“We learn, we accept, we lose our ability to wonder”. This is Rise of the Tomb Raider’s opening monologue, but it might as well apply to all the ports of older games coming to Switch 2. For every impressive feat of engineering – like last week’s Final Fantasy VII Rebirth – there’s another that doesn’t, or can’t, translate the full experience from other consoles across to Nintendo’s lower-powered platform. Rise of the Tomb Raider sits somewhere in the middle, and while it’s a great game for Nintendo owners to experience, you will find better versions of it elsewhere.

Rise of the Tomb Raider is arguably the Empire Strikes Back of the modern Tomb Raider trilogy, meaning it’s the best one. And it’s in the middle. And Lara has clear daddy issues. And she gets her hand chopped off. Well, maybe not that last one, but you get the idea. This is the 20 Year Celebration version of the game,  that…. look, I hate to do this to you, but it’s basically 10 years old in its own right. This edition bulks out the game up with all of its DLC, including Lara’s Nightmare and Endurance Mode, and a host of different outfits to dress Lara up in as you lead her to her repeated deaths.

Rise of the Tomb Raider on Switch 2 looks pretty good, though there are still the edges of the handheld’s limitations. From the fluffy hood on Lara’s coat, leafy boughs and branches through to the mountainous rock formations in the opening moments of the game, some elements look a little rougher than I remember them being before. There’s some clear anti-aliasing shimmer, and some light pop-in, but for all of that, it presents a smart image, with impressive draw distances, decent hair effects, and dynamic shadows.

The Switch 2 edition is targeting the same 30fps as the PS4 version, a platform to which it is roughly analogous in terms of raw power, though it’s a shame to lose the different graphical options that PS4 Pro players were privy to. It does reliably hit that 30fps target throughout, which is great, but it is disappointing in a game where movement and accuracy play such a big role not to have found a way to implement a 60fps or even a 40fps option by leaning on DLSS upscaling in some way. There are occasional drops or wobbles, but I think they are fairly consistent with the earlier versions of the game, and pop up more prominently when the game transitions between gameplay and cutscenes.

What hasn’t lost any of its feel is Rise of the Tomb Raider’s audio. From the cast’s excellent voice acting through to the drama-soaked orchestral strains of the soundtrack, Rise of the Tomb Raider sounds like a blockbuster production from beginning to end. Combine it with a surround sound system, and it feels truly cinematic, and definitely helps to strengthen your perception of the game on Switch 2.

Aspyr have included some Switch 2 specific functions, but as we saw with the release of the first game in the trilogy, there’s no consistency to the way they’re implemented. There’s HD rumble, and that adds a satisfying additional layer to your interactions, but while there are gyro controls, they’re not implemented in the place you’d want them: aiming. Instead, all you can do with them is twist and turn objects you’ve collected as you look at them. It’s nice enough, but everyone wants to aim Lara’s bow with a gyro control, and for some reason Aspyr don’t want to let them do it.

That might be mildly made up for by the inclusion of mouse controls, and these are a major step up from the implementation in the first game. Mainly because they work, and you can choose from different button setups to tailor the experience to how you play. While Rise of the Tomb Raider isn’t the type of game that I immediately think of playing with mouse controls, it’s great to have the option.

Rise of the Tomb Raider is a top class production, and whether it’s your favourite Tomb Raider game or not, it’s well worth revisiting, or indeed, checking it out for the first time before the upcoming high-profile remake of the original Tomb Raider game. The Switch 2 version dispenses itself well, and while I really wish Aspyr would push a little harder with their ports, this is a great game whether you’re playing at home or on the go.

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Our chums at PlayStation have shared more about Kemuri, the giddy new third-person action game from a team lead by former Tango Gameworks developer and E3 2019 scene-stealer Ikumi Nakamura. In case you missed the 2023 announcement, it casts you as an athletic yokai hunter swooping and flipping around a “sprawling vertical city”. The obvious reference point is Ghostwire: Tokyo, Nakamura’s previous and more ponderous yokai-hunting project for Tango. She left the studio before that game’s completion, but she appears to have brought a lot of the same inspirations to Kemuri. Here’s a video.

Kemuri’s city is full of hidden otherworldly beings, ranging from interpretations of real-life folklore to original creations. Some of them are huge – there’s a Godzilla-sized walking skeleton, for example. You can scry these yokai by forming a “foxwindow” with your thumb and index finger. Once revealed, you can then beat them up and transform them into “Possession Apparel”, which sounds like a class system. The announcement details three broad playstyles – fisticuffs, archery and magic. I hope it gets more elaborate than that.

Among the mysteries of Kemuri is how the online works. There’s traditional co-op for up to three – hence, the three broad playstyles above – but Nakamura has also hinted at some nebulous, perhaps even FromSoftwary networking during singleplayer. “Even in single-player, you are never truly alone in this city,” she explains in a PlayStation blog post. “Distinctive hunters and contracted yokai are always by your side. Before you realize it, you may find yourself stepping deeper into the city’s paranormal anomalies while sensing someone else’s presence nearby.”

The explicit co-op also seems a bit arcane. “Together, players dive into the city as one discovers, one guides, and one strikes the final blow,” Nakamura goes on. “And somewhere within that cooperation, you may begin to notice something strange: Even when looking at the same world, each player may see it just a little differently.” Hmm, I like the idea of spooky discrepancies between player sessions. It will make it easier to explain why I keep leaving allies in the lurch. I also like the implication that co-op is a ritual with players fulfilling different roles, rather than being clones of each other.

Kemuri is currently down for a 2027 release on PS5. Unlike Sony’s God of War Laufey and Wolverine, it’s also been confirmed for PC. Dear Unseen Inc, please include some kind of freefall mechanic – in places this reminds me of Gravity Rush.

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