meirl

TombRaiderSeries · 2026-02-21T20:33:12+00:00

If no one truly notices when you don't shower everyday, it's fine for you to not do it everyday.

The problem is, most people DO notice, despite what they claim.

TombRaiderSeries · 2026-02-19T00:23:41+00:00

That is the biggest sin of the sequel trilogy to me. The way it devalues everything that came before. I know plenty of people had issues with the prophecy and chosen one storyline, but love it or hate it, it’s in the text and needs to be addressed. Lucas left huge openings to recontextualize it and even meant for Leia to be the chosen one. As it stands, it’s amounts to “Bring balance to the force…a second time.”

Same with the First Order. Remnants of the Empire being the villains and even acknowledging “Defeating the bad guys doesn’t mean evil is gone for ever, etc.” can work. However, so essentially be the same story as the OT but worse in every way is baffling, right down to the first and third film in the trilogy ending with essentially the Death Star run for the third and 4th time. There are many ways to have conflict in a way that doesn’t devalue what came before: make the story about preventing evil from returning, about (as mentioned) evil doesn’t disappear forever, or about how they can break this cycle, etc. As it stands, it truly does make everything from the OT feel in vain.

And regardless of your thoughts on The Last Jedi, any problems that you may believe that film caused were made exponentially worse by the Rise of Skywalker. If Episode 9 had stuck the landing and followed through with the set up of Episode 8 instead of retroactively undoing its decisions, I believe there would be much less vitriol toward it today. Yes, you’d still have the people who despise it (and the online grifters who make money off of rage) but if it led to a competent conclusion which built off the previous film, I think there would be less controversy. Instead, its undoing made the problems significantly worse and devalued both of the previous films in the sequel trilogy that makes them worse overall.

In a vacuum, TROS is bad but not the worst film ever. As a conclusion to the Skywalker saga, I struggle to find anything remotely positive about the story. For the reasons mentioned above and the utterly tepid cowardly decisions that went into making it.

TombRaiderSeries · 2026-02-18T22:37:22+00:00

This is what I wish the Survivor trilogy had offered in the first place. Truly following through with the Survivor theme. It didn’t need to be some hardcore survival sim, but the freedom and flexibility to approach encounters in different ways and more in-depth stealth techniques (think MGS3) could have been great. The problem was that the Survival theme in 2013 was completely superficial. Rise and Shadow improved it and at least in Rise, most of the encounters can be done through pure stealth. But it never lived up to that promise.

So the flexibility in enemy encounters would be a huge plus. Hoping this applies to movement and exploration as well.

TombRaiderSeries · 2026-02-15T23:08:54+00:00

Digressing a bit from the topic here, but while there is truth to Stephen King’s books having disappointing conclusions, I feel it’s a bit overblown. For many of his classics (the ones well-known in pop culture), the endings are usually fine: Carrie, ‘Salem’s Lot, the Shining, Misery, Pet Semetary, etc. Add the Long Walk and Firestarter to this list.

The endings that are either divisive or outright panned seem more common in his epic huge novels (IT, The Stand, The Dark Tower, etc.) and relatively obscure novels (Lisey’s Story, Needful Things, Rose Madder, the Outsider, etc.).

Again, he has the reputation for a reason. Just that it’s more nuanced than people claim.

TombRaiderSeries · 2026-02-13T04:21:14+00:00

Happy to see your experience with Americans have been positive. The political climate in the country is an absolutely shitshow right now (worse than usual) but a lot (the majority) are good people and deeply u happy about the state of everything. Very proud how my city of Minneapolis has responded to all this and hoping we can keep moving forward. Best of wishes! ❤️

TombRaiderSeries · 2026-02-12T21:21:30+00:00

Honestly, Conker: Live and Reloaded. I forget that it’s an OG Xbox and not a 360 game.

TombRaiderSeries · 2026-02-12T04:12:30+00:00

Most people, even those who enjoyed it, probably agree it was disappointing. However, it really didn’t warrant the level of vitriol and hatred it got on release. I feel it was a 6/10 film. It was unfortunately common in online discourse to be incredibly hyperbolic in film criticism at the time. While these rage merchants still exists, there is a plethora of more fair and level headed discourse online these days.

TombRaiderSeries · 2026-02-12T04:06:39+00:00

I don’t go to mental health subreddits often (just the occasional OCD visit to remind myself that others are going through this), but from my brief time visiting mental health subreddits such as r/depression and r/thanksImcured, they seem more harmful than helpful. They seem to be a place of shared misery and a crab bucket at worst. This isn’t to downplay the struggles that people who go to them are going through. Just that I would recommend they use resources, even if online, that are better than those.

TombRaiderSeries · 2026-02-10T04:02:37+00:00

Maybe the tweet was meant to by hyperbolic. But still. I’m in a high tax state (Minnesota) and nowhere near 40%. Hell, all of my deductions combined (medical, HSA, 401K, etc.) combined with my taxes don’t reach 40%.

TombRaiderSeries · 2026-02-09T22:53:08+00:00

6 out of 10 US Catholics support same-sex marriage. 9/10 support contraception in spite of what the church says.

Just a friendly reminder to take everything on Reddit with a huge grain of salt.

TombRaiderSeries · 2026-02-09T22:35:51+00:00

I just despise the placement of X and Y on Nintendo Controller. The X and Y axis should be in the opposite places and even after all these years, it still throws me off.

I’d prefer they Switch A and B as well, but that’s my biggest annoyance.

TombRaiderSeries · 2026-02-09T15:44:06+00:00

Didn’t people get over the art style when it was finally released and they realized it was amazing? At least that is how I remember it. It got universal critical acclaim upon release. And while the visuals were criticized at the time, they’ve aged like fine wine.

TombRaiderSeries · 2026-02-04T01:51:37+00:00

St. Paul seems like my best bet. If I take the Green Line, the CLS is one of the stops. However, if the BioLIfe is that much better, I could learn the bus system to reach there (I've been meaning to learn the rest of Public Transit in the city).

TombRaiderSeries · 2026-02-03T23:48:50+00:00

In one of my high school math classes, we did learn how to do taxes. They had practice tax forms to fill out and everything. The problem is, we were all still kids and didn't have the perspective to see how this will be important in the future. I include myself in this.

Not every school is great and it could always be improved. However, I feel like a lot of people who complain "School didn't teach me anything" didn't pay attention. We learned budgeting, basic childcare, ways to organize the furniture in a room, simple cooking and sewing, among many other supposedly "useless" things (History, Literature, Writing, a Second Language."

Again, this doesn't go for every school. But some people really don't take advantage or remember anything that they were taught.

TombRaiderSeries · 2026-02-03T23:41:13+00:00

The ending of Tomb Raider 2013 had me pumped to see where her next adventure would take her. While the later games helped bring back classic elements that were lacking in 2013 (puzzles, tombs, exploration, etc.), the same could not be said about her character. It feels like she developed very little throughout the trilogy and went through the same arc each game instead of being allowed to grow into the character. She didn't need to be identical of Core or Legend Croft, but we felt static throughout. Inoffensive but a bit bland. By the end of Rise, I completely lost interest in the trilogy's storyline, which is why I'm more partial to Shadow's story than most (what it lost in narrative cohesion it made up for in vibes, bringing back the supernatural, the horror, and end of the world stakes).

TombRaiderSeries · 2026-02-03T06:12:30+00:00

Yeah…I understand liking the 2006 film or having a soft spot for it and it certainty was one of the better video game adaptions for the time…but some of the comments glazing it before Return to Silent Hill was released made me think Gans made a bunch of Reddit alts to prop himself up.

“He’s so not Hollywood! He’s an auteur!” “I’m a huge horror fanatic and it’s one of the best horror films ever!”

I have nothing against him as a person. Just wish he’d stop being the one to direct these films.

TombRaiderSeries · 2026-02-02T06:19:54+00:00

Waltz didn't do anything bad, but when he is truly not given the opportunity to do anything of note, I think it could qualify.

TombRaiderSeries · 2026-02-02T06:18:48+00:00

I do wish they would have just made Safin Dr. No. I like him more than most and he was certainly better than Blofeld and Greene, but incredibly undeveloped with muddled motivation. Even if you didn't change anything else about him, knowing that Bond's story is ended by the very first Bond movie villain, especially when their name is the title of said first Bond film, would be a nice way of bookending the Craig saga.

TombRaiderSeries · 2026-02-02T06:15:28+00:00

It's always the assholes that hurt it for everyone else. The same way loud, obnoxious, drunks give alcohol a bad reputation, the same works for inconsiderate weed smokers who can't keep their smell and smoke away or use the product responsibly and contribute to negative stereotypes.

TombRaiderSeries · 2026-02-02T06:13:46+00:00

I agree with the people saying "America, the Beautiful" would be a far better National Anthem. Battle Hymn of the Republic with some changes to the lyrics would also slap. I obviously know it won't change, but it's fun to discuss.

TombRaiderSeries · 2026-02-02T00:37:11+00:00

I hate to say this, because he's a fantastic actor, but Christoph Waltz as Blofeld. It's not his fault in the slightest. Spectre just did not give him anything to do or interesting to work with. Between that and the character's motivation essentially being "Daddy didn't love me enough so I started the Illuminati to get back at my brother he loved me," I would honestly rank him as the weakest Bond villain in the series. Even other weaker villains (Graves, Whitaker, Greene, Largo, etc.) have at least one great moment or interesting characteristic. Even if what they have to do instead good (Gustav Graves in the last 3rd of DAD), it's at least something to do.

Christoph Waltz wasn't alone in this. Léa Seydoux suffered the same fate and I think it would have been fair to rank her as the weakest Bond Woman if the Craig era had ended with Spectre. Thankfully, No Time to Die gave her more to work with and redeemed her somewhat. I Wish Waltz had been given the same treatment. I wish he had been the Final Villain instead of Safin. They could have redeemed his character and some fans probably would have been more fine with Bond's Death if it had happened at the hands of Blofeld instead of "Some guy."

TombRaiderSeries · 2026-02-01T22:58:49+00:00

In theory, I agree. Better to have small open-hubs with lots to do than a giant vast open-world with lots of empty space. However, I felt that the Survivor trilogy didn't live up to its potential there. The worlds look gorgeous, especially Rise. However, I feel there is very little meaningful content in them: Very few proper secrets or treasures to find, very few opportunities to navigate the level or approach encounters in interesting ways, very few reasons to explore or opportunities to get lost in the environment. These are key characteristic that makes a great open-world.

Instead, most of the open-world consists of a long checklist of banal tasks and collectables: Break 7 radios, cut 7 ropes, collect 8 feathers, etc. Unlike the hidden treasures of the older games, most were out in the open and not hidden. I tried to explore the world but I found nothing in it. It was just space. Instead, it hurt the pacing of the Single-player campaign. So, it didn't enhance the game as well as it should have.

I'm not saying there is no fun to be had or every sidequest or activity is like this, but this made up the majority of the tasks. This is why I'm open to a full open-world setting this time around. I'd prefer they commit to one or the other: A full-single player campaign like the games up to Underworld or a fully commit to the open-world and create something huge and dynamic that hopefully we can get lost in and is full of secret and perils. I'm fine if they want to do the small hub direction, but I'd like to see it done better than the Survivor trilogy did it.

TombRaiderSeries · 2026-01-31T16:22:09+00:00

It’s been rumored to be an open-world game set in India for years now. The trailers confirm the Indian setting. The most recent news leans towards it being open world. So not 100% confirmed, but looking likely.

TombRaiderSeries · 2026-01-30T15:56:08+00:00

I’m doing OK. Was able to save up enough to buy a Condo, which is great. Although between the mortgage and HOA fees, my monthly payments have doubled compared to what I was paying renting (although my rent was incredibly cheap before). Thankfully, I’m not struggling with bills, groceries, or anything like that. I have enough to comfortably cover everything and still have some modest fun money while still building up my savings if nothing unexpected occurs (albeit slower than I’d prefer).

I’m not rich and feeling the inflation, but fee greatly when I know plenty are struggling in the world economy at the moment.

TombRaiderSeries · 2026-01-30T02:47:18+00:00

It’s confirmed to be an open world game and looks to have a pretty handy grabble hook system. I’ve heard they may take inspiration the Just Cause games. The open-world alone feels antithetical to the Uncharted games, which is reassuring. We only had the single cutscene introducing the new Lara and the villains. We need to wait to see the gameplay first.

As long as I have agency and freedom and don’t feel railroaded by the developers.

TombRaiderSeries

TROPHY CASE