Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands joins Elden Ring in the tradition of the illusory wall

I’ve played Tiny Tina’s Wonderland special to take breaks from elden ring. But here I am today over lunch, looting guns and smashing bodies in Gearbox’s new Borderlands spinoff, and what do I find? An illusory wall. I can’t escape them!

elden ring made headlines (surprise) two weeks ago when players discovered the now infamous “Super” decoy wall. Unlike most fake one hit barriers elden ring, This monstrosity takes a whopping 50 strikes before disappearing. It’s very likely a bug, but it’s a reminder of how many indeed

illusory walls are scattered across the sprawling Lands Between and several previous games in the FromSoftware catalogue.

Tiny Tina’s Wonderlandhowever, isn’t exactly a subtle game. In fact, it’s as intrusive as they come. So imagine my surprise when I panned my camera over a wall and saw the “Melee” prompt appear. “Please, no,” I said. “Please, God, no.” I wiped at the wall and it gradually evaporated in a very FromSoft way, and I knew then and there that I had to find every one of those perfidious palisades – because behind that wall in question there was one wonderland“Lucky Dice. Not only do these collectibles release a ton of loot when hit, but they also permanently increase your chance of finding high-value items. It’s worth looking for them!

In the video above you can see my idiot ass searching a tight area at the foot of a cathedral for 55 seconds before discovering Gearbox’s betrayal. That ethereal clink at the bottom of the stairs is the telltale sign of a nearby lucky dice, so of course I’m combing the area.

Apparently there are a handful of these insincere obstacles wonderland

. And although they are definitely not an indication of it elden ring (That would be an impressive eleventh-hour addition to Gearbox), they’re probably making fun of one of FromSoftware’s time-honored traditions – one whose history spans such DOOM, Wolfenstein 3Dand preferably Dungeons & Dragons. Vice’s recent deep dive explored the history of the illusory walls and how their name, if not their modern function, arose out of the pre-eminent tabletop RPG.

Consider that wonderland‘ Central narrative and design conceit is that it unfolds within a tabletop campaign (as the megalomaniac of the same name envisions herself), illusory walls make sense in this fantasy romp.

But that annoys me no less!