I Honestly Enjoyed The PreSequel More Than Borderlands 3 (So Far)

Borderlands 3 Borderlands 3 General Discussion
#1

So, I’m thinking more and more about the PreSequel as being an arguably better “Sequel” (obviously I know it’s technically a PreSequel, but in this post I mean “Sequel” more as “a game that comes after a previous game” as opposed to which order the events in the games took place) to Borderlands 2 than Borderlands 3 has been so far (I’ve only just finished Atlas HQ, but I’ve read every spoiler imaginable and I know what’s ahead and I know that, story wise, it’s kinda all downhill from here, and there’s nothing THAT new and crazy coming up Combat or visuals wise either).

Ok, Borderlands 3 has better graphics and some interestingly new and improved mechanics (but they’re not THAT new and exciting, for either graphics or mechanics), but it has just as many bugs, issues, and serious lack of writing / character interest balancing that out (if not almost tipping the scales in a negative direction).

Now, the PreSequel.

I have MANY fond, fun, and awesome memories of The PreSequel (which, to be fair, had its own issues).

Maybe it’s because I was raised on Monty Python / Blackadder / Red Dwarf / etc, but I LOVED the fact that The PreSequel was so blatantly, refreshingly, in your face (-ingly) Australian (RIP, Gearbox Australia, you will be missed).

First and foremost, a to-max-level Claptrap playthrough (with all his oddness and magic and disco balls and rubber duckies and pirate ships and unpredictability) was an AWESOME and RIDICULOUS experience.

Second…more Jack.

He was one of the best things about Borderlands 2 (arguments to be made for the BEST thing) and having him get fleshed out even humanized some and learning his back story and watching him break his humanity in favour of megalomania and psychopathy was an awesome ride (not to mention getting to play as him with the DLC).

Third…IT WAS SO DIFFERENT. Oz kits, lasers, jumping, aliens, pressure / no pressure, space, contained environmental modules, etc…it was truly epic and awesome, as sketchy and infuriating as some of the jumping and Oz kit mechanics were at times (Hahahaha, Oz kit. Aussie kit).

Fourth (and this may well be FIRST for me, the more I think about it)…the humour. The Australian madness and weirdness. The pure culture shock that so many Canadians and Americans who had not been as deeply exposed to English / Australian / New Zealander humour over the courses of their life as I have must have felt. I loved it. Gearbox Australia did not try to North Americanize it AT ALL (hell, there’s even a CRICKET mission and the amazing hymn “Jerusalem” plays as you try to plant your flag in native territory to claim that land for a self proclaimed Space King).

Fifth (I guess I’m just listing these in the order they’re popping into my brain)…CRYO. Cryo in Borderlands 3 is a sad shadow of its insane mob exploding self in The PreSequel.

Sixth…THE CLAPTASTIC VOYAGE. Far and away my favourite Borderlands DLC (yes, more than Dragon’s Keep or Knoxx). Epic, tremendous, poignant, insane, unique! I loved it so much.

Seventh…the humour and references were dense to the point of ridiculous, and most of the side quests were solid gold. Do you guys all remember the crazy Galaxy leaping “2001: A Space Odyssey” monolith / “My God, it’s full of stars!” reference? The huge Pink Floyd prism near that enemy base? The Star Wars droids mission? So many more…

Honestly, after two and a half weeks at Borderlands 3, combat aside, I am fairly let down, sadly. Including more Borderlands 2 and PreSequel characters and, more specifically, directly addressing and picking up from The Watcher oh so cryptically saying “War is coming, you will need all the Vault Hunters you can assemble” would have gone a LOOOONG way in selling this latest Borderlands incarnation to me and many others, but it really does seem to be something I can’t bring myself to look past.

I certainly have felt nowhere near as motivated to / interested in hardcore binge playing it the way I did with Borderlands 1, 2, or the PreSequel (I finished my first PreSequel playthrough in one insane three day drunken co-op-with-randos binge).

Alas, poor Borderlands 3.

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My One Sentence Review Of Borderlands 3
#2

Tagging @Slif_One my favourite Australian!

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#3

The main issue funnily enough that I had with PS is the same thing I have with 3. The horrid amount of random drop legendaries. I just don’t like this formula for loot. At least PS has the grinder and moonstone stuff tho which is better than anything BL3 has implemented at this point IMHO.

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#4

@r3f1cul

Fair point. Legendaries were pretty brutal drop wise. I remember there being an uproar about that back in the TPS days, too. I guess, having never had much luck finding Legendaries in ANY Borderlands game, I kind of just remove them from my mental equation when I’m thinking about what I like / don’t like about Borderlands games.

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#5

Story wise I have heard that Handsome jack was the main villain of borderlands 3 about 2-3 years into development, the writer for Borderlands 2 and the Pre sequel left the team as well after the handsome jack cut.

What I think Bl3 was originally going to be was Handsome jack being revived by the vault symbol with some kind of powers to boot, starting a war on a revenge path to kill Lilith and Moxxi.

Bl2 Bltps and Tftbls all seemed to hint at Jack being the cause of the war, and Jack being revived.

I personally would’ve loved to see Jack return and Moxxi to get whats coming to her.

They can still technically bring him back, albeit his writer is gone though.

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#6

I’m not sure I’d say I enjoyed TPS more than BL3 at this point because I feel I need to sink some more time into BL3 before I draw any conclusions like that.

I will say though that I do agree with you about the humor and pop culture references in TPS. TPS did hit many more of my boxes than BL3 in that regard and I really liked the whimsical nature of TPS. In fact, I’d even dare say that I enjoyed the humor/references in TPS more than in BL2.

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#7

Claptastic voyage is also the best dlc for me

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#8

If you have found the Hyperion Jackhammer SMG, I’m fairly sure Jack’s consciousness is living in that gun. It has told me several times to take it to a digistruct place so he can get out of the gun.

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#9

@jdkzombie Legendary, I imagine?

#10

Giving you love because I rarely see other Red Dwarf fans!!!

It’s early days yet and I’m hoping the dlc will add more on the future - not just dlc wise but to the maps as a lot of them feel a bit empty sometimes.

Even the enemies in 3 got repetitive after a while. As much as I hate threshers (eewwwuggh seriously creeped me out) they still kept me on my toes. Eden 6 was the only planet I felt had a good variety but needed more number wise. A big jungle like that - it would have been great to have beasts crawling out the walls in some places and keeping you on your toes. A giant snake (similar to a thresher), a fast mammal enemy (to keep you moving) etc.

Anthony Burch - as much as he can be a ass - was a great writer. And even though he wasn’t a part of this project, I think they should have still gone to him to ask about what kind of idea he had going. As the end of tales and the lore in the pre sequel…there was clearly an end game plan for it all. Borderlands 3 can’t have been that big plan.

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#11

Personally, I’d have loved if he returned still as some sort of an AI to reluctantly help in this big war that had been planned - even if it had been the calypsos war, make them a bigger threat than they were in BL3.

Jack really was what made me love the game and I have his mask trinket, mask decoration and the legendary gun with his AI in. And as much as I had problems with 3, the second I got that gun and heard his voice and his humour, I had the biggest smile on my face.

I know they didn’t want to overuse him. But he was just such a well written character with so much potential - especially given his backstory and his involvement with the vaults.

…or gimme an alternate universe where I can work for Hyperion to make Jack King of the Universe. Totally wouldn’t complain. xD

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#12

Yes. I loved the Presequel.

I think I prefer 3 for its gunplay, but tps was just so good on all fronts (overall. The lack of dlc sucked. Loot felt a little recycled).

I’m very let down by 3. We’ll see if the dlc can redeem it.

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#13

3 games of Jack is enough for me. His story had a satisfying ending, he was used as a tool to develop Rhys in Tales, and we rounded out the backstory through the Pre-Sequel and a side mission in 3. Finding yet another convoluted way to bring him back is just going to result in diminishing returns.

Villain led series work sometimes, but turning into The Jack Show would be detrimental to the scope of the Borderlands universe in my opinion.

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#14

yeah, Jack is turning as a Joker (always present in batman games).

#15

I’ve gotta say man, the Pre Sequel is in my humblest opinion, a masterpiece.

In many ways, it was far and away better than BL2. I love the humor, story, the gameplay the quests (especially some of those side quests!!!). It was such a nice touch the way the characters had dialogue amongst each other and would just randomly start having conversations(Auralia and Fragtrap ftw!).

It had my personal favorite DLC to date with Clap Voyage. That was just such a well done dlc. It was humorous and sad and altogether epic.

I though it had some of the best characters to date and the skill trees are SO we’ll done.

It also had some of the absolute best Easter eggs ever.

But yeah, I haven’t finished BL3 yet. Hell, I’m probably not even half the way through… I just battled Bully the Annointed at the Jacobs estate. So not sure how far really.

So I’m not sure how to compare it yet.

So far, I like most if the new mechanics.combat feels especially on point and very fluid and in point.

The story so far has been decent. No where near as captivating as BL2 and BL:TPS.

My main issue with the story in BL3 so far is the continuity of the storytelling feels off. The Calypso’s are decently well done antagonists but I’m disappointed because according to the previous entries I was expecting The Watcher and Athena and all to be the pick up spot. So the whole Calypso and COV just feels really shoehorned in.

To keep from rambling on and on(I could preach on how well done Pre Sequel was all day) Ill just say this: It honestly feels like a completely different group of people made BL3 and it feels like that group of people just had a very basic idea of what Borderlands is about.

It feels like everythingbwithin this entry(aside from the combat) is slightly off. It’s not necessarily bad per se, it just feels like it misses the mark on that unique brand of Borderlands storytelling and humor that I’ve come to know . It almost feels like a really well done but generic version of the Borderlands Universe I’ve come to love.

Not exactly sure how to frame my feelings but it’s been hit and miss with everything.

I’m also going to give it more time before I really form a concrete opinion because I have to be fair and realize that NOTHING will ever life up to the hype created in my head. I’m also going to wait to see how it all feels in the framework of finishing the story and then the DLC.

Who knows, maybe the Calypso’s are intended to be a distraction and they will still continue the story where it left off with Lilith, Athena and the Watcher and the cryptic “war is coming…”.

Oh yeah and Monty Python FTW!

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#16

@ckx00000 out of likes for now but awesome reply and THANK YOU!

EDIT: my likes are back!

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#17

Also:

2 years almost exactly between Borderlands 2 and TPS and TPS was (in my opinion also as @ckx00000 said a masterpiece), 7 years between 2 and 3, 5 years between TPS, and we get…this.

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#18

Well it’s been 7 years since Borderlands 2, the main writer and possibly others have left, and The Pre-Sequel wasn’t primarily developed by Gearbox but 2K australia so…that’s kind of exactly true.

@FlamesForAll
They were also working on Battleborn in those 7 years, as well as a cancelled Brothers in Arms, and switched to a newer engine which requires a lot of work recreating old assets. It’s not exactly 7 years of just working on 3.

As much as I preferred the Pre-Sequel to 2 I never recognized it as the better game. And release state to release state it really doesn’t hold a candle to 3 either; The Claptastic Voyage is just so much of the quality of that game. Neither of them will ever hold up to the music of 2 though, the Bloodshot Dam battle theme will forever exclusively play in my head whenever I think of Borderlands.

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#19

I also really loved the Pre-Sequel… but I can’t say I loved it more than Borderlands 3. I can’t say vice-versa either. I really just love the Borderlands series : D

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#21

Totally fair and valid!

Me too!

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