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Angelus on 02 December 2022
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Mnementh said:
Angelus said:

30. Borderlands 2

If we could just take the gunplay, and gun variety of Borderlands 3, and throw them into this game, we'd have the perfect Borderlands game. I think it's generally agreed upon that Borderlands 2 is the best in the series, and it's for good reason. The story, the characters, whether it's base game, or DLCS...it's all excellent. I still go back and re-play the whole thing with some friends every now and again, cus it's just a damn good time. For contrast, I couldn't name a single new character from Borderland 3, nor do I care to ever play through that campaign again.

Let's face it: Borderlands 2 is the best in the series because of Handsome Jack. Handsome Jack is one of the best villains in video games, even in entertainment media. There isn't even a moment in the game you are unaware of him, the (pretty epic) intro cinematic shows Handsome Jack as the very first thing you see and goes on to set him up as the villain. Everyone you meet talks about Jack. And then pretty early on Handsome Jack starts talking to you via COMM. And comments everything you do. That fulfills for one the function that you always while looting and following other stories you always keep remembering your big goal. Kinda like Hyrule Castle or the Elden Tree are constant reminders of your goal in their games. But the audio connection also gives the devs room to develop Jack as a character. And he is pretty awesome. So yeah, I say 2 is the best game in the series because of Jack. May he rest in pieces.

Jack is certainly fantastic, and he was amazingly utilized in Tales of the Borderlands as well. That said, him being a constant presence, only worked so well because the character himself was so well written. The twins in Borderlands 3 are a constant presence too...problem is that they're just super annoying, and cringey. It came across as the devs trying way too hard to replicate Handsome Jack again, instead of coming up with a compelling new villain.

But the problems of Borderlands 3 extend beyond its writing as well. They got it into their head to create all these huge, empty, and often stupidly twisted maps that you have to traverse with vehicles from one end to the other over and over again to reach various objectives. Nobody is playing Borderlands for that. We wanna run around, shoot stuff, use cool abilities, and get loot. Not have the experience constantly broken up with average at best vehicle combat and traversal.