Have you been playing Rise of The Tomb Raider? Are you wondering what makes it so good? Writer Rhianna Pratchett shared insights on what she and the team have done with the reboot. Really, change was a necessity.

If you were thinking this was just about the cleavage, you’ve got another thing coming. As Rhianna puts it;

The rich, untouchable, Teflon-coated, British ice-queen isn't exactly relatable for players, especially in this climate." The 1990s — their economic prosperity, their 3D-in-form but 2D-in-soul game protagonists — are dead. "I was particularly keen to bring some warmth and empathy back to Lara, as I think that's something that's been rather lost over the years — particularly in the movies.

Rhianna believes that gameplay and narrative go hand in hand, and this informed her work into Rise of The Tomb Raider. Going beyond writing the cinematics, she worked with the gameplay designers to narrow the gap between the two.

From a narrative perspective, I wanted to make sure that the gameplay mechanics fed back into Lara's character make-up… Looking at gameplay mechanics is often a good jumping-off point when putting together someone like Lara. It's working backwards a little bit, but it means there's not so much of a disconnect between character and action. The bravery, tenacity and resourcefulness that Lara shows during the gameplay are definitely reflected in her personality.

She also revealed she didn’t have a choice when it came to world building, because the cast was already roughly sketched out. Therefore, she worked backwards, bringing together elements of the old Lara and the newly planned out one, and building a world around her and her friends and enemies.

Rhianna spoke at length about the challenges facing writers in making games, but this part may stand out, as it’s a characteristic unique to the medium;

Pacing and structure is actually one of the greatest challenges in games narrative. You're no longer writing a story to neatly fit into 90 to 120 pages, or an hour TV slot; you're supporting a narrative over 10-plus hours.

Have you felt the cohesion between narrative and gameplay Rhianna went for playing Rise of The Tomb Raider? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.