We ensured we completed all of Rise's side missions and
optional tomb challenges too, plus dabbled with hunting and artefact collecting.
Tomb Raider also feels less linear in its structure, with its almost hub - like environments and most importantly
its optional tomb puzzles, which are debatably the best bit of the game.
The «secret,»
optional tombs you can so choose to raid - auspiciously denoted with cave paintings and present in most areas - were my favourite parts, throwing back to the pure platforming and environmental manipulation this series was built upon while temporarily removing enemies from the equation.
These atmospheric moments also carry over to
the optional tombs Lara can explore.
The game mostly takes place in Siberia and features several open - world hubs that have
optional tombs to explore and side - missions for players to complete.
The world is bigger than the last game too and there are many more
optional tombs to explore.
Trying to grab all the collectibles, do
the optional tombs, challenges, and NPC missions will take a quite a bit of time.
The optional tombs are well designed, although I found the difficulty to be pretty easy.
If I had to single out just one thing from the first game, it would be that
the optional tombs were not only too few, but too simple as well.
While many of
the optional tombs here are still gated off because I have not obtained the right gadgets to access them yet, the few I have done have been a little more challenging than last time around.
The game also includes 7
optional tombs to raid if you can find them which all include their own puzzles and treasure maps for collectibles that are scattered throughout the levels.
These cauldrons, similar to
optional tombs in Tomb Raider, are little puzzle chambers that once completed allow you to level up your «Override» skills.
Side activities range from just normal side missions, to challenges, and to my favorite part of Rise Of The Tomb Raider which are
the optional tombs.
Optional tombs filled with lots of collectibles are available to explore and of course, the puzzles aren't going anywhere.