LARA CROFT - Rise of the Tomb Raider Play Arts Kai Figure Review

I got Square Enix's Play Arts Kai Rise of the Tomb Raider Lara Croft figure back in April. In my initial impressions post here I thought pretty highly of the figure while it was in-package, but those feelings fizzled fairly quickly once she was out. Now, about two and a half months later, I'm re-visiting the figure to give it a fair shake.

As noted in that earlier post, this version of Lara is noticeably larger than the Survivor version. The level of detail is exceptional - this is a hallmark of the Play Arts Kai figures - and really deserves to be acknowledged and commended. There are plenty of buckles, straps, pouches, wrinkles and textures to keep even the most particular detail-hounds happy. The colors are appropriately muted, from the olive drab of the jacket to the khaki trousers and military boots. The proportions look very good all-around, with no gangly arms or legs, or exaggerated curves.

The face is quite nice, though it really doesn't bring Lara Croft (in-game or out) to mind. I don't think it reminds me of anyone in particular. I can appreciate the sculpt and paintwork here working together to create an attractive portrait, but there's no personality to it at all. The Survivor game required a heroine with grim, steely determination, and I would assume (having not played it yet) that Rise would require more of the same. The figure's face is so neutral that it just seems..."absent," if that makes any sense.

Rise Lara comes with an assortment of goodies. Yes, a standard PAK stand is included, though I don't use these. She also comes with: her bow (this one has an elastic for a string, unlike the Survivor version's delicate plastic one), two climbing axes (which peg to her belt behind her left hip with great difficulty), a pistol (which holsters nicely on her right hip), a group (quarrel?) of arrows for the quiver, and 5 alternate hands (one of which is permanently attached to an arrow. The accessories all look very good and work well, with one exception. There's an attachment point on the bow designed to peg into a hole on Lara's back. The problem I had was that the hole is too high. As a result, when the bow is pegged into place, the string cuts right across the figure's face. There's a workable solution, though. Just unpeg the bow and drop it down, and it sits just fine.

I generally have great difficulty with PAK's articulation scheme. There are plenty of joints, but the ratchets seem to require them to click into place outside of where I need them to be. As a result, the figures are often off-balance or just look awkward in their poses. I tried to mimic the box images with Lara, to varying degrees of success. My figure does have great difficulty standing straight up, as a result of having the left leg slightly longer than the right (either that, or it's pegged in to the hip joint incorrectly, making the hips asymmetrical.  She's not what I would consider a joy to pose. I felt like I was fighting with the figure to try to get it to do what I wanted it to. I'm pretty pleased with the standing pose and the kneeling pose, but I just couldn't get the arms to look right shooting the arrow. The results are pictured.

Overall, this is a nice figure, though it doesn't really scream "Lara Croft" at me. There's a nice assortment of accessories, the detail and paint are good, and she can achieve more poses than just about any previous incarnation of the character. At the same time, I'm not blown away. In fact, I have one PAK figure on pre-order, and I'm vowing that it will be my last. With a $140 price tag, this figure costs about double what it should. And being as difficult as it is to get into poses I like, it will probably just sit on the shelf, mostly forgotten, in a short time. To me, that's just not worth it. So, like I said, I plan to pass on PAK from here on out. If you like the line, appreciate the detail, love the character/game and can work with the articulation scheme for the price, you'll probably love this figure (and again, when I actually get to play the game I may have to revisit this review, because I might have a newfound appreciation for the figure).