At the time I played it, I thought TR13 was the best TPS I'd played since RE4. I really liked the stun and execute mechanics - the invincibility frames while you execute enemies allowed Lara to to heal a little and stay up close and personal. I loved the rolling and the sand throwing. It was just action-packed and surprisingly brutal. Also, the cult leader reminded me of Saddler and Lara's friend getting kidnapped reminded me of Ashley. It just echoed RE4 a lot for me. It didn't have the goofy charm though, obviously. I liked the progression system, and I liked that it was a well-paced TPS with some opportunities to explore, puzzle, and platform if the player craved some variety. Also, I really liked the platforming: jump, jump, pick, jump, jump, etc. Naturally, they took out the invincibility frames and made platforming clunkier with animation priority in Rise, and I didn't enjoy that game's combat or movement nearly as much; it had other strengths though.
I've changed my opinion of TR13 because the game breaks considerably with the silenced pistol (which is a far better bow and arrow than the bow and arrow), not to mention Headshot City with a mouse and keyboard because of how encounters blended stealth elements (I usually play with controllers for big console releases); but, up close and in the dirt, shotgun in hand: still a very fun way to play it.
With DmC, I was having fun, but it seemed like a couple steps forward and several steps back. The improvements made outside of combat didn't really make up for the changes to combat, which seemed at best both horizontally improved and worsened. In other words, for a game with a lot of contentious preamble about changing the identity of the franchise, it didn't really do much differently. And that's without getting into the story contents. I think I would have had a worse opinion if I hadn't played it on PC.
