SHORT VERSION:

Save your money. Story is awful and the characters introduced, aside from the vault hunters themselves, are - with VERY FEW exceptions - completely unlovable. I have no idea what the writers were thinking. Following up BL2 and the Pre-Sequel with this trash.

The ONLY redeeming feature of this game is the mechanical smoothness. the gamefeel is great, but it doesn't make up for the desecration of an entire series.




LONG VERSION:

Well, dang. With all the reviews that this game received, I figure it's time for me to put in my two cents. I have always been a die-hard Borderlands fan. And now, having completed the campaign of this game, I can safely say the series is dead to me. Allow me to explain my reasoning.

WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW.

So, I'm going to break this down piece by piece, as I watched this game tear apart one of my most beloved franchises, decimating one of the best series I've ever had the pleasure of playing. I started this game with low hopes, having waited long hours up to the Steam release. I wasn't about to let myself be suckered in with that Epic Games Store nonsense.

First and foremost. The GREAT.

Borderlands 3 has some of the smoothest movement I've enjoyed in a shooter in a while. The gamefeel is fantastic, and the guns feel great. The moment to moment gameplay is genuine artistry.


Secondly, the GOOD.

This game has some solid environment design, and the music, while largely unremarkable, is often pleasant to listen to. A few of the larger area maps get somewhat confusing, but hey. There are a lot of areas in this game, which are all trying to feel varied. It happens, I think.


Thirdly, the MEH.

The way that this game tries to be story-focused is insufferable. The scenes happen with little or no regard for the character, and it often feels like your achievements in the game are extremely ignored. You feel completely useless as everyone cheers on Lilith and tells you how important she is. Absolutely infuriating.


And finally, the TERRIBLE.

This game's story is harder to stomach then some of the worst literary tripe I've had to choke down. Period. It feels like a bunch of self important people patting themselves on the back for making unlovable characters, ruining beloved characters, and just annihilating a beloved narrative set in place, and doubled down on by Borderlands 2 and the Pre Sequel respectively.

One by one, this game introduces annoying character after annoying character. I'll mention as many of them as I can think of here.


First of the new characters is Lorelei, a walking "don't talk to me until I've had my coffee" joke, while trying to shove it down the player's throat that she's cool. She isn't. absolutely insufferable.

Second of the new main characters, to my recollection, is Ava, an absolutely infuriating child who does nothing but complain and cause problems for the entire game, and blames the problems she causes on other characters. Her unbelievable idiocy and belligerence is ignored throughout the entire game, and then, at the very end, she is offhandedly REWARDED, as if her character played ANY role other than being an immense problem.

Thirdly, and thankfully, are a few of the only likeable new characters in the game, Wainwright Jakobs, and Clay, last name unspecified. These guys are great. Charismatic, interesting, and fun to be around.

Fourthly, and oh good god not finally, the villains. Troy and Tyreen Calypso. Good GOD they could not have done worse with these godforsaken excuses for villains. STREAMERS. The villains meant to follow up Handsome Jack, one of the better villains I've seen in the last decade. His legacy in wonderful character development, exposure, and depth, completely desecrated by this godawful excuse for a couple of antagonists.

I don't particularly have the energy to even complain about it any more than I already have. Just know that I could keep writing a multi-page long essay about every single aspect of the writing, the atrocities committed to existing characters, and the desecration of what was once potentially intriguing lore.

I played this game start to finish, completing most of the maps. and honestly... I don't know if I'll EVER play a borderlands game again. This game has majestically ruined a series. It's like watching the Hindenburg crash, but covered in poop jokes, and other, similarly insufferable garbage. I couldn't use the word insufferable enough.

SAVE YOUR MONEY.

So! Approximately 35 hours and I completed the game 100% (at least in regards to the metrics I have available. I have all the monsters, all the outfits, full map completion, fought every boss.

Absolutely great game. Not perfect, by any means. The balancing can be a little shaky at times, some of the fights you get into early on can feel extremely unfair. But learning the system, making a few good teams, and then working your way forward piece by piece got me a momentum that eventually led to me sweeping the whole damn game. Felt good.

Lots of care went into this, and it's very evident. The areas, music, monster sprites...
There's a friggin Orca with legs. You can ride it.

PROS
Great pixel art.
Great music.
Generally fun gameplay.
World feels good to explore. The content added in the Forgotten World DLC is my favorite. I loved feeling like I was the one doing the exploring, rather than going through areas that other characters had explained. A great sense of mystery.

THE MIXED BAG
The skill trees have NAUSEATING depth. So many possible pairings and builds that it can be really easy to get lost. Some of the most powerful combos aren't immediately obvious, and a lot of builds that sound good in theory can get you totally screwed, and you feel like you've wasted some investment in equipment, skill resetters, etc. The freedom to choose how you build is excellent, but the game does punish you for building poorly, even on the lower difficulty.

CONS
The game's difficulty seems to fluctuate wildly between bosses, optional content, and exploration. Some areas you'll breeze right on through, only to get absolutely stomped by the boss. Some areas, you'll just get stomped in the field, only to find that your team hard counters the boss.
The keeper duels in particular can be a bit awful. The first one you're introduced to, against Will, is almost guaranteed to clap you, unless you happen to have the right build early on. I have yet to interact with anyone who has won that one first try.
It can be a bit confusing at times.
(Note this is not a dig at the devs. Balancing a game with this much complexity is hard as hell.)


TL;DR
Is the game worth it? Yes, definitely. Just don't be afraid to take breaks. Marathoning this game can get frustrating, and sometimes, hitting a roadblock in a particular fight can be downright rage inducing. But for the lovely metroidvania elements, the beautiful design, and the oodles and canoodles of care that went into this one, it has got to be a yes from me, dog.