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Tales of the Borderlands (PS4)

Status: Finished playing
I started playing this game on Sunday 26 March, 2017  //  I stopped playing this game on: Wednesday 31 May, 2017
Current opinion of this game
No comment, yet.

May 31, 2017 07:13:34 PM
Finished this the other night. Really enjoyed it even if it did feel/get a bit long in the end? It seems like the sweet spot for me is about 90 minutes (or less) per episode and I think that some of the ones in this game come out to 2hrs?

As a game it's a nice example of what you can do withing a certain style as you push it's limits (a little, just a little) as well as figure out what the core/essence is. Telltale seems to have moved away from puzzle-y bits/parts (this game was no exception) and upped the ante a little bit, in terms of variety, for quick-time events. I enjoyed how natural and interesting some of the ones in this game felt - maybe it's because this game felt like those action-ey bits could be more traditional? After all, it's a Borderlands game - which has an established style and gameplay vocabulary? Hmmm.. I might have to pick up some of their other games just to see? (the Game of Thrones one as a recent example, but maybe also the Back to the Future one, 'cause it's older/earlier?)


April 6, 2017 06:54:49 PM
I've finished the first two episodes and I'm almost halfway through the third and I'm really enjoying the narrative, characters, and humor. I'm most impressed by how well the game captures the "Borderlands feel" both visually as well as in gamefeel, while still remaining firmly rooted in the story-game style that Telltale has been developing over the years. For example, there are a few moments in the first episode that feel very much like a first-person shooter even though you're not really first person shooting (though, technically, you still are). So, a quicktime event where you select a target from a few options on the screen and fire. It's not free-camera, but it didn't need to be. In the same scene you also have to configure a loader bot that comes down to help you out - feeling very much like all the gear configuration you have to do in Borderlands. All these little elements, that might seem like "token moments" do add up and evoke a really strong feeling of the Borderlands games that I appreciated and enjoyed.

I also get the feeling that a lot of the characters are "series staples". I'm not familiar enough with Borderlands lore to know who they are, or why they matter (maybe I forgot them?), but it's been fun to learn about them.

So far it's one of my favorite Telltale games...which sounds wrong.


 
kudos for original design to Rodrigo Barria