The gameplay was good but everything else was overhyped.
1) Lara didn't have a character. People claim that she goes from a person who hates using violence to a strong woman but that's total bullshit. She says something like "I don't want to hurt you" like once but then she seems fine driving a spike through people's throats. Instead, the game should have forced the player to stealth in the beginning of the game, not because Lara didn't have a weapon, but because she didn't want to kill people. Then she would be forced to kill someone in self defense or something and then we see a slow progression in cut scenes as she becomes more accepting of violence. As opposed to bringing it up and then forgetting about it.
Didn't read much past bullet 1 because I sensed spoilers.
That said the game does exactly what you suggest. You start out stealth.
**SPOILER ALERT** If you've never played the game skip the rest of this comment.
Her first human kill is an accident. Her attacker dies because of other events that are going on. Her second kill is an animal in the woods because she is starving and she mourns it. Her first deliberate human kill is when she is nearly raped/killed. Immediately after she vomits and has a breakdown... It takes about a solid hour of gameplay for all of this to transpire if you're not speed running.
Several times after that (when she finds the tools needed to make fire arrows for example) she looks at the weapons and things she's come to rely on for survival and has a moment of "what the hell have I become" type reflection.
Also she talks to herself frequently when you make camp. It seems like background and is easy to skip over if you're just making camp to save or get the next upgrade. But a lot of those monologues bring out her inner thoughts and conflict.
She is the entire reason they are on the island. So part of it is not just her own survival but the responsibility she feels towards the others stranded there because of her.
The journals scattered about the island also make it clear the other parties have zero intention of making nice.
It's kill or be killed.
You're missing the point I made. My point was that I wanted to see Lara forsake violence because she didn't want to hurt anyone which is why the game is stealth orientated. The only reason you stealth early on is because you don't have a weapon. The problem is that as soon as you get a weapon you run around killing everyone. The change needs to be more gradual. Lara has these emotional breakdowns at the campsite but then she goes and taunts her enemies during gameplay. This is inconsistent writing.
Here's the thing, what is the result of a character arc? Answer: a person changes. This change has to be reflected in the they think and behave. We see Lara's "change" in the way she thinks during cutscenes. But she doesn't make any decisions that reflect her change. She is completely reactionary.
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