Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands is a Borderlands game in a whole new package, for both the good and the bad.The concept is promising, but considering all the gearbox Had to cooperate, it didn’t really deliver.
I have to admit, before Little Tina’s Wonderland, I didn’t really feel hyped. The introduction of dragons and magic certainly piqued my interest, but I was still riding high on the Elden Ring last month. Frankly, a part of me (shamefully) thought it was so much fun for me to be Elden Lord, and no game will ever do the same again.
Well, Little Tina’s Wonderland did get me out of trouble, thank goodness. It reminds me of how amazingly different the two games can be when they share the same core elements: killing enemies, collecting loot, killing bigger enemies, being a hero, etc.
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands isn’t a perfect game (and doesn’t have to be), but for me personally, it was a much-needed breath of fresh air and some fun at first — without too much frustration. However, those first impressions didn’t last for more than a few hours.
Little Tina’s Wonderland sees the titular little Tina take the main stage again. This isn’t the first time she’s been thrust into the spotlight – you may remember the release of the Borderlands 2 DLC, Tiny Tina’s Dragon Castle raid, where players completed Tiny Tina’s D&D campaign in a matter of hours .
Well, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands is essentially this DLC transformed into a full game, with familiar faces (like Claptrap and Torgue) appearing alongside new mechanics like tabletop Overworld, melee combat, and character creation.
Being able to make a character that’s (almost) fit for a TTRPG feels pretty immersive, but overall, the gameplay isn’t all that different from what we’ve all come to expect from the tried-and-true, now-traditional Borderlands formula.
That’s good because, in a sense, this is actually a spiritual successor to the Borderlands franchise. But it’s also an ironic spinoff that swaps DnD for “Bunker and Badass.” Not only will you be playing an action-packed loot-shooting RPG, but occasionally you’ll be taken into a cutscene that reminds you that the RPG you’re playing is actually a fictional character imagined by these guys and their TTRPG campaign.
As you might have guessed, Tina herself is the Bunker Master, and you play as the destiny maker trying to save Wonderland from the evil Dragon King. You use the overworld to travel between dungeons and boss fights as little Tina rolls the dice and surprises you with random encounters or side quests, and sometimes you may run into obstacles (in the form of a half-eaten snack, or something ).
As someone who is obsessed with TTRPGs – but often doesn’t have time to dig into it with my friends – I find all of this to be very interesting. Sadly though, the novelty wears off quickly.
While I generally like Borderlands games for their goofy dialogue and goofy humor, in some ways it does feel like Tiny Tina and the various supporting cast drag on for too long and make you do a lot of standing and kicking matter. I’ve never been a big fan of this in previous games, and given the much slower pace here, it could be aggravated.
The cutscenes – which pop up frequently – lack visual quality. It’s a small thing, but please do justice to the Queen Batt Horse with near 720p cutscenes! At least the game itself looked better; even with the elemental magic out of control, I couldn’t see anything but poison and fire on my screen.
Gearbox has apparently added a lot of little things to Tiny Tina’s Wonderland to improve upon the existing Borderlands formula and give it a shiny new protagonist – you! – But the studio seems to have overlooked some key basics, spitting and polishing its aging precious ponies in haste. To make matters worse, the UI and maps have become more cluttered than before. Ever played a TTRPG with too much stuff on the table? Just like that. But somehow more annoying.
When it comes to combat, the ability to switch spells and use new melee weapons does a great job of making the action in the game more lively. Be warned, your screen will be filled with magic effects, UI elements and other crap – it’s going to be annoying.As much as I love using magic, I i’m not a fool My enemies use it all the time; see Boss Two, Banshee. She is a painful person.
It’s great to hear the likes of Will Arnett, Andy Samberg, Ashly Burch, and Wanda Sykes provide their melodious tones for the project, but frankly, a star-studded cast and some extra mechanics (you don’t have to use that much… …unless it’s auto-picked!) Don’t live up to my expectations for Gearbox’s experimental adventure into the RPG realm.
I hope Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands offers more than just a rework of the Borderlands formula that includes a tabletop game board. Initially, the introduction of new combat mechanics and some other quality-of-life upgrades to the overall experience really impressed me. But that feeling of excitement didn’t last long. At least that fantasy-style score keeps your ears engaged. A little bit.
This leads me to talk about fantasy. Dungeons & Dragons campaigns are often embedded in different aspects of the fantasy genre, so of course Tiny Tina’s latest Bunker & Badass campaign is as well.
There’s dragons, undead, elemental magic, and sometimes, there’s a sense that Borderlands is mixed with elements of Skyrim. While I can’t ride a horse and traverse the mountains almost vertically, I can recruit a dragon companion to help me defeat the dragon king and his minions.
It’s certainly interesting to see the Borderlands spin-off take a deeper look at this and really show the mind of a chaotic little Tina – I just hope the novelty of all this comes as soon as I realize things It didn’t go away so quickly when it didn’t feel as fresh or fresh as I initially set it up.
Little Tina’s Wonderland is a lively era. There’s a lot to do, and I feel like a lot of people (especially fans of Tiny Tina’s Raid on Dragon Castle) will have a lot of fun with this fantasy Borderlands spinoff.
For me, I think there might be some fun multiplayer moments in the future, but probably not more. Gearbox is somewhat trying to take things in a new direction, but it still ends up feeling recycled and repetitive, refurbishing old ground.
Cutting mobs in exchange for my weapons is fun, and sometimes funny dialogue makes everything look great. Gearbox could have done more than that in the next installment of the Borderlands franchise. Everything is getting old so fast that it makes me just want to start Borderlands 2 again with my friends.
