Shadow of the Tomb Raider
Might contain spoilers.
This is one of a group of games I installed primarily for the sake of ogling modern visuals[1] and only secondarily for the pleasure of playing them. I was taken aback by just how good it looks. I remember watching the opening cutscene and waiting for lower-quality models to appear so I would know I was in control; it was a good 10 seconds before I tentatively reached out and pressed a key, which is how I realized the cutscene had ended and the incredibly detailed Lara Croft I saw onscreen was now under my control.
Unfortunately, fidelity aside, I found the dark and gritty æsthetic too overbearing to continue past the first cavern of the story proper.
- With my shiny new 3080. See 2022: Afterword for more.↩