LogFAQs > #946193636

ParanoidObsessive posted...

Basically, you need to keep combat very minimal for a LONG time. Focus on exploration early, have the story emphasize just how hard things are for her. Once combat does commence, have it occur in very small, very isolated pockets. Give time between fights for Lara to emote her reactions. Establish the arc.

You mean like in a Tomb Raider game? :|

I can understand the idea of Legend and Underworld as setting more action oriented expectations, but Underworld in particular under performed, so doubling down on the action format wasn't a slam dunk. Granted Anniversary did abysmal, so a return to form classic Tomb Raider game was also out. Then again the marketing for Anniversary was something like, "We remade Tomb Raider 1 in our spare time using the new engine" so it was never regarded as a full entry to the series.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

In other words, you can't be working for Squeenix, who will say that your 4 million sales (at the time) were a disappointment because their vastly ignorant and unrealistic expectations were way too high in the first place. You need to be in a position where you can accept lower sales for higher critical praise - and if you're very lucky, the critical praise will help fuel your sales (see also, Undertale).

I agree with that, but go in a completely different direction. They could have made good money on just those sales, numbers that were by no means out of whack for a Tomb Raider game, if they stuck to the sort of budgets Tomb Raider games had traditionally been made at. Coincidentally, that's the sort of budget that would make for a very decent survival horror game. AFAIK The Evil Within did similar sales to TR2013 on a budget in line with an older Tomb Raider game. What was unrealistic was that they could get Final Fantasy sales on a Final Fantasy budget with a game that wasn't Final Fantasy.

I see the parallels you're drawing with Spec Ops, but they were in a unique position. For no good reason at all the publisher doled out a decent budget and an unusual amount of creative freedom to the Spec Ops team, then left them to do their thing. I think it might have been a case of just throwing stuff at the wall to see if it stuck. It was the revival no one asked for of a franchise no one wanted in the first place. Spec Ops was also perceived as nearly impossible to market correctly due to the nature of it. I say perceived because in hindsight a lot of people only became aware of Spec Ops The Line due to its deconstruction of military shooters. That brings me to Tomb Raider: The Line, the game I would have preferred they made. The marketing was already in line with a game of that tone and character, and it sold 4 million anyway.

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