The Lara Croft Redesign

[Weaver]

so far the best representation of a strong female character is Bayonetta.

Are you shitting me? Bayonetta is like everything that is wrong with stereotypical female video game characters. She is basically just a pair of walking boobies and there is almost no effort made to make it look otherwise. Did you even look at the very screenshot that you posted?

I fully disagree. I understand why a lot of people think this way, but the character runs on several levels that seemingly 99% of gamers didn't seem to understand. I know not everyone has taken courses in studying literature, film and characters so I'll let old Movie Bob do the talking:

http://www.gametrailers.com/user-movie/game-overthinker-32-bayonetta/341237

I'm also apparently the only one in the world who thinks Bayonetta is an action comedy game, so take my rants with a grain of salt I guess.

No it's just Bayonetta is the Woman equivalent of Kratos in a game. It's the ridiculous perfectly powerful and always on their side of the fence sexuality wise.

Sure Kratos is the manly man dudes would want to be and Bayonetta probably the highest Woman equivalent in games, they are just a bit over the top. Especially when you are talking about trying to make a more realistic character in a realistic game.

I mean think of the most man empowered dude in a game, probably can't beat Kratos. But would you want a Kratos starring in EVERY GAME? Same with Bayonetta. It's a great character idea in those games that are just meant to be over the top, but when we are talking a character with any kind of development in a game or really what are known as "Human Emotions" it doesn't work. That's the problem here. To have Lara Craft = Bayonetta this would have to become some insane action /adventure/shooter death spree that the creators are not trying to make.

I would say that:
1) Bayonetta is the equivalent of a female Dante. She shares tons of the same behavioral traits, such as unalterable confidence and arrogance.

2) Bayonetta isn't just a little over the top, she's WAY over the top. The game is a spectacle in every sense. I smiled when I played it for the first time in years of gaming. I laughed with glee in my first fight. Nothing about Bayonetta is serious. If you're taking it serious, you're taking it wrong.

Now that we have that out of the way, I agree with you. Bayonetta or a character like her, would be awful for Laura Croft. However, I think you misunderstood me as I never intended to argue that the new LC should be anything like Bayonetta. I was simply trying to argue the case that Bayonetta WAS a strong female character once you actually look at the complexities of her design

 

[Vault101]

I never played tomb raider but I liekk the idea of a charachter a little more grounded in reality that might *gasp!* have some flaws!

 

[comadorcrack]

Well I've made it clear in the past that !!I HATE EVERY SINGLE TOMB RAIDER GAME!!, but since the last Lara Croft game which was kinda alright I've been optimistic that maybe they can make a fun tomb raider game. The redesign is... just a bit lame though... I agree with your mother, she's a game character, she's meant to be instantly recognisable from every other woman in the world! So yeah... my two cents

 

[FirstPersonWinner]

so far the best representation of a strong female character is Bayonetta.

Are you shitting me? Bayonetta is like everything that is wrong with stereotypical female video game characters. She is basically just a pair of walking boobies and there is almost no effort made to make it look otherwise. Did you even look at the very screenshot that you posted?

I fully disagree. I understand why a lot of people think this way, but the character runs on several levels that seemingly 99% of gamers didn't seem to understand. I know not everyone has taken courses in studying literature, film and characters so I'll let old Movie Bob do the talking:

http://www.gametrailers.com/user-movie/game-overthinker-32-bayonetta/341237

I'm also apparently the only one in the world who thinks Bayonetta is an action comedy game, so take my rants with a grain of salt I guess.

No it's just Bayonetta is the Woman equivalent of Kratos in a game. It's the ridiculous perfectly powerful and always on their side of the fence sexuality wise.

Sure Kratos is the manly man dudes would want to be and Bayonetta probably the highest Woman equivalent in games, they are just a bit over the top. Especially when you are talking about trying to make a more realistic character in a realistic game.

I mean think of the most man empowered dude in a game, probably can't beat Kratos. But would you want a Kratos starring in EVERY GAME? Same with Bayonetta. It's a great character idea in those games that are just meant to be over the top, but when we are talking a character with any kind of development in a game or really what are known as "Human Emotions" it doesn't work. That's the problem here. To have Lara Craft = Bayonetta this would have to become some insane action /adventure/shooter death spree that the creators are not trying to make.

I would say that:
1) Bayonetta is the equivalent of a female Dante. She shares tons of the same behavioral traits, such as unalterable confidence and arrogance.

2) Bayonetta isn't just a little over the top, she's WAY over the top. The game is a spectacle in every sense. I smiled when I played it for the first time in years of gaming. I laughed with glee in my first fight. Nothing about Bayonetta is serious. If you're taking it serious, you're taking it wrong.

Now that we have that out of the way, I agree with you. Bayonetta or a character like her, would be awful for Laura Croft. However, I think you misunderstood me as I never intended to argue that the new LC should be anything like Bayonetta. I was simply trying to argue the case that Bayonetta WAS a strong female character once you actually look at the complexities of her design

Alright yeah I get that. I still think that a male Bayonetta = Kratos since Bayonetta is the most strong woman character in games and Kratos is the most strong man. Dante... is a prissy girl. Just saying. Kratos would kick him in the balls they would shoot out his eyes blinding him, the Kratos would rip Dante's arms off and beat him to death with them. Because that's what REAL MEN do. Do they take 80 hours keeping an enemy afloat in the air while dancy ballerina-ing through the air? Nope. They grab the enemies face , smash it into the ground, then rip their heads off and shove it back down their necks.

Otherwise I totally agree with that last statement.

 

[About To Crash]

While I think Laura was overdue for an update to her looks, this new character design just isn't going to leave anything memorable. She's an interchangeable action girl we've seen a dozen times. Lara's face, while in recent years becoming a bit scary, was always so well known, as was her outfit. Switching it seems at best a very dangerous move. I think they need something more iconic. I don't mind rough and tough, but we need something that sets her apart.

 

[snave]

Lara Croft is supposed to be ridiculously strong- a hardcore strength trainer. She has consistently been shown lifting and pulling extremely heavy objects in her games. Please keep in mind, strength training and body building are not the same thing. When a woman strength trains, she develops very, very big breasts. Her pectoral muscles actually push her Breasts outwards and give them support. A woman with average breasts looks like Dolly Parton if she strength trains.

So, in reality, her having small breasts is not realistic. It is absurdly unrealistic. She is unrealistically flat chested. It looks like she has a childlike body just for the sake of having a childlike body. Explain this to me: How is this empowering to women? Women who strength train have giant looking boobs. For what concievable reason do you think making her look like a skinny underage kid is a good thing?

Curious point. Depends on what she does in the new game then does it not? I always found the "pulling giant stone blocks" part of the game to be ridiculous anyway. Who other than one of those Strongman Competition entrants could even conceivably THINK of managing that?! To me, looking at that image, and seeing a bow (ranged weapon) strapped on horizontally and filthy arms and knees, I'm imagining a game where logical defensive evasion (not cowardice) and athletic skills play the key role. Rolling, climbing, evading, and attacking from afar.

Your points about bodybuilders make sense, but a MUCH more fitting model for her character would be parkour. Traceurs do not upper-body strength train and have a leaner physique whilst still maintaining strength.

Just an alternate interpretation. I like the new design.

 

[FirstPersonWinner]

Lara Croft is supposed to be ridiculously strong- a hardcore strength trainer. She has consistently been shown lifting and pulling extremely heavy objects in her games. Please keep in mind, strength training and body building are not the same thing. When a woman strength trains, she develops very, very big breasts. Her pectoral muscles actually push her Breasts outwards and give them support. A woman with average breasts looks like Dolly Parton if she strength trains.

So, in reality, her having small breasts is not realistic. It is absurdly unrealistic. She is unrealistically flat chested. It looks like she has a childlike body just for the sake of having a childlike body. Explain this to me: How is this empowering to women? Women who strength train have giant looking boobs. For what concievable reason do you think making her look like a skinny underage kid is a good thing?

Curious point. Depends on what she does in the new game then does it not? I always found the "pulling giant stone blocks" part of the game to be ridiculous anyway. Who other than one of those Strongman Competition entrants could even conceivably THINK of managing that?! To me, looking at that image, and seeing a bow (ranged weapon) strapped on horizontally and filthy arms and knees, I'm imagining a game where logical defensive evasion (not cowardice) and athletic skills play the key role. Rolling, climbing, evading, and attacking from afar.

Your points about bodybuilders make sense, but a MUCH more fitting model for her character would be parkour. Traceurs do not upper-body strength train and have a leaner physique whilst still maintaining strength.

Just an alternate interpretation. I like the new design.

What's funny is you pretty much got how they said the gameplay was going to be like in the next game out of a picture. Good job picture people.

 

[Infernai]

Unlike Tommy Wiseau's younger brothers redesign of Dante, this is an example of a good redesign: You can obviously see it's still Lara, albeit a much younger version instead of the 'complete overhaul to the point it looks nothing like the original' one that i stated previously, but still has enough different about her to be considered a redesign.

In any case, i think it's good.

 

[Lord Kloo]

hmm.. I approve of this re-design, the Lara from the games after the movies just looked too 'perfect' as in photoshopped and the designers perfect woman and so didn't look real or even normal which I didn't like..

The re-design helps in it makes her look more worn and down to earth for where she usually is (some jungle) and also makes here look more British as she always was modeled (after the movies) on Angelina Jolie which I though was a bad move considering Lara is meant to be the daughter of some English toff and the more recent laras look like they had several botox sessions, which wasn't good.. IMO..

 

[irani_che]

We dont need more laura croft adventures.
we had a load, most were pretty good. we had our fun. Now put the franchise down.

Try making something new for a god-damn change

 

[FirstPersonWinner]

Unlike Tommy Wiseau's younger brothers redesign of Dante, this is an example of a good redesign: You can obviously see it's still Lara, albeit a much younger version instead of the 'complete overhaul to the point it looks nothing like the original' one that i stated previously, but still has enough different about her to be considered a redesign.

In any case, i think it's good.

Also to add, they kept her major feature. Her ponytail, her exact clothes, all of that. All they really changed was her proportions a bit to look normal human-ish and made her look a bit younger.

 

[blankedboy]

It's alot better now, in my opinion. For two reasons:

-She's alot less surreal overall. Having a more gritty, down-to-earth will suit because the old design was almost a cartoon character running around in the Temple of Doom.
-Her tits. Yeh. Obviously they're SIGNIFICANTLY smaller now, and still big enough for the sexual apppeal of all you insecure straight kids. Realistic tits suit her.

 

[FirstPersonWinner]

It's alot better now, in my opinion. For two reasons:

-She's alot less surreal overall. Having a more gritty, down-to-earth will suit because the old design was almost a cartoon character running around in the Temple of Doom.
-Her tits. Yeh. Obviously they're SIGNIFICANTLY smaller now, and still big enough for the sexual apppeal of all you insecure straight kids. Realistic tits suit her.

I just want to also add that there will be insecure gay kids who also go for the sex appeal, they will just be women.

 

[snave]

Also to add, they kept her major feature. Her ponytail, her exact clothes, all of that. All they really changed was her proportions a bit to look normal human-ish and made her look a bit younger.

Pretty much. If I had to sum up the iconic imagery of the Tomb Radier franchise, to me it'd be a stone wall, her blue top, a pistol and the ponytail.

 

[ImprovizoR]

I am very excited about the reboot of the series and Lara actually looks hot now. I'm getting this one for sure.

 

[AVATAR_RAGE]

I love the redesign.

I think the more realistic proportions make a much more attractive character than the Lara of old.

I do agree with your mom though, she does look like she's fresh out of college, I think that's kind of the point. I imagine she'll grow more "sexy" as she becomes more experienced, more jaded, etc.

The Tomb Raider franchise hasn't been held in very high regards over the years, distancing itself from its past can only be a good thing in my mind.

I agree 100%, Ninja Theory should take note to how a character re design should look.

 

[Moeez]

I'm going to ask my mom and sister if they can recognise who this character is, and their thoughts on this Lara Croft re-design. I'll check back.

(My personal opinion: She does not look the other Lara Croft models in games past. Not same clothes. No double holster. She looks like the "Relic Hunter" Tia Carrere because of the petite body and Asian features on her face

http://www.zone-sf.com/images/relichunter2.jpg)

Don't think that's a bad thing, just she looks different. I like the re-design, and I've been playing the games since PS1.

Compare this re-design to her past models:

<youtube=b3QBMhHYizU>

http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/4994/larahist.gif

 

[manic_depressive13]

This thread really reminded of my primary school days. "MY MUMMY said she doesn't look like Lara!"

She looks fine. At least it wasn't as drastic as Dante's new look. They just made her a bit more proportional.

 

[Palademon]

I facepalmed at everyone in this thread that said "Laura".

 

[JediMB]

T'n'A = "fearless, beautiful treasure hunter"?

No, I have to say that the new Lara looks a whole lot more capable than any of the old incarnations. And she's attractive in a real way, rather than as a sex caricature or a porn star.

But, really, what excites me about the new Lara is her exploration of a new genre. I've played a couple of Tomb Raider games and liked them, but if the series successfully reboots into the Metroidvania genre I might just become a fan of the franchise.