Im not a big fan of Telltale or this style of game, and Borderlands only barely works in this format - but Tales From The Borderlands is captivating for one real reason: it is meta-commentary. I have no clue if its on purpose but Rhys running around haunted by the literal ghost of Handsome Jack seems to curiously mirror how the series struggled to get out from under the shadow of Jack itself. Its a very poetic observation.
Its even more poetic considering that it doesnt seem like its worked out for Borderlands as a franchise quite as well as it did for Rhys. I also personally mourn the loss of mystique for Hyperion, made all too mortal and comprehensible by the events of Tales (made partially as a companion to the events of Pre-Sequel). Something of a bittersweet feeling emerges here: yes, Tales From The Borderlands is entertaining but its also…. not really Borderlands.
Its even more poetic considering that it doesnt seem like its worked out for Borderlands as a franchise quite as well as it did for Rhys. I also personally mourn the loss of mystique for Hyperion, made all too mortal and comprehensible by the events of Tales (made partially as a companion to the events of Pre-Sequel). Something of a bittersweet feeling emerges here: yes, Tales From The Borderlands is entertaining but its also…. not really Borderlands.
Tales From the Borderlands is my favorite game ever, and I really wish more people knew about it, and actually gave it a chance. It has an amazing soundtrack, which actually got me into one of my favorite bands, The Rapture, and I really love some of the other songs in the soundtrack, which I still listen to often. I laughed, I cried, and I am still head-over-heels in love with this game. Please play it!
If you ever wondered what it would be like if Borderlands had good writing, here you go. Telltale's greatest achievement.
started off a bit slow on that first episode, but every following one got better and better. I don't give a darn about borderlands or the universe but they made the story so fun and characters so good that I just had to be interested. Best telltale games romance too. The framing device of two people telling their own side of the story works so well and playing as two characters was so seamless that I'm surprised how badly they screwed it up in walking dead new frontier, but to be fair walking dead new frontier is screwed up in every other way too. One of my fav characters in this game is handsome jack, who I now know was a character in borderlands 2 which I now have to play. Yippee. Eh maybe ill just watch a plot summary and all his cutscenes. I'd cut my balls off with a pillow before I play a bored-erlands game
Borderlands didn't deserve a game this great. Give me the alternate universe version of Borderlands where it was a whole adventure game series of this quality, they'd be stone cold classics and I'd love them.
Telltale has finally proven to me that they have good humor and can combine it with a serious story. I really enjoyed the game, the characters and dialogue are top-notch and I had to laugh out loud a lot.
Simultaneously the best Borderlands game AND the best Telltale game.
What an accomplishment. I don't care about Borderlands at all and was incredibly tired of Telltale's formula when TFTB comes along and blows away all my expectations.
What an accomplishment. I don't care about Borderlands at all and was incredibly tired of Telltale's formula when TFTB comes along and blows away all my expectations.
This is better than the actual games tf
A good borderlands story and the best telltale game. Liked how this ties into borderlands 3.
This game was fucking gold then, and its gold now.
This was TTG's best game by a fucking lot. I sometimes have this full sensory flashback to the Trust Jack ending of Episode 2, which is a stunning confluence of cinematography, music, and writing. It's maybe my favorite Single Moment in a video game. And the entire story is amazing! I honestly still cannot believe what TTG did with Rhys in this game. The build of his deal with the devil is amazing. I am begging everyone who plays this game to try the Trust Jack plotline, it goes some fucking INCREDIBLE places. Look. This game made me cry a few times.
This was the Telltale Game I loved the best.
Everything about it was just magical. And it was a joyous occasion for me to be able to finally enjoy a Borderlands Game, because I love the universe that Gearbox has created with the series, but I cannot stand the co-op looter shooter gameplay that the core series is based around.
But here, everything just came together for me.
The characters were memorable, complex and diverse and their interactions were heartwarming, enjoyable and entertaining on just about every level.
The plot was tightly written and original, the pacing was sublime and the experience was genuinely funny as well.
The Ending was also really well done. It's too bad that there never was a season 2, however everything I needed was already here.
The only aspects the game falls short in are parts of the dialoge (not every joke lands, and when one doesn't, it's just cringeworthy. After all, there is nothing worse than a bad comedy, because there is nothing to even laugh about) and in the technical presentation.
The framerate really dips here and there and the game chugged along like a 30 Year old Volkswagen, because of the bad engine that telltale always insisted on using.
And there were a couple of glitches too.
Aside from that, this is as close to perfect as a game of this breed and genre was ever going to get and my appreciation for Tales from the Borderlands knows no limits.
... I really should replay it... again.
Everything about it was just magical. And it was a joyous occasion for me to be able to finally enjoy a Borderlands Game, because I love the universe that Gearbox has created with the series, but I cannot stand the co-op looter shooter gameplay that the core series is based around.
But here, everything just came together for me.
The characters were memorable, complex and diverse and their interactions were heartwarming, enjoyable and entertaining on just about every level.
The plot was tightly written and original, the pacing was sublime and the experience was genuinely funny as well.
The Ending was also really well done. It's too bad that there never was a season 2, however everything I needed was already here.
The only aspects the game falls short in are parts of the dialoge (not every joke lands, and when one doesn't, it's just cringeworthy. After all, there is nothing worse than a bad comedy, because there is nothing to even laugh about) and in the technical presentation.
The framerate really dips here and there and the game chugged along like a 30 Year old Volkswagen, because of the bad engine that telltale always insisted on using.
And there were a couple of glitches too.
Aside from that, this is as close to perfect as a game of this breed and genre was ever going to get and my appreciation for Tales from the Borderlands knows no limits.
... I really should replay it... again.
One of the better Telltale games out there.
best telltale game
The scene where you fingerbang all those office workers was so fun.
Imagine Borderlands, but actually funny.
simultaneously the best telltale game AND the best borderlands game! how did they do it!
Game's moral dillema:
Be a millionaire / Eat ass
Be a millionaire / Eat ass
Telltale Games teamed up with Gearbox Software to deliver an original tale set in the Borderlands universe. They went all out and delivered one of their best games thus far. Second only to the critically acclaimed first season of their Walking Dead series. From the very first episode you can see the improvements made to the presentation brought on by the more cinematic camera angles and how the essence of the Borderlands series was perfectly captured, even with such a wild change in genres taking place.
We may be interacting with Pandora point-and-click style as opposed to the usual FPS/RPG structure the franchise is known for, but that doesn't mean the action is gone. These are the best quick-time events, set pieces, and action sequences of any Telltale title I've played thus far. They wouldn't seem out of place in a big-budget film and are backed by the absurdity one would expect from Borderlands.
What really makes this such a special and memorable experience though is primarily the writing. The story is great and the decisions you make here actually have real, complex consequences. Once again there is a set ending, but the path you take to get there could look quite a bit different than someone else's. There are several moments where I struggled with what choice to make. The majority of your time though is dedicated to managing your relationships with the other characters. The people who make up the cast were forced to work together when their schemes to get ahead in life failed right before their eyes. You can choose to keep up the mistrust or come together and become family. These are hands down the best characters Telltale has ever created and I would be hard-pressed to believe we'll see them come up with others this good in the future. The voice acting is nothing short of flawless.
This being Borderlands, expect plenty of familiar faces and plenty of laughter. This is one of the funniest games I have played to date. It's's sense of humor is varied and befitting of the Gearbox series. There's also no lack of sentimentality because of this. You grow to love this group of swindlers, and while it's a much happier game than Telltale's previous efforts with The Walking Dead and Fables brands, there are moments of heartbreak. You'll go through a whole range of emotions. It's an incredible ride.
Not everything is perfect. The game uses a two protagonist system where you'll jump back and forth between different perspectives throughout the course of the game. The issue arises from the fact that I only took to one of the playable characters. I loved Rhys right from the get go. Fiona on the other hand often left me irritated. I was fine with her when I was allowed to flesh her out and control her actions, as I could make her much more likable. When I wasn't in control she could be quite the jerk. There are also the occasional technical issues. While quite less frequent than other Telltale games, we still get a few glitches here and there, as well as those awkward loading times that lead to choppy scene transitions.
Outside of those flaws, which feel quite minor when actually playing it, this is one heck of an excellent experience. Telltale really took some efforts to challenge themselves here and they really paid off. Before I conclude this review I have to take a second to praise each episodes opening credits. They are incredibly clever and backed by licensed music. They serve as just one example of the little treasures in store for you that add up to the wonderful adventure available to you. You may not be hunting down rare guns and other loot, but the story, characters, and humor all provide more than enough of a reason to return to Pandora. So I highly recommend that you do.
9/10
We may be interacting with Pandora point-and-click style as opposed to the usual FPS/RPG structure the franchise is known for, but that doesn't mean the action is gone. These are the best quick-time events, set pieces, and action sequences of any Telltale title I've played thus far. They wouldn't seem out of place in a big-budget film and are backed by the absurdity one would expect from Borderlands.
What really makes this such a special and memorable experience though is primarily the writing. The story is great and the decisions you make here actually have real, complex consequences. Once again there is a set ending, but the path you take to get there could look quite a bit different than someone else's. There are several moments where I struggled with what choice to make. The majority of your time though is dedicated to managing your relationships with the other characters. The people who make up the cast were forced to work together when their schemes to get ahead in life failed right before their eyes. You can choose to keep up the mistrust or come together and become family. These are hands down the best characters Telltale has ever created and I would be hard-pressed to believe we'll see them come up with others this good in the future. The voice acting is nothing short of flawless.
This being Borderlands, expect plenty of familiar faces and plenty of laughter. This is one of the funniest games I have played to date. It's's sense of humor is varied and befitting of the Gearbox series. There's also no lack of sentimentality because of this. You grow to love this group of swindlers, and while it's a much happier game than Telltale's previous efforts with The Walking Dead and Fables brands, there are moments of heartbreak. You'll go through a whole range of emotions. It's an incredible ride.
Not everything is perfect. The game uses a two protagonist system where you'll jump back and forth between different perspectives throughout the course of the game. The issue arises from the fact that I only took to one of the playable characters. I loved Rhys right from the get go. Fiona on the other hand often left me irritated. I was fine with her when I was allowed to flesh her out and control her actions, as I could make her much more likable. When I wasn't in control she could be quite the jerk. There are also the occasional technical issues. While quite less frequent than other Telltale games, we still get a few glitches here and there, as well as those awkward loading times that lead to choppy scene transitions.
Outside of those flaws, which feel quite minor when actually playing it, this is one heck of an excellent experience. Telltale really took some efforts to challenge themselves here and they really paid off. Before I conclude this review I have to take a second to praise each episodes opening credits. They are incredibly clever and backed by licensed music. They serve as just one example of the little treasures in store for you that add up to the wonderful adventure available to you. You may not be hunting down rare guns and other loot, but the story, characters, and humor all provide more than enough of a reason to return to Pandora. So I highly recommend that you do.
9/10
"Tales from the Borderlands" foi minha primeira incursão nos jogos da Telltale, e foi uma experiência marcante. Apesar de alguns pontos fracos na mecânica e nas consequências das ações, a história me envolveu completamente, apresentando personagens ricamente desenvolvidos com características e motivações únicas, tudo isso em uma narrativa repleta de humor ácido. Mas os elogios param por aí. Ao olhar para trás em 2024, percebo que o jogo equilibrou uma história excelente com uma mecânica de jogo e consequências de escolhas apenas medianas.
O jogo segue a estrutura típica da Telltale, com mecânicas simples, estilo de arte em cel shading, eventos de quick time e um foco quase exclusivo na narrativa. No entanto, em relação às decisões do jogador, há uma falta de impacto significativo no decorrer da história. Isso pode ser frustrante para aqueles que esperavam mais liberdade na forma como suas escolhas moldariam o rumo do enredo. A sensação é de que, em certo ponto, somos enganados pela promessa de uma narrativa interativa mais profunda.
O lançamento do jogo foi marcado por atrasos significativos na entrega dos episódios, o que gerou frustração entre os jogadores e pode ter contribuído para o declínio financeiro da produtora. Embora a Telltale tenha antecipado obter um sucesso similar ao de "The Walking Dead", isso não se concretizou, em parte devido a erros na escolha de projetos e à falta de inovação em sua fórmula de jogo, que começava a se tornar previsível e monótona.
Apesar de seus pontos fracos, ainda recomendo o jogo hoje em dia para aqueles que procuram uma história envolvente e cheia de humor ácido, sem se preocupar muito com uma jogabilidade avançada.
O jogo segue a estrutura típica da Telltale, com mecânicas simples, estilo de arte em cel shading, eventos de quick time e um foco quase exclusivo na narrativa. No entanto, em relação às decisões do jogador, há uma falta de impacto significativo no decorrer da história. Isso pode ser frustrante para aqueles que esperavam mais liberdade na forma como suas escolhas moldariam o rumo do enredo. A sensação é de que, em certo ponto, somos enganados pela promessa de uma narrativa interativa mais profunda.
O lançamento do jogo foi marcado por atrasos significativos na entrega dos episódios, o que gerou frustração entre os jogadores e pode ter contribuído para o declínio financeiro da produtora. Embora a Telltale tenha antecipado obter um sucesso similar ao de "The Walking Dead", isso não se concretizou, em parte devido a erros na escolha de projetos e à falta de inovação em sua fórmula de jogo, que começava a se tornar previsível e monótona.
Apesar de seus pontos fracos, ainda recomendo o jogo hoje em dia para aqueles que procuram uma história envolvente e cheia de humor ácido, sem se preocupar muito com uma jogabilidade avançada.
This game was my introduction to the Borderlands world and its characters and story. I had no clue about anything going in and I really loved the game, its settings, and all the unique characters. I wanted to know who the hell this Bossonova, or zer0 were! This game has some of my favorite characters I met in any game, Loader Bot is so awesome, as is Scooter. My favorite chars in this whole game were the bots! The whole story is funny, engaging, quirky, has some cliché moments, and overall a must play game! A bunch of misfits knee deep in things they shouldn't be in! lol! This is in my top 3-4 of tell tale games with Walking dead s1, life is strange, wolf among us!
🎮 Platform: Xbox
⌚ Time to finish - 10h
🏆Trophy completion - 100% - easy just play the game and most are story unmissable.
🌄Graphics – A huge step up from previous tell tale titles. really pretty to look at!
🌦 Atmosphere/Music – The world is unique, and though its a tell tale game, its OOZING with atmosphere. This game made me feel part of another world and I wanted to go play other borderlands games! They really did a good job setting the world very quickly and engrossing you in it. Especially for a brand new comer like me, I was up and running in no time.
📚 Main Story / Characters – I loved the story and I loved all the characters. They are so memorable. They kept me going! Sometimes the story would turn cliché, or take extreme liberties with plot points to move the story forward, that was my only gripe, but its fine, i think the world is meant to be a little over the top sometimes. Its meant to be a fun story. I never found anything boring, and I was always gripped to see what this team of misfits would do next!
📣 Voice acting – Amazing performances. Especially the robots! omg they are awesome!
[ if you liked the review throw me a like! ❤️ ]
🎮 Platform: Xbox
⌚ Time to finish - 10h
🏆Trophy completion - 100% - easy just play the game and most are story unmissable.
🌄Graphics – A huge step up from previous tell tale titles. really pretty to look at!
🌦 Atmosphere/Music – The world is unique, and though its a tell tale game, its OOZING with atmosphere. This game made me feel part of another world and I wanted to go play other borderlands games! They really did a good job setting the world very quickly and engrossing you in it. Especially for a brand new comer like me, I was up and running in no time.
📚 Main Story / Characters – I loved the story and I loved all the characters. They are so memorable. They kept me going! Sometimes the story would turn cliché, or take extreme liberties with plot points to move the story forward, that was my only gripe, but its fine, i think the world is meant to be a little over the top sometimes. Its meant to be a fun story. I never found anything boring, and I was always gripped to see what this team of misfits would do next!
📣 Voice acting – Amazing performances. Especially the robots! omg they are awesome!
[ if you liked the review throw me a like! ❤️ ]
In this spin-off of the main series from an entirely different game studio, somehow Telltale tells a better Borderlands story than any of the other Borderlands games do. This is one of my favorite Telltale games and is a fantastic entry in the Borderlands universe.
This is peak Telltales
Borderlands was one of the last IPs I was interested to see tackled by Telltale, but I was riding so high off the excellent experiences with The Walking Dead and The Wolf Among Us that I was willing to give this one a shot. Color me surprised that with great humor, heart, and action, Tales from the Borderlands turned out to be one of Telltale's very best offerings.
I couldn't care less about the greater Borderlands world and never was interested in any of the mainline games, but Tales has such strong characters in Fiona, Rhys, and the others you meet along the way that I was hooked anyway. The game is genuinely funny throughout, and has a real momentum across all five episodes. Plus, the soundtrack is just excellent.
Check this one out. It's my third favorite of any Telltale game and highly recommended from me.
I couldn't care less about the greater Borderlands world and never was interested in any of the mainline games, but Tales has such strong characters in Fiona, Rhys, and the others you meet along the way that I was hooked anyway. The game is genuinely funny throughout, and has a real momentum across all five episodes. Plus, the soundtrack is just excellent.
Check this one out. It's my third favorite of any Telltale game and highly recommended from me.
My favourite Telltale game behind The Wolf Among Us, and probably objectively better than it. Also absolutely concur with everyone who says this is the best Borderlands game, because by far and away it is.
I have my issues with Episode 5, but they're entirely personal and subjective ones. This game is genuinely funny, full of personality and with a plot that kept me engaged and invested in its characters and outcomes. Rhys is one of my favourite protagonists of all time, and I genuinely love how different he can be as a person depending on your choices (although, and this is one of my aforementioned issues with Ep5, he does end up railroaded into A Good Guy Accepted Into Found Family in the end no matter what because it's clearly the path they Wanted you to go down with him, which sucks, but it is what it is). Generally in Telltale games you have a protagonist who's a set kind of person and you can only lean them a little in other directions (for instance, Lee from The Walking Dead could be angry with people but he was always fundamentally a decent guy who cared about protecting Clementine), whereas here, with Bigby from TWAU as the only other instance that comes to mind, Rhys can genuinely be a sweet, well-meaning dork or an ambitious, backstabbing asshole.
I wholeheartedly encourage people to try the Trust Jack path - I genuinely think that it's more interesting, engaging, and funny than the Trust Fiona/hostile to Jack alternative, and opens up more interesting choices.
I played this before I ever played the main-line Borderlands games, and didn't go into it with a lot of knowledge about series lore. I think it did pretty well keeping things clear and giving me the necessary context, and I didn't struggle to follow along at all, so you can definitely get into this without playing the FPS games first if they're not your kind of thing. The only thing you'll really miss out on are full appreciation of some character cameos and in-jokes.
Ultimately, this is Telltale at their absolute peak, and it's genuinely sad that more people haven't played this and given it a chance.
Favourite Male Character: Rhys
Favourite Female Character: Yvette
First Character I Liked: Handsome Jack
Favourite Character Design: Present day Rhys (the black and gold outfit! The hair! The gold eyes!)
Favourite Soundtrack: To the Top
Least Favourite Character: None
I have my issues with Episode 5, but they're entirely personal and subjective ones. This game is genuinely funny, full of personality and with a plot that kept me engaged and invested in its characters and outcomes. Rhys is one of my favourite protagonists of all time, and I genuinely love how different he can be as a person depending on your choices (although, and this is one of my aforementioned issues with Ep5, he does end up railroaded into A Good Guy Accepted Into Found Family in the end no matter what because it's clearly the path they Wanted you to go down with him, which sucks, but it is what it is). Generally in Telltale games you have a protagonist who's a set kind of person and you can only lean them a little in other directions (for instance, Lee from The Walking Dead could be angry with people but he was always fundamentally a decent guy who cared about protecting Clementine), whereas here, with Bigby from TWAU as the only other instance that comes to mind, Rhys can genuinely be a sweet, well-meaning dork or an ambitious, backstabbing asshole.
I wholeheartedly encourage people to try the Trust Jack path - I genuinely think that it's more interesting, engaging, and funny than the Trust Fiona/hostile to Jack alternative, and opens up more interesting choices.
I played this before I ever played the main-line Borderlands games, and didn't go into it with a lot of knowledge about series lore. I think it did pretty well keeping things clear and giving me the necessary context, and I didn't struggle to follow along at all, so you can definitely get into this without playing the FPS games first if they're not your kind of thing. The only thing you'll really miss out on are full appreciation of some character cameos and in-jokes.
Ultimately, this is Telltale at their absolute peak, and it's genuinely sad that more people haven't played this and given it a chance.
Favourite Male Character: Rhys
Favourite Female Character: Yvette
First Character I Liked: Handsome Jack
Favourite Character Design: Present day Rhys (the black and gold outfit! The hair! The gold eyes!)
Favourite Soundtrack: To the Top
Least Favourite Character: None
honestly it's such a shame telltale sucks and went down the way it did, because this game is infinitely better than the new mainline borderlands entry. genuinely funny and interesting. great voice cast.
The best Telltale game and one of the best entries in this weird and wacky franchise
rhys my beloved
The best Telltale game and the best Borderlands game
debatably the best telltale game