New Tales from the Borderlands

The Borderlands adventures where you aren't primarily concerned with blowing away psychos and stealing alien treasure, they place a little more focus on the characters. We get 3 playable protagonists in New Tales, Dr. Anuradha Dhar, Octavio Wallace-Dhar, and Fran Miscowicz. They're all amiable idiots in very different ways. Fran was the one I liked the best, she's the wildcard of the bunch and her mix of angry impulses (both through rage and through her other "wiles") made me laugh the most. Dr. Anuradha grew on me as the game went on, she's brilliant but lacks any common sense and she can't help tripping over her own two feet trying to solve Promethea's problems. Octavio was the least likeable, he reminded me of a less charismatic version of Michael Pena's character in Ant-Man. He's thick as a brick and way too confident which can be a workable mix if it's handled properly. He was more grating than anything and the character didn't gel for me. The biggest standouts were in the supporting cast and they help keep the game moving. But some of them get sidelined for large sections of the plot and I was all too disappointed when they bumped off my two favourites at the end. This isn't new for this series but I'm not 100% Gearbox understands which characters their audience will enjoy. I still got enough out of the new characters to enjoy the game but it was far from a perfect record.

We follow Anu, Octavio and Fran in their quest for vengeance against Susan Caldwell and her tyrannical reign as the CEO of Tediore. The mission to save Promethea is a righteous goal and I was never completely bored of Anu, Fran and Octavio bumbling their way towards their just desserts. The gameplay follows the Telltale model but there are plenty of breaks to liven things up. We get some more of the meta moments through Fran's flashbacks and the group's appearance on Sink or Swim, the Vaultlander fights are simple but fun (if not just to see Bad@$$ Super Fan in his brief appearances) and the free roam sections are brief and avoid some of the pitfalls of previous Telltale adventures. New Tales may not rewrite the formula but it deviates enough to bring something new to the table.

New Tales has many moments where things start to really click. I liked 2/3 protagonists, there are some great side characters, the game has many moments where I laughed hard (pretty foopin hard in fact) and while the story isn't top notch, it was worth following. The biggest problem was that all the pistons on the engine that is this game couldn't fire at the same time. Every time I was laughing, the characters would do something unbelievably dumb or I'd start really getting into the story and then there would be a run on sequence that killed the pacing etc. The game just couldn't flick all the switches or light all the pyres at the same time and it ruined New Tales' chances of being a true success. It was a shame but I tried to be pragmatic about it. There's always the next scene and I try to remember the shining moments instead of dwelling on when New Tales came up a little short.

I adore the original Tales from the Borderlands. It's my second favourite Borderlands game (after Borderlands 2) and it holds a special place for me. I don't know if I've ever seen a game company follow another and succeed so completely and understand the property so thoroughly as Telltale did with that game. As long as you were okay with the gameplay style Telltale employed, I don't know how you could come away from it disappointed. There were memorable characters, an involving story, tons of sharp comedy and a faithful take on the mythos of the Borderlands universe. I'm not trying to wax poetic but the point I'm trying to make is that if you're bar for the success of New Tales is something on that level, you'll be disappointed by this game. But if you're willing to take the bad with the good, this is a pretty good initial effort from Gearbox. They didn't need to make this game and I'm happy with the double they hit even if it wasn't a homerun. I know it was met with a lot of criticism but I still liked this game quite a bit and I'll be playing it again. I'd like to extend Gearbox a sincere thank you for making New Tales and although I get the feeling this game won't be a smash hit, I'd also love another chance to play around in this world again if given the opportunity.

No pun intended - so maybe the first Telltale game in the Borderlands universe was better (ok not just maybe), but I really like this one too. Yes so many choices do not seem to have a bigger impact on the story or how it will evolve. But not many games had that happen ... and the dialog still is over the top and crazy ... and super funny. At least for me. As I can see others feel differently ... well I am a bit of a sucker when it comes to story related games (and choices and all that).

You play 3 different characters and have to steer them through the story ... and find the ending that may suit you the best ... Telltale had its issues ... but I am looking forward to their comeback ... with another Wolf game! And maybe more tales ... from other games and universes too.

For sure this is the worst product in the franchise, the script is horrible and a disrespect to the writers of the previous game and the others who worked hard to build the universe of the game. Weak characters, the story is full of holes in the script and the actions of the player has no weight in most decisions.

The employees responsible for this script and direction, should be forced to play this game just to see how much of a disgrace this is

the narrative does not take itself seriously to the point of becoming difficult to play, the characters are misused and quite forced on the player, moving the story inorganically and abusing plot armor that highlights the lack of quality of the story, on a mainly story based game.

I made a point of making this game review as to warn as many fans of the original game and other entries in the franchise not to buy this game, in order to motivate the company to produce games with more quality.

Must be retconned.

New Tales from the Borderlands" offers a good time for fans of the Borderlands series but falls short of making a lasting impression. As a follow-up to the strong first game, it maintains some of the charm but lacks the ambition to reach the same narrative heights.

The game is a solid followup to the strong first game however the story never reached the same highs as the first one, because it seemed to really have no ambition to be grand.

The gameplay introduces little innovation beyond the fighting minigame and the fun joke later in the story with Fran and her sponsor-bot. This might have been acceptable if the game's story had been stronger and more engaging. I really enjoyed the reccuring joke with the Tediore Guard and the fighting minigame, but the action figures overstayed their welcome and often times felt as a forced pause rather than a relaxing break of pace, as the overall gameplay is quite minimal and uninspired.

The story begins with a solid premise, featuring familiar locations and characters, and concludes satisfyingly. However, the middle section feels out of place, even within the quirky Borderlands universe, serving mostly as filler. Nothing really interesting happens in the middle and the character arcs dont really progress much other than artificial relationship meters depending on your dialogue options. There are some good jokes here and there for the Borderlands fans.

Among the main cast, Fran stands out as the most interesting and well-developed character, fitting seamlessly into the Borderlands world. She feels right at place and I really hope to see her in the next Borderlands games. Unfortunately, Octavio and Anu don't fare as well. While Anu has her moments, both characters suffer from weak writing and poor jokes, preventing them from being taken seriously.

These two are often overshadowed by Fran and the supporting cast. L0U13, with his intriguing motivations, and the talking gun Brock are particularly noteworthy. Although Susan Coldwell is well-designed and well-acted, her motivations are clichéd, and secondary villains like the Fullfölja sisters and Brock have a more compelling presence in the story. This imbalance highlights that some talent and effort were present in the game's development, attempting to uphold the Borderlands spirit.

Overall, "New Tales from the Borderlands" is an enjoyable experience for series fans but lacks the depth and innovation to stand out. While the game has its moments of humor and charm, it ultimately feels like a missed opportunity to expand the Borderlands universe in a meaningful way.

After playing the disappointing Dragon Age: The Veilgard, I was really looking forward to taking a break from long, open-world, action role-playing games to play something more narrative-focused. But man, I was not prepared for this trash.

Being a fan of Telltale Games, I was excited to play this sequel to Tales from the Borderlands. But dear God, this game was so bad it made BioWare's disastrous The Veilgard look like a masterpiece!

Nothing-and I mean nothing-is worth playing here. It's all trash! The writing is terrible, the story is horrible, the characters are stupid, and the dialogue is atrocious. It started out average at best and just continued to deteriorate.

I was so bored while playing this dump that I would make "bad" choices on purpose just for an inkling of entertainment. But eventually, even that got boring because there are no consequences to these choices. Granted, even in Telltale's games, the story is mostly linear, but they were at least entertaining.

Unfunny, unnecessary, boring, and cringe are how I would describe this utter piece of trash! I'm aware Borderlands is wacky and over the top, but this game would take an unfunny joke and make a meal of it. Unfortunately, this is all New Tales from the Borderlands is.

I can't believe I wasted my entire day with this crap, but I got it done and can finally move on. I need, now more than ever, to play something good. Here's hoping The Expanse from Telltale will deliver.

Final Score: 1/10.