New Tales from the Borderlands is the continuation of the collaboration born between Revealing games there Gearbox in 2014. In this 2022, already fully developed by this latest study under the protection of 2K Games, his spiritual successor arrives. Will it live up to the previous critically acclaimed narrative game? It’s time to find out. The game is available for PC, PlayStation 4 and 5, XboxOne there Xbox series X|S. Incidentally, the Deluxe Edition includes, in addition to the game, all the chapters of the previous opus.
New Tales from the Borderlands, the spiritual successor
As we commented, New Tales from the Borderlands is the spiritual successor of Tales from the borders. And why a spiritual successor and not a sequel? Well, in addition to the change of study, the reason is that the characters and story from the previous game have no continuation here, beyond the cameos.This game is a new story with its own characters, who live the consequences of what we have seen in Borderlands 3.
Concretely, the three protagonists will be Anu, a somewhat neurotic scientist; Octavio, his brother with a successful businessman complex; And Fran, a middle-aged woman, Octavio’s boss, who runs a yogurt shop and has anger management issues. However, although we cannot control it, this game has a fourth protagonist. L0U13, Octavio’s killer robot friend, will literally accompany us in all the chapters, being a fundamental part of the team.
This trio of four will find, in a secret chamber, a crystal that has the ability to heal any type of wound.
A solution to all this violence and war plaguing the galaxy. This, of course, will put them in the crosshairs of the corporations, who are looking to take it all back after Handsome Jack ends. However, our protagonists have other plans, a business of their own…
Decisions will be everything
New Tales from the Borderlands It’s a narrative game, which means we won’t take much control. We will live the story and make different decisions, which will move the plot itself forward. In fact, the story has multiple endings, one more canonical than the others. The game will be divided into 5 chapters, each about 2 hours long, which you can replay at any time to see what will happen if you make another decision. On top of that, there will also be little times when we have to do Quick Eventseven if we are warned on the screen that we’re going to have to take control. At the end of each chapter, we will receive a summary of our decisions and how many players have made the same as us.
Exploration will also be important, albeit in a very secondary way. Each of the characters will have sections where we can freely control them in a closed area. It will be at these points where we will get money and we can change clothes. Additionally, each of the characters has their own mechanics for those moments. Anu has his glasses, with which to scan objects and people and get information. Octavio, for his part, has his ECHODex, with which he can hack different devices through small mini-games (which, by the way, are optional). Fran, on the other hand, will fix the hit machines.
Pescacamaras, humor and references
One element of the game where we would have liked more depth is in the Vaulter battles. The fishermen with the camera are figures of, as their name suggests, the main characters of the saga Borderlandsthose who spend more time on screen, like Handsome Jack or Lilith. In each chapter there will be several that we can obtain, each with their own statistics and abilities. In the plot there will be a character obsessed with them who will challenge us in a recurring battle. A great character indeed. However, the fights lack difficulty and hardly any depth,
having to press a button and take turns moving. Too bad, because it promised a lot, and with more worked gameplay it could be a great additional mode, or even a spin-off clean, as happened with the role and Tiny Tina.
Although we are in a narrative game, New Tales from the Borderlands is still a Borderlands game, and it shows. The dialogues are full of references and, of course, bad jokes. More precisely, L0U13 is the one who does the most, and they suit him very well. Also, obviously, references to pop culture and our society are everywhere, like a time when we will imitate dance dance revolution we will live a contest-reality show in our meats. The Spanish localization does an amazing job adapting all of these jokes and references. Too bad it didn’t come folded, because that would be the icing on a more than sweet cake.
Graphics, customization and sound in New Tales From the Borderlands
The graphic part New Tales from the Borderlands is very close to perfectat least in his own style cell shading. The room for improvement is very slim right now. And it’s that the game looks incredibly good, so apart from a weird expression, we could say that Gearbox has reached a ceiling in this respect. As a novelty, in this episode we can customize our three protagonists. However, the customization will not be free, but we can just change the skin of them, and there is not a great variety. However, it is an addition that we appreciate, and which justifies the game’s economy system.
The sound section is, without a doubt, the best in the game. And we’re talking about a title that does a lot of things well. The chosen soundtrack is masterful, and fits incredibly well with the tone of the story and the characters. So much so that since Gearbox they give us little segments in each chapter to just enjoy as the plot progresses, even putting the title of the song in the background. And of course, each character will have their own musical tastes and personality, which is reflected in these scenes.
Finally, New Tales from the Borderlands.
Ultimately, New Tales from the Borderlands It’s a very narrative game to considerespecially if you are a fan of the saga Borderlands. Although it does not reach the level, in terms of history, of the previous title, nor others of counting speechthe plot is very pleasant and the characters, although for some insignificant, seduce us very quickly.
Without many aspirations and with an exquisite Spanish localization, its 10 hours of play will give us a very fun experience, although sometimes it is also emotional. Hopefully there will be a future title of this line, because this New Tales from the Borderlands is an excellent starting point for the inclusion of Gearbox there 2K Games in the genre. And that it is dubbed in Spanish. Finally and as always, if you want to know more about games and news, we are waiting for you here in the Xbox area.
We thank the 2K Europe team for this analysis code.
New Tales from the Borderlands
Pro.
Signature Borderlands humor.
The characters are very charismatic and you quickly fall in love with them.
The graphic section is almost the graphic ceiling of this style.
The soundtrack and its use is simply magnificent.
Various endings, based on our decisions.
Contra.
The end depends on the final decision, not so much on the rest.
The story is simpler than in the original Tales from the Borderlands, although it’s not bad for that.
Vaulter battles could be much improved, and even launch a spin-off focused on them. A rather lost object.