Can You Beat Borderlands 3 with Only Iron Cub?

To be absolutely clear, I do genuinely enjoy this game. It's fun to play. The build variety is good, the gameplay feels, good, all around a grand old time. Until somebody starts talking or the plot starts progressing. I honestly didn't realize quite how bothered I had come across until after the video was put together.
I hope it's not too bothersome, and that you can at least derive enjoyment from my mind slipping away from me. I think I need that rest more than I'd originally thought.
I'll more than likely be revisiting the game in the future. I just need to turn my brain off more for a subsequent run. I feel very passionately about a lot of decisions that made this game a reality.
For all of it's flaws though, thank heck for Wainwright Jakobs. A character far too good for this game, but I'm glad to have him for the journey.
Also, the Iron Cub AI wishes it could be hot garbage. It's so much worse. It seems like it'd be maybe nice to have as a companion rather than your only source of damage. Almost like it was meant to be used that way... Nah, couldn't be. Cubn't be so.
#borderlands3 #challengerun

[@hypnoticyt6445]

This was amazing. Perfect way to mask dissing this games entire storyline as iron cub beating the game. Absolutely beautiful

[@SpuddyCube]

Honestly, I wasn't even intending to go at the game as hard as I did. I tend to like to include at least enough of the story for the unitiated to understand what's going on in these videos. I personally enjoy watching these sorts of runs for games regardless of whether or not I've played them before, so I always appreciate it as a viewer. I know the people in my personal life also haven't played most of the things I have, so it helps to give some context to them. With that in mind, I have some very strong opinions on how this game was handled, and they just kind of came out while I was writing the script. As for Iron Cub, it flipped between being an absolute powerhouse and completely useless, and I had to wait entirely too long between every use to find out which it was going to be. Except with the Agonizer. I knew exactly what I was in for every time it came back out...

[@connectivity_issue]

the biggest tragedy of this game is how ava was supposed to actually have character development and become less annoying, but somehow they decided that those two cutscenes were what needed to be cut instead of something like the shitty "meme videos" that tyreen forces upon you. also in one of the cut cutscenes was maya's funeral, which would have given her death some meaning instead of being less emotionally impactful to the characters than the loss of bloodwing, who didnt even get ONE cutscene relating to her death and still caused immense grief to mordecai in ways that even subtly bled into other characters dialogue. i hate how much better it could have been, if only they hadnt cut out the few actually decent bits of writing.

[@negisuna6133]

i 100% dont think they were cut. they had to have been made in lei of backlash of ava's character, or else it literally doesnt make sense why these scenes even existed in the first place

[@alyssarichardson2544]

@@negisuna6133 You're right. It's not even a theory, it's been proven they made that video as damage control.

[@threemar3]

The only way to possibly make ava a good character is to scrap her and make a new character.

[@imaginaryboy2000]

What if You wanted to fight some bandits BUT THEN GOD SAID "Talk to Commander Lilith"

[@wxbr3201]

😭

[@SpuddyCube]

Remember when Borderlands was about vault hunting? Questionable morality and survival on one of the most dangerous places in the universe? Companionship in the harshest of conditions? Succeeding through trial after trial by fire? Everyone had a different reason, but everyone was walking through hell together, all to find the vault that may or may not even exist? Yeah, we replaced that experience with visiting Lilith aboard Sanctuary. Have fun!

[@jonahbrown5669]

@@SpuddyCube Lilith gets even more unlikeable if you've played TPS. Made constantly having to talk to her in BL3 that much more obnoxious

[@ryba_byba]

i love how at some point this video shifts from "iron cub only" run to "why bl3 sucks" no jokes. i hated the plot of this game and maya's demise made me so heartbroken so it's very nice to hear someone pointing out all the nonsenses this part has

[@LilGasmask666]

Im going to send this to people when they ask my thoughts on bl3 XD. great video homie

[@matthewbantich6543]

It's definitely a game atleast, love the content btw keep it up please

[@nimbus7727]

Gameplay good; plot bad. At least for all its flaws Wonderlands has a competent (honestly a great) story.

[@danielemmanuel6261]

This video gave me an idea. do sliding only playthrough with slide damage relic?

[@sethadkins1323]

@@nimbus7727 im opposite, i love BL3 gameplay and story and hate Wonderlands gameplay and story

[@nimbus7727]

And that’s the wonderful thing about respecting each other’s opinions, aye? BL3 does have a much better endgame than Wonderlands, and writing this as I’m attempting Peak for the first time with Krieg, I like a challenge

[@watchterra9587]

its so funny when someone gets killed in a cut scene and youre 5 feet away from all of the characters when you could literly shoot them while talking xD

[@SpuddyCube]

"Ah, my apologies. The plot has forgotten that I exist. Nothing I can do for the next ten seconds to seven minutes. Walk a few steps to the left? Out of the question!" It's even funnier conceptually that the vault hunters were given more voice lines to make them feel more involved, but they're not allowed to actually do anything until they're an NPC in a different game.

[@bennilol2034]

​@@SpuddyCube tbh that was an issue in bl2 aswell (roland) but yeah it only got worse here

[@mariofann9000]

@@bennilol2034 At least BL2 tried to make it slightly more reasonable in the sense that Jack entered suddenly and killed Roland fast, before we could react, which at least it somewhat feasible. Sure the thing about Lilith then just kind of charging up and running at Jack like an idiot still isn't good, but at least holding Lilith hostage gave the BL2 Vault Hunters a reason not to attack Jack in that scene. Of course, I still won't say it's a good scene, but at least it does something to make you believe Jack could get away with it (like the shock factor of what just happened) and it keeps the serious tone and make Jack feel truly intimidating, unlike to Calypsos who didn't even have of that going for them. And even then, it was really only that scene. Otherwise the game is pretty good with handling it's story. (The only other major thing I could think of was the Death Wall in Thousand Cuts which looks like you could just walk past it on the side no problem, or just ride a buzzard past it. This could be fixed by changing the door frame thing with a force field that covers the entire area, though maybe they used the door shape for console limitations)

[@bennilol2034]

@@mariofann9000 yeah as I said it only got worse from bl2 onwards, in bl3 the cutscenes seem just overly drawn out and its basically the same problems bl2 had but much worse because theyre so long ( bl3 had 1 good cutscene tho where jakobs guy shot troy)

[@friccle_]

You cease to exist when cutscenes hit so even if you wanted to you cant do anything

[@simonkucik7000]

I honestly forgot about the challenge and was just hypnotized by your commentary. Truly amazing

[@TheKabukimann]

I think its really funny that one of the player characters is a siren, watching another siren kill a siren. And then the calypsos leave. Its not like miss phase fist could beat up both of them or get killed at multiple ocasions.

[@eliaspanayi3465]

Unironically the most forgettable character in the game is the player

[@sasaki999pro]

Dont forget theres a moment later where troy phase locks the entire party, THE ENTIRE party, canonically. All he has to do is walk five feet and give amara a non consensual hand shake and she is nothing more than dust and echoes. Yeah wainwright making the save is cool and all but that entire scene is SO stupid.

[@papasquat9026]

or the fact that if you play as a siren that all the nonsense with the story sirens has even less of a purpose than it already did. like why tf i gotta take this key to tannis i’ll fix it up right here right now

[@Clouded_flowers]

The player is only important when the character they play is in an entirely different game, unable to be controlled by the player.

[@codyrobinson385]

"Teach her some lower tax bracket manners." That joke didn't go unnoticed my friend

[@shadowsphere8067]

THANK YOU!! finally someone else that also didn't believe Maya actually died because of how poorly it was handled. I spent the literal rest of the game waiting for her to pop back out revealing she was actually alive.

[@SpuddyCube]

The credits roll, and there's still that voice that says, "her return is in the DLC then, right?.. Right?..."

[@shadowsphere8067]

@@SpuddyCube Oh boy the dlc. That feels like even more of a kick in the teeth.

[@LeftysRage]

Your reaction to Maya dying, was at the same level as mine. It's why I stopped playing BL3 a while back. Maya was simply amazing in BL2. Such a well created character and nothing short of shameful what Gearbox did to pad a crappy and lousy plot in the first place.

[@SpuddyCube]

Honestly, it was such an unceremonious death that I didn't think she was actually dead until after the credits rolled. Even then, I was skeptical thinking, "was that it?"

[@failurefiend]

Gotta just ignore the main story and appreciate the fun gunplay, otherwise disappointment is all ya get

[@sauska619]

What do you expect? The studio changed big time between 2 and 3. Personally, I felt that the team went "Oh, we can't make them a part of the LGBT community? Kill em or make them irrelevant."

[@ketsunetsuki4265]

Mayas the only character I play

[@TrueChaoSclx]

Both Maya and Lilith's endings really pissed me off in this game. I honestly didn't hate the actual story compared to how a lot of other people feel, but the bad parts are so bad they REALLY drag down the good bits... Tyreen's personality (there's parts where she borders on being a good villain, then the writers realize and ruin her again), Vaughn, Ava, and the way they treated Maya and Lilith are a lot to get over.

[@ArturoPladeado]

4:35 Fun Fact: They aren't professional writers, The writer with the most experience under his belt did 2 things before Borderlands 3, 2 others only did one thing and the 4th one did nothing before Borderlands 3.

[@Darchias]

Well to be fair, since they got paid to write for BL3, they are by definition professional writers. They just aren't super experienced.

[@SpuddyCube]

That explains a lot... I'm all for giving people a chance to let their talents shine, but they didn't think to maybe have a more experienced writer watch over the project? At least give a read over? Someone still had to sign off on this in its current state. I hope for their sake that if this was a blunder of their own creation that they can improve beyond this title, because this really isn't a good showing of one's best work.

[@ArturoPladeado]

@@SpuddyCube Getting a proper writer to give a once over for the script would have cost money still and that's the reason, I'm pretty sure for getting such shitty "writers" in the first place. Got to save that $ somehow and randy clearly don't give a fuck on how it's done and if I remember correctly and don't hold me to this but I'm pretty sure randy admitted to cutting corners with Borderlands 3 development.

[@lefterismplanas4977]

​@@SpuddyCubeI'm also novice winter, or trying to be, with my first work still unpublished. I Know many of its flaws and problems and so on, but at least its my work. Going to make a sequel to borderlands 2! With only 3 works behind you is just madness. Is just throwing yourself into a meat gridner. Borderlands 1 needed more skill than that to be written, and that was the OG game. You had several other games and doc to consider in for 3 and you even had to compete with probably the beat stroy for a looter shooter ever, borderlands 2, as a direct prequel. Having 3 works behind you shouldn't have been enough to be an assistant. Let alone the most experienced writer there

[@mysterym6757]

There's a single mission in borderlands 2 that breaks CL4P-TP for me. It makes him a truly likeable character, and the thing is the signs were always there. His birthday only showed me just how much character I was missing by hating him. He wants a single thing, to be loved. And to that end he'd do everything, even for people who hate him. It never works for him. He's fated to be the subject of ire, and I've never related more. I truly adore him, with all his annoying quirks.

[@lefterismplanas4977]

For me, the first person who introduced me to borderlands made me like Cl4p-tp and it stuck. Less so in 3, obviously, but he has quite a few things to like if you know how

[@eliaspanayi3465]

That combined with the "if I sound happy, it's because hyperion made this my default tone of voice, I'm actually quite depressed" line in the opening of 2

[@Darchias]

The implication with Katagawa's tech is that Zer0 was originally a Maliwan project/assassin. I guess Zer0 ran off with the prototypes or something and they spent all this time recreating what they could. Another theory is that Zer0 is a Katagawa themself.

[@SpuddyCube]

An interesting theory, but one that has disastrous implications for the record keeping in R&D at Maliwan. It also doesn't mesh super well with his motivation in the second game. If his abilities are all tech based, then how much skill/challenge is involved? Regardless, his character certainly was designed to be a topic of speculation.

[@Darchias]

@@SpuddyCube His gear could have a substantial skill requirement. Maliwan doesn't have a bunch of ninja around because of how difficult the equipment is to use effectively perhaps?

[@callumbreton8930]

​@@Darchias when you think about it, the Katagawas all have SOME kind of expertise. Naoko was able to masquerade as an Atlas soldier, Katagawa Jr. himself was able to use the technology to it's near max potential, and he even had to lure them all into an enclosed area he controlled, because wouldnt it be less of a headache to just send assasins after them all, as Naoko didnt even try to entertain taking control from Jr.? Overall its compelling evidence

[@randomindividual948]

Honestly, I don't get what about Zer0's tech is so hard to replicate. Hell, Jack's boss fight has him doing the same thing (i.e. Turning invisible and summoning a lifelike hologram)

[@ElDuroLak]

Zer0 has an ingame voice line where he wonders if "she" sold Maliwan the tech in his suit, but he immediately dismisses the idea of that happening, so Katagawa probably just had his own version of the suit made.

[@perplexasaurusrex6217]

The way you talk about Borderlands 3, sounds exactly like how I talk about Scarlet and Violet. I love every second of the seething direct and passive aggression. Thank you for this gem.

[@perplexasaurusrex6217]

I forgot editing gets rid of the heart, noooooo lolol

[@emrickazor2610]

10:40, you wanna know what's with this game's obsession with loot? It's because the writing team took the first two games, went "Huh, people farmed for stuff in these games. They must only be here for the loot. let's water down everything to loot.". It's exactly why Borderlands 1 was so much darker than the later games. Borderlands 1 was a fresh start. 2 went "Huh people liked the humor from the first game. I guess we need to do nothing but make everything a joke." and that got taken even further in 3 when everyone is boiled down to 1 personality trait.

[@GaussiArson]

Borderlands 4 cold opens on Maya waking up on the Sanctuary ship. The playable characters are a mix of everyone from the first 2 games, minus a couple that have more important things (like death) to deal with.

[@minimum7681]

Or we just pretend borderlands 3 was a game of bunkers&badasses where ava was just an annoying insert for whichever characters are acting as dungeon master therefore having never existed

[@demon_spawn1535]

I actually enjoyed the Pre-sequel, and would enjoy taking the helm as jacky-boy again, but I guess thats a rare take, it wasnt nearly as bad as 3

[@lefterismplanas4977]

Better. We cold open to the construction site for the Sanctuary 3, right after the fight for Sanctuary. With full roundtable of everyone from borderlands 2 playing bunkers and badasses. Perfect

[@TOOTHBRUSHDUCK]

This does highlight how the abilities in bl3 for the most part seem to have ludicrously long cooldowns, which just makes a lot of them less fun. The mech and cub suffer in particular from this

[@SpuddyCube]

To be entirely fair, there are at least some ways to reduce that sort of thing. Hers just happens to primarily rely on shooting.

[@mandragorius9637]

Fun fact The reason stated by gearbox for not adding new vault hunters essentially was "Most people have a favorite character after their first playthrough and large parts of the community dont care for new ones and prefer their favorite in new story locations" Which I dont belive And for 3 it seems just a lie Comparing any of the characters and their 90% of time 'more numbers' skills to krieg, gaige or even athena is.... laughable

[@Alyx0.2]

I really hope that the intro cutscene in BL4 just makes BL3s story fully non canon somehow.

[@SpuddyCube]

We can dream...

[@serasizumi2830]

I can’t believe I am saying this but give me a reimagined claptrap revolution with a snarky and annoying claptrap would be more enjoyable then the twins…clap trap was actually funny and not annoying after having to listen to those twins for an extended period of time.

[@SpuddyCube]

I never personally hated Claptrap, but the video essay from EruptionFang on the little bot I think has done a lot to improve the image I have of him.

[@serasizumi2830]

@@SpuddyCube I can say he’s only annoying to you if he’s played as such and they do it well. I do find him annoying but only in a oh joy clappy is back…what chaotic stuff will he get himself into now and how will it involve my character getting roped into it;If they use him right and tactically then he’s great. If I had to rank annoying characters claptrap at the bottom,Ava second because of the dlc quests that help flesh her character out more. (Sure she’s annoying but in a childish way we can understand and think like did we use to be like that?) and finally the biggest annoyance is by far the calypso twins. They feel like bad comic relief while being constantly in your face. They are also just evil for evil sake without any true meaning to being evil. Their audio logs and lore is lack luster to make them a proper villain in my eyes because not enough is give to hate them appropriately as a true villain. I will say the dlcs help the game be fun and borderlands like in silly yet entertaining ways. The game does enjoy satire and also doing very important things like for instance hammerlock and wainwright’s marriage in a silly yet not over the top way.

[@harryb9494]

When I fought Billy, he somehow glitched into a wall. With nothing else to do, I left the fight, but Billy was still in the wall. Later, I walked back into his aggro range, and he teleported back out of the wall, on the wrong side. Billy the anointed, with teleportation was loose on the outside world, and spawncamped me 30+ times.

[@SpuddyCube]

That's rough... Maybe it's quitter talk, but I would probably have reloaded the area after the first or second spawn kill.

[@harryb9494]

@@SpuddyCube I would have, but two five minute load screens back to back did not appeal.

[@delghatto7315]

Whole run is basically just a diss to the story. Feel it. My friends wanted to run the game again. We did, I was bored. Having already played all 4 vault hunters before, running again was such a slog, the story is so awful. Good gameplay, bad writing. Let’s hope the 4th game isn’t nearly as bad. I enjoy Borderlands 2 more even after all the years.

[@jociesimms5170]

"It sweeps a giant saw all the way around the field.." oh ... does it? I think i killed it too fast to notice that

[@lefterismplanas4977]

Exactly the problem with the usual fight

[@sisomic]

Thank you for expressing how I felt about Maya and what they did to her! 17:00

[@SpuddyCube]

It was unjust! She was there, and then she just wasn't! I wouldn't have been half as offended if it meant something. Just... Anything even somewhat meaningful to the world/story!

[@axel2632]

I think my favorite part of this video was at 21:38 when you we're fighting Aurelia. I just really loved that speech you gave when cub was killing her.

[@oashen5475]

God damn, never expected to find someone with a stronger opinion about Borderlands 3. I'm genuinely impressed. And yea, I agree with pretty much most, if not all, of your points on it. God I wish it was better

[@Darkness5423]

I don't remember if it came as a patch, but this was the BL i wished i could skip the cutscenes, everyone forgets they have powers and twin streamers use theirs to gain more powers that the main BL characters immediately forget they have... for no apparant raisin. gameplay was smooth same with gunplay, but adding a mod to mute twins/ava and maybe one other and it's bearable when the Loot Goblin isn't on the screen or talking through your echo.

[@calemr]

Come for the challenge run, stay for the cathartic beatdown/dissection of why the game is fucking awful. My biggest complaint is that I felt like an escort NPC for a lot of the game, just following the actually important main characters around and watching as They have climactic meetings while I, Unnamed Town Guard 542, watched. If you removed my character from the story of Borderlands 1, everything goes to shit. If you removed my character from the story of Borderlands 3, the "Real" heroes of the story have to fight a little harder sometimes.

[@mikedaddy7726]

Complains about bosses having immune phases then proceeds to delete Traunt with a single button press.

[@SpuddyCube]

I mean... That's probably a fair assessment, but I stand by invincibility phases being a bad addition!

[@typervader]

@@SpuddyCube They are good if they have mechacines involed with it, rather then just being immune to be immune.

[@damenpine]

Atlas soldier: SIRE ZERO IS KILLING US ALL ALSO HE NOW HAS 5 FINGERS FOR SOME REASON

[@markdotinc8371]

Iron Cub bouncing around the background is truly the only tolerable thing about the cutscenes in this game

[@gokufirespit8418]

Yeah the Calypso twins were a strange choice of antagonist. I feel like they could've done something better than "mad at dad" with their motivations too. Can you imagine a story where we still had the Calypso twins but Tyreen was actually menacing and Troy tries to defect against her but ends up being absorbed by Tyreen? That would've made me excited to fight her as a final boss, not relieved I wouldn't have to hear her anymore. No hate to the voice actor behind Tyreen, only the people who wrote the dialogue. To be fair though, I doubt any villain they came up with really would've felt anywhere near as menacing as Handsome Jack. PS: After the first playthrough I turned voice audio to 0 and subtitles off, I couldn't even bring myself to read what they were saying lol.

[@nathanlaleff4273]

I think the reason vault hunters are venerated is because the surviving ones(that can truly be called Vault Hunters) tend to be both extremely competent and considerably successful. In BL1, the original 4 Vault Hunters literally fended off a godlike monster and lived to tell the tale, going on to lead their own groups. The Pre-Sequel's Hunters obtained similar prestige and positions with only Claptrap, Jack's double, and Athena not quite matching up but still eventually ending with considerable achievements. BL2's Vault Hunters end up in the least prestigious positions but perform arguably more meritous achievements, taking down the entirety of Jack's Hyperion Corp and the Warrior. Gaige, Zero, Krieg, and Maya are the only BL2 characters we personally see how they end up. Of non playable Vault Hunters, there is primarily Typhon Deleon who killed the massive Vault monster whose corpse is present on Necrotefayo(can't remember the spelling off the top of my head). Honestly, if the someone wants to call themselves a Vault Hunter they NEED to be extremely capable at the least. Another thing to note, not all people that say that they are Vault Hunters live up to the name. The fact that Jack killed so many 'Would be heros' as seen at the beginning of BL2 is more than enough evidence of that. "Vault Hunter" is more of a title that people aspire towards and there are plenty of conmen that don't actually live up to the hype.

[@iclimbeverything2990]

i think the only thing bad about bl3 challenge videos is showing any of the plot at all for even one second

[@wulfheart101]

BL3 was the biggest disappointment I've had when it came to game sequels. I bought and played BL2 on both consoles and PC throughout the years and it holds a special place in my heart. This game broke my heart. I feel validated watching this video and hearing all of my complaints put into words.

[@Kajowwojak]

You know, listening to you vent your (completely valid) complaints about the story, I think I realize what the huge difference between borderlands 2 and 3's story telling is: Borderlands 2 had a shockingly serious story almost the whole way through with some gallows humor and great tongue-and-cheek references along the way. Borderlands 3 had a silly story that never takes itself seriously for more than 30 seconds, Aspects of main story quests include: Tyreen and Troy making far jokes for 5+ minutes in the subway. Accompanying a 'pleasure bot'. deal with two AI's messy break up. Sure, in borderlands 2 we did combat with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, assisted a psychotic 12 year old with making a tea party out of combat vehicle parts and a live grenade as a party guest, and fight a giant monster for suggestive pin-ups of Moxxie, but all of that was optional side content. All of the not-serious funny stuff was almost exclusively reserved for side story stuff. Killing bonerfarts was a side quest, and killing extra bandits to get revenge for Riess. If this was borderlands 3, these two mission objectives would be opposite! And if you think that I'm being hyperbolic: Rhys has a meltdown over a Fro-yo shop in the main story, and participating in a birthday party for a dead little girl hosted by a grieving father is a side quest. The sole exception was Claptrap, but as you said, everyone in canon acknowledges him as being annoying and stupid, and since it was ONLY him being annoying, it was excused. We had an acceptable outlet for the annoying humor, we had the side quests for the goofy humor, and the rest of the main game took itself seriously.

[@DHKrieg]

10:47 can I say..... based? This is exactly what I love about the franchise. The guns are the tool, imho, not the focus. It's why I loved TPS so much tbh And then Borderlands 3 retcons it's ending.... And Aurelia's whole character arc..... God, I hope Gearbox burns. Whatever, this game is literal fanfic and not canon. Way too many writing mistakes and inconsistencies with the whole franchise to not feasibly be one, too paradoxical :)

[@ethanfuego9648]

Games canon, quit coping about the shit ass fucking horrible story. Bad writing sure but the game is canon bro.

[@typervader]

They didnt retcon the ending though?

[@167cm4]

@@typervader I think they're talking about The Watcher and what it says to the Crimson Raiders after saving Athena

[@redviper57]

​@@167cm4the war is still probably yet to come. There's still alot of unanswered questions presented in other games. Bl3 isnt about the great war

[@iamsean4915]

this was a really nice video. i hate the story for this game but love the game play and explosions

[@dogewiththegun3665]

every single F bomb was perfectly delivered 👍

[@bakerfresh]

When Tannis knows the most and seems to be the more level-headed, its Bonkers Bananas that Lilly would throw everyone's life on the last remaining hope for humanity on Sanctuary 3 to the over reacting and failing even more, Kid Ava?!?

[@SpuddyCube]

By her own words, Tannis isn't a good leader. Sure, she's loyal and could hold a temporary position, but the other solution is much more obvious. They could instead just promote the worst possible person to the role. What could go wrong?

[@bakerfresh]

@SpuddyCube I wonder if it's the social gun law rule from Parkland where "Kids make the best decisions. Listen to kids. They read what they are told well. They are good actors. Actors act like leaders. They act a lot, so they are really, really good leaders...I gave my kid my house, money and vehicles...I'm gonna search the world for cigarettes n be back in a hot minute or 2, years. It'll be alright. Their adult now...almost out of grade school.

[@devastatheseeker9967]

The calypsos are intimidating and serious off camera. The problem is they're usually on camera because they're always on the grind.

[@SpuddyCube]

I feel like they're better off camera, but they never really stopped feeling like petty children. The first scene with Lilith for instance came across as, "Gimme. It's mine, and I licked it!" I'm definitely biased, but I think even Shiv and Mouthpiece were more intimidating villains.

[@devastatheseeker9967]

@@SpuddyCube I will still stand by that the main reason that they're so despised is because they are usually in streamer mode. When they're serious you can see that they're serious. I think Troy should have been the final boss though. They were so clearly alluding him to being frustrated with playing second fiddle to his sister.

[@lefterismplanas4977]

​@@SpuddyCubeshiv and mouthpiece? Ouch dude!! Haha. But I can't fault you. I did tho feel more satisfied killing the woman hater in overlook than killing the calypso twins. XD

[@trevorburke8660]

Iron Cub is a good boy.

[@jarekhartwell6235]

"You love Tina! Don't you love Tina? Give gearbox your money!" I mean yeah. We do love tina

[@styxwessel5930]

I'd be okay with borderlands 4 being this game over again, one for one, but at the end ava wakes up and it was all a dream and she decides to be a more interesting character.

[@shawnsherman4309]

Alternative title "borderlands 3 but I tell the truth"

[@vinndolyn5976]

Lilith flying into the sun and dying to “This girl is on fire” is genuinely the worst and most unintentionally hilarious moment in video game history I think

[@hallowfiended]

Finally a fellow Wainlock enjoyer. They truly are goated with the sauce

[@hallowfiended]

Holy shit my comment got hearted. Anyways OP if you want access to my AO3 and Tumblr where I post Wainlock almost exclusively lmk/hj

[@rickfsu22]

Wow your content is criminally underseen and under rated!!! As your standard gearbox/borderlands2 fan with the strongest pair of rose tinted glasses that makes me only see anything gearbox puts out desperately hoping for the dopamine I long for that was once the rocket fuel that gave me life to play video games, I feel like your videos are tailor made for my enjoyment. And if I was some super rich oil prince you would have your own tower somewhere to do whatever as long as it fun and possibly produced a few of these every so often. So if you ever see this comment, you will somewhat know what joy these last few hours your videos have brought to so random person on this planet. Weird world huh, me typing this thinking that whoever made this video will read it like some metaphorical message in a bottle. Anyways, cheers friend.

[@SpuddyCube]

Thank you! That means a lot. It's strange to consider all around. It's not too dissimilar to what I do. Leaving little time capsules in the form of video essays about the things I've done. Ready to be stumbled upon by passers by. I'm really glad that you could enjoy them! I fully intend to continue to make them with or without my own tower, but we can dare to dream.

[@canofraidantandroachspray8415]

This is the best summary of BL3's problems. Ever. For me, most of this stuff was subconscious, not really able to be put into words. But hearing it out loud... yeah. One of my personal major issues with BL3, which was only lightly addressed in this video, is that the new Vault Hunters aren't... anything to write home about..? Sure they're "unique" by Borderlands standards, however, there isn't a *SINGLE* line of dialogue in 3 that reacts to ANYTHING they say. Sure BL2 didn't really have any unique interactions between the VH and the cast, but do you know what did??? The Pre-Sequel! They really let the Pre-Sequel outdo their most hyped game ever. Now don't get me wrong, I actually didn't mind TPS. But 3 was supposed to be better, right? I don't know. Much ado about nothing, I suppose, but it's a real missed opportunity that just gets on my nerves.

[@nbridges7321]

To be fair, I think the writers did not like the way the game turned out, and it was probably just Randy Pitchford forcing through all these shitty decisions. I know he was the one who pushed for the Penn and Teller cameo, and he's been on record saying how little he thinks of the players who like borderlands

[@SpuddyCube]

That does sound like a Randy thing to do...

[@eekajmoneybaby9309]

I think you'll think it's even more insufferable that Ava is cannon 18 she's some how older than gaige in borderlands 2 with this personality

[@lefterismplanas4977]

She doesn't look older tho. She looks like 13 or smth

[@eekajmoneybaby9309]

@@lefterismplanas4977 Ik that's why she's more insufferable 18 yr old looks n acts like a 13 yr old

[@subcount_zer0]

Borderlands 3 is the Teen Titans Go of the series, went from a master piece to a constant stream of fart and sex jokes

[@kingintox5743]

Except teen titans go is amazing so your point doesn’t come across

[@ineedit1772]

12:24 actually my good sir this is a bootleg eye of helios 🤓

[@SpuddyCube]

Well, damn. You're right! Although, thinking about it, how powerful is one vs the other? The Eye was able to extremely slowly tunnel through Elpis using an ancient eldritch power and an absolute ton of an incredibly rare material. Katagawa's space laser I think was a bit less destructive, but it was pretty much exclusively run on a fragment of a key... How inefficient was Jack's laser? Also, the general power of those keys has come a really long way from a rock sitting in a chest only guarded by some guy named Sledge.

[@ineedit1772]

If bl4 is a thing we need it where a piece of the vault is buried in sand we gotta dig for it

[@callumbreton8930]

​@@SpuddyCube Jack's EoH was capable of planetary drilling, a feat considered absolutely impossible in the modern day, while Katagawa had one that seemed to only destroy objects on the surface. If anything, Katagawa had the inefficient Lazer

[@danielemmanuel6261]

Loving your B3 masochism. Awesome vid

[@obnoxas]

Can't wait for Borderlands 4 to start with Lilith waking up from a bad dream and going "Wow, I'm glad that never happened" (the bad dream being all of Borderlands 3)

[@MrVelyx]

I wanted to love BL3 so badly. But i just cant. And you hit the mark on the reasons.

[@brycekrispiez714]

Honestly the story wasn’t that bad for me. It definitely wasn’t on 2’s level but it’s nowhere near as bad as people say. The gameplay is god tier tho

[@_jxcl]

I've only just found your channel but you're easily one of my new favourites can't wait for the next video

[@imaginaryboy2000]

Best case scenario Borderlands 4 has a siren with the Phaseclock power as the main antagonist to control time for 4 reasons 1. It fits right in with Phaselock and Phasewalk and we need that back, Phasegrasp is weak 2. It would allow the entirety of BL3 (aside from the wedding and, eh, throw in the Kreig therapy session too) to be retconned 3. We could bring Maya back to life and oh no Ava suddenly disappears forever as the result of a paradox oh well can't be helped 4. We'd get to hear Brick freak out and say stuff like "Man how the F%#& do we kill a time traveler?" and other fun dialogue

[@SpuddyCube]

If absolutely nothing else, I would love for the rhyming to come back to have a playable companion class siren with Phaseflock. Sure, we had Phaseshift and Phasegotimpaledbeforeactuallydoinganything, but those were weak. We must return to our roots. Realistically a genuine retcon would have the issue of feeling narratively cheap. But keeping things the way they are is kind of a slap in the face. Admittedly sort of a lose lose, but I'd really like to see the series not end out on such a sour note.

[@Foxiology]

This would also mean we could have a "What if" section on if Jack had been successful, or hadn't been betrayed and gone full maniac!

[@calemr]

You could even have that siren having had something terrible happen to them due to the events of 3, so they can be doing timefuckery explicitly to erase That. Maybe even caused by the Calypsos if they Really wanna give an in universe call out to how awful they were.

[@WhiteWolf3500]

Came for fun challenge that I'd never wish onto anyone. But I stayed and faved this video for an amazing borderlands 3 story review!

[@LambdaWiktorii]

I genuinely feel like the best way borderlands 4 can recover from this is eiether mocking the third game relentlessly while taking place directly after it, or literally just taking place after borderlands 2 rendering 3 non canon

[@AssassinWhale]

I was recently thinking about replaying this game, thank you so much for reliving the absolute dumpster fire of a story to yank that urge out of me.

[@SpuddyCube]

It was somehow worse than I remembered... It's a fun time if you tune it out, but I also just enjoy having things like videos playing on a second monitor while playing some games.

[@xenoscout9319]

I agree with everything you said about the story

[@MonsieurGaslight]

I thought Rhys' personality was pretty well kept- Especially Rhys-Ball, it felt like Loader Bot all over again.

[@SpuddyCube]

Yes and no, I would argue. He was always a bit of a jokester, and it could just be my poor memory, but I swear he was at least a bit more serious when things were dire. By end of Tales, he felt like a much more caring person, and seeing so many people hurt under his watch and still making jokes just seemed... off.

[@charybdis1618033]

Your Borderlands content is by far my favorite of your content, so I'm ok with this becoming a Borderlands channel.

[@Prof.Theurer]

Yeah, I don't get why more people don't talk about how the "first vault hunter" makes such a genuinely large plot hole that this game just can't be cannon to the first two. Heck, Tannis' whole backstory was that she initially hated researching the vault, not that some legendary first vault hunter inspired her

[@souleymanesiddo7755]

Double TAP! nice reference and so good commentary 😊✋🏽

[@BossMr51]

That iron cub captain traunt kill was personal

[@andrewbaran2167]

This just kinda felt like cinema sins if they played the movies themselves.

[@thatoneniceguy408]

I've been really enjoying your content recently and glad I've found your channel! Keep up the great work

[@probablynotdanny4384]

This is less a challenge run and more a review. But a good one.

[@eastterminal2246]

I'm definetely subscribing, man. Great video!

[@justaspeedrunner]

Y'know, playing through this as my first borderlands I thought the story was pretty decent, but after going back to play bl2 I slowly realized how shit it was. I absolutely love the gameplay, just like you said, but holy fuck this is such a bad story.

[@SpuddyCube]

Yeah, I don't think it would be as bad of an experience in a vacuum. I think a lot of the issues come with bulldozing a lot of established lore/the personality of almost every character to make this plot even kind of work. I really enjoy how this one plays, but I think I agree with the community that the second game is just the best in the series all around. I hear Wonderlands keeps the gameplay, but the writing is at least better than three. I haven't gotten a chance to try it myself, but I have high hopes.

[@justaspeedrunner]

I had originally played bl2 for a little while but it wasn't fun to me, I hardly made it past boom bewm before I quit. BL3 was the first that was able to get my attention with the gameplay. It's definitely the most fun gameplay wise imo. Though going back with a not 10 year old mind to bl2 I can see why so many people love it. That's why I'm going back and playing through it to actually experience the story of borderlands that I love since I spent a lot of time watching lore videos of the series. I've played a bit of wonderlands and it is fun, I'm not the best judge of story in this series since I'm still going through bl2 so I haven't fully experienced a good one, but it's worth a shot imo. Only gripes I've personally got is that it kinda leans into the magic more than guns but that's probably just me.

[@SpuddyCube]

I tend to really enjoy magic fantasy settings, so I'm pretty excited for when I get to eventually play it. I can definitely understand that not being for everyone though. The first game in the series is very bland for lack of a better word. I don't tend to ever really want to revisit it. Borderlands two I think had the best balance between story and gameplay. The Pre Sequel had a fantastic story that got bogged down by arguably the worst gameplay in the series. The gunplay and whatnot is fun, but the environments are massive and empty. Honestly, the best storytelling in the series I think came from Tales From the Borderlands. I haven't tried the New one that they released yet, but if you're just looking for a story within the setting, and you like Telltale games, then the old one is pretty great.

[@justaspeedrunner]

I feel like the main reason TPS is the way it is was because of 2k aus getting shut down before they could fully flesh out the game and then once it got handed back over to gearbox they didn't do much with it. I personally enjoy it but as you said it's pretty bland. It had a lot of potential but it only really had the time to deliver needed lore and then it was pretty much just cobbled together the rest of the way. I recently bought the deluxe edition of new tales from the borderlands, which includes the original, so I'm currently waiting to get an internet connection again (between houses atm) to download em and play through them. I hadn't really paid them mind before, I didn't even know Rhys and Vaughn were from tales until after I had more than 60 hours in bl3, but I enjoy telltale games so when I'm able I'm excited to sit down and play those. I'm big into story focused games so getting more borderlands but without the gunplay, though I do love it don't get me wrong, will be really fun. (Thanks for the conversation btw, very few of my friends are into borderlands so I don't get to talk about it much)

[@SpuddyCube]

I really loved experiencing Jack's story first hand. It more or less felt like a DLC devoted specifically to him that was maybe a bit ambitious. I think the Claptastic Voyage was a lot better in that it had better map design while also focusing on character development. I feel like the series as a whole works best when it has a serious tone with moments that are less so rather than the other way around. The first game is a bit lifeless, but I think the middle bits of the series really had it down. And they can clearly make a really fun game in terms of gunplay. If we could just dial things back a touch, I think Borderlands four could be amazing. If they... ever make one. My main concern with the new Tales is that it's apparently under a different studio. I don't need it to be another Wolf Among Us (loved it) but I'm hoping it's at least not another Borderlands three. Take away the gunplay, and the third entry would only really be white noise and pop culture references. I do need to get around to the DLCs for it though. I hear they're at least better. And I'm pretty invested in hopefully getting something more meaty in terms of the cast members.

[@thebozz1139]

They need to cut borderlands 3 out of canon like they cut the only character development in this game

[@SpuddyCube]

As much as I would like them to do so, I can't imagine them retconning the whole game. I'd be okay with bits and pieces though. Just loads of bits and pieces...

[@hairlessgrizzly559]

I like that so many people agree that Troy could've been a great character Like, they both suck, but Troy actually had potential, plus his character design is cool as hell

[@Treso14]

Love the vids spuddycube keep it up!

[@TheGrimFormOfLuck]

I wont let you touch that couple till im dead and i infinitely respawn

[@krypted_96]

something that was so small and yet so integral to the looter shooter feel of borderlands 2 that is completely missed in borderlands 3 is loot rarity legendary items were rare and powerful and unique pieces of gear that could turn you from a meek little lamb into a walking power house and made farming for them fun and memorable but in borderlands 3 you'll get at least one but on average two or three from every boss and they all feel relatively the same and none are memorable, it turned a looter shooter into a shooter where you can get lame guns that are supposedly rarer but are handed out like candy on halloween and that's not eve mentioning the secret rarity items like pearls which when I was told about i thought was a play ground roomer until I happened upon a tubby spiderant which was just insanely cool and fun

[@sativaburns6705]

Oh man, you know what loading screen needs, drop pods....

[@hyenalingo]

to the rant in about 3:45 i present, tiny tinas poem in bl2 when she just says kill jack a bunch.

[@Anime_catgirl_UWU]

In bl4 it needs to start with Lilith waking up in a cold sweat terrified of what she dreampt (bl3). Also it should be almost impossible for every siren to be in the same plot, there are six sirens in existence maximum and they're all involved in this abbysmal story

[@kingintox5743]

That would be a terrible start, and immediately be worse than the Pre Sequel.

[@EnderElohim]

4:20 for me main issue with them is they are not danger to player. They not even try to harm you other than sending you xp farm 7:00 oh yeah they fucked up big time with how they handle old characters to the point borderlands 3 is a big middle finger to 1 and 2 31:13 it should be Tannis for God sake

[@mehlessmidori602]

Honestly, I find it funny how you said "heck" at 14:23 then drop a f-bomb ten seconds later.

[@SpuddyCube]

I am many things. Consistent is only one of them sometimes.

[@bunnyqueen20XX]

If BL4, if it ever happens, is a complete retcon of BL3, I will fucking eat it up I stg, just name it like "The pre-sequel 2" and have it be about retconning all of the bad decisions

[@seancotterell4225]

I fuggin love Claptrap

[@SpuddyCube]

Honestly, I had really mixed feelings on him for a long time. Sort of a love hate relationship. A while back, I ended up watching a video essay by EruptionFang on him/his history, and it's really hard to not at least feel for the poor little bot.

[@howdee_]

Congrats on hitting 1k subs

[@SpuddyCube]

Thank you! The general reception I've received has been absolutely incredible to see.

[@darkdude9248]

I have a theory the plot was for a Telltale game where you play as lilith since everything is focused on her even stealing every accomplishment the player had in BL1+BL2. BL3 is also the only game i know where you can ignore all sidequests and still be overpowered and with how one note the sidequests are i think its a mercy

[@leviathantb4014]

21:38 surprised you didn't mention how they ruined Aurelia's character arc here

[@SpuddyCube]

It helps that I can't actually remember the last time I played the Pre Sequel. I have really fond memories of the general story, but never felt super fondly for her. Granted, it is absolutely a regression from where she was by the end of the game.

[@miqueagul]

I've never been been happy to see an ad on a video. Congrats on 1k my dude!

[@NoForksGiven]

For anyone who wants to attempt this like I did (DON'T) then it's best to equip the homing missiles on the cub. That's right. The AI for a missile is better than the AI for a mech.

[@igotsomecoolclips963]

im gonna watch every single one of these videos

[@twistedclips]

Damn bro you went off. 😂 😎👌👏👏👏👏👏

[@Ralsestial]

I just watched a cinema sins video disguised as a challenge video, I honestly did not expect that

[@determination2485]

I'm pretty sure they got a new writing team after the pre sequel, which is probably why we never see the one eridian that shows up at the end of the pre sequel. I could be mistaken though.

[@jociesimms5170]

"Is this thing on?...." istg if you say that one more time you dlc shoveling peice of...

[@fernaureason7150]

I thought Maya's death was a fake out too and that she was coming back because in one of the trailers leading up to BL3's release Maya and Tiny Tina fist bump but that scene never happens in game. Edit: I was wrong. I just found the scene again and it's in the BL3 reveal trailer. She fist bumps Eva... I don't remember that but what ever lol.

[@GenericSeal]

you should try to beat bl3 without losing your sanity

[@SpuddyCube]

Now that's a tough one...

[@djelibaebi4147]

when i get the urge to replay this game for the gunplay additions that i enjoy, its with dialgoue muted.

[@SpuddyCube]

A far more sage decision than the ones I have made...

[@SelkieGirl]

Imagine if Tyreen dropped her act when talking just to you, and she's legitimately cold, heartless, and threatening.

[@SpuddyCube]

I think it would have added a lot more depth to her as a person. I feel like the twins really were at their best when they weren't performing, because they very briefly got to feel more like real people.

[@lefterismplanas4977]

​@@SpuddyCubeIt would've been way better even if they turned on eachother. Like, when Troy captures you, He could've been switching sides or using you to win aggianst his sister or something. And it would've been way more interesting