Comment on Borderlands 4′s New $30 Expansion Pack Isn’t Winning Over Fans
cerebralhawks@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 day ago
For context, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion came out about 20 years ago in 2006, most notable for its controversial “Horse Armor” DLC, which added armour to horses and was mostly lampooned for being unnecessary. That game also featured a $30 DLC called “Shivering Isles” which added about 5-6 hours of gameplay across a huge island. Most of the time was spent running from place to place as it was way too big, but gamers loved it, and rightly so. You’re working for the god of (literally) madness, who is at war with (minor spoiler) himself, and you’re to be his pawn, whether you like it or not. (Shivering Isles is included in the Oblivion remake that came out a couple years ago.)
I never thought Borderlands games were all that good, personally. The first one was a lot of fun, but it seemed like most people wanted to be either fake Roland (the soldier who could drop a shielded turret) or Lilith (the alien power infused Siren who could phase in and out of reality), and either way you were gonna have a good time. Then there was actual Roland, as in Roland Deschain from Stephen King’s Dark Tower series, only he was called something else (“because ‘Roland’ was already taken! get it? he he”) and some other character we didn’t care about. I liked those choices. The choices felt weaker all around in Borderlands 2 (I went with the Mechromancer, the little girl who could summon the mech, because she was cool) but the stakes and difficulty were higher, with obtuse areas with more obtuse maps. And the story held my interest much less. Rather than treasure hunters and a back story with corporate greed, we’re still treasure hunters, but now we gotta save the treasure hunters from the first game for some reason. I never played 3 or Pre-Sequel (wherever that fits), but I tried BL4 on GamePass, and it just felt soulless? But I only played the first area.
I feel like these games are best bought on sale at deep discount. I couldn’t tell you what I’d do differently with the newer ones but to gesture wildly at the first one. Either the first one got it right and the rest failed to do that, or the series is a one trick pony and they never should have made sequels. I’m open to that possibility, but I don’t like defeatism. I think there was something BL2 could have done better, I just can’t figure it out.
I never thought Borderlands games were all that good, personally.
I didn’t like the respawning enemies aspect. Felt like an unchanging world.
And the story was kinda forgettable, in my book.
Most of the humor didn’t really do anything for me.
But I did enjoy the constantly-changing collection of procedurally-generated weapons that constantly changed up how one played, which is kinda the signature of the series.
With the exception of Pre-Sequel (which came out after 2 but takes place between 1 and 2), I liked each new game more than the last, so I’m glad they kept making sequels. And unlike Destiny, adding new content doesn’t mean erasing what came before it, so you can still go back and enjoy one that you may have liked better for one reason or another.
Coskii@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 day ago
I loved the first one, and it felt like they really hit their stride by the time they finished up all the dlc… And then the second one came out, and while some aspects (bosses, story) were overall better, nearly every other metric I cared about either stagnated for declined. It served as an alert that the devs weren’t interested in the same things I am and got me to boycott gearbox for a decent chunk of time. I eventually decided to try them out again once they had a massive bundle and discount on most of their borderlands games, as well as the tell tale games.
After playing through 3 and some of the dlcs, it feels like they’re just going through the motions at this point. It might as well be a more cartoony call of duty.
I will continue to wait for deep sales on the full products if I feel like they’re worth my time.
CheeseNoodle@lemmy.world 15 hours ago
The vibe of the first one was so good, I think 2/3 had more fun characters in terms of just having interesting/fun kits but the first game will always be my favourite for the overall tone.
ryathal@sh.itjust.works 1 day ago
I really hate how they destroyed the loot system from 2 onwards. The core fun of anything being able to drop something awesome was a big part of the fun.