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Spoilers for Paititi area quests in Shadow of the Tomb Raider

Butch:

That was kinda themey!

Got the kid his dice back. Bought the ascender and the lockpicks. I always feel kinda bad about the lockpicks.

“That’ll be 350.” ***hands over 350*** “Now that was a sale. 350 for those little things. I am so rich and…hey…what’re you doing with that chest that’s been there for 500 years? What…HEY! What’s in there? That’s worth thousands! And…shit.”

And I managed to resist every magpie impulse and didn’t go right back to the tomb that needed the ascender. Yet. I think that would’ve been the last straw for the queen there.

Queen: C’mon….where is she?

Qevin: Who, the Ixik?

Queen: Yeah, her.

Qevin: Oh, she took off.

Queen: Yeah, I know. Went to find that kid’s dice. Told her I’d wait.

Qevin: Nah, she did that. Left town. Said she was going to do a tomb.

Queen: What? Those take forever! Did she say she’d be back?

Qevin: Yup.

Queen: Good.

Qevin: After she did that. And a crypt. And a couple monoliths.

Queen: Oh you’re kidding.

Qevin: And hunted a turkey or something.

Queen: We’re not going to see her for weeks, are we?

Qevin: Nope.

So I’ll get on with the main story next.

But the dice quest!

They all sacrificed, LEFT FAMILY BEHIND, and were ok with it cuz they were charting their own path. Certainly there was some reflection on Lara, yes? But was it she SHOULD sacrifice, leave family behind, chart her own path? Because, yeah, sure. Go forth, live your life, you do you, find your own happiness not the happiness someone wants for you, all that sounds good! Those are good lessons! But, on the other hand, these dudes are OUTCASTS. Like, I’m glad they’re ok with their lives. Good for them. But dude, I don’t want to live with everyone treating me like I’m dead and relying on the kindness of other’s donations to live (Here is where I try to not think about how my kids have been ignoring me and every dime I have is, essentially given to me by Mrs. McP. Been a depressing enough week). Was the game saying that these people are the ones that have it good? Cuz they didn’t really look like they had it good. Did they? Or was that ambiguity what it was going for? Gotta give it to the game. Has me pondering.

And it was a nice twist that, in the end, the lesson that Pisco was crafting was for Lara. He gives that bit of wisdom for Tikay that Lara very solemnly prepares to teach and the kid is all “Yeah yeah, I know.” People already know. There’s something about that, too. We talked the other day about how Lara might be the victim of a long con on Trinity’s part. Maybe this is an instance of her being the last to know something, thinking she knows more than she does.

Good stuff.

Feminina:

I did like that outcast bit. As you say, some themes there (which Pisco rather amusingly made her actually summarize at the end, like a “here’s what I’ve learned” report).

As you say, it’s kind of one-sided, though. Yes, all these people are happy with their choices and that’s a good lesson, but it’s interesting that she didn’t talk to anyone who DIDN’T actually feel good about it.

“Yes, I left my family to follow my own dream but it didn’t work out and now no one will talk to me, so I’ve lost everything and quite honestly life sucks and I’m miserable.”

Maybe all those outcasts just kill themselves early on, so the ones we talked to are a self-selected group of people who actively choose to be OK with their decisions and their lives. Which is also kind of themey, I suppose.

But dude, consider this: whatever else is going on, YOU have video games, and these outcasts do not. (Or maybe they do, and that’s the secret they don’t tell Lara! “I have SO MUCH quiet game time now that no one will speak to me!”)

Butch:

Hmm. Fair point, that. We did hear the one about the woman left to die, who almost did die, before her love saved her. So maybe. But I think they were going with metaphor/foreshadowing/literary device and had to be rather straight forward. After all, after the oral report Lara gave, you could tell that Pisco wanted to say “And, just so the player knows, who are we likely talking about here?”

Games! THAT’S why they’re happy! I knew it!

Though I bet their booze sucks.

Feminina:

Hey, don’t knock it ’til you’ve tried it. The internet says ancient Mesoamerican societies (to which the culture of Paititi is presumably somewhat similar) enjoyed pulque, which is fermented agave sap and is “similar to beer.”

It is “only mildly alcoholic,” so that’s a potential concern, but as with beer, if you have enough of it you should be fine.

See: https://www.ancient.eu/Pulque/

I also have not gone back to the section that I need the rope ascender for. Look at us being all dedicated to the cause we’re supposedly pursuing, refusing to get sidetracked (except by a kid and his dice)!

Ooh, and guess what other gear I picked up last night? That’s right…I’ve got a shotgun. Watch out various barriers!

Although here’s a mild complaint for the game: it doesn’t highlight the places where there were barriers you couldn’t get through. I mean, some of them are on the map because they’re tomb entrances or whatever, but there are also random buildings or parts of caves here and there that are blocked, and I don’t remember exactly where they all were, and there’s nothing specifically on the map to tell me “go back to this blocked door.”

So I either have to shrug and abandon some stuff, or else take the time to go back through every single environment towards the end of the game when I have all the equipment to make sure I found all the places I couldn’t get into the first time. Siiiiiiigh. Life is HARD.

Butch:

Dude, I also saw on Nova that the had a beer like beverage where they got it fermenting by chewing up corn and spitting it out. I ain’t drinking no outcast corn spit beer. I’ll stick to wine and scotch.

Wait….you didn’t magpie? Who ARE you?

Don’t worry on the barriers. No relic, no document, no point.

Feminina:

Oh, man, I’ve heard of that too. I mean…people need booze…I guess. And the alcohol would kill the germs, once there was alcohol there.

But yeah, me personally, I will stay sober.

Honestly, I was going to go back to the rope ascender barricade, but I couldn’t remember exactly where it was, and while I was looking around I ran into the queen’s story first, so it was like…enh, OK, I’ll do the main mission. What the hell, it’s right here.

Butch:

It’s the tomb back in the other village. The first one. It also has a crypt you need the shotgun for.

Magpie incoming !!!!!!

Feminina:

Nice! As soon as I get out of this…place where I am. The place with the thing.

You’ll know it when you get there, because it’s where you get the shotgun.

Butch:

I wanna shotgun!!!!

I shouldn’t have told you. You were doing so well.

Feminina:

It’s fine. I’ll probably get distracted and have completely forgotten by the time I get out of here.

The real issue is that I passed a shotgun-permeable barrier JUST LAST NIGHT, some climbing and swimming back from where I am now. So…do I retrace my steps now, while I’m at least in the same general area, or do I press on?

I think I have to go back now. All that important quest stuff I’m in the middle of can definitely wait.

Butch:

I’m stunned you haven’t already.

Shit, even I went full magpie earlier.

Feminina:

Hey, hey–finding the shotgun was literally the last thing I did last night. It was like, “oh, hey, campsite! Ooh, shotgun! And it’s bedtime.”

I haven’t had a chance to do anything yet.

Butch:

Or you would have magpied.

Feminina:

Indeed. It goes without saying.

Butch:

Especially since this is the first time you’ve had a game shotgun ALL YEAR! Not since CHLOE!

How’d you GO that long?

Feminina:

Dude, Lincoln had a shotgun. Sometimes. I mean, my loyalty to specific guns was extremely low in that game, it was pretty much whatever was to hand that I had bullets for, but I swear I had a shotgun from time to time.

Butch:

Oh right. My bad. I was all silenced pistols.

I should have known.