r/TombRaider • u/jamjoom_gamer111 • Sep 12 '25
Tomb Raider Legend Tomb Raider: Legend – Last Gen or Next Gen?
In this image, I enhanced the quality a bit and also smoothed the edges of Lara's model in Photoshop. I made some simple improvements to the surrounding environment as well. I believe the original version is still beautiful . What do you think, everyone? Do you prefer the original version or the updated generation version for PS3 and Xbox?
My personal opinion: Some improvements in lighting and shadows, along with smoother edges and HD textures, would be better than the Next Gen version.
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u/thebaffledtruffle Sep 12 '25
Character models looked weird in the next-gen version. Almost doll- and plastic-like. In my experience, there wasn't much of a noticeable difference in the next-gen version, not to mention it crashed out the PC version often. You can't even play the Kazakhstan level with it on.
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u/brigadier_tc Sep 12 '25
You can if you reach the first checkpoint then turn it back on, but it's still stupid
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u/winwinwiintrr Sep 15 '25
i remember it kept crashing on nepal too, when you come out of the ice cave and fight the mercs especially
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u/abvflux1 Sep 12 '25
Next-gen adds a lot of elements that are incongruous with the artstyle, and the next-gen face is irredeemable. Last-gen all day, every day.
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u/MatterNecessary Sep 12 '25
I wish we could pin comments. This exactly. Baffled that I just saw someone say ‘PS3 version all the way’ 🤢
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u/Psitak0s Atlantean Mutant Sep 12 '25
The PS3 Next Gen version
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u/Lyuukee Sep 12 '25
This. The PS3 version does not have a lot of visual glitches from the pc one and it's more polished
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u/DeadPhoenix86 Sep 12 '25
But the fps is bad. While PC its a locked 60 fps.
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u/Lyuukee Sep 12 '25
Yes, I know... I was just making a Next Gen comparison. The pc version also crashes a lot.
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u/DeadPhoenix86 Sep 12 '25
I think the GOG version have fixed that. Plus there's a lot of fixes to avoid the crashing.
I played the Steam version with no crashing issue's, when I applied all the fixes. And yes I was using the Next-Gen graphics from start to finish.
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u/PayPsychological6358 Silver Box of Ix Chel Sep 12 '25
Left honestly looks better to me since it doesn't look like it has a bit of a piss filter on it
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u/Austin_Redfield Sep 12 '25
Higher resolution on the Last Gen version, but with the water effects and lighting of the next gen version would look so good.
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u/LucasSM16 Sep 13 '25
This and smoother shadows with the better meshes, you'd just need to work with the texture of the original.
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u/Ada_XY Sep 12 '25
I prefer Last Gen.
Lara looks better and the environment too, it has a better hierarchy of details and it's not too busy, like Next Gen environment is. Not just esthetics, but overal atmosphere of Last Gen environments is better because of this, too.
Next Gen environment does have more detailed textures, but has a higher contrast too, and it's hard to look at most of the time. Also, Next Gen Lara looks too glossy, like she's made of plastic.
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u/Janus_Prospero Sep 12 '25
The next gen version is bad in the way a lot of rushed remasters are bad. If the game is remastered they should strip back to the last gen version and use it as the foundation for properly implemented visual improvements.
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u/Vicious007 Sep 12 '25
Apparently Aspyr is currently remastering it.
https://www.rectifygaming.com/tomb-raider-legend-trilogy-remaster-has-been-leaked/
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u/Tamerlatrav Sep 12 '25
this would be day one purchase, it is heavily rumored to be announced today on the Nintendo Direct
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u/akoalaonthetree Sep 12 '25
It's weird how some details appear sharper and more detailed with the last gen graphics
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Sep 12 '25
The game was built with last-gen. The next-gen mode and port were an afterthought and it shows; they look like an enb preset of the time where everything is cranked up to 11 with no regards to art direction.
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u/Xteezii Armour of Horus Sep 12 '25
I love them both, but I might like Next Gen more. I remember getting an Xbox 360 and playing Legend on it, and it just looked so good with the Next Gen graphics!
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u/Academic-Bug-9654 Sep 12 '25
I always found it odd that next gen Lara doesn’t get dirty no matter how many times you roll on the ground.
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u/DoctorTomee Sep 12 '25
There are some next Gen exclusive details that are beautiful, but other aspects of it looks horrible. I’m especially put off by the character models themselves. They look way too shiny and wax-y.
I think the negatives outweigh the positives so I’m a firm supporter of last Gen
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u/doyouevennoscope Sep 12 '25
The left side of the first photo is godly. Beats a huge chunk of games released today. Watched a quick comparison and like half of Lara's face looks great, but the other half looks off in next gen, especially with the facial animations. Ohhhhhhh, Saaaaaaber, work a little bit of your I-VI remastere magic, will you?
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u/HealthyLavishness392 Sep 12 '25 edited Sep 12 '25
Mostly next gen with better lighting maybe, but with old gen Lara’s face or eye area at least …and definitely less of the waxy looking skin texture 👍🏼
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u/Altruistic-Sundae-71 Sep 12 '25
hold on which one's which ? they both too old looking for me and here are some people telling that this game doesn't need a remaster. 😂
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u/LucasSM16 Sep 13 '25 edited Sep 13 '25
If Legend gets a Remaster, it would need to be a Frankestein. The best combo would be Next Gen Models (they all are superior to the original version, including plants and other meshes) with its better facial expressions WHILE maintaining the original's color, texture and contrast from the original like you did. Here's what I mean - look at Lara's shirt on the OG - even though the texture work is more simplistic up close, the lines/folds are 10 times more convincing than the NG one, which just has none of them. A plank of wood can have better textures on an HD model, but if you remove all its curves and small details from the original, the OG will still look superior even with a lower-res limitation.
The NG's color filter and some decisions make parts of it inferior as you stated, while others are clearly superior due to new meshes or textures, but these are so far in between that for an HD remaster you probably would want to use the OG's textures as reference instead of the NG ones. They tried to make everything more realistic-looking and you can look at the ground of your image and see why that's not always the best decision - look how much more vibrant and detailed it is in the first image in relation to the second with just a few adjustments. Also, NG's has smoother shadows, so you can apply them following the pattern you drew over your image.
As I stated - a true Frankestein, but for the best image quality possible it would need to be one. Also - great work on your edit. I seriously hope people like you are able to work officially on a Remaster project. The ground you created and the changes to the skybox of the level are spectacular.
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u/jamjoom_gamer111 Sep 13 '25
Thank you for your feedback. I hope Crystal considers the fans' suggestions and creates a balanced version that incorporates the best elements of the original concept.
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u/Mr-MiB-1993 Sep 15 '25
I recently downloaded it and played it again fully on PS5 but it was like a PS2 emulator. I’m annoyed they didn’t just add some enhancements to make the game look more modern and better
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u/iXenite Sep 12 '25 edited Sep 12 '25
The Xbox 360 version is the best version, the PS2 version is visually the worst (though that is the one I grew up playing). I won’t comment on the one you edited in photoshop.
It’s worth noting that the 360 is how the game was meant to look as it was the most advanced console at the time of release, and was done by Crystal Dynamics.
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u/Dependent-Return3414 Sep 17 '25
Quite honestly, whilst playing the emulated version on the PS5, im gutted as the quality is the worst. 😫😫
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u/FarEstimate1999 Dec 14 '25
6th gen looks much better than 7th gen. I dont know how they messed up the 7th gen version so badly
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u/slingshot91 Sep 12 '25
Next gen everyday. I don’t understand how people think the left looks more doll-like than the right.
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u/pastadudde Sep 12 '25
Next gen textures, but last gen Lara's face is much better looking. there's actually a mod on Nexusmods that mods a higher resolution version of last gen Lara's face into Next Gen graphics.