Several have mentioned in the community that this is an MV. I thought to myself no way... then I found an article from 2012 where a Director from Crystal Dynamics mentions the word Metroidvania when asked what makes it different from the Uncharted series...
Regardless, tying Lara down to one island has a variety of interesting consequences for Tomb Raider, the most tantalizing being the additional freedom it affords. If Uncharted has a weakness, it’s the franchise’s love of the cinematic. Naughty Dog is out to tell a story, and they have no intention of allowing the player to interfere with the way that the story plays out. By contrast, Stewart utters a very interesting word in connection with Tomb Raider: Metroidvania.
A mashup of Super Metroid and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, the term “Metroidvania” describes games with sprawling worlds, lots of freedom to explore, and areas that can only be opened up with certain items. They are, as it happens, the complete opposite of a game like Uncharted. So when someone like Stewart throws out a term like Metroidvania in connection with Tomb Raider without prompting, it’s worth taking note.
I've never played the game because I was never a huge fan of the on rails gameplay of Uncharted but it looks like I may have judged a book by it's cover. I'll be downloading this as soon as it goes on sale to see for myself!
It is most definitely a metroidvania. I got a free copy included in a Xbox 360 pack-in a number of years ago and decided to give it a try. I was incredibly impressed with how great the world design was, and how much they expected you to pay attention and backtrack. It’s not without its flaws, but it scratches that itch for a 3D metroidvania, since Metroid Prime was over at the time this game was released.