I’ll preface this by saying I’m not going to be giving a number / star review as it just gets too difficult and there are too many factors involved. There’s a lot of text below the cut. Like, a lot. I have an English degree and I enjoy being wordy.
TLDR: Game good. Give it a try. Hotfixes and patches will knock this into one of the best Border-verse games out there.
Cons - (Because I want to end on a high note)
Farming / Loot Luck System - With drop rates tied to loot luck (and yes, even dedicated drops), and loot luck tied to 260 Dice hidden around the Wonderlands, it’s going to get very old searching out these dice for each new character just to have “normal” drop rates for farming. As of now I don’t hate it, because I only really have one save and I’m enjoying the challenge of finding them all… but after my second or third character hunting dice to have a standard 10% drop rate? Not ideal.
Continuing with this system, there are many named / unique enemies that don’t respawn in the typical fashion (Over 70 named / unique enemies as reported by some of the content creators). Instead, they will spawn in the endgame mode, Chaos Chambers. Unfortunately this feels like the launch of Bordelands 3 where rare spawns rarely showed up (yes, it’s in the name I know), and then still having a 10% drop rate for the designated item, and further dividing that number for each dedicated drop they had. I’m hoping Wonderlands will see a similar fix that BL3 had but that remains to be seen.
Chaos Chamber (Endgame mode) - The designated endgame mode, Chaos Chamber, is actually a lot of fun. However I can already see where the fatigue is going to set in when this is one of the only ways to get many of the unique / legendary drops after the initial mission complete. On top of this, we just need more. Borderlands 3 suffered from the same issue at launch, not enough to do after you hit max level and the credits roll. At the end of the lifecycle of BL3 we had two takedowns (and the true takedowns), six proving grounds (six true trials), a traditional raid boss (or two depending on how you look at it), and the “faux-raid bosses” which are really just enemies with raid boss level health. So we got there with BL3, I am of the opinion that the endgame is in a great space. I hope we get there with Wonderlands.
Also, mob density. We need more. Right now the Chaos Chamber doesn’t feel chaotic enough… and it’s literally in the name. So mob density needs to go up.
DOT damage from water / puddles. It’s ridiculous. Hits harder than most enemies in the game. Which I mostly notice in the CC but it’s everywhere.
Gimmick / Meme Loot - In typical Borderlands fashion, there are a number of gimmick / meme pieces of gear in the game. And as of now, having beat the story at max level and progressing through the Chaos levels, there just seem to be too many of these items… I feel like I find more gimmicky, Legendary spells than I do viable ones and I just want more options. Haven’t found them all, this may change.
Rated T (minor con) - I don’t know, there are just some moments that lean into the “Every previous game has been rated M and this one is rated T and so we are going to be meta and make fun of it” and I don’t know… It would have been better if we just had it rated M and didn’t have to be Meta about the whole thing? Minor. Barely bothered me. But I’m mentioning it.
Pros -
Will Arnett as the Dragon Lord - After the *mostly* disappointing Calypso twin antagonists from Borderlands 3 (and I did not hate them as much as the community did, although they still weren’t the best), Will Arnett as the Dragon Lord is so. damn. good. Probably one of my favorite things to come out of this game is how good this character really is. When I saw people saying he is giving Handsome Jack a run for his money I didn’t believe it… I get it now. Phenomenal character, phenomenal writing, phenomenal performance. I don’t want to say this character carried the game, because I love a lot about his game, but I have come close many times because he is that good.
Character Creator - I was shocked at how in depth the character creator is. Coming from a franchise that had fairly limited customization for the stock characters, it was so much fun to create characters. And after the first playthrough you unlock so many new cosmetics for a new character that it just becomes that much more fun creating a new one. OR! Changing the look of your current character because you can change damn near every aspect of your character at any point for no cost! Such a great addition to the game.
Six Character Classes (with future DLC additions) - I never had an issue with four playable characters. Which meant that getting two DLC playable characters for a couple games in the franchise was a bonus on an already great system. Having six classes to choose from at launch, and being able to apply that class to the character you created feels so great. And the ability to multi class at a fairly early point in the campaign just feels natural.
Level Design - Beautiful. So much fun. And the fact that there are no vehicles in this game (and I didn’t feel like I was missing them) just goes to show that the team did an amazing job on the level design. The verticality after the quality of life improvements from BL3 (mantling, sliding, etc.) just makes searching for those secret chests and collectible a worthy challenge.
Chaos Chamber (Endgame mode) - Yes, this goes in both pros and cons. The Chaos Chamber is a lot of fun to play and you get to actually earn that increase in chaos level. I didn’t hate the Mayhem system in BL3, I hated the OP system in BL2, and the Chaos Chambers / Chaos levels feel like a happy medium between the two. Plus, with DLC releases, we will get more maps, enemies, and bosses that will appear in the Chaos Chamber giving it a nice fresh touch after launch as content releases.
Story / Writing - I didn’t hate the writing in Borderlands 3. I can see where people didn’t like it… and I can think of plenty of moments that were either too drawn out or didn’t need to be there at all (including some incredibly cringey moments) but isn’t that Borderlands? Maybe someone will dislike me saying this, but it is my review, but I swear most of the “Borderlands 2 story and writing is so much better than Borderlands 3” is 1. Nostalgia, and 2. The existence of Handsome Jack. Borderlands isn’t strong on the story front. It never was. Wonderlands to me was a step up from Borderlands 3. Take that how you will. I like Borderlands, I like Borderlands 2, The Pre-Sequel, and Borderlands 3. Love them all. I also love Wonderlands, and I think the story is incredibly well written.
Combat Loop - The core of this game is Borderlands. It feels like Borderlands / Borderlands 3 in a number of ways, but one of the things that actually stands out in this title is the combat loop. With the addition of spells and melee weapons, the combat loop actually does feel different in a positive way. I use an Xbox Elite controller and have one paddle set to melee and another as spells. This has helped the new additions in combat feel more fluid and natural and I have really enjoyed it.
In Conclusion!
One of the best Border-verse game launches that I can remember. If they support this game with content, hotfixes, and patches… I don’t know. It’s already probably in my top 2 favorite Borderlands games so who knows what’s going to happen. Damn good game. Worth giving it a try.
From Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands Dev Diary #4 — “It was also a lot of fun working on the new Swordsplosion, which is a gun from Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep that we rebuilt. Now it fires swords that stick into enemies, and if you’ve got a sword stuck in someone, the alt-fire mode spawns a giant ethereal sword underneath them that shoots up and does a bunch of damage.”
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands - Standard Edition (Pre-Order)
Standard Edition
Pre-Order Bonus: Golden Hero Armor Pack - Two golden armor themes that can be applied to any armor set.
Full Game
Next-Level Edition
Pre-Order Bonus
Full Game optimized for Next-Gen
Dragon Lord Bonus Content: “Show off your evil side with Dragon Lord Pack Bonus Content! It includes: The Apex - Legendary Weapon, Skullantir - Legendary Spell, Tyrant Attire Armor Preset (5 items), Villain’s Visage Face Preset (2 items), Death’s Head Makeup Pack (3 items), Emperor of the Dead Banner Set (3 items), Kwartz Hero Statue Material
Chaotic Great Edition
Full Game optimized for Next-Gen
Dragon Lord Pack Bonus Content
Season Pass (includes Butt Stallion Pack) - 4 Content Drops with new fantastical boss fights and whimsical challenges to be released after launch.
