New Tales From The Borderlands

[AndyKurosaki]

Well this pretty much came out of nowhere. Like, I didn’t even realise it was out. I remember it being announced, but not much after that.

 

The original Tales game was one of the best things Telltale came out with (Walking Dead peaked after their first season, and by the end was crap). I’m not an expert of the franchise, I’ve only finished 1 and 2, and some of the DLC. But that didn’t stop me from having a great time with Tales.

 

So, now we have the sequel. Though it’s “episodic”, it plays out as one big game, giving you a break between episodes. I’ve just finished Episode 1. And so far, it’s off to a good start. The dialogue has been amusing enough. The story, which switches between 3 playable characters, seems solid enough. There’s zero puzzles, so you’re mostly down to making dialogue choices, and occasionally wandering around the area to trigger the next set piece. There’s a fair few Quick Time Events, but they’re easy enough. 
 

One review said that the hacking mini game is laughably easy. It is indeed, and makes you wonder what the point of them even is. It warns you “failure has repercussions”. But honestly, you’d have to put your controller on the floor, to fail them. 
 

The IGN review said the final episode is a train wreck, and almost ruins the game completely. We will see how that plays out. 
 

But so far, yeah, this seems decent enough.

[AndyKurosaki]

Finished episode 4, only one episode to go. And it’s not hard to see why this has pretty much gone under the radar. It’s a bit “meh”. 
 

The hacking mini-game isn’t the only thing that’s ridiculously easy. There’s a “Vaultlanders” game, where you occasionally battle another person, using Vaultlander collectibles you find in game. And it’s laughable. Press X to attack your opponent a few times. Press a direction arrow to dodge their attack. Rinse and repeat. Each Vaultlanders character has stats for defence and attack. Fuck knows why, as I’ve been rinsing every fight with the first one it gives you. Not been hit once. 
It could have been an interesting idea. But it’s so stupidly easy, that unless you’re arsed about getting the Platinum trophy, there’s no point to it. 
 

As for the characters? They exist, I guess. Dr Dah bumbles along. Her brother Ock starts off a massive wanker, and has only gotten worse as the story progresses. And Fran, she’s alright-ish. 
None of them are particularly memorable, and the story isn’t really either. I’ll complete it, and have forgotten about it in a few months. 
 

It’s not terrible, there’s been a few occasionally funny moments. But there’s also been a fair few “When is this part going to be over” ones too. 
 

As I mentioned before, I’m no Borderlands expert. But it’s not a patch on the original Tales. 

[AndyKurosaki]

Finished this the other day. IGN said the final episode was the worst by far. I wouldn’t agree with that. But I’m not really arsed about seeing any more from these characters. There was some good moments in the finale. But in the end, one of my characters died, and I’ve no idea what killed them. It showed their grave, but no mention whatsoever as to why they died. The game can’t be arsed to tell you. 
 

Overall, it’s ok, but not a patch on what Telltale used to do.