Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Year Celebration arrives on Nintendo Switch 2 courtesy of Aspyr, and the question for this review isn’t whether the underlying game is good — it is, and a decade of Very Positive Steam reviews, an 86 on Metacritic, and an OpenCritic Mighty rating have already established that. The question is whether this is a port worth recommending on Switch 2 specifically, and at $29.99, whether it delivers the complete ROTTR experience in a form that justifies the platform price when the PC version regularly goes on sale for under $5.
The short answer is yes, with the usual Switch 2 portability caveat at the centre of the recommendation. Aspyr — the studio that also handled Tomb Raider I-III Remastered — has brought over the complete 20 Year Celebration package: the full base game, the entire Season Pass, all DLC outfits, weapons, and expedition cards, and every additional mode and skin. It’s the definitive edition of ROTTR on a handheld for the first time.
The Game — Still One of the Best Action-Adventures of Its Generation
Rise of the Tomb Raider picks up after the 2013 Tomb Raider reboot and sends Lara Croft to Siberia in pursuit of the lost city of Kitezh and a mythical artefact called the Divine Source — with the secret society Trinity in pursuit throughout. The story is the strongest in the survivor trilogy: Lara is more capable and confident than in the 2013 entry, the antagonists are more developed, and the Siberian setting gives Crystal Dynamics a spectacular canvas across dense forests, frozen tundra, ancient ruins, and the sprawling underground city of Kitezh itself.
The combat is a flexible mix of stealth, guerilla engagement, and aggressive action — you can approach most encounters however you want, crafting poison arrows from scavenged materials or going loud with the shotgun, depending on mood. The climbing and traversal remain kinetic and satisfying. But the real highlights are the optional Challenge Tombs: self-contained environmental puzzles tucked away across the open world that reward patience and observation with powerful abilities. These are the moments the game is most purely itself — quiet, clever, and entirely unhurried.
Everything Included in the 20 Year Celebration
The Switch 2 Port Question
Aspyr has a mixed but improving track record with Tomb Raider ports. Their work on I-III Remastered was well-received after initial hiccups, and the ROTTR port benefits from the Switch 2’s significantly improved hardware headroom over the original Switch. The game runs and plays well in TV and handheld modes, with the complete content offering intact. Performance and visual fidelity details specific to the NS2 version are being evaluated against the broader release, and the overall package — full game, full DLC, full extra modes — is unambiguously delivered.
The $29.99 price point is the primary consideration for anyone already owning ROTTR on another platform. On PC, the game is available for under $5 during regular sales, and the Steam version includes full controller support, VR capability for Blood Ties, and higher visual fidelity. For players who don’t own it on PC or prefer the Switch 2’s portability as a primary gaming mode, $29.99 for the complete edition of one of the best action-adventure games of the last decade is a defensible ask. For PC players already owning it, the case is much narrower.
The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly
| The Good | The Bad | The Ugly |
|---|---|---|
| Still One of the Best in its GenreA decade of critical praise doesn’t lie. ROTTR’s Siberian environments, Challenge Tombs, and flexible combat remain excellent by any standard — the passage of time has been kind to the game’s core design. | The PC Version Is Much Cheaper$29.99 for the NS2 version versus under $5 during frequent PC sales is a hard math problem for anyone who already has access to Steam. The portability premium is real but steep for a 2016 game. | Aspyr Port Track RecordAspyr has improved significantly, but their Tomb Raider ports have launched with issues before being patched to a good state. Worth being aware of at launch and checking post-release coverage for any NS2-specific problems. |
| Complete Edition — Everything IncludedEvery piece of DLC, all outfits, all weapons, Expedition cards, classic skins, every bonus mode. There is nothing to buy separately — this is genuinely the full package at $29.99. | The Story Shows Its Age SlightlyTrinity as an antagonist organisation is less interesting than the setting and Lara herself. The narrative does what it needs to but doesn’t reach the emotional heights of the sequel, Shadow of the Tomb Raider. | No VR on Switch 2Blood Ties in VR on PC is a genuinely memorable experience. The Switch 2 version understandably can’t replicate this, but it’s worth noting for anyone who hasn’t experienced that mode before choosing platforms. |
| Best Portable ROTTR OptionThe Switch 2 is the first time ROTTR has been playable as a true portable. For a game this atmospheric and exploration-focused, handheld play is a natural fit — exploring Siberian tombs in handheld mode has its own appeal. |
The Verdict
Rise of the Tomb Raider remains an excellent game — one of the defining action-adventures of the previous decade, with Challenge Tombs that rival the best in the genre and a Siberian setting that still holds up visually and atmospherically. The 20 Year Celebration is the complete package: every mode, every outfit, every piece of DLC included at launch with no upselling.
The Switch 2 port recommendation comes down to your situation. If you’re a Nintendo-primary player who hasn’t played ROTTR, $29.99 for the complete definitive edition of this game is money well spent — it’s a decade-old game that earns that price. If you own it on PC and regularly take advantage of Steam sales, the portability argument needs to carry a lot of weight to justify a repurchase. And if you’ve never played any of the Tomb Raider survivor trilogy, this is a fine place to play the middle entry — though starting with the 2013 reboot first is still the recommended sequence.
Aspyr continues to make Tomb Raider accessible to new audiences on new hardware, and that’s a good thing for the franchise. Rise of the Tomb Raider on Switch 2 is the right game, on the right hardware, at a price that makes sense for the right buyer.
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