I got TPS for xmas

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel BL: TPS Gameplay Discussion (Spoilers!)
#1

Well my daughter bought me TPS. I keep hearing that people don’t like it compared to borderlands 2 . so before I open the packaging, should I give it a try and since I’m a borderlands 2 fanatic, will I like this game? Or am I going to be like everyone else? I was really hoping for borderlands 1 goty. Is that better than TPS? Looking for any advice.

#2

It just bridges 1 & 2 together I didn’t think it was bad plus u can play as a clap-trap for 1 of choice’s so i say just give it a go u never know because opinions are like ■■■■■■■■ every body got 1

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#3

This was in part a case of the big BL YouTubers hyping it up to a level that couldn’t be met during pre-release, and part that they made some weird design choices that were later fixed. Now that they’ve been fixed, it’s a really solid game.

It’s BL2 with improved technical performance, more mechanics, and better skill tree design. It also has less aggressive scaling than BL2, so it is easier (take that however you will). However, I can’t say if you will like it, that is a question only you can answer.

BL1 is my favorite BL game, but it is much less polished than 2 and TPS are, to the point of a lot of BL2 fans dismissing it by calling it a tech demo. So while my opinion says yes, yours might be different than mine.

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#4

I loved the game, not as much as bl2 but I still love it. It does something not as great but improves alot of things at the same time. I even know people that like it more than bl2 or bl1.

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#5

It’s definitely worth your time. I’d play the first game first though, and recommend it over TPS. Then again, it was the first BL game I played, and people who have only played 2 say they have a hard time appreciating why the first game is superior in many ways.

TPS is completely familiar territory and even most of the same guns including legendaries make a reappearance, but low gravity is fun and laser weapons are very awesome.

I wouldn’t read too many negative reviews or opinions of the game from people who have already played it. I think it’s not justified to treat TPS as the sequel to BL2 that everyone was waiting for - it’s a different game from 2 and fun in its own right.

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#6

If you thought BL2 could get kind of crazy with endgame builds, let me assure you that TPS gets crazier. There’s a lot you can do with these characters, moreso than what was possible in BL2 IMO (BL2 just didn’t have the skill tree design to pull some of this stuff off).

For starters, Jack (if you’ve seen Derch’s “Darth Timothy” playthrough) can clear a lot of areas by simply walking through them. I’ve also been experimenting with a Jack AFK run using his badass clones. Athena can infi-spam a nuke-em with the right set-up.

TPS, as was said, is also easier than BL2, which allows you to get away with much more than OP levels in BL2. There isn’t as much gear to experiment with, but more of it is viable.

About the TPS reviews, normally I wouldn’t say to ignore people’s opinions without merit, but in the case of TPS it may be wise to do so. For the most part, the negative perceptions of the game were formed in the first 2 months after its release. After the Holodome (heck, before then) people had already made up their minds that TPS sucks, and a lot of criticism from back then is still parroted today, even though most of the things like a lack of endgame content (there still isn’t a lot, but it is there), farmable bosses, and new loot were addressed and fixed. You probably won’t get a good idea of how the game actually is if you only go off the reviews, because most of those people stopped playing and haven’t picked up the game since then. And if the patch of Oct 29 taught us anything, its that BL changes constantly throughout its life span, and to make a good review of the game you should really play it at its most recent iteration.

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#7

It’s Borderlands 2 with some new game mechanics:

  • New Cryo element to play with: mediocre DoT, but chance to freeze (and then smash) is fun.
  • Varying gravity is fun: use oxygen in low-grav environments for huge jumps; crouch while airborne to slam down on enemies (with enhanced damage effects from the new COMs)
  • New Unique gear is always welcome
  • New characters with their unique skill sets (including two additional characters available separately)
  • Lasers are fun (and they come in a few different varieties)
  • New enemy types with new combat mechanics

Unless you find the gameplay totally repulsive, I would recommend getting Claptrap’s DLC for it: it adds new gear, fun backstory, and a circle of slaughter with a new mechanism that makes it almost perfect. The vanilla game comes with a pretty fun circle of slaughter, but you only get to run through it once (like the others). The Holodome DLC is fun (I’m always down for that sort of thing, plus it adds some nice new gear), but Claptraps is… unparallelled.

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#8

I would say it’s overall inferior to Borderlands 2. It does refine the mechanics in a lot of ways, better balancing things in the end game. But while better designed, I did have more fun with 2. That is not to say TPS is a bad game. In fact, I would say it’s a very good game. I just enjoyed the overall experience of BL2 more. Especially since it got a lot more DLC.

If you enjoyed BL2, you will probably have a good time with TPS.

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#9

Thanks everyone for your insight.

I have bit of a back log of games to get to, TPS being one of them. Another game I have is fallout NV. I went ahead and installed it and I’ve logged about 2 hours or so on it. So far it hasn’t sucked me in and I find it a bit slow paced and dull. So now I’m thinking maybe install TPS since I do like bl2 a lot.

I’m kinda curious about the better mechanics and new players. Maybe I will install it tonight if I get a chance. I’ll let you guys know when I do.

Thanks again

(Btw…gta5 was just suggested to me from a friend at work. I might speculate on that too)

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#10

You will be rewarded for your time in New Vegas with a thoughtful and intriguing main story filled with branching options and consequence that is the hallmark of a good RPG, and as well a superior Fallout game. New Vegas has the best written dialog for some characters in any game I’ve played. The modding community for New Vegas is still strong and you can find that you’ll be able to tailor your game almost any way you choose, of course only if you’re playing on PC (why wouldn’t you be?).

Don’t waste your time with Fallout 4; Bethesda doesn’t make RPGs anymore. But if you just want to shoot things, maybe it’s your game.

#11

Kinda late to the party but definitely give it a try. Only downsides (in comparison to BL2) are that it’s easier, which I think is a negative but this is just a matter of opinion, and there’s less end-game stuff to do. Aside from that, it’s awesome and very much worth it.

#12

Personally, I love TPS. I like the low-grav, no-atmosphere moon theme, with its new mechanics. Plus I like nearly all the characters. The Claptrap DLC is ace, as is the optional Jack character. I’m currently developing Aurelia (also optional), and I find her quite unique, if not as much fun as Jack. She is the only character in all of Borderlands to get me seriously into sniper rifles. I’ve basically ignored them in the past. I like the gentler scaling as well. I don’t feel like I’m wasting my time getting good gear as I level, which is a problem in BL2 (with its excessively steep scaling across levels). The gear stays viable across half a dozen levels in TPS, sometimes more.

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#13

Well I went ahead and installed it. I picked nisha as my player . have to say I’m enjoying it so far. Got to level 6 and made it as far as chapter 3. I have to admit, feels a bit like Destiny with the boost jump and low gravity. Only difference is I like borderlands way better.
Off to find some Nisha builds !

Thanks again for the advice

#14

Sure thing. Be aware that Nisha is not the easiest character to lead off with. Wilhelm and his pets may be a better noob starting point. Athena is the best story choice, and her skill is easy to get into as well. But hey, if you want to jump in with both feet, have at it. It’s all good.

#15

Knowing me, I’ll probably make one of each. I like pistols so she was the logical choice for me. If I start hitting walls and can’t progress easily, I’ll try Wilhelm.

#16

Oh good, you’re playing it.

Nisha was fun when they didn’t patch out her ability to dual wield any kind of weapon or weapons.

#17

Get the Claptrap DLC and Doppelganger DLC to improve on the overall experience. It’s a good game, but not a classic (unless you add those two DLC elements). Even then, nowhere near as much to do and replay value much lower than BL1 and BL2.

EDIT - meant to reply to OP :slight_smile:

#18

I would caution to hold off on getting Claptastic Voyage because it’s weird.

Not to derail the thread, but I don’t understand or agree with all of the glowing reviews it’s received, even comparing it to the likes of Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dungeon Keep. It’s not bad, but it’s hardly amazing and has pretty lackluster side quests. Reading that makes me think I played a completely different game than the reviewer did.

I think TPS is better off without playing through it.

#19

At that point Aurelia and the Holodome/+10 levels are worth the $10 extra dollars to just get the season pass. (Or less if its on sale.)

Opinions are opinions, but I highly disagree. For me at least the CV is the only reason I still play this game. It adds a bunch of new uniques, legendaries, and a whole new weapon rarity(all of which make the guns preform very different from their purple counterparts or even other glitch weapons). It also adds new grenades and shields. Most of which fill many of the missing pieces of gear/guns that made the characters seem a bit off before hand.

It adds a new customize-able arena where you can change the difficulty, and add different buffs or debuffs to yourself to make the experience harder or easier, along w/ possible prizes upon completion.

It adds 2-3 new raid quality bosses to the game. Along with infinity better mobbing runs than most of the base game in basically every map but the ‘Mother Board’.

The story is cool and it introduces a bunch of new enemies and a lot of cool dynamic areas. And those enemies are fun to kill and mobb with, unlike the skeletons and Dragons in TTAoDK.

And yes it has about a dozen kinda short quest, which I can see as a down side if you play Borderlands mainly for the RPG aspect. But I enjoyed most if not all of them. And while it decreases the play time for the DLC, I personally prefer it like this over the standard fetch quest, like where I have to chase the ‘Crit’ all over the map killing the same mobbs every time or lighting the same ‘Dark Souls’ camp fire in 3-4 different spots.

You’re aloud to your opinion, but since the OP is reading this I just wanted to share my thoughts.

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#20

This is true, and maybe the only redeeming quality of the DLC, or the only reason to play it. I really like glitched guns.

No.

At best it’s just weird and tone-deaf, at worst it’s full of drivel and stretches on for way too long in places where you’d like to just skip over dialog as soon as possible. It doesn’t add to Borderland’s canon and it doesn’t develop any characters that you care about (pickle feeling sad about his family? gag). They didn’t need to include ‘memories’ of the first game’s areas or the second’s; I’d rather just go play those games instead.

One thing I would have loved for TPS was for it to assume its own identity and direction instead of always being afraid to step out of the shadow of the other two games. Claptastic Voyage is much too timid by far.

Again, maybe you and I played different games. Critical Fail is full of really entertaining and funny dialog. Like all things in Tiny Tina’s DLC, it requires you to think of what you’re doing as sort of a game within a game, or like metagaming. Maybe that’s too difficult for some people. The Dark Souls sidequest isn’t that remarkable to really say anything about it or to use it as an example about something that’s bad about the DLC. I’ll take fighting skeletons over poorly-modeled, blocky shapes of whatever-the-f*ck, any day.

Anyway,

I caution against getting this DLC because you should have to really love this game to get it and then want to make the effort to reach level 70 with your character. Then if you’re like me, it’s a bitter pill to swallow just to get the level cap increase if you enjoy the base game that much.