Player feedback was considered during development, with the team reducing the number of quick time events and introducing more puzzles and challenge tombs.

Rise of the Tomb Raider was acclaimed by critics, with praise for its graphics, gameplay, characterization, and abundance of content, but some felt that the game did not take enough risks.

Rise of the Tomb Raider is a third-person action-adventure game in which players control Lara Croft, who is on a quest to discover the legendary city of Kitezh.

Combat is a major gameplay mechanic; Lara has a large variety of weapons at her disposal (including assault rifles, shotguns, and pistols), some of which have an alternate firing mode.

[1] Brawler enhances Lara's efficiency with weapons, giving her abilities such as retrieving arrows from corpses and a steady aim, as well as boosting her resilience against attack and unlocks new combat skills, such as dodge kill.

[15] A year after the events of Tomb Raider, archaeologist Lara Croft is struggling to explain her experience of the supernatural on Yamatai and is experiencing PTSD.

Lara ignores her and organizes an expedition to the Forgotten Cities in northwestern Syria, hoping to uncover the tomb of the Prophet of Constantinople, a key figure in the Kitezh legend.

The tomb is empty, and Lara is interrupted by Trinity—an ancient order of knights turned paramilitary organization investigating the supernatural—and their task force leader, Konstantin.

As she flees, Lara discovers a symbol etched into the tomb, which she links to a book on Russian religious history in her father's study at Croft Manor.

After arguing with her friend Jonah Maiava regarding the artifact's existence, a Trinity assassin infiltrates the manor and steals the book, prompting the two to go to Siberia.

Lara finds the Atlas located in the archives beneath the ruins of a Cathedral, and is later reunited with Jonah, who was found by the Remnant and brought to the valley.

She unearths evidence of a secret Soviet biological-weapons project which attempted to harness the pollen, which abruptly ended when the researchers—including Serafima, a biochemist imprisoned in a nearby gulag—succumbed to the hallucinations.

Unable to leave the Wicked Vale while Baba Yaga controls it, Lara battles the witch under the pollen's influence and destroys its source.

With Sofia and Nadia providing support from a helicopter, Lara tries to find the source of the pathogen before an enormous cloud is released into the atmosphere and contaminates the Remnant valley.

[24] To indicate her hunger for knowledge, the team adjusted the collectibles; players would learn new languages including Greek, Mongolian and Russian, unlocking new content and upgrades.

[25] Rhianna Pratchett found Rise of the Tomb Raider more difficult to write than the 2013 reboot, figuring out Lara's initial mental state and character introduction.

Films included Rambo: First Blood Part II, which inspired the team about the game's stealth mechanic; Terminator 2: Judgment Day, whose protagonist (Sarah Connor) and Lara Croft are "burdened with a truth that no one believes".

[17] The team listened to player feedback about the original game and made gameplay adjustments, such as reducing the number of quick time events, expanding the hunting system, and increasing the significance of traversing and stealth.

[22] The theme of survival remained the story's core, with the team modifying gameplay accordingly; the expanded crafting system required players to use the environments more.

[28] Like its predecessor, Rise of the Tomb Raider has a structure similar to metroidvania; the team wanted players to feel that Siberia is a living, dynamic world, and the game not merely a long sequence of events.

[24] According to design director Michael Brinker, the team decided to make the game less "grindy" than other titles; players would not be forced to complete any optional content.

[30] The game world was designed to reflect Lara's distorted mental state, and the team introduced the concept of "ominous beauty" to achieve this.

[17] They traveled to Yosemite National Park and several locations in Turkey, including Cappadocia, Istanbul and Ephesus, researching Byzantine culture and Greek architecture to design Syria and Kitezh.

The soundtrack was recorded in Nashville by a 52-piece string-and-brass orchestra, including cello, woodwinds, dulcimer and a handpan developed by Saraz Musical Instruments.

Eight contestants standing in front of a Southwark Street billboard were subjected to different harsh weather conditions, which were voted by Twitch's viewers.

It introduced an endurance mode, with elements of a survival game as Lara hunts and crafts items while facing hidden dangers and environmental hazards.

The edition (developed by Nixxes Software and Crystal Dynamics) adds several new features, including a classic outfit inspired by Tomb Raider III;[59] cooperative gameplay for endurance mode; Blood Ties, a combat-free mode in which Lara explores Croft Manor; and Lara's Nightmare, in which players fight infected enemies in the manor.

Kimberly Wallace of Game Informer called them "stunning" and praised Crystal Dynamics for creating detailed environments for players to explore, although she noted several frame rate issues.

[70] Lucy O'Brien of IGN called Lara an "endearing" character driven by "complex ambitions", and described the game's villains as "strong".

[82] It was the fourth best-selling game in the United Kingdom in its week of release (behind Fallout 4, Call of Duty: Black Ops III and FIFA 16).