Borderlands and the Death of a Franchise

[@Command_B]

I just saw the Borderlands movie and it seems for Randy Pitchford's next magic trick, he intends to make the fandom *disappear.* The movie fails spectacularly in everything it tries to accomplish, from the miserable acting to the spastic editing of the action scenes to the predictably awful humor. It is every bit as bad as you've heard and I truly do not think it is worth seeing, even if your sole intent is to laugh at it.

[@Awesomesausegameing]

It's like the halo TV show It feels like it wasn't made for the fans or the random viewer it was made by someone who knows nothing about it just based on what they think the fans like

[@Awesomesausegameing]

Just reference random things from the original they'll love it

[@LibraritheWizardOfficial]

Are you going to make a video about the movie? After just discovering this video, I'm sure I'm not alone in being interested in your movie review.

[@nataliapchelintseva6271]

Besides the movie, there's also a book dedicated to Fiona and Sasha that came out pretty recently - and it slanders everything related to the original Tales from the Borderlands. It doubles down on all the crap Borderlands 3 and New Fails from the Borderlands brought us, twists the narrative to fit into this cringe course they took, and Fiona talks and behaves exactly the same as movie Lilith. The franchise does feel dead. Also, I'll never forgive them for what they did to Vaughn and Rhys.

[@dakotaanton3880]

I just went today because I heard it was bad and I just wanted to see it ironically, and oh my God I wasn't expecting it to be that bad

[@XxTheStonexX1]

Modern entertainment is watching million dollar companies parade around corpses of your favorite IPs in an attempt to make money.

[@mmcc2852]

feeling attached to an IP as "favorite" is a tempting mistake on our part. i admit things/game/movie was fun fun while it lasted before the souless sequel/adaptation

[@BowenEros-gt8gn]

The fact you refer to it as "Intellectual Property" means you understand very little about your own comment. If you recognize it as property, a product... why are you surprised or even need to make the remark you made? It's a product. What else is gonna be done with it????

[@lukasmacht5858]

And adding some curent thing agenda so you cant criticize them, because that would be racist OR thisortthatphobic.

[@bloopahVIII]

@@BowenEros-gt8gn You don't understand intellectual property laws. Intellectual property is not the product. Property is the product. Intellectual property is the right to be the sole producer of a product, service, or any other work protected by intellectual property laws.

[@NebLleb]

So, basically: "Hey, it's your Uncle Borderlands! Don't be afraid, child!" [if you get the reference, you're cool.]

[@planetned.]

Oh yeah you're right about Roland. Roland is on of the only characters that didn't tell a single Joke throughout his entire existence in borderlands.. lets have Kevin heart play roland😂

[@ShadowElectricity]

I remember Roland being on the taller side too. The casting makes no sense. Hollywood loves the rock, why didn't they cast him instead? He'd at least kind of fit the role.

[@ntw3002]

Roland was having a great time through the whole of Borderlands 1, it was only in BL2 that he changed from treasure hunting asshole to boring warrior for justice

[@metroschannel]

The perfect example or pure gearbox incompetence

[@Dirty-Leprechaun]

The tough accent kevin trys to do is just cringey to

[@golden6294]

yeah, no. roland was way more laid-back and high-energy in borderlands 1.

[@TenthSgtSnipes]

Borderlands leant far too in to Tina humour after the positive reception to the keep dlc

[@Zargex]

And this time 1000000000000000000000000000000000000% woke

[@number3766]

@@ZargexWhich is weird since they did good with BL2 and decent with TPS. Axton's bi, Maya's ace, Moxxi is yes, Athena and Springs are gay, ya got the whole cast filled with the rainbow, even rare things like Jack having heterochromia and every bodytype under the sun without it being distracting or too intrusive. They didn't boil down the characters into woke trait, but just had character that happened to be Lgbt or poc.

[@eutha6]

tina humor was funny- but niche and not for the entire world

[@eutha6]

@@Zargex tell me where the woke hurt you

[@Copadon]

@@number3766 Never call people 'poc', because stuff like THAT is woke. It's on par with "LatinX", which Hispanics such as myself consider an absolute affront to our language and culture. As the meme goes, "Call me LatinX and I'll show you why our crime rates are so high" But that kinda highlights the issue with Borderlands, and modern day Millennial writing; tokenization that's surface level and meant to pander, to virtue signal to people who won't buy your product while genuinely offending groups you supposedly represent. Even without using another series as an example, Borderlands 1 had Roland who was a soldier that happened to be black. Nobody made a big deal about it, and it wasn't the focus of his story or character either. But as the series went on (as well as various other IPs), it became more and more blatantly for 'representation', something that doesn't matter because you don't need someone to be the same skin colour or race as you are to empathize or sympathize with them. Only psychopaths do this i.e. look at the lady who redesigned April O'Neil from TMNT to literally look like herself, and she's not the only one to have done this either I do agree that if you MUST include someone from a smaller group, such as a minority, it's best if they just happen to be from that group and not make a big deal about it. Hell I'd VASTLY prefer it over what we have now. But until people vote with their dollar and call this stuff out, it'll continue and never cease

[@ryu411]

They could have had Idris fucking Elba as Roland…. And they went with Kevin Hart…

[@dracobellator1164]

you are just as bad. Roland is series but if you paid attention he is an introvert. his awkward dialogue with Lilith is her messing with his anti-social attitude. which is an extension of his character from borderlands 1. but most people always picked lilith or brick. so no Elba isn't a fit either. I'm sick of people pointing to famous A-list celebs as the answer for every cast role, its unrealistic and also the serious issue with hollywood right now, not helping new talent see their chance through.

[@ryu411]

@@dracobellator1164 Idris Elba could possibly… oh I don’t fucking know; act upon your description(s) of Roland? You know acting? That thing that actors are paid to fucking do? But Elba would have the stature and demeanor more fitting the character. “Just as bad”. Piss off.

[@blosswastaken]

@@dracobellator1164 nah, Idris would look better as Roland. Really, Kevin isn't Roland

[@dracobellator1164]

@@blosswastaken Idris isn't the only africant american actor who could play a gruff soldier type. also be honest did you actually play as roland in borderlands 1?

[@blosswastaken]

@dracobellator1164 Yeah, I played all the characters

[@maxxpower3d6]

If you're seriously waiting for Borderlands to improve, you're about to learn the same lesson that Star Wars fans have been learning for the past decade.

[@basedb1644]

I pray it isnt gonna be that way. They dont even need to do much just change the fucking story and make the game less of a comedy. Is that so hard??

[@Lownerzzz]

@@basedb1644Fr they still aren’t too far gone to recover from it, there’s plenty of games that go through ups and downs

[@enemote]

@@basedb1644 The people that got their hands on these games are the same type of people who got their hands on the Star Wars franchise. They won't let go of it, and they have no intention of improving it. You're not their client anymore, random trillionaires investors looking for outlets to preach their agendas are.

[@rctecopyright]

Lots of legacy IP's are dead on the vine: Halo, COD, Battlefield, Madden, etc. sequels, remakes, remasters are usually gonna leave you disappointed. Nintendo is still alright but rehashing established IP's is something they've mastered for decades now.

[@jjoe7078]

Andor was an absolute masterpiece bro.

[@axtonstorm6210]

Ill remember you, Borderlands, for who you were not what you became

[@r0d0s0vich]

The twomad of games

[@BoneheadPlays]

Star wars: gaming edition

[@bloopahVIII]

@@r0d0s0vich That means that Borderlands will die of fentanyl overdose.

[@WhayYay]

But from the beginning borderlands was plagiarized

[@twentysecondcenturywoman]

We have been unburdened by what has been or whatever that lady says

[@brandonp5]

The old borderlands esthetic was so dope. Spaghetti western trailer park was the best

[@PuellaMagiHomuraAkemi]

Such a shame its terrible by gameplay, now we got far, far better gameplay but terrible esthetics...

[@MisterJohnDoe]

Sure is. Why does everything in video games nowadays has to be pink? Can't look at anything these days for too long without getting a headache from all the acid trip colors.

[@peighnesshonourchign9164]

This problem isn't just a borderlands thing. The over reliance on comedy is a universal issue. Almost every movie, show, n game nowadays has writing that leans all the way into laughing, with no drama to contrast it with. The other part is the repetition of the types of punchlines. Making rapid fire jokes only work when each character has their own, n not feel like they were written by the same person.

[@TheSuperappelflap]

Blame Marvel. They made tens of billions off of those lame jokes and having brightly colored objects move around on the screen like a carousel over a baby's crib. So now all entertainment is trying to mimic that.

[@CyberLance26]

Yea i dont like how people want everything to be self aware nowadays and that we are just supposed to make jokes about stuff that used to be taken seriously not that long ago.

[@RushValentine]

That's millennial writing for you. I blame Undertale for normalizing "quirky and funny = good," because i swear nowadays many games tries to be like that with the meta jokes and some shit.

[@idiopathictendencies8453]

Pablum for the mental midgits. It's become a tool for social indoctrination.

[@gaelurquiz5755]

​@@RushValentineShut up furry.

[@AlfredoPuente8]

The writers are people in their 40’s still thinking they are 20.

[@AndrewRyan-zv7zb]

It has always been since the second game.

[@legitplayin6977]

@@AndrewRyan-zv7zbYeah I was about to say that it’s faithful to the games in this aspect at least

[@hauntedmedic373]

Why you call me out like that? 😢

[@CowtongueHarry]

*Literally anything regarding a vehicle happens in a game* My internal monolog: "Catch a riiide!"

[@6cmcnc6]

As a day one player of the entire franchise, you hit the nail on the head.

[@unwarranteddesign806]

During the post-COVID gaming drought I finally managed to finish Borderlands 2 and the Pre-Sequel and then decided to play Borderlands 3 and Tina Tina's Wonderlands, despite the negative things that I had heard about those games. I have to say that I tolerated #3 (aside from the godawful story) and absolutely despised Wonderlands. Just a massive fall off for the franchise.

[@BigWheel.]

The post covid gaming scene is dystopic. I get that BL3 was from 2019, so pre covid. But really it was one of many games showing what was to come.

[@braidenschmidt4928]

They could've done so much better for the story for BL3, just playing casually it'll take you around 4-6 hours to get to the final boss from the beginning of the game, depending on how you play and yet the story was just so bad. The first 2 or 3 DLCs was it? Or actually pretty good, good story and great legendary's, at least they were until Mayhem 10, the game was perfectly balanced at Mayhem 4 but they kept increasing it making the game unplayable unless you had weapons that took hundreds of hours to farms and had a specific build. The exact same thing can be said about Wonderlands except melea weapons and Mayhem 100, balance is worse in that game, only a select few builds can work with a select few weapons.

[@igson-in4rd]

Not a bad game I am playing it rn

[@DeviCerberus]

3 does have good gameplay. Shame the story fell so flat. And it was all downhill from there.

[@3therealogmo815]

3 was wayy too easy, wotan the invincible dead in less than a second with weapons i picked up from story? ,-,

[@0hno4]

I talked about this with my dad that 3 missed the mark on the story so badly by not continuing off the cliff hanger of TPS that the only way you can make me come back is by redoing 3's story, and rereleasing it as "Borderlands 3-boot".

[@Greenhawk4]

There was already the Commander Lilith DLC for BL2 that took place after that cliffhanger and 3 continued off of that.

[@mr.harmuzad4201]

@@Greenhawk4 Yeah, but did it continue off of "War is coming and you will need all the vault hunters you can get" line? No. Or that war literally was just two insufferable bandit leaders.

[@Greenhawk4]

@@mr.harmuzad4201 I mean if you really look at it the line made sense with how massive their army was. They always comment on the amount of people joining them and pledging allegiance. They were also able to bring most of the bandit clans togther. It was also a close call and they almost ended up succeeding with their plan.

[@heartless2147]

@@Greenhawk4 BL3 defenders are the reason the franchise is in the cesspool it is now. The fact that Ava exists and causes Maya's death was the straw that broke the camel's back, you cannot justify that. If you enjoy it then fine, but don't assume that it's an objectively good game based on that.

[@technochan5691]

@@heartless2147 yea bro, imo I found Maya in bl2 to be my favorite character as she had such a cool power and so much room to grow. but gearbox had plans to make my hopes and dreams fade. there was NO reason to kill her off and then pass it as one big joke, and with Tanis's absolutely horrible goodbye speech. just by doing that already at least 35% of the fanbase lost interest in the game immediately -sorry for bad grammar

[@Grizz343]

17:53 "and an endless supply of failed comedians" Ive never heard a better explanation of borderlands 3's characters. actually perfect description.

[@Cricket0021]

borderlands 3 character be like: *poop joke at the end of every line of dialogue*

[@AnneHathawayRules]

When Handsome Jack died, so did the franchise.

[@PuellaMagiHomuraAkemi]

@@AnneHathawayRules Not at all. Borderlands 3 is far, far better in every aspect except for the story and its characters. Considering that gameplay is core you cant say a franchise died, especially since 3 has the most players on Steam. They have to keep the amazing gameplay and ideas but preserve Borderlands soul more

[@aidan262]

@@PuellaMagiHomuraAkemi not better in loot farming, super boring to get a legendary 4 minutes into the game, and end game farming is just legendarys with annointments which sucked ass to farm no pearls or serpahs or anything else also bosses with immune phases absolutely suck to kill. No reason to play after you beat the story really

[@PuellaMagiHomuraAkemi]

@@aidan262 I rather have fun guns right away than after finishing the game 3x and dont understand how that is totally more fun in your world to have meh weapons for serveral playthroughs.

[@ratboy850]

Despite absolutely loving the Gameplay of Borderlands 3, I've literally said a few times to my Fiance's agreement that Borderlands started as a desolate survival feeling looter shooter with a dark story with the occasional comedic sprinkle where it needs to be, Pandora was a dangerous wasteland with horrible people and lethal creatures, and it absolutely felt like it. Now it's just been completely converted into this overly loud and colourful playground of unecessary winceworthy comedy all over the place, barely a single ounce of feeling dangerous or serious where it's needed at all. I'll love the gameplay of Borderlands 3, I'll enjoy the story, characters and the slightly wonkier gameplay of Borderlands 2, but I'll never, ever tire of Borderlands 1's atmosphere and darker tone, it's easily the most memorable of the games for me back when I played it ages ago. Fantastic video.

[@argoniek6801]

I do think Borderlands 1 is the peak of the series in terms of theme. The sprinkle of humour was good and most importantly, it wasn't cringy like in the sequels, That sprinke was also dosed perfectly, whereas in the rest of the series it feels like every second scene has to be a gag of some sort.

[@Ryodarkcaster]

Just like Rage by Bethesda

[@lisaanimi]

BL1 is best thematically (It just sucks on gameplay) 2 has the best dialogue and no weaknesses and 3rd just... feels like a cheap copy

[@darthgamer9861]

finally someone else agrees with me on Borderland 1. I LOVE the oppressive atmosphere of that game. the music, the lonely areas, and dangerous enemies

[@ElessarEstel]

The first game actually felt like a desolate wasteland and the humor felt like it was from people going insane from living in said wasteland. The original borderlands is one of the best games ever made in my opinion

[@AnarchicIdealist]

I remember when my mom first played Borderlands 3 (it was also her last because she passed away shortly after). she was a fan of the Borderlands franchise and first saw Lilith in borderlands 3 she said "why is Lilith smiling?" And when I tried 100% Borderlands franchise and it's dlcs (except the first one), I was like so done with Borderlands 3! I was at max level and wanted the game to be done with!

[@EdTheCreator]

RIP your mom! That’s so cool she played and introduced you to the game. ❤

[@Dirty-Leprechaun]

Thats really cool, i grew up watching my mom play zelda and mario and it was always the best times.

[@Lilianx6]

I got so fed up with the characters in Borderlands 3, I disabled the music and voice audio, and put my own playlist in the background while I played. Finished it, never played it again. I have 50 hours in Borderlands 3. I have over 400 in Borderlands 2...

[@nicholaslittlefield4424]

That's actually one thing I liked about borderlands 3 was the music. But God the dialogue is just shite

[@crimsondynamo615]

Even when I did that I couldn’t complete the game.

[@ghostofmoredishesmorebitch1507]

Bl3 dlcs were top tier

[@HollowPandemic]

Same, I couldn't stand to listen to that bs

[@muttley166]

Borderlands 3 was unplayable unless you turned off the dialogue

[@scottbuck1572]

0:30 You hear Cage the Elephant for the first time, forming a deep subconscious desire for indie music

[@zackattack9962]

As someone who grew up with a Xbox 360 I don't know what downfall hurts more borderlands or saints row

[@maxxpower3d6]

Borderlands still has a miniscule amount of credibility left to build from. Saints Row is deader than dead.

[@dracobellator1164]

irrelevant. not even the same situation or problem.

[@MementoDespair]

@@dracobellator1164 Saints Row is a significantly worse version of the same problem. That series is truly gone forever.

[@KendrickEdits]

OR HALO And Gears Of War

[@c.antoniojohnson7114]

Saints Row 2 was the best, after 2 I didn't even bother.

[@magbinious]

DUDE YOUR BROTHER DID THE MUSIC?!?!?! HE POPPED OFF WTF!!!

[@igson-in4rd]

For this video xD

[@DannyJoe08]

I didn't hear any music in this video...

[@opfryingpan9770]

​@@DannyJoe08are you watching on mute?

[@yaboiwendell5534]

Borderlands 2 is still my go-to game, and i'm 36 years old. It's a masterpeice!

[@corysanderson6177]

nobodys gay for moleman

[@jerrymondragon2020]

I beat borderlands 2 when I was just 1 year old. Now I’m 25 and it’s still my favorite go to game

[@thehale_]

@@jerrymondragon2020So true

[@GhoulBandit]

​@@jerrymondragon2020 yeah, sure...

[@GhoulBandit]

Borderlands 🤜🤛 Shadow Warrior Their second game is a masterpiece.

[@9unslin9er]

This was a sad death. Borderlands 1 and 2 were so glorious.

[@jsu8994]

Making TINA unlikable should be considered as a felony

[@Joe-dy7bb]

Tina is the worst part of the franchise. She's the Reddit-humor character.

[@AnneHathawayRules]

Tina sucks

[@ExcludedGamer]

she was always unlikeable

[@Felupi]

​@@Joe-dy7bbI think she's great because she's completely unhinged and that makes her a unique twist in a fucked up place, she's is liking going to 3 stars Michelin restaurant and proving a dessert that uses salt to contrast with the sweet. If everyone is Tina it's just straight up licking salt.

[@AndrewRyan-zv7zb]

She was never likable. I always hated her parts in 2. Annoying characters aren't quirky, they're annoying.

[@ConnortheGonnor]

As much as i wish i could say the series isnt dieing, think we all have seen the movie cast.

[@Zyclxn]

It was dying with Borderlands 3. It's dead with the movie.

[@Psycorde]

​@@ZyclxnMovie is just pissing on its corpse, like it's Flash and Boomerang in Suicide Squad.

[@SwagSwagSenate]

man I love the old Borderlands so much, such a tragedy

[@dxtrum]

People are still playing bl2 :)

[@BoneheadPlays]

@@dxtrumbl2 was amazing but I’ve played it for literally thousands of hours, wanting something new and good that sadly hasn’t come

[@torad_2120]

@@BoneheadPlays BL4 should come out next year. Let's hope It's good

[@dracobellator1164]

you don't even know what old borderlands is. . . .

[@luigifan669]

They really dropped the ball on the calypso twins, they could have done so much more with the characters. For example what if instead of being "streamer" partners they were instead rivals or competitors both running one half of the cult of the vault trying to get to the vault before the other, this would prompt side missons where you could work for one of the twins to sabotage the other for unique loot it would also have given the writers an excuse to flesh out the characters more and allow us to get a better grasp of their personalitys and possible character flaws. I mean troy only started to show any personality after absorbing mayas powers, which on its own is a whole different can of worms.

[@Austin-l1j]

They also dropped the ball on their dad. Why have him built up just to be a lame joke of a dude? It’s honestly really lame and it felt like heyyy we made a funny because we subverted expectations that was so funny right? I think that awful decision is not talked about enough.

[@blackcube2495]

Really liked your idea, would be cool to chose one or the other.

[@dracobellator1164]

you can't tell someone wasn't paying attention when they don't know why the calypso twins are after the vaults. they aren't influencers for the sake of a joke, they use it as a platform to brainwash the bandits. literally weaponized social engineering which is funny because it actually happens in this modern age.

[@lborlet5204]

I would’ve made it so there’s a handful of streamers, possibly bringing in actual streamers to play the characters, and play into tropes about streamers. Have one that has a ton of sponsors and has to be very careful about what they say, one that hides behind an avatar but is actually very ugly, and probably also jerma . Then have them compete for a special prize that contains the location of the vault

[@dracobellator1164]

@@lborlet5204 this sounds like dumb 2000's reality TV garbage. . . still would have been better than the movie I guess.

[@deeve_717]

53 years old and BL2's jokes are still hitting. :)

[@StubenhockerElite]

Gearbox writers room must be hell. You can really tell what Kind of "creatives" are at the Helm over there.

[@carlopanella5855]

Randy Pitchcuck needs to go...

[@carlopanella5855]

Randy Pitchcuck needs to go....

[@RunTheJorge]

My only gripe with BL2 is the UVHM scaling. Slag reliance and healthy regen is awful and I wished they removed it

[@IsaiahAShaw-me5tn]

9:51 , the O2 mechanic is not that bad. I’m currently playing pre sequel again and you can top off your O2 by killing literally anything, using a vehicle, walking over the abundant O2 vents, and opening chests. The game offers many ways to circumvent the mechanic.

[@justtrash5353]

Its litterally such a non-issue in the game, you can easily find upgrades to make it last longer lol

[@chadking375]

You forgot something, Randy Pitchford is a monster in every sense of the word.

[@dracobellator1164]

and you're dragging the wrong bag of manure into this conversation.

[@user-gm4kv2my4u]

Lets be real. The vast Majority of people dont care if the creator of media is a monster if the media is good. A lot of people still love games even though we know they were made in horrid conditions ("Bioware Magic?"). Conversely nobody cares if the game was made in a healthy working enviroment if it turns out shit.

[@chadking375]

@@dracobellator1164 You cannot discuss Borderlands without mentioning Randy

[@dracobellator1164]

@@chadking375 he is more than likely the sole point of origin for failure

[@chadking375]

@@dracobellator1164 Yes and his awful business practices/habits/lawsuits/behavoir/predilections are tied to Borderlands and it’s fall. So that bag of manure can’t help but be brought into the conversation of the decline. Also, the guy likes kids. His lawyer confirmed what was on the thumb drive

[@raphaelkroger3141]

Borderlands 2 was gaming at it's peak. Best gaming experience of my life. It was actually the first borderlands game i played, as my pc was too bad to play borderlands 1 when it released. I spent hundreds of hours playing Borderlands 2. Fantastic, hilarious characters, the humor and jokes where over the top. And the gameplay...just epic. I have never loved a game this much after it. What would I give to play this game again like it's the first time❤

[@gearyt2355]

So true, borderlands 2 was an absolute staple of my teenage years

[@istoleurusername]

Modern gaming is all about big companies puppetting the corpses of things you used to love in an effort to get you to buy due to nostalgia, all the while forgetting that if plyers wanted to play the old thing, they still HAVE the old thing to play. Which may be why so many companies are slowly trying to kill the ability to obtain and play older games.

[@mrplayfulshade]

After new Tales Im just....so worried for the next game

[@adhumbla1153]

Yeah that was a waste of time. They should just stick to actually making them games . not whatever that was

[@kiruuttori8539]

here is my tip, just ignore their newer stuff and stick to the old ones.

[@adhumbla1153]

@@kiruuttori8539 not all new ones . the NTFTB . that one . gameplay was great in anything before that . when they try to go into story . things fumble. They should stick to gameplay 90%

[@kiruuttori8539]

@@adhumbla1153 I almost agree with that, and you are not wrong, but BL3 just felt dissappointing. I had fun, but they should reanalyze what they are doing and still pay attention to worldbuilding and the characters. Even if the gameplay is good, the game does not feel good if all of the other stuff is left behind. These still are PvE games, with focus in singleplayer or coop. You cannot JUST focus on gameplay, especially when its good, but not revolutionary. You need that (random numbers, not an expert) 20-25 in focus, at least, on the other suff.

[@illuminatedzach4206]

Bro. Me and my older brother had the best summer ever. And was one of our best bonding moments playing BL2 for the first time. Way too relatable

[@TheSuperappelflap]

I played that game for so many hours with my little brother. Sometimes we still get together and do another playthrough or fail miserably at killing a max level raid boss

[@blrk_]

We need the devs to see vids like these. One of the biggest gripes I had with borderlands 3 is no dlc characters to play as. Massive missed opportunity especially because the dlcs were great and had decent replay ability for the most part

[@Nomisdoowtsae]

Same! BL2 and Pre Sequel had great DLC characters to play as.

[@crimsondynamo615]

Devs wouldn’t care if they watch videos like this. They’ll still say it’s the gamers fault for not liking the game.

[@thefunnyman-h7p]

@@crimsondynamo615 a lot of devs are amazingly terrible at getting hints, cod fans have been begging activision for a good cod for years and they never listen lol, gearbox would get nuked cyberpunk style before they listen.

[@aquaisuseful682]

The desolate early 2000s grunge atmosphere of borderlands 1 will forever make it a classic. It’s incredible.

[@Ryan-qc3tt]

Every replay of Borderlands 3 past like the second, I turned dialogue all the way down haha.

[@moonsick3058]

A very well thought out critisism about the game. Bl3 had so much potential but fked up to please everyone and lost its charm what Bl gives. New telltale was the last nail in that coffin imho

[@BigWheel.]

Bl3 feels like it was meant for kids, like 13 and younger.

[@Aldiraider]

@@BigWheel. Had a completely different approach on BL3: Played Zane, everybody calls him old, Most characters are younger and talk strange, so it already felt like i play an Veteran from the old days not able to understand the younger Generations. The story felt like a parody of Gen Z and Millenials.

[@armyofninjas9055]

The bl3 hate is largely unjustified imo. Gameplay was the best in the series. By a lot.

[@OrionDawn15]

@@armyofninjas9055 It is VERY justified. The gameplay was amazing, no denying that. But the writing, the characters, it was just a complete travesty that ruined the game for many.

[@mrwwwebs]

@@armyofninjas9055 if you play the game with dialogue on mute it's a phenomenal game tbh

[@terablespeler]

I remember hearing they weren’t going to introduce DLC hunters to BL3 because “by the time they release, people have already found their main” Okay but Gaige and Kreig instantly became fan favorites.

[@TusksTheAxew]

And wasn't Timothy, the Jack body double, a DLC character of The Pre-Sequel? He ended up fairly popular too. I feel like the no DLC characters schtick was an excuse for "we don't want to, sorry".

[@socksandsandals4791]

I’m surprised you didn’t talk about the borderlands 3 dlcs. The main story sucked but so far out of the 3 dlcs that I’ve played (Fustercluck, Handsome Jackpot and Bounty of Blood) I’ve enjoyed them all especially Kriegs. The music, stories and the locations feel like they have actual passion put into them.

[@nicholaslittlefield4424]

Guns love and tentacles is my favorite tbh

[@thefreelancequeen]

It’s because they’re so much shorter so they need immediate direct focus on it instead of dragging it out

[@Cricket0021]

@@nicholaslittlefield4424 the cowboy dlc was such a breath of fresh air because they toned down the amount of one liners and cringe jokes in that dlc

[@cherry9787]

The DLCs were definitely the highlights. On par with BL2's even.

[@M0nty428]

If I took your script and made this video myself it would be word for word exactly how I feel about the franchise. You made a beautiful video and I'm happy to see more people being vocal with similar sentiments. It gives me hope that Gearbox will change their ways and listen to the fans, but that's unlikely lol

[@peighnesshonourchign9164]

Of course it would be word for word the same if u take his script... Tf? Lmao

[@M0nty428]

@@peighnesshonourchign9164 did you just stop reading after that? I said it would be word for word exactly HOW I FEEL, meaning if I were to write a script it would end up being the same.

[@anthonyferguson6544]

Ah yes the corporate obsession with taking the golden goose and slaughtering it in front of the eagerly awaiting birthday kids then being shocked when they run and cry.....

[@judsongaiden9878]

BL1 nailed that desolate "WALL-E meets Mad Max" vibe perfectly. 18:36 BL1 Roland wasn't so stoic. He became that way out of necessity as a Resisty leader.

[@dracobellator1164]

stoic is not the word I'd use for an anti-social soldier pushed into the role of leading a resistance army against an old friend turned sociopathic tyrant. but we don't think about that stuff do we.

[@judsongaiden9878]

@@dracobellator1164 It's probably a semantic argument. At any rate, Roland wasn't stoic in BL1.

[@Aezthet1C]

What i like from borderlands 1 is the atmosphere and gun sound design, shooting shock pistol with loud bang

[@TheSuperappelflap]

the actual weapon variety was also larger. sure bl2 technically had more options for randomly generated weapons but what you end up getting is more similar. plus half the manufacturers weapons are pretty much useless because of their unique effects. who uses hyperion guns in borderlands 2? i dont. in bl1 you could find a jakobs revolver that randomly shot 7 bullets for the price of 1. those purple weapons were more powerful than most legendaries.

[@Aezthet1C]

@@TheSuperappelflap yep u right gun combination rng in bl1 is more crazy than bl2. Gun rng in bl2 is mostly just more damage, more accurate ect

[@Nfshotpursuitking]

@@TheSuperappelflap The Fibber and The Storm are the only Hyperion weapon's I bother with after recently hitting 1000 hours on PC. Conference Call too

[@TheSuperappelflap]

@@Nfshotpursuitking yeah the unique Hyperions can be good, but lol the regular ones are trash, who wants to hold down the trigger for five seconds to get one accurate shot

[@Nfshotpursuitking]

@@TheSuperappelflap The golden chest in Sanctuary was always fun to get gear that was good for a few levels but im telling you, those Hyperion purples never got used XD

[@TheFlyingslug]

Borderlands 1 was a bleak and dreary game that, as you said in the video, lets the gameplay do a lot of the heavy lifting. There are some moments of levity, though a lot of it falls in the realm of gallows humor, as I recall. It's been a long time since I played the original, I admittedly don't entirely remember. Borderlands 2 was a serious game that also had a fair share of that dark, gallows-style humor. The writers understood that Pandora was a screwed-up place with screwed-up people on it who do deranged things, and sometimes that can be funny! However, it was still a game that put the spotlight on good gameplay and an incredible story that took itself seriously, which is why those moments of genuine comedy work. I think if Borderlands 3 had a functional campaign and jokes written by actual, good comedy and story writers, it *might* have gotten away with having a "Comedy-first" storyline that occasionally stopped to take itself seriously, but it failed so utterly in both capacities that it practically ruins the rest of the experience, despite the obvious and incredible advancements in the gameplay. It's a huge disappointment. I hope one of these days, someone who understands why the first two games (And also the original Tales) worked so well could make their own spiritual successor that tops Borderlands and gives those original fans what they want.

[@NebLleb]

Honestly, since I began playing the first one again, I do think that comedy is a key part of the Borderlands experience, but 1 and 2 worked because the jokes were in service of the characters, settings and scenarios you often end up in, whilst going off of this video 3 onwards went for a Zoomer style of comedy with dire results.

[@Nammjahtan]

That bleak and dreary outlook is what got me into the first game. When 2 came out I was eventually able to talk my best friend into playing it with me and he ended up enjoying it as much as I had. But then 3 came out. Initially he was actually more excited to play it then I was but even I was hyped. That lasted almost through our first session. When we eventually rolled credits on the game I sighed and told him I was so glad we were done so I could now uninstall it. Over the years I have played some mediocre games and even bad games but Borderlands 3 is in a category all its own for me.

[@Amin_G134]

1:39 blue shotgun early-game is level 59👌 Nice content btw

[@AnymMusic]

I wanna honestly kick the person who said "yeah sure, let's cast KEVIN FCKING HART AS THE STOIC ROLAND"

[@jayfran9724]

This video on the series took my personal opinion and made it public. It's sad to see the shift, I miss the glory days

[@hardbass_crew_hauptschule8236]

From 17:25 on you speak the truth. This is on the dot exactly what i hated about bl3 so much. It felt like the writers never even played bl2 or just didn't understand what made it so good. Honestly, for me the atmosphere and feeling bl2 delivered is something i haven't gotten from any other game. Bl3 and tales2 on the other hand felt like someone strapped me to a chair and forced me to watch woke tiktok the whole day

[@abqxillia2044]

Besides the obvious story issues I always hated that Maliwan guns had a completely unnecessary charge time for no discernible reason.

[@Samshiir]

Came for the Borderlands rant, stayed for your bros music. Love both sides of it XD

[@phillipsproductions3143]

For me, it boils down to comparing the bandit designs between 3 and 2. Even though it’s such a small and non consequential problem, it’s still shows the glaring shift in what I loved about franchise. It’s world and story.

[@ItsShatter]

Wait till he sees the Borderlands Movie

[@tannerdodge6029]

After playing BL2, Pre-Sequel, Tales, and the Fight for Sanctuary DLC making me excited for 3, I was mainly hoping to see Axton, Gaige, Athena and Janey. Then when I actually finished 3, I was glad they were left out. Gaige had a small role in the 2nd DLC which was nice though. I feel like the "War" that was hinted at and the story with the CoV is not what they were originally planning.

[@SuperSeasonChannel2003]

Indeed, I think 3 was a transition game to the eventual Borderlands 4

[@tristancallahan8189]

A lot of games around that time got scrapped towards the end and they rebuilt the story from the ground up borderlands 3 was no exception.

[@Cricket0021]

the dlc's was honestly the "saving grace" of this game. i like how they toned down the cringe jokes in the cowboy dlc, the main villain was such a breath of fresh air.

[@shockwave9833]

Still two of my favorite memories jumping to my death because jack asked me to, and the shoot me in the face quest

[@bruhmomentum8302]

Borderlands 2 with Borderlands 3 gameplay would be absolute perfection

[@Bopperann]

“Problematic accent” that’s when he should do the accent harder.

[@nine1690]

Typical cityshitter L

[@elishuster5943]

For me in Wonderlands it didn't even feel right to blow up the ocean because it didnt feel like Mister Torgue was blowing up the ocean it felt like a chariciture of Torgue, completely different from the Torgue we love, blew up the Ocean

[@ReignHao]

Rest In Peace Yoteslaya.

[@Humancatpost]

I remember my cousin got me the first Borderlands on the PS3 for Christmas. Didn’t really play anything else for a week or two til I beat it solo, I was hooked! I was lucky enough to jump to PC and make a number of friends before the next release, so I’ve got great memories of playing Borderlands 2 for hours. Sitting there playing that stupid slot machine in the bar waiting for the third guy to come online, finding stupid spots to climb or fall into, the works. The comedy did start to take a turn for that “hyper-millennial online” humor that 3 and later would embrace, but it’s still such a great game.

[@Matt77889]

Man, I remember the first time I played bl2 a friend traded me the game and it sat on my shelf until I saw a video of someone playing the game one day, so I picked it up and got addicted

[@KingNios]

Perfect video describing the feeling of what was happening to the franchise that I couldn't put into words, thank you.

[@elishuster5943]

My favorite moment in a Borderlands game was when I was farming to max level on a Tediore Axton playthrough and Mick Zaford dropped an Avenger. Literally the one pearl I could use. I freaked out. But I just don't feel like I could ever acheive that same feeling in bl3 or wl.

[@robunnygirl]

I actually quite enjoyed TTWL because the villain, albeit not making sense whatsoever, was Will Arnett hamming it up and having fun with the role. Sure, some of the humor didn't land, but the payoff of actually blowing up the ocean and going through a skeleton pirate area (aka the best kinds of adventures in TTRPGS that I've played) and commiting to fighting things that would normally be underwater was such an inspired choice. TTWL feels like a great game being held by a bad game, if that makes any sense. Definitely try it out when it goes on sale for $20 or so with the DLC and the Redux mod installed.

[@Hydrolaevea]

Absolutely. Also had Mr Torgue in it. Idk how Borderlands writers fell off but Mr Torgue still remained an elite character.

[@Flamingauss]

I enjoyed it too, I loved the ongoing jetsam and flotsam joke.

[@Psycorde]

Yiu could've just said "Wonderlands"

[@Alexis-zj7gg]

I had even ordered the deluxe and bought a series X to play it and was not disappointed (well the DLC did.) Too many people jumped into the game expecting it to be like the mainline Borderlands titles and not as a spinoff. Definitely excited for a sequel to TTWL

[@Khazuldar]

Sadly the dlc was ass since they have no tvhm or uvhm equivalent. It’s just do chaos trials to do more. There’s not really a story reason to do it.

[@tranquilo6897]

This was a really well written narrative. I appreciate the content.

[@DonRysPo]

Excatly the same experience with Borderlands. Borderlands 3 was my biggest dissappointment. Very well said.

[@mooxim]

Man it hurts. I clocked 490 hours on BL2 playing almost nightly with my best friend from high school while I was studying at uni. That's not including the number of hours we racked up when we bought the Handsome Collection on PS4. I also had the privilege of playing through Tales from the Borderlands with a housemate. The story telling in Tales really raised the bar. I share your disappointment with BL3 and so did my best friend. It kinda soured the whole experience and it may have turned me off first person shooters for good. I really wanted some closure on the Maya - Krieg story but by the time the Fustercluck DLC came out we'd kinda given up on the game.

[@belinskiparadox7687]

Honestly Pre-Sequel doesn't get enough love imo. It's got the best vault hunters in the series (again IMO), and a strong story with good locales, and the Oz kits are more than just an oxygen mechanic, it adds a whole new dimension to movement and combat

[@daltonschane7443]

It's nice to hear someone else say it. Thanks for representing bro

[@St4rkiller04]

Wow, this video was really good. Not only are all the points are true, but you presented them is such a great way. Borderlands 2 is my favorite game of all time and has been a key thing in my life. Even after 12 years of the game being out I am still playing and finding new things to do in it. Its so horrible to see a beloved franchise like this just go into the shitter. I just hope and pray there is some light at the end of the tunnel with Borderlands 4. With the way things are going though it is unlikely. Keep up the great content 👊

[@Command_B]

Glad you enjoyed!

[@ramsescabello7253]

I thought you would mention the Claptastic Voyage from pre sequel 😢

[@heywoodjablome2018]

Definitely earned a subscriber with me. Everything you said was spot on. From the nostalgic beginning to the improbable end. You and your brother make a great team.

[@misapheonix]

I have very unique takes but I'm gunna try this anyway: The thing that really makes me not want to reinstall this franchise (any of the games lol) is that it really only succeeds in one area - loot and shoot. Yno how many freaking games have that as a sub genre now, let alone based around it entirely? This franchise now has to compete against Doom, Starfield, Outer Worlds, Fallout, Cyperpunk ect. I do agree, the humour should not be the focal point of the series, but that still doesn't detract from its overall design philosophy, which you surprisingly didn't mention at all! I actually think BL3 had the best thing going - vehicles and exploration. If BL4 could expand on just these two things it would be on a competing level with its competition. But that's just the BORDER line lol To really go above and beyond would definitely be a return to roots scenario, as you rightly affirm. But expanding on the traversal and exploration factor would be what really sets it unironically free!

[@rokmare]

Till this day I still think Borderlands 1 has the best loot system in the franchise...there is nothing like finding a legendary from a dumpster while adventuring vs beating the same boss x times farming loot

[@ScuttleBerry]

Was so excited for 3, I bought a PS4 and preordered the game. I have only preordered three times in my life and this game reminded me why. When you know who died, me and friend group just stopped playing or talking about the game. We then waited for it to come to steam and modded the heck out of it. Didn't even think of playing tiny Tina's until redux mod was done for it and then got it on sale.

[@JakobTorri]

You can mod 3 all you'd like, it's not going to change the story you have to sit through to play it. Especially the dlc.

[@Cricket0021]

@@JakobTorri borderlands 3 is the only game i play where the dialogue volume is turned to zero. jesus the amount of one liners, cringe jokes, dragging the dialogue while in the middle of a huge fight (seriously, almost all of the npc's in this game drag out their dialogue so much during fights, its insane) don't even get me started on the twins, i fucking roll my eyes every time i hear "hey superfan!"

[@Barquevious_Jackson]

19:08 - I actually would prefer if Hollywood was disallowed contact with anyone below the age of 18, frankly I don't trust anyone in Hollywood to not ruin their life by making them a child celebrity or doing something unspeakable. Honestly we should probably stop supporting movies and television all together.

[@nine1690]

That’s what I did, if I see anything modern I pirate it and pirate everything the people around me want too

[@Saintvali3]

That's what I'm doing, Sailing the seven seas

[@mrcupcake5309]

That was cool of you to support your brother.

[@skiba789]

The dialogue in Borderlands 3 feels like it's been written by a gaggle of corporate suits who've been forced to consume nothing but Reddit for 3 years before starting the writing process.

[@Synthpopper]

Well... Borderlands 4... here we go again.....

[@ruskidesyner]

This is a really nice video, it’s a bit of a strange perspective for me because growing up I was a huge borderlands fan and was addicted to the original games but 3 really turned me away from the entire franchise. I loved it when it came out, but I never came back to it and thought the story/humour was horrible. 1 & 2 are classics to this day, despite me not really having been a borderlands “fan” since 2019 at 14 years old so the nostalgia is always interesting to look back on. Also, this background music is beautiful I’ll check out some of your brother’s work 🔥

[@dxtrum]

If bl2 had bl3's gunplay i truly believe it would be the best game of all time

[@NEEDbacon]

Honestly, I wish they had shoved BL3's Gunplay into that remaster of one they did. Cause then I'd have all the reason to ignore three, but still enjoy the shooty shoots.

[@ezegaming2115]

I’ve said this 1000 times, 100 percent

[@sjfs231]

nah, there's no anarchy in 3.

[@nathanhendrickson790]

No you don’t. Why? Because to do that requires remaking the whole game. There’s no way around that everything has to be touched on. That means glitches and exploits too. As powerful as bore is it’s not supposed to one shot bunker and hyperius and don’t try to deny it you know that’s true. You don’t want “bl2 with bl3” because all you’ll do is just move your hate boner in a different direction. You’ll go from hating 3s story to hating two because you can’t one shot hyperius anymore because your exploits are gone.

[@stalwartteakettlepotato9879]

The original borderlands was supposed to be a fully serious game. Think of the 2010s story driven shooters like resistance, killzone, crisis, etc. Then, when they settled on an art style, the tone shifted accordingly to a less serious one. However, the original core atmosphere remained.

[@DavidJohnson-dm6ps]

With Borderlands 4 being announced. I hope they watch this video and learn from the pet mistakes because you hit the nail on the head with every flaw of the series

[@FDM-xu4wt]

RIP Tina. What they did to her was unforgivable.

[@Dafttar]

She was great in BL2 and Assault on Dragon Keep. Everything I've read, seen, and heard about her makes me want to have nothing to do with BL3, Wonderlands, or anything else that Gearbox has or is going to offer.

[@rickybobby5153]

@@DafttarMissing out. Wonderlands has the best classes in the franchise. 32 possible different classes

[@Shade_91]

Driving home with BL2 after the midnight release is the only time I've ever been pulled over for speeding 😂

[@zipzeolocke2]

and now the franchise is truly dead with the release of the movie…

[@prosserino]

I had hundreds of hours in Borderlands 2 and the Pre-Sequel, loved going through the DLCs and was just as excited about Borderlands 3 at first. So much so that I actually bought that ridiculously priced $120 edition or whatever it costed... I finished the game once and I couldn't even get myself through the DLCs I spent money in advance on. I don't know how else to describe the Borderlands franchise from BL3 onwards other than just... forced. Being a fan of the franchise is like watching a beloved family dog grow old, sick and slow. You still love it dearly, but you know that it isn't the same as it once was and that it will very likely be on its way out in the near future. This has been a rant and a half (which I know most won't care about) but I just wanted to say my piece.

[@scotswarrior9535]

I'm a Call of Duty fan, and I can safely say that with the exceptions of Black Ops Cold War and Modern Warfare 2019, pretty much every CoD since Black Ops II has had this exact problems as you're describing for Borderlands.

[@facerip2222]

Borderlands is never coming back, and it's because of the writers they let take the helm in the video game industry over the past 10+ years. They let lames, dorks, dweebs, and losers write the games now. "Problematic accents"? Frozen yogurt? Student loan debt? You can see the same kind of writing in that nu-Saint's Row game, where we have a main character with a waffle tattoo who really likes cooking, and they worry about their carbon footprints, and also student loan debt. The reason BL 1&2 were good was because we had Gen X and Gen Y writers who grew up in the real world socializing with their peers, in real life not behind computer screens. The new class of writers, a la BL3, Tiny Tina's Wonderlands, New Tales from the BL, they only know "Millennial Humor", Tumblr humor, reddit humor, and they grew up brainwashed by social media and did all their socializing behind computer monitors. BL will never be fixed because the rot is inside the studios themselves. It's the people working there.

[@kosmokat111]

The thing is I still think a lot of that humor can actually work, but they need to actually do *something* deeper than reference humor. Personally I think investor control and the incredibly top down management is why this kinda shit happens, every game now has so many competing ideas and priorities pulling it apart that it's hard for it to come out the other side with a cohesive vision. I think the people behind the writing at BL3 would be capable of doing a better job but not in the modern video game environment. It's how you end up with a comedy game where the jokes are barely thought out and rely too much on just acknowledging something in an *attempted* funny way, or fucking references out the ass.

[@asrielkekker]

I don't know dude, the classic borderlands games were basically the Tumblr humor of the time, on par with Scott Pilgrim and guns akimbo. Doesn't mean it's not funny but it's the same culture just ten years ago.

[@kosmokat111]

@@asrielkekker yeah I'd call it more Correlation than causation

[@aonghusofaolain8686]

Hear! Hear!

[@badren9153]

Most will never understand this

[@kylezakk]

The same thing that ruined Borderlands ruined most other beloved franchises, activists were hired to write the newer titles.

[@TYOjoe]

its really sickening they cast Rolan as Kevin Hart instead of Jamie Foxx

[@jrp7808]

Idris Elba would have done well too

[@THE-CRT]

I now have the urge to use bro-oad trip ironically.

[@cfort27]

This was so well executed and relatable that i felt like you were speaking of my own story of being a young gamer in the best time for gaming back in early 2000!! For me the memory directly relates to Going to EB Games Halo 2 midnight launch at age 14 in 2002, had me insufferably at the mercy of my best mates dad, who had to buy the games for us as in our stead as we were 1 year short (in australia its MA15+) the best memories ever 😅. Went to the same play for the launch of Borderlands 2 in 2012 only thats when we were 22 and still very much kids at heart ❤ I also over hyped BL3 and had it crushingly kill me the longer i played though the story. Found myself wanting to rush through it to find the gold, then they shat in my face by killing off Maya only to play the twins fking ridiculouse adversts of them killing her over and over. I played the new game plus for a day and then lost interest soon after to let it sit for years. Only now playing it as im keen for tge dlc to maybe make things better and i was very excited to see Guage and Deathtrap for the tenticles dlc

[@flamingaxelburn]

I played bl3 yesterday after a long long hiatus. Played some of that handsome jack casino. While Moxxi was going off on how awful he is, I'm reminded how Moxxi turned him into that. After a sigh and an eye roll, I'm reminded how they removed Midget from any small foe, due to "sensitivity" and all that. I don't think I know what this franchise is anymore.

[@Saintvali3]

as a Midget myself, Tink sounds like a slur 😭

[@crimsonvance3294]

Borderlands 3's biggest issue that no one seems to mention is the pacing. Too much of the game takes place on Eden 6 and there isn't enough differences between the areas. The game also suffers from trying to do too much. Too many new game mechanics were added making the gameplay a little overwhelming and creating min maxed builds a nightmare. Gearbox tried to do too much with Borderlands 3 and it ended up feeling like a giant fuster cluck.

[@gayforbrae5693]

i dont exactly think that the terrible story is the main issue with 3 i think that the inability to skip it is it was still an issue with 2 where youd just be jumping around waiting for dialogue to finish but most of the time the dialogue would be during other stuff with 3 you have to sit there and wait for ages even when you do that voiceline removal trick the story isnt what makes the game terrible the fact you cannot remove it and are forced to interact with it me and my childhood friend who used to play 2 together all the time were talking about 3 while we were playing it and both of us guessed most major plot points way before they happened which made it feel like youre replaying a game youve never played before that being said trust me 2 did not age very well

[@TheSuperappelflap]

Yeah the game is more toerable if you put the dialogue volume on 0 but you will be waiting around on Sanctuary a lot. Thankfully theres some stuff to do on the ship while you wait.

[@frennnzy5767]

I agree with everything! bar Wonderlands.. you said about a tone shift and things like that but I think that was the entire point. It doesn't feel like Borderlands, but its not supposed too. Its different and I think it stands on its own merits. For someone who loves the Borderlands series, crossing that with DND just worked for me, I enjoyed my time with it... then the 'DLCs' came around a ruined any good grace it had lol

[@Reeses7501]

I have to disagree that the bl3 playable characters aren't memorable, at least with Zane. He is hands down my favorite vault hunter I ever played and he has potential to be a huge part of the story in 4 (hopefully) Edit: hell Zane's the only reason I could finish the main game in 3