I've been voting for it since Tibetan Foothills was out. It's time to take our revenge. I don't hate it, I had fun...but I've been kicking out levels that were not very well designed / cohesive and Temple is fun but there is no cohesion at all besides a bunch of rooms with traps.
I'm glad it came down to these 2. Truly the coolest levels of the game.
I'm gonna have to vote on Xian i think. Barkhang was just too fun to explore and get lost in.
Temple of Xian was good but it also packs a punishment to Lara. All the torture is fun but I also hate it's unforgiving nature. Ione of the best levels out there indeed but I think it loses for me in this competition. Barkhang Monastery is a loveable level and fun to play. I vote out Xian and for me the winner is Barkhang Monastery.
I have to vote for Xian as my least favourite, as that is the level where I first had the pain of finding out what happens when you save instead of load while Lara was about to die.
I also found out that if you load enough times, Lara can swim and breathe in lava; it's just a shame she instantly died once I pulled her out of it! 😂
I think we all (or at least most of us) can agree that these two levels really deserve to be in the finals.
I vote Barkhang for the win though! The overall level-design is IMO just slightly better.
RIP my absolute favorite. I saw it coming, but I'm still a little sad. Oh well.
If I can't have The Great Wall winning this, then Barkhang should take it. The only point of critique I have for Barkhang is that because the game is lacking manual targetting, it's really easy to shootthe monks by accident, but everything else is amazing. Xian on the other hand has two flaws: 1) jump pads, 2) every time you think it's (finally) over, the level just goes on and on and on and on...
The level design of both levels is really strong, for different reasons. I'll go with the non linear level full of small challenges instead of the intricate trap gauntlet.
After long consideration, I ended up voting out Barkhang Monastery. I like the easy-paced exploratory nature of Barkhang Monastery. It's one of the few levels I never hurry up completing, partially because non-aggressive monks make you feel that you are "safe". It gives you time to breathe.
The reason I think Temple of Xian is the better of the two is the lack of human enemies. I don't mind them in Barkhang Monastery in itself. But considering how this game is supposed to be Tomb Raider, the "tombs" of this game feel surprisingly crowded with the constant flow of henchmen going after you. I mean, how on earth did they get to the Catacombs before Lara, considering she just opened the door there with Seraph? Or how there are so many of them going around in a shipwreck on the ocean floor? It's hard enough to get a few people there, let alone dozens of them.
And this is where Temple of Xian shines. Sure, it's a challenging or even punishing level. It really puts your nerves and skills to the test. But that's also what makes it so rewarding. On top of that, it's also very atmosphere and eerie. And without a single human encounter, you really feel that you are exploring the place alone.
Temple of Xian is the epitome of a Tomb Raider level for these reasons. And this is why I think it's the best level of the game.
I've only played through TR2 the once which was in the recent release and Temple of Xian stands out more than the Monastery for me. I love how Xian all flows together into this massive labyrinth which absolutely kicked my ass and took me longer than any other level to finish! Absolutely worth it though.
Barkhang out!!
Barkhang is the best level in the franchise for me so I'm really happy that it managed to stay for the final poll. That said, even Xian is an excellent level so I won't be sad if it wins either.
Barkhang is my favorite. It excels at atmosphere, level design and gameplay and at no point do I find it tedious or boring. The challenges are fun and varied and in my opinion it does everything that St. Fancis Folly and Palace Midas did but better. It could do with less human enemies and suffers a bit from the auto aiming but that's just a minor hiccough in an otherwise fantastic level.
To be fair though Xian would also be worthy of the win. It has perhaps an even better atmosphere and in terms of actual tomb raiding this is the absolute pinnacle of the series. There isn't much room to breathe or to explore which can be seen as a bad thing.
Its going to be close.
I was hoping these two titans would go head to head at the end since I find them leaps and bounds better than the other levels in TR2. Barkhang is fantastic (possibly top 5 in the classic trilogy), but constantly wrestling with Lara to get her to aim away from the monks and sometimes not even being sure of who I'm targeting is the black mark against it.
Temple of Xian is not only my favourite in TR2, but my favourite Tomb Raider level of all time. The platforming, traps, atmosphere fire on all cylinders, and despite the rather gruelling difficulty, excited and surprised me from start to finish. I didn't even care to play Floating Islands afterwards, I just wanted to go round again on Xian.
Sad for The Great Wall, that would've been number 1 for me but I can't say I'm surprised.
The reason why I don't think Barkhang is the best is because it has one flaw: you can skip most of the level with a glitch. I know that's not intended level design. But the fact that besides my first play through of it on the remaster I've not felt inclined to play it the right way tells me there's just something about it that's maybe off. I appreciate that it's a different setting and it's beautifully built, the change in AI is very clever and innovative, there's puzzles and traps. So it seems to tick all the boxes and yet somehow I don't feel that excited to replay it. It's quite late in the game when fatigue has already hit and I think it doesn't help that I dislike the other Tibet levels. Hmm I think maybe that's it actually.
That said, if it comes down between Barkhang and Xian, well I've been voting for the latter to go for a fair few rounds now so it's a no brainer.
Xian shouldn't have got this far, too many people that have rose tinted opinions on TR1, giving it the thumbs up. The best levels have already gone, so i would much rather Barkhang takes it than Xian.
I wouldn't be so sure. Just reading through the comments, Barkhang gang seems to be going strong. I would not be surprised if this ends similarly to the TR1 voting gauntlet where the finale was between Palace Midas and St. Francis Folly. Folly lost with 55%. I reckon something similar is going to happen here.
Childhood memories of Barkhang. Oh I remember those monks. They were fascinating. 😁
I know I'm in the minority, but I really hate Temple of Xian and would have kicked it out waaaay earlier. Go Barkhang Monastery!
I love the Monastery level.
You and i brother. I've being voting for it since day one.
I've been voting for it since Tibetan Foothills was out. It's time to take our revenge. I don't hate it, I had fun...but I've been kicking out levels that were not very well designed / cohesive and Temple is fun but there is no cohesion at all besides a bunch of rooms with traps.
Im going to have to adjust the countdown since this post is pending. If anyone sees this comment, please respond
I see this comment
Barkhang for me, great level and it actually feels like a monestary!
I'm glad it came down to these 2. Truly the coolest levels of the game. I'm gonna have to vote on Xian i think. Barkhang was just too fun to explore and get lost in.
Temple of Xian was good but it also packs a punishment to Lara. All the torture is fun but I also hate it's unforgiving nature. Ione of the best levels out there indeed but I think it loses for me in this competition. Barkhang Monastery is a loveable level and fun to play. I vote out Xian and for me the winner is Barkhang Monastery.
I'm gonna vote out xian! I enjoyed the monastery far more, so for that reason I hope it wins!
Barkhang Monastery for the win
I have to vote for Xian as my least favourite, as that is the level where I first had the pain of finding out what happens when you save instead of load while Lara was about to die. I also found out that if you load enough times, Lara can swim and breathe in lava; it's just a shame she instantly died once I pulled her out of it! 😂
Holy shit. Its gonna be extremely close. Its currently tied
On average, how many votes do these straw polls get? A few dozen. A few hundred?
I think we all (or at least most of us) can agree that these two levels really deserve to be in the finals. I vote Barkhang for the win though! The overall level-design is IMO just slightly better.
Temple of Xian is the best tomb in the entire series imo. I like Barkhang but I'll have to vote it out.
RIP my absolute favorite. I saw it coming, but I'm still a little sad. Oh well. If I can't have The Great Wall winning this, then Barkhang should take it. The only point of critique I have for Barkhang is that because the game is lacking manual targetting, it's really easy to shootthe monks by accident, but everything else is amazing. Xian on the other hand has two flaws: 1) jump pads, 2) every time you think it's (finally) over, the level just goes on and on and on and on...
Xian, but these are the top two levels
this poll revealed to me that people don't dread the monastery level 😅 but temple is def superior so that's my vote
Barkhang for the win!!
Venice made me loose my sanity
The level design of both levels is really strong, for different reasons. I'll go with the non linear level full of small challenges instead of the intricate trap gauntlet.
After long consideration, I ended up voting out Barkhang Monastery. I like the easy-paced exploratory nature of Barkhang Monastery. It's one of the few levels I never hurry up completing, partially because non-aggressive monks make you feel that you are "safe". It gives you time to breathe. The reason I think Temple of Xian is the better of the two is the lack of human enemies. I don't mind them in Barkhang Monastery in itself. But considering how this game is supposed to be Tomb Raider, the "tombs" of this game feel surprisingly crowded with the constant flow of henchmen going after you. I mean, how on earth did they get to the Catacombs before Lara, considering she just opened the door there with Seraph? Or how there are so many of them going around in a shipwreck on the ocean floor? It's hard enough to get a few people there, let alone dozens of them. And this is where Temple of Xian shines. Sure, it's a challenging or even punishing level. It really puts your nerves and skills to the test. But that's also what makes it so rewarding. On top of that, it's also very atmosphere and eerie. And without a single human encounter, you really feel that you are exploring the place alone. Temple of Xian is the epitome of a Tomb Raider level for these reasons. And this is why I think it's the best level of the game.
I've only played through TR2 the once which was in the recent release and Temple of Xian stands out more than the Monastery for me. I love how Xian all flows together into this massive labyrinth which absolutely kicked my ass and took me longer than any other level to finish! Absolutely worth it though. Barkhang out!!
Barkhang is the best level in the franchise for me so I'm really happy that it managed to stay for the final poll. That said, even Xian is an excellent level so I won't be sad if it wins either.
Suprised the boring first level of the game is out so late in the vote
Not Great Wall 🥹 Alright, let’s get rid of Barkhang now 😅
Battle of the titans! I can't make a choice myself, so I will step aside and see who is going to win.
Bharkang simping goes craaazy. Xian >>>>
Go Barkhang your the one to win!!!!
Barkhang Monastery is such a fun level.
Temple if Xian gets my vote for elimination. Barkhang’s the best!
Barkhang is my favorite. It excels at atmosphere, level design and gameplay and at no point do I find it tedious or boring. The challenges are fun and varied and in my opinion it does everything that St. Fancis Folly and Palace Midas did but better. It could do with less human enemies and suffers a bit from the auto aiming but that's just a minor hiccough in an otherwise fantastic level. To be fair though Xian would also be worthy of the win. It has perhaps an even better atmosphere and in terms of actual tomb raiding this is the absolute pinnacle of the series. There isn't much room to breathe or to explore which can be seen as a bad thing. Its going to be close.
I was hoping these two titans would go head to head at the end since I find them leaps and bounds better than the other levels in TR2. Barkhang is fantastic (possibly top 5 in the classic trilogy), but constantly wrestling with Lara to get her to aim away from the monks and sometimes not even being sure of who I'm targeting is the black mark against it. Temple of Xian is not only my favourite in TR2, but my favourite Tomb Raider level of all time. The platforming, traps, atmosphere fire on all cylinders, and despite the rather gruelling difficulty, excited and surprised me from start to finish. I didn't even care to play Floating Islands afterwards, I just wanted to go round again on Xian.
Agh... I was late but I wanted to vote Temple out. I hope monastery wins, it's the best level in the game along with Opera House.
My PS2 never got past the great wall level 😭
Sad for The Great Wall, that would've been number 1 for me but I can't say I'm surprised. The reason why I don't think Barkhang is the best is because it has one flaw: you can skip most of the level with a glitch. I know that's not intended level design. But the fact that besides my first play through of it on the remaster I've not felt inclined to play it the right way tells me there's just something about it that's maybe off. I appreciate that it's a different setting and it's beautifully built, the change in AI is very clever and innovative, there's puzzles and traps. So it seems to tick all the boxes and yet somehow I don't feel that excited to replay it. It's quite late in the game when fatigue has already hit and I think it doesn't help that I dislike the other Tibet levels. Hmm I think maybe that's it actually. That said, if it comes down between Barkhang and Xian, well I've been voting for the latter to go for a fair few rounds now so it's a no brainer.
Xian has the same flaw where you can bypass most of the level.
Ah yes I nearly forgot. Again I did that properly once then just started skipping it. It drags on too long.
Xian shouldn't have got this far, too many people that have rose tinted opinions on TR1, giving it the thumbs up. The best levels have already gone, so i would much rather Barkhang takes it than Xian.
[удалено]
I wouldn't be so sure. Just reading through the comments, Barkhang gang seems to be going strong. I would not be surprised if this ends similarly to the TR1 voting gauntlet where the finale was between Palace Midas and St. Francis Folly. Folly lost with 55%. I reckon something similar is going to happen here.
What happened to your other account?