Borderlands 3

Level 11, just reached Promethea and I’m having a very enjoyable time with it.
They’ve improved on just about almost every issue I had with the prior two games. Like, almost every single one. It’s uncanny.

It’s a very handsome game as well. The presentation feels sleeker, the menus are tidier, and the visual effects are impressive. In fact, I think this is the only game series where I played all of the last gen instalments for the first time while being well into a current gen cycle so the visual and quality-of-life improvements are instantly noticeable. It’s so graphically detailed now that I think newcomers might be at disadvantage because it would be tricky to know what items can be interacted with if you have not played the previous games.

There’s a freshness and a maturity that was lacking in previous games. There’s actual cut scenes now and they have a sense of pace to them, not just character introductions. The wackiness has been toned down so that not every character feels like an obnoxious a*shole, although I do still have issues with the characters which I’ll get to later.

Combat has never been better. Elemental barrels are no longer so densely packed together so you can actually move without enemies shooting a shock barrel and depleting your entire shield, or worrying that you’re gonna accidentally KO yourself with corrosion. The enemies don’t vomit-spawn anymore either. In fact, I often welcome when more enemies spawn as it gives me a chance to test out weapons which, by the by, are the best in the series yet. Gunplay reminds me of the Outer Worlds which I really enjoyed. Guns feel punchy, and pretty much all of them are fun to play with so far. Popping a head off with a crit shot feels satisfying in a way it hasn't previously.

And maybe it’s because I’ve been recently playing as OP Nisha in the Pre-Sequel where I just spammed my auto lock-on action skill every 10 seconds but I feel like I have to use cover more now and actually, you know, try to be accurate with my gun as enemies move a lot faster.

You get excellent loot surprisingly early which makes me excited for the end game drops. I’m constantly in the menus comparing and messing around. The COV weapons are a great addition too. However, I still think Gearbox is very stingy with the backpack space, especially when you compare it to something like The Division 2. It’s annoying having to sell or discard loot so often and I'm not sure why they're so resolute about this.

Anyway, whatever. It’s almost overwhelming the amount of choice you have with there being three action skills to choose from now, each with various buffs. For now, I’m just pouring points into skills that can get me through early game and then will make a proper build when I have enough points to acquire some of the best augmented skills further up the tree. One thing I notice in comparison to previous Borderlands games, at least with Amara, is that the action skill isn’t immediately great anymore; you have to make it great. So I’m looking forward to experimenting with the skill trees.

Overall, the game just feels more….professional in the quality-of-life department. You don’t have to manually loot ammo and money anymore. You can get into a vehicle’s driver seat without accidentally getting into the gunner seat – which would happen about 90% of the time in the older games. You can deselect the active quest now even if the quest giver is still talking and you can swap quests without having to go into menus just by pressing the d-pad.

The map is in 3D so you can view what floor your objective is on and if you’re near enough to an objective that’s on another floor it will highlight the path you need to take to get to it. And there’s…icons on the map! Yes, now it tells you where Crazy Earl is and Moxxi are. The map is also clear and easy to follow and oh my god guys, the best feature of all: you can fast travel without having to run a mile to a fast travel station to… fast travel! Yes, you can actually pull up the map, look at a fast travel station on the map and then just with the hover of your cursor be transported to that fast travel location!!! What. A. Concept. :rolleyes:

Regarding my issue with the characters I mentioned earlier - I’m not a fan of Amara’s voice acting. Think it’s weak at best and poorly acted at worst. Nisha’s was jarring as well in Pre-Sequel. I think the VH should be mostly silent but that’s just my personal preference.

And maybe I'm just being nostalgic but I miss Sanctuary. I mean actual Sanctuary, not the Mass Effect wannabe spaceship of the same name. Sanctuary to me was the best area of all the Borderlands. I still have fond memories of farming for Michael Mamaril. I miss Scooter and Roland as well.

One thing that never changes though - Lilith continues to be useless. We’re constantly told she’s a ‘badass’ but she always gets captured resulting in you having to rescue her sorry a*s time and time again. Embarrassing.

And Claptrap isn’t Claptrap. It’s not just because someone told me beforehand that his voice actor had changed and now I cant unhear it... there’s something off about him. He’s not quite the loveable goofball. A bit too competent for my liking.

Those are early game gripes though. There may be more interesting characters to meet further down the line and I actually find Tyreen quite funny so far - a narcissistic social media obsessed religious nutjob is an interesting mix indeed!

So yeah, pretty awesome so far but whether it can sustain over 50 odd hours we shall see.

The Phantom Pain wrote: »

So despite having a romp of a time with Borderlands 3... I cannot in good faith recommend it to anyone. In fact, I think this is one of the 2 games I've played this gen that I would say is enjoyable but would not recommend on principle.

It's just too buggy and poor performing. They have saved so much of the player's time with the quality of life improvements. A shame that it's pretty much offset by all the time wasting you spend having to quit the game and load in due to quest progression getting stuck and then paired with long loading screens and menu lag it just makes it very frustrating to get through. It gets worse over time as well.

And the graphics are constantly loading in as you move through the world, it ruins immersion. Horrible optimisation. Buggiest Borderlands to date.

I never came across any of those issues and I played it at launch so there was a tonne of updates since then.

Oh right. I forgot about PC. I played on the Xbox One X.

Yester wrote: »

What do you think of the Outer Worlds? I'm thinking of getting that next.

I'm a couple of hours into it but still in the first area area but really enjoying it. It's kinda like Fallout but still different. But I do wish they used the Fallout computer hacking and lock picking. In this game they are automatically hacked or picked by using components you find and you can run out. Happened me a few times and had to go back to what ever thing I couldn't open after finding or buying more.

Circle of Slaughter sucks. I wish I discovered earlier when my hellwalker could still one-shot everything.
Why do you have to do all 5 rounds in one go? One round gives me a headache. It should checkpoint at reach round completed. It reminds me of the old games in that barrels are just spammed everywhere and seem to be to the enemy's advantage, never yours, and all of the enemies that spawn are badasses and/or one level above you meaning ammo becomes an issue.

wotzgoingon wrote: »

What Mayhem level are you playing at? Lower the level if you are finding it difficult.

I haven't got to the whole 'Mayhem' business yet.

It's not the difficulty per se, it's the fact that you have to do it all in one sitting. It wouldn't be a problem if it was quick hence why if I had a hellwalker my level I could clear all rounds in the time it would take me to clear one round.
After the second round I get bored and my eyes start to hurt, I have to leave. I need a rest from that constant onslaught but it insists you have to do all rounds at once. Aint nobody got time for that. :eek: