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Giant Bomb 18: Everything is always a surprise on some level

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Data West

coaches in the WNBA
I don't know. I thought the writing in BL1 was all around terrible so I was surprised when people talked about how BL2's writing ruined it.

Like. It's already Scary Movie 1. Scary Movie 2 can't do much more to ruin that shit.
 
I liked actually playing the game, but I couldn't end up finishing because the writing just sapped all my enthusiasm. Such a shame.

Mhm. I would play it more but it was between the writing and the story structure that sucked. The questing was MMO-like yet the maps didn't really feel alive aside from some 'hot spots' where there would be enemies. I dunno, it was in a weird position.
 

yami4ct

Member
I don't know. I thought the writing in BL1 was all around terrible so I was surprised when people talked about how BL2's writing ruined it.

Like. It's already Scary Movie 1. Scary Movie 2 can't do much more to ruin that shit.

BL1 was inoffensively bad, but had some good moments and built a cool world. It also didn't really hit you over the head with the bad jokes. BL2 constant forced even worse humor down your throat and tried to dismantle all of what made BL1's world cool.

BL2 forced you to deal with Claptrap way after his humor ran its course, threw Handsome Jack into your ear way too often and made you want to mute the game and had Tiny Tina, one of the single worst video game characters that has ever existed.
 

Joeku

Member
BL1 was inoffensively bad, but had some good moments and built a cool world. It also didn't really hit you over the head with the bad jokes. BL2 constant forced even worse humor down your throat and tried to dismantle all of what made BL1's world cool.

BL2 forced you to deal with Claptrap way after his humor ran its course, threw Handsome Jack into your ear way too often and made you want to mute the game and had Tiny Tina, one of the single worst video game characters that has ever existed.

I still haven't played all the DLC but people keep saying that Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep is fantastic and I have such a hard time believing that. Like, the conceit of a DnD-esque story told in the pseudo 4th-wall breaking nature of Borderlands sounds funny, but using Tina as the driving force just sounds like the worst.
 

yami4ct

Member
I still haven't played all the DLC but people keep saying that Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep is fantastic and I have such a hard time believing that. Like, the conceit of a DnD-esque story told in the pseudo 4th-wall breaking nature of Borderlands sounds funny, but using Tina as the driving force just sounds like the worst.

Given the fact people I trust say it's good, I'm inclined to believe that despite the Tiny Tina focus. I never bought it because spending more money on that mess when I never got my original money's worth wasn't exactly appealing.
 

demidar

Member
CUz34si.jpg


You did this Drew.
 
It's a really fun game!

I think I put over 100 hours into it.

Yup. Atrocious writing can't stop that game from being super fun. Had a blast with it and I'm excited to go through it again with some friends during Winter Break. Hearing that the Handsome collection runs really well now definitely helps as well.
 

mnz

Unconfirmed Member
I didn't even really like Borderlands 2 and played 80 hours of it. It's that kind of game.

Another game that'll get overlooked at all the GotYs: Invisible Inc.
Fantastic little strategy game that came out earlier this year from Klei (their range in genres and styles is crazy). It's also 50% off right now.
 
The writer of BL2 actually co wrote the last three episodes of Tales From the Borderlands so hopefully that helps bridge the way to the Tales writers working on BL3.

Welp. This Borderlands 2 discussion... I guess I have a new podcast game. I was running short of them, so this works out.
This is exactly where I'm at after finishing Tales, I'm actually enjoying my time with it more than I was expecting to, probably because I know what BL2 is at this point.
 

repeater

Member
Another game that'll get overlooked at all the GotYs: Invisible Inc.
Fantastic little strategy game that came out earlier this year from Klei (their range in genres and styles is crazy). It's also 50% off right now.
Austin seemingly loved it (on his EL stream he said he rates it over XCom), so I'm sure it'll get at least a shoutout during the discussions.
 
Whatever about the writing, don't people find the Borderlands combat monotonous / plain?

I found B2 so goddamn boring to play, mind-numbing levels of shooting dudes without the need to think, no strategy or execution skill required.
 

Antiwhippy

the holder of the trombone
Whatever about the writing, don't people find the Borderlands combat monotonous / plain?

I found B2 so goddamn boring to play, mind-numbing levels of shooting dudes without the need to think, no strategy or execution skill required.

You kind of summed up my entire FPS experience. I have never found a single player shooter all that satisfying to play.

At least borderlands allows me to summon an awesome robot and a shotgun that reloads by flying to the nearest enemy and exploding in their face.
 

Haunted

Member
Borderlands was pretty fun with the unique weapon combinations, but around Borderlands 2 and especially the Pre-Sequel, the enemies got so spongey, the mission design so formulaic and the combat so rote that I didn't see a point in continuing. Mindless fun is only fun for so long, at some point the brain needs to be engaged for something to feel fulfilling and fun.

The most "forgotten about" game is probably King's Quest. Haven't heard anyone talk about that one.
Well, it's a sixth of a game at the moment.

I know people are quick to judge a game by its opening hours, but it's easy to see the argument that people should wait to see more of the game before discussing its merits.
 
Whatever about the writing, don't people find the Borderlands combat monotonous / plain?

I found B2 so goddamn boring to play, mind-numbing levels of shooting dudes without the need to think, no strategy or execution skill required.
I liked Borderlands 1 a lot and couldn't bring myself to finish Borderlands 2. I think I stopped at the Wild West-y town. At some point in that game the combat encounters get so absurdly long. Just wave after wave after wave of bullet sponges. And I've talked before about my issues with the loot system in that game.

I also made the mistake of speccing into the turret stuff, which meant I spent a lot of encounters crouching in a corner while I watched my turret play Borderlands 2 for me.
 

demidar

Member
Borderlands was pretty fun with the unique weapon combinations, but around Borderlands 2 and especially the Pre-Sequel, the enemies got so spongey, the mission design so formulaic and the combat so rote that I didn't see a point in continuing. Mindless fun is only fun for so long, at some point the brain needs to be engaged for something to feel fulfilling and fun.

The thing I wanted most of all was more than 1 active skill. With how many "Hero shooters" are gonna come out there's plenty of reference points to take inspiration from.

I remember playing one of those Unreal Tournament games that introduced melee weapons on consoles (don't ask), and you had up to 6 active abilities at any one time. You pressed a button and it would bring up 2 panels of 3 abilities each (press the button again to switch between the two panels), while you can select the 3 abilities with LT, A and RT respectively. BL can just copy that.

Edit: Here's a video of it https://youtu.be/D3_nbdFlvAI?t=43s
 

Zaph

Member
This Xenoblade QL is surprisingly good. If I had the time, I would totally be down with a bit of MMO-lite.

And more open world RPG's need to have modern, regular(within reason), residential cities. Sick of straw huts and ruins - I want to see bus routes.
 
N

Noray

Unconfirmed Member
I still haven't played all the DLC but people keep saying that Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep is fantastic and I have such a hard time believing that. Like, the conceit of a DnD-esque story told in the pseudo 4th-wall breaking nature of Borderlands sounds funny, but using Tina as the driving force just sounds like the worst.

I think I'm literally the only person in the world who hates 99% of Borderlands 2's writing... except Tiny Tina, who I think is pretty funny.

Mr Torque is cool too.
 

demidar

Member
This Xenoblade QL is surprisingly good. If I had the time, I would totally be down with a bit of MMO-lite.

And more open world RPG's need to have modern, regular(within reason), residential cities. Sick of straw huts and ruins - I want to see bus routes.

But Squeenix told me HD towns is rly hrd
 

Fantastapotamus

Wrong about commas, wrong about everything
Borderlands 2 single-handedly destroyed all love I had for that world. What little I saw of the Pre-sequel seemed even worse. It took majorly positive reviews to get me to even look at TftB, but I'm glad I did.

I cannot think of writing in any other game that disappointed me more than BL2. There are more poorly written games, but BL2 failed to meet my expectations more than any other game.

What? You didn't enjoy your character costantly yelling "COOL STORY, BRO!"? What a weirdo you must be!
 
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