"Optional tombs" refers to burial places or graves that are not necessary or required. This means that people have the choice to be buried there or not, as it is not mandatory.
Full definition
Taking the criticism people lobbied at the prior entry in the series, Rise is packed to the brim with content
including optional tombs, collectibles and side missions for players to explore and engage with during their travels.
Part of the old Tomb Raider spirit also awaits players
with optional tombs, hidden areas where the bread and butter of the series is refined with laser precision.
In a nod to the series name there's a total of seven
optional tombs for you to find and raid scattered around the island, each of which ditches combat in favor of platforming and puzzling.
I'm roughly 8 hours in, and I have completed
several optional tombs as well as a handful of story missions and side quests for some characters I've encountered.
These cauldrons, similar to
optional tombs in Tomb Raider, are little puzzle chambers that once completed allow you to level up your «Override» skills.
We ensured we completed all of Rise's side missions and
optional tomb challenges too, plus dabbled with hunting and artefact collecting.
Optional tombs filled with lots of collectibles are available to explore and of course, the puzzles aren't going anywhere.
, that there is never a good time to do
that optional tomb that has just come up on your map.
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.
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.
It's easy to get side tracked in Rise of the Tomb Raider, whether it's doing a side quest, looking around for an entrance to
an optional tomb, or just gathering materials to craft more arrows.
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.
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.
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.
On the evidence of
these optional tombs, which are the closest the game comes to replicating the style and satisfaction of historical Tomb Raider, it's clear that developer Crystal Dynamics is a home to masterly designers who would, surely, be able to deliver many games» - worth of memorable and delightful puzzles.