Eidos should have given Core Design more time to finish the game properly. I would have loved the trilogy we deserved instead of a reboot when Crystal released Legend.

We love a committed Tomb Raider fan. I manifest we will get a remaster one day.

This game deserve a remake please it's my favorite tomb raider game i have been playing it since 2003 until now will not stop playing it why they don't remake it like other companies who make reamke for thier games why fans tomb raider can't have a remake with old lara and new engine 5 at least angel of darkness best storyline best maps best puzzle best character model and voice 💔

Angel of Darkness had so much potential and in some ways I still really like what it offered. Though in my dreams I wished for an reimagening, devs going back in time and finishing the game in the ambitious form it was supposed to have at the end. It's sad because I know time has changed and even if they would try an reimagening, (unfortunelately only succesful games become that treatment although it should be the opposite IMO) with modern sensibilities it would be no longer authentic to the core design back then (pun intended)

This would have been a wonderful game. Facinating storyline, beautiful artwork. But as flawed as it was, it was better than hunger games Lara.

This retelling/restructuring is phenomenal. It really makes me wish that a remake of Angel of Darkness would be made because honestly, the artistic direction of the game is so unique and its lore is so rich. Well done on this, Seth.

Much as Angel Of Darkness was basically unfinished, its soundtrack is 1 of the if not the best soundtrack in the whole franchise

I like this better than the original. Of course originally AoD was supposed to be a trilogy. After AoD though, the franchise was stolen from Core and given to CD and we never got another real Tomb Raider game. The last three games being Uncharted clones with a female Drake in an alternate reality afaic. It wasn't that they aren't fun to play . They just aren't Tombraider games. They are murder simulators and lets physically abuse alternate Lara games.

I have to say, I am an absolute fan of TR:AoD and I decided to just watch this video for nostalgia reasons. This is... Amazing. The rewriting, imagined with newer graphics, different controls... The speed at which I would buy this version of the game is amazing. If there is one thing I hated, it was the useless running around Paris, and you removing it in your hypothesis... Such a big plus. Not only did you summarize everything amazingly, you also taught me, someone that thought he knew all of the lore... More things about the lore. So thank you so much! Amazing video!

This sounds like what the game should have been, I really hope this game gets a remake it really needs it

I loved AOD, the story & settings were so good. Plus Lara’s outfits in this game 👌 shame it went the way it did, would love to see it re-done or even just be able to get it on the ps store

Your rewrite is excellent. I wouldn't change a thing on it.

would love to have THIS lara back in a remake with the new graphics and improved moves. I wonder why they changed her so much and didnt stick to the original looks. The angel of darkness look is one of my favorites, it's the closest to the original comic lara ❤

I always thought that Lara being upset at Von Croy was weird after he went through so much to find her. He did more than they did in Legend when Amanda got buried. I would have had her responding to a call from someone else from her past she wasn't particularly fond of because they were just into raiding for the money. And maybe they double crossed her in the past. This would better explain her animosity as well as make the story stand alone more. I also would have written it so that someone saw her flee the scene and they'd call police after finding the body. It didn't really make sense to me how the police just showed up and started chasing her right in the next scene. Another thing I would do different would be for Lara to sneak into the club while it's open. It would be cool to climb on the rig while there's people dancing below. I personally would want to keep Kurtis playable and give him more sections than before and actually have all his abilities work during gameplay so to differentiate him from Lara. But that's just me. Everyone is entitled to their opinion.

love this SUCH a fan of this game, it was just so so atmospheric and I loved the locations and soundtrack

The Parisian streets were the most fun part of the game and once you get to the sewers, the level design was so terrible I lost motivation to bother keep playing.

I'd keep the game much as is, but gameplay wise I'd make a small Lara's Home as tutorial with all moves unlocked, and initial stamina. I'd also replace the improvement system with an XP oriented one, but have sprint and sprint jumps available from start, with increasing stamina for climbing, moving heavy objects, and sprint. I'd add retinas for multiple targets, and a double target button in preparation for Boaz, and to reintroduce the double pistols as soon as Lara kills a second armed thug or buys the pistols to Rennes. I'd also allow automated stealth shooting while tucking in walls. I'd complete the first level, but it wouldn't be a tutorial anymore, and add more Czech thugs in the building route, and policemen in the alternate one. I wouldn't cut the derelict building, because I love the gas mechanics. I'd also have Czech thugs in the lower part of Industrial Rooftops. As for the ghetto streets, I'd turn it into a combat/stealth section with Czech thugs to avoid, I'd complete the buy-sell mechanism for Rennes, and cut the herb store to add more challenge to evading Czech thugs. The thugs would show how Bouchard is being pressed hardly as told by Janice, and later on when Lara infiltrates the Strahov. I'd make the Monstrum crimescene have extra markings as with Von Croy's appartment, so that it contrasts with the simple marking behind Rennes and the one behind Luddick. This will make it possible for the player to realize there's two possible perpetrators. I'd also make extend the initial Stronghold cutscene by having Lara read Luddick's dossiers, so we get acquainted with our enemies for the second part. I'd also make Lara recognize Karel as her will trustee as back as after escaping Atlantis in a flashback. I'd also make sure that the Chirugai is available with a stamina meter that can be improved as well, so it doesn't affect Kurtis' levels horror vibe. I'd also fix the keycards bug, so that those levels are played in full. Then, I'd make two routes in the Lost Dominion, as the sprint jump is available from start, and the game excels at providing multiple main lines. As for Eckhardt, I'd vary the height of each attack as Legend's Japan boss, so the finale isn't that boring. I'd leave Castle Krieger and Cappadoccia for other entries, if the remaster works.

I felt her being accused of Murder was a needless plot element.

From the classic era, AoD's Lara is the most beautiful in my opinion. I would love to see this game properly remade and you proposition seems great!

Well I like your take and one of the things in the game that I don't like is Lara's rude unlikable character. And the ridiculous strength and hang on meter, that would only make sense if she was injured or close to death. Like she can't jump or shimmy to a balcony not because she's not strong enough but because she is injured and needs a medi pack. It makes no sense to make her being able to run faster in the Louvre because in the earliest cut scenes Lara sprints with no problem to a ledge before breaking off letting her fall into a bin.

Omg! This is so good. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this 🥰

Deep down, I wish to see a remake of this game with a more focused gameplay and the complete story done properly as intended. With the 2 sequel that were thought out... wishful thinking... a wish none the less. Great rewrite ❤

What an incredible video Seth, well done! I enjoyed this from start to finish. Your narration is so good.

Core Design should have been given a chance, Lara Croft = Core Design simple

Loved this video!! I wish they would release this version

I mean... I do like your view on it to some aspects. I just don't think Angel of Darkness should only be a single game. It should continue as they had planned. IMO this is the only Tomb Raider game that had the best story and horror vibe

Make Janice a main character. She's an icon, She's a legend and she is the moment. 💅

removing the first interaction between lara and kurtis would be sooo sad to me, it was like she had finally met her match, and i don't think there's ever been such a high tension type of feeling like that with her in any other tr game. idk it just seems too iconic to change but i respect your viewpoints regardless

How great it would have been Like that. Thanks for your work!

I love the re-write. I always thought the whole bio-dome felt out of place. It was a beautiful location, but it's the kind of thing you usually see in a sequel, after the main story is established. Having 3-4 different faction and the 5 different plot-lines at the same time was a weakness of AoD I think.

Man i still cant get over this one in the Series. Its the Soundtrack, and the Feel. I love where they waa going with it and like always. Stuff that seem sooo good always get ruined😢 still play it tho use to the controls. And the little lag at some points here and there. Man it could have been one of those games. This still stands out the MOST. I love this, Anniversary, Legend. Im sooooo suprized people still talk about this one i thought i was the only one. That knew about this game and i sure wouldnt mind it niether lol

Two consecutive days of that heavenly voice ❤️

this is really really good, i hope it can be realized and built upon one day

I love this rewrite, especially the parts about Castle Kriegler 😻 great work!

I want to thank you for basically writing out the game that shouldve happened. The castle kriegler details were how it all should've ended. Somebody should just mod and create the castle and mod it to game make the final fight with Eckhart take place in Germany. Seriously that was an incredible video 😅

I don't think a simple remaster would be enough to make it better and this is why I fully agree with your idea. I had a similar idea of how to do it. Roaming the Parisian getho was always unnecessary for me, the rpg elements was another stupid idea and I'm old enough to remember why they wanted to implement it. It was a hot thing following the huge success of Deus Ex and I think the devs didn't reality thought it through. Phraraphrasing - "We wanted Lara to be really yours"...aha sure, too bad near the end everyone's Lara was exactly the same. Plus, such mechanic doesn't really work narratively with the character who's fully developed physically.

You retained the spectacle of the fiery swan dive but you dumped the spectacle of Janice? I'm calling the police, there's been a murder.

I like it, I think cutting off RPG stuff, removing the increased stamina nonsense and focusing more on tombs and explorations as well as improving controls would be the most mandatory. Your story was interesting. But I have to say that I wouldn't remove Parisian backstreets, I personally liked this zone to test Lara's abilities and it had it's charm. The whole rest was fine and was moving smoothyl I wouldn't kill off Kurtis tho, I see his potential as re-occuring character, AoD was meant to be a trilogy and I could see him being useful ally for Lara in other occasions. He is the last of the Lux Veritatis and I'd like to learn more about it.

Found your channel literally yesterday, and I’ve been watching videos every chance I get. I love this one, AOD is one of my fav games, and i’d play it 100 times before playing shadow of the TR again…😂😂😂

Crystal sign Seth freaking Mckenzie to scriptwriter already!!!! Haha great video with great ideas. Honestly your version would make the game much better but I guess it’s a little bit to late now 😢 let’s just hope the next game is well written 🤞and yes let’s not make Lara a cold blooded killer for no reason, poor security guards 😂

Core Design was the best.

That is a good simplification, but I see some problems. Being cooperative and trusting isn't in original Lara's character, especially post Egypt. There would also need to be words, as there had been in all cut scenes in prior games, not just gestures and looks for communication.

The legends Tomb raider slander will not be tolerated 😭😭😂😂😂

I´m only missing one thing , The explanation how did she escaped the egyptian tomb. I Heard the concept of Eckhardt Bossfight was Him Getting into Lara´s memories and she had to fight him in there , 1st one was the plane crash in himalayas the 2nd was in peru while fighting dinosaurs ( Reference to TR 1 ) And and the last memory was Lara escaping the Egyptian Tomb , i think That´s where The Putai scene can be used i´m not quite sure about the amulet she mentions in there tho. I Have one idea which would be using the amulet to get Eckhardt out of your mind completely trough the fight but maybe it´s too much.

Even if I'm not a huge fan of AoD, I admire your enthusiasm about it and I hope they will eventually adapt it into a future Tomb Raider game, so that fans can finally get the complete, refined experience they are asking for. Heck, they could even remake it by updating the gameplay and control system and rewriting the story as a standalone instalment in the series. This could maybe be a more rpg oriented Tomb Raider experience.

Love it ♥ It is always nice to see the love AoD recieves and the imagination it could've been if it wasn't rushed. I modded my Aod to the point where I was on good terms with everything of course with the help of the TR community (reborninshadows/raq/etc). The game itself wasn't perfect by all means (it was crazy ambitious though!) but that doesn't mean it can't be great or have a special place in many hearts across the TR community. I have always loved this game even if it wasn't perfect and I will continue to do so and it makes me happy that there's always someone making TRAoD content! Keep up your great work! Lots of love from Germany ♥

as a high A.O.D fan i have to say, your work is very great and creative 👍

Tomb of the Ancients boss in your version is a lot better. I f*cking hated that ghost and thought even back then it was a stupid idea to use a (barely effective) shotgun on a ghost. We can only suspend so much belief. I'm ready to see a full playthrough of the fixed game (brought to my attention by the Cutting Room Floor) and remakes scattered around KZfaq. Fans did what the studio couldn't.

I wouldn't want morning Parisian streets to be cut, that part was one of the most beautiful and atmospheric ones. I think it's fine to have a more peaceful section of the game, but I'd want more information gathering and lore in that section, maybe more indications of what is to come later in the story.

If we were to keep Kurtis as a playable character, we could give the Serpent Rouge level to him.

It's been many years since I played the Windows version of AoD, so the exact details are sketchy, but in the apartment with the gun and ammo magazines on the floor, I discovered that you could pick up one of the magazines an infinite number of times. I think this was conditional on you not having picked up the gun yet. Since AoD didn't have infinite ammo, I went a little nuts and kept picking up that one magazine until I had something like 1,000 rounds of ammo. The game proceeded normally until I was in the asylum(?) where you meet the other character for the first time. There's a part where you go through a set of double doors, and the game would crash on me every single time. After checking the internet and not finding any mention of a crash at that part, I started wondering if it was something I had done. Luckily I saved at the start of every level level, so I went back to the apartment, picked up a more modest 200-300 rounds of ammo, played the levels over again, and that time, there was no crash at the doors. I think maybe picking up that much ammo caused the counter to accidentally overwrite something.

16:5 this is a great idea 18:29 I was thinking about this a lot 27:11 agree with this point 35:11 I really wanna play this level and what's after it as every thing is different and new but it really fits the story finally I think they wanted lara to be sus by carvier's death or bouchard but how to prove to the police that she isn't the killer? another thing kurtis in core's vision had to have a game for his own but it ended up being a secondary character you can play with

TBH, this would make for a really good game. The gameplay and storyline are more comprehensive.

Needs more platforming like TR1. Spot on with the rest. 👍

Very well done

*sigh* If only. Whilst I ultimately wouldn't have liked this game nearly as much as I like the original games, this would've been a MASSIVE improvement and would've felt far more loyal to the idea of a Tomb Raider game. If not the original games, I would've definitely put it on the same level as the Legend series; tolerable, not horrible, decent Tomb Raider games.

Tbh. Imo, I don't think the story needs changing, it's just the gameplay, if anything I feel like they shouldve added more lore, I felt like they didn't have enough, which ironically made me want more from the series. I would've put in more tombs and exploration. I agree that Lara saying Werner didn't look for her doesn't make sense but it is coming from her perspective. I think if they used tht as a plot point later on and discovered in his journal that he did try and search for her non stop-- it would compound a sense of guilt for her as her last moments with him was having an argument. apprehending eckhart would hold mor conviction as shed project all her guilt into revenge to kill eckhart as well as a misplaced sense of closure. I agree about cutting out the Parisan back streets

Awesome 👍❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Eğer bir remake yapılırsa fena tutar benden söylemesi

Going from 5 paintings to 3 seems like a small change, but then you're replacing alchemist-dark-arts-pentagram with a triangle, and that's not as stylish. You don't go after the remaining 3 paintings so it's not like reducing the number helps anything anyway.

all you said does have lot of sense, but i don't think cristal dinamics is going to make it happen..

I remember Angel of Darkness being hard (the pillars with fire & wind you had to jump) but overall I liked the game. I don’t really get the hate for it. I don’t think it deserved to be totally cancelled & given to another developer. Rather wanted Crystal Dynamic to make a new lok game but I still love all 3 games from them especially Underworld

I'm also not a big fan on how Lara is rude to Werner, since he did tried to save her. But when I've learned that Werner as a replacement of Jean Yves, I thought it would make sense for her being mad at Yves since he indeed didn't do anything. She even saved his life. Great video!

I'd implie with some missable pieces of information that the Nephilim are either a separate species as in an extraterrestrial species which some misinterpreted as a hybrid offspring of humans and angles or that the Nephilim are an hybrid offspring of humans and angles (extraterrestrials again)

Can you rewrite the tomb raider movies with Angelina ? I love them but many critique them

❤

Well, in a hypothetical remake, I'd rebuild the controls from scratch. All actions like climbing a ladder would require the player to press action once, otherwise Lara would not automatically do these things. I would still keep the feature where the player doesn't need to keep pressing action to hold on to ledges, as that's very convenient. Combat movement would be a tap-toggle rather than an automatic shift, and of course generally polished. It's not a bad idea to start moving around an enemy, it was just executed terribly. There would be none of this "I feel stronger now" nonsense. Lara would run at full speed, jump her max distance, have sprint available right from the start, not run out of grip, just like in the classics. I never understood why Core felt the need to add this. It's not JUST unnecessary, it's detrimental to the game, because if the jump distance keeps changing, then the player never knows which jumps Lara will make without overshooting. Just the bit of Tomb of Ancients with the sliding blocks is torture. There would also not be any nonsense such as running slower when HP is low, or this horribly sensitive collision stumble that Sasho's patch re-enabled. I don't know why people enable silly features for the sake of enabling silly features. Animation transitions would be a lot shorter and more responsive. I'd keep Kurtis as a 2nd playable character, I don't have any issues with him. Although of course he would be using his blade instead of a generic pistol. Yea... I think it's pretty obvious it's not the unfinished story that bothers me so much. It's the broken controls and engine-deep bugs.

The controls pissed me off the most. Angel of Darkness is the only Tomb Raider game I never finished out of sheer frustration, almost throwing my PS2 controller across the room. Had the controls been better, I might have finished the game atleast. Then I could finally see what people are talking about regarding this game - its good and bad points. Honestly never made it past the first level.

While I love the video that you made and watched it until the end, I like the comic version of the story more. Did you read it? It is in the book (Tomb Raider Archives).

Haven't played AoD on PC. I see lots of people say the controls are bad and or broken. But I've not heard an actual explanation of what is apparently broken about it. No comparisons to previous games or later games. Watching gameplay is appears like it controls the same as the original trilogy for the most part. So what's actually wrong?

So Eckhardt wanted to become a nephilim and re-populate the species by impregnating lots of women. OK. So that begs the question... why didn't Karel? Did he not want a lot of 'qaurterlings' running around? Possibly. I'm guessing Karel didn't want Eckhardt to desecrate and take over that old nephilim corpse and simply planned to kill off Eckhardt. But he met Lara and from the cut scenes he seems quite fond of her. I guess his plan changed a bit. Eckhardt was still on his hit list, but he wanted Lara to merge with the nephilim body instead so that he would have a mate, one that he liked and respected. Giving him a mate to re-populate his race with 100% nephilim (no halflings or quarterlings.)

Nah. Keep the story (but I do like some of your ideas). Fix controls. And bugs. And remaster done. I like the game how it was

yeah you disrespected the Kurtis character and closed off potential Kurtis games that were planned and also Angel Of Darkness sequels.

I think I'm one of those few who not only dislike the buggy unfinished state of AOD, I dislike the "new dirction" they took with it in general. I hate the RPG elements, the new controls, the "darker" atmosphere, the cinematic approach, the absence of double pistols, Curtis as a playble character, and all that stuff. For me it's the same as the "survival trilogy" - a good story, could be a good game on its own, but it's not TR and not Lara. I like a lot of your ideas of fixing it, but if I did it, I would be even more radical and tried to turn it into a very classic TR experience. Anyway if Saber will try to fix AOD, I would love them to watch this video and take notes... or just hire you :) P. s. Just had an idea. Some kind of "prologue" level where you need to escape the Egyptian tomb - would be much better then a background story about "I escaped, they saved me". Lara doesn't need saving (unless it's a "save game" option).

hey buddy you forgot to enable the comments on your latest video!

you didn't get AOD at all, seriously you scrapped the best part of the game (Parisian day section)

Game is to slow need to remake it

There's nothing to fix or rewrite. They need to delete crystal dynamics altogether.

You f..d up so many things. Keep away from the story man! I like your ideas about gameplay but story thing is not for you. Trust me.

I hope there will be at least a comic book about aod and the 2 games they wanted to make, even if its free, just to put it out there, The idea's are so good that it shouldn't fade into obscurity, I'm not sure if it's true but I read that Eckhard was going to kill Lara nightmare on Elmstreet style instead of just running around and shoot blasts that can be dodged by just laying down.

No this is a bad game and it deserves to be and stay as the worst TR game

making angel of darkness was the first step to making a lesser tomb raider game with the wrong version of lara, and thats before crystal went all out ruining tomb raider and lara with their reboot.

Ahh, a video of my favorite Tomb Raider Lara Croft model and voice actress. 🫠 time to get entertain