Well, this is a much better introduction to the Lara Croft series than any of the other previous games. It really does justice to Lara as a real believable character rather than a teenage boy's wet dream.
I had a few goes at the more recent final Fantasy games. I really love the production values and the story. But I really dislike the JRPG formula. Do, after a short while, I give up on them. It's unfortunate, as I know that many people are ardent fans of the series. Each have their own tastes I guess.
For this game, Square Enix is only the publisher and not the developer. I think Crystal Dynamic is the development team. So, this will be a completely different kettle of fish compared to Final Fantasy!
I agree partly that they all have the same formula and it get boring and predictable at times. Many of the new Final Fantasy also suffers from the storyline, as they are too ambitious with the graphics and not enough development time is put into the story. Have your tried Nier Automata? I heard it is a much better game than Final Fantasy 15
Sorry about the delayed reply, the comment section from another post took over the reply feed and I lost track of some conversations.
I haven't tried Nier, I've heard good things about it. And I think it's sitting in my backlog of shame on Steam... Definitely one that I intend to play... Right when I finish with battletech and Frostpunk.