Finally, Rise of the Tomb Raider lets Lara learn Greek and wring out her ponytail

If you want to find the freshest tombs to raid, you've got to hit the books. Rise of the Tomb Raider lets Lara Croft learn ancient Greek, and not just for conversation - her fluency will determine whether she can access certain secret areas.

Lara's Greek proficiency will increase as she discovers ancient scrolls and murals, pausing from her exploring and mercenary murdering to further illuminate her understanding of the language (and saving quite a bit on college tuition in the process). She'll be able to figure out how to open up certain crypts once she's fluent enough, presumably by reading the damn instructions.

As GR+'s Joe Skrebels and James Jarvis note in their Gamescom video impressions below, Crystal Dynamics is also upping its hair game in Rise of the Tomb Raider: among other subtle animations, Lara will wring her ponytail out when she emerges from a pool of water. Of course, all these little human touches will just make it even more mentally scarring when Lara gets graphically speared through the neck and it's all your fault.