I never really cared much about the Tomb Raider games. I've played demos here and there, and it just felt so defiant to change some of the worst of the platforming/combat mechanics. Not to mention Lara is completely uninteresting as a character. She's this super rich, powerful brat who goes around the world finding weirdly preposterous reasons to murder people and wildlife. Then the games got weird with the last reboot trilogy where people were going super-saiyan with Viking gloves and Welsh swords or something, and Lara was trying to rescue her mother from an alternate dimension.

That said, it really looks like they're trying something new with this game. I saw a gameplay demonstration that mixed platforming and puzzles that looked pretty seamless and fun. The biggest difference I noticed is that Lara seems like a human fucking being for once. She's not a constant jack-off fantasy who runs out of giant gunfights and huge jumps unscathed and un-soiled, blathering out "witty" one-liners while stealing and destroying priceless historical antiquities. It's neat that they're going with a tough-spirited but physically vulnerable female character instead of more male murder-brosephs. I'll check in on the game from time to time.

I like Uncharted. It tries so earnestly to be fun, and mostly is. I wish it was a little less simple and easy in the platforming department, but I love the combat unconditionally. Writing-wise, Drake, Elena, and most villains are intensely uninteresting to me, but I love many of the characters, especially Sully, Tenzen, Cutter, and Chloe. They kept getting close with making Drake interesting, but I guess if they showed any vulnerability in the guy, all of the nerds would start screaming and call him "emo" or some bullshit.

As for taking risks with the franchises, I can understand them here. They'll sell a lot of copies based on name alone, and if that name is tacked on to something really well made, I don't care either way.