It seems Crystal Dynamics were tossing around quite a few ideas for Tomb Raider, before settling with the game they ended up releasing. According to the above video and this forum thread Tomb Raider 'Ascension' would have Lara teaming up with a little sidekick, in her fight against enormous supernatural Titan-like creatures, sometimes on horseback and dirt bikes.

Looking at the video, one might speculate whether the game actually was intended to be more open-worldly than what the final version turned out to be. The whole "origin story" concept didn't really seem like a part of this prototype either, as you'll see Lara fully geared up as we knew her from earlier iterations in the franchise, her movement is more "professional", and she wields two pistols at once. Certain things do seem to have stuck with the game the entire time, though. The final game still takes place on an island, the bow is seen in this image, and rock climbing with a pickaxe is present in the video. Japanese lore also seems like an idea the devs have groomed since early in development.

Would you have wanted Tomb Raider to be more like this? Lara, the professional monster-killer? Or perhaps you were satisfied with the origin story you were served? I personally think we should just leave the monster hunting to Geralt, Lara can conquer other territories.

In case you haven't made up your mind on whether it's worth getting the Tomb Raider reboot or not, be sure to check out our review of the Tomb Raider reboot sometime in the near future. But here's a little spoiler for you - we'll likely be quite positive towards it.