Image credit: Netflix
Netflix animated series Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft has generally been met with middling reviews since its launch earlier this month, but Tomb Raider 2013 writer Rhianna Pratchett has called out one particular element for praise.
Speaking to Eurogamer, Pratchett said she had not yet watched the show herself, but had been “glad to hear the series has touched upon Lara’s PTSD after her experiences” on Yamatai. Pratchett noted this “was an area we weren’t allowed to explore in the games”, despite the narrative team wanting to do so.
Pratchett spoke to me about Lara’s PTSD journey last year, when she revealed that she and narrative designer John Stafford had actually pitched “playable nightmares” to Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics. “I had the idea that she could have these scenarios from the first game that had got kind of twisted in her mind,” Pratchett told me at the time. Crystal ultimately did not go for this idea.
In the Tomb Raider animated series, Lara experiences flashbacks and nightmares relating to her time on Yamatai, and the resulting fallout of those close to her, such as Sam. And this brings us on to another thing Pratchett said she appreciated about Netflix’s show: that it focuses more on Lara’s personal life outside of hunting for artefacts in every corner of the earth.
“Lara’s personal life and friendships and how she navigates the real world have always been fun areas to explore beyond the games,” Pratchett told me.
“These were areas that both Gail [Simone] and I touched a lot upon in our runs on the Dark Horse comics – creating scenarios like Sam fighting off someone with a close-combat cupcake, and Lara taking on bad guys in the depths of the London Underground whilst dressed as one of the Bennet sisters,” Pratchett continued, reflecting on her work on the Tomb Raider comics.
“Sometimes it’s silly, or irreverent, or just refreshing, but exploring that blurry line where the hero meets the human is always wonderfully fertile ground.”
You can read more about Pratchett’s time working on the Tomb Raider series here, where she looks back on the reboot trilogy and its legacy.
As for the future, Crystal Dynamics is currently working on a new Tomb Raider entry with Amazon. In August, Amazon Games boss Christoph Hartmann said development is “going well”. Along with its upcoming game, Amazon also has a Tomb Raider TV project in the works with Fleabag’s Phoebe Waller-Bridge attached.
Earlier this month, Aspyr announced Tomb Raider 4 – 6 Remastered – which comprises souped up versions of Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation (1999), Tomb Raider: Chronicles (2000), and Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness (2003) – will be released next year.
