At their heart, all video games provide escapism. It’s one of the few points of comparison any game from any era can measure against one another. But with more than 50 years in the public consciousness, it’s easy to forget that games we consider forerunners already had their own precursors. Take these two venerated series: Tomb Raider and Uncharted. The former boiled together ingredients from several of the most popular game types on PC and made them into something new for the infant polygon era of home consoles. The latter remixed and made pastiche of Lara Croft’s long list of strengths. Both send players on globetrotting missions to recover the vanishing (and lucrative) treasures of the ancient world.

In fact, you could probably blame Uncharted‘s fresh take on the style for showing Tomb Raider‘s age. So, when Lara Croft received a soft reboot, the newest strain of Tomb Raider games took on more than a passing resemblance to the Nathan Drake games they had inspired.

Which brings me to today’s Banter question: If you had to choose, which series’ treasure hunter with a heart of gold takes the crown? Who goes on the best expeditions, survives the most surprising betrayals, rises to the most impossible challenges, and cuts the best figure while doing it?

Both Drake and Croft have reconciled with the tropes of their genre. Both have improvised, charmed, and lucked their ways through countless scraps, all while giving the player moments to both fear what’s around the next bend and feel like nothing can stand between them and their next grail.

So which is it for you? Queen Lara or King Nathan? Let us know who takes the crown and why, right down below or in our Boss Rush Discord!

Featured Artwork: Madie Bryson