New Tales from the Borderlands

Borderlands has always been known for its likable characters, and the protagonists introduce in New Tales From The Borderlands continue this grand tradition alongside a well written story. The characters play very well off of one another and grow before our eyes as they each dive deeper into their own psyches. But the lack of innovation in the gameplay is disappointing after this many years, which makes New Tales From The Borderlands mainly worth checking out for fans of the series.

Despite some dodgy pacing, unsatisfying mini-games, and the occasional attempt at dated humor, New Tales from the Borderlands is a funny and sometimes hilarious story full of charming characters. A game featuring performances of this quality is a true rarity and the potential replayability inherent in a choice-based game such as this makes it worth checking out.

Visually the characters, animation, and cinematics benefit greatly from the use of performance capture, and it doesn’t take long for the physical ticks and mannerisms of the three main players to do that thing where they no longer feel like characters in the story - but, real characters. This is the best the franchise has looked from a purely cinematic level. In the end, New Tales From The Borderlands succeeds because it lives up to its namesake and presents the best Borderlands storytelling since the original Tales.

Pleasant to play, visually beautiful, full of humor, we are delighted to be able to return to the world of Borderlands in the manner of a TellTales. Unfortunately, the additions of gameplay and the wobbly side of its scenario do not play to its advantage.

Are you playing one of those bland interactive storytelling games again?, one character asks another at one point. New Tales from the Borderlands is like that. Funny, capable of laughing at himself and very clear in his proposal. But also bland. Characters, plot and situations have lost magic, the quick time events are terrible (worse than usual), and their decisions don't bother to hide one of the most linear adventures in the genre.

New Tales from the Borderlands is a solid narrative adventure game, but it fails to live up to the standards set by the original. Even though it has great gameplay systems and presentation, the story's disjointed structure, lack of adequate character development, and spotty comedic writing left me feeling disappointed.

New Tales from the Borderlands is the first time that I’ve felt invested in the series since Borderlands 2. It’s a much smaller-scale adventure that sometimes feels more like a movie than it does a game, but its heartfelt cast of characters, (somewhat) smarter humour, and tighter focus make this a tale well worth listening to.

New Tales from the Borderlands successfully recaptures a lot of Telltale’s original magic with a fresh, funny, and affable new set of main characters, but unfortunately it also introduces new problems – both in the story and in some half-hearted game mechanics – that gum up the works. You don’t need to have played the first Tales in order to enjoy this one, but if you’re going to choose one or the other, stick with the original and circle back to this pseudo-sequel with tempered expectations if the first one grabs you as much as it grabbed me.

Ultimately, New Tales From The Borderlands feels like more of the same and fans of the first are likely to enjoy this, but given it’s been nearly eight years since that first one, I wanted more of an evolution.

New Tales from the Borderlands manages to accomplish many of the narrative highs of its predecessor by providing a glimpse into how normal, everyday people handle the outrageous going-ons of the Borderlands series. The story is helped along by the narrative arcs of its three main characters, each of which feeds into and builds on one another. The narrative momentum stalls mid-way through the story, but New Tales from the Borderlands manages to finish strong, delivering a charmingly fun space western adventure.

New Tales from The Borderlands follows the step of its predecessor, with a well written story and a cast of protagonists that will entertain you for hours. The cell shading style and the filmmaker direction make the whole package well worthy of your time.

The return of the spin-off franchise is unfortunately not a triumphant one. Impressive technically especially in animation, but with borderline non-existent gameplay and an uneven story, it fails to deliver an overall strong experience.

We love the characters and the sense of humor in Tales of the Borderlands, but decision making, QTE and exploration sequences don´t live up to the story.

New Tales from the Borderlands is completely overshadowed by Tales from the Borderlands. It's less fun, the gameplay is full of gimmicks, the characters are frustrating, the story is slim and you have few things to choose from. What remains is an adventure with some creative moments and cute friendships.

Gearbox has tried to match the pace and storytelling style of Telltale's Tales from the Borderlands but falls short with a rushed story and uninspiring characters.

New Tales from the Borderlands, as a spiritual successor to Telltale’s series, is a cavalcade of peaks and valleys. It expands on the franchise’s complex lore with a terrifically produced five-episode stint that will, for most, be a one-and-done experience that sadly fails to iterate on or improve the tired formula these types of games all rode into the ground.

Apart from some nice insane gimmicks and a valuable graphic-artistic sector, New Tales from the Borderlands is far from the levels of its predecessor.

New Tales from the Borderlands is so overblown with all sorts of different kinds of humour that it is choking the comedic timing it could have had - most of the funny moments involve side characters and not the main ones. The story is good, but the choices don’t feel that important compared to the other games in the genre.

New Tales From the Borderlands could have been a much better game. There is a huge potential in the Borderlands universe to explore stories about all those people who with their work and sacrifice pay the bills for the eternal greed of corporations. The potential of this world to tell stories we can relate to and then give us the illusion that the little guys can win, even if it's just once, was completely wasted.

Like the three protagonists it features, New Tales From the Borderlands is a hot mess. If you don't take the game too seriously, there's a fun, heartfelt adventure buried somewhere beneath the layers of erratic writing and misplaced humor. It's an oddball romp with a bumbling cast of characters who deserve more substance than they were given. If the original Tales From the Borderlands is ice cream, New Tales From the Borderlands is frozen yogurt. And at the end of the day, even Fran admits that frozen yogurt just isn’t as good.

New Tales from the Borderlands offers a satisfying experience within the Gearbox universe, with its characteristic sense of humor as its flag and main triumph. However, its lack of ambition and uninspired gameplay detract from the overall experience.

The adventures of Anu, Octavio and Fran struggle to achieve the furious madness that we have come to expect from a game stamped Borderlands. Sometimes irreverent, often conventional, the title signed Gearbox is satisfied with the union minimum for an Interactive Drama of 2022 in terms of gameplay. The virtual absence of Cornelian choices and the rhythm which collapses after the third chapter prevent him from forgiving his lack of ambition. The problem with New Tales from the Borderlands isn't that it doesn't reinvent the wheel, but that it spins the genre around in circles. Fortunately, his humor gives him a significant sympathy capital.

An unnecessary sequel that is miles behind the original in every regard.

For a few moments, New Tales from the Borderlands captures the feeling of the series, but for the most part it's a rather generic and overlong trek that fails to excite, entertain, or amuse.

A beautiful, great-sounding narrative adventure that loses its way with annoying and idiotic characters, drawn out exposition, and a distinct lack of challenge.

If you're fan of the original Tales from the Borderlands and want to remember this series as funny, smart and tasteful, I suggest you to skip this one. Otherwise, know that average gameplay and non-funny jokes await you in this 10 hour journey.

New Tales from the Borderlands won't be the spiritual sequel that so many fans were hoping for. More technically accomplished, the game adapts a formula that has been out of date for years without managing to bring any real flavor to it. It has the merit of making us laugh for about ten hours, without ever managing to be as memorable, enjoyable and delirious as its predecessor.

The Borderlands series seems like it’s stuck in a rut right now. Borderlands 3 had great shooting and mechanics, but an abysmal story and dialogue. New Tales From the Borderlands suffers from those same issues, but the big problem is the focus on a lackluster narrative. For every rare good joke or exciting moment, there are hours of insufferable gags that make you cringe and wince.