues with fullscreen on Windows 11 and requires some tweaks.

This reboot is kind of a lazy way to play the originals and includes a nice looking new model of Lara. And that is exactly what I wanted. I wouldn't pay $60 for this, but for $20 this is really worth it (I actually payed less than $15 because I'm in Brazil, but whatever).

[PsychedelicSaber]

This is definitely a faithful remaster. Visual upscaling, lighting, photo mode and more. It includes 3 games + their respective expansions. 6 games for the price of 1, I'd say the price is worth the bundle. Aspyr did the remaster justice. The only downside I think is the modern controls mainly because the level design is specifically tailored to tank controls which makes it very difficult to do precise platforming when you can't hop back, side step/side hop. But the modern control is better suited for combat. Not sure if you find this good or bad. I would just stick to tank control anyway. The fact that you can change things on the fly, it's such amazing feature I hope more games adopt this feature if they want to remaster their old games

[BlackSunEmpire]

As said in another thread:

- the lighting in some areas is too dark
- the colors are a little bit too bright and cartoony compared to the original game

And a little bit more bump mapping or tessellation to give 2D textures a 3-dimensional look wouldn't have hurt either. Some of the columns are still entirely 2D.

But overall I like this remaster. 👍

[Luxurychoccie]

Originally posted by webcider:

Originally posted by Luxurychoccie:

I guess I should have been a bit clearer in my title, but I was more gearing this towards the aesthetics of anniversary. The gameplay is different for sure (that T Rex gimmick left me pretty unimpressed), but aesthetically the game was pretty nice to look at and it just seems odd that 17 years on we get another one that is a total regression in terms of style.

Are the remastered graphics really worth paying for the game *again* when the originals are already on steam? As others have suggested in reviews, they almost look like a mod. And it's reminiscent to me of when point-and-click game Simon The Sorcerer got a "remaster" ie, they put a filter over the screen to turn the classic pixel-look into an airbrushed smooth monstrosity.

I say it is a proper remaster, i don't know what else to say here... This does way more than any mods would had been able to do alone the Toggle Graphics option is seven times higher level than what the modding community are able to do. let alone adding effects and new assets. creating depth perception to important textures like doors and moveable blocks.

So i say yes they are worth it.

I guess that's what I was looking for, the trailers alone make it look like a sloppy attempt to reskin/smoothen everything out, with each clip only showing for a second or so as the new version "filters" over the old version. I wouldn't want to purchase it if that was the case but from what I see you're saying it looks like they have put some actual effort into changing the original assets to look cleaner and more defined which is what I was wondering.

[Luxurychoccie]

Originally posted by BlackSunEmpire:

As said in another thread:

- the lighting in some areas is too dark
- the colors are a little bit too bright and cartoony compared to the original game

And a little bit more bump mapping or tessellation to give 2D textures a 3-dimensional look wouldn't have hurt either. Some of the columns are still entirely 2D.

But overall I like this remaster. 👍

The colours appearing bright and cartoony was something I noticed also and that only added to my worry that this might have just been a "slap a reskin on it and sell it for £££" situation.

[Hulkachan]

I was hoping it would look like "Tomb Raider - Dagger of Xian"

[dprog1995]

Anniversary has better controls at least I give that game that.

And Croft Manor has more content in Anni compared to TR 1 croft Manor.

[Terepin]

Originally posted by Luxurychoccie:

Tomb Raider Anniversary came out for the Wii in 2007 and was a pretty beautiful remaster of the original- looking at this "Remaster" I'm sorta confused as to the appeal when it's a massive step DOWN from the 2007 version graphically? It seems like more of an upgrade from PS1 graphics to maybe PS2 graphics, but we're in 2024 right now and it just seems an odd choice when the Wii literally brought us a proper remaster in graphical terms.

I know Anniversary was just the first game and not the first three, but couldn't something of that level of polish be achieved today? Or is this remaster supposed to capture the "feel" of playing on a PS1 but with a bit more... texture to it? I'm wondering if I'm going to find that more jarring/distracting if anything but I'm not sure, interested to hear what others think.

If I am going to purchase it'll be because I want those shiny little achievements :fowlmouth: But forking out £20 for achievements is a bit of a steep one even for me.

Anniversary was a remake, not a remaster.