I've written pieces about movies, shows, and books, but I'm wary to write about a video game. I love art and stories, so any medium that tells stories has my interest. Video games have always been seen as gameplay-driven experiences, but the medium is shifting with Telltale's adventure games and Fullbright's interactive stories. Games are emerging as a more respectable art form, so it's no longer surprising when people talk about a game's story before its gameplay. This is important because "Tales From the Borderlands" does not have fun gameplay. I play it for the story and characters, and for those elements, it is absolutely worth it.
"Tales From the Borderlands" is a point-and-click adventure game based on Gearbox's Borderlands series, known for its ridiculous humor, gazillion guns, and extravagant violence. Tales was released for PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Windows, IOS, OS X, and Android. So yeah, you can play it. The game uses Telltale's distinctive episodic format, which means that you can buy individual self-contained chapters of the story as they come out or purchase a season pass for the whole thing. I bought it for $8 after all five episodes were out, so I was able to play through and see the consequences of my choices.
The "Borderlands" series is not known for its rich characters or involving story. The first game's story was essentially: "You want thing, MONSTER, game over. Shoot more guns." The DLC experimented with more complex characters and set pieces for you to shoot through, but it wasn't until Borderlands 2 that the series finally had good characters and story. I mention all of this to preface that "Tales From the Borderlands" is really surprisingly good. It uses characters from the previous games in creative ways, adding more depth to them and even killing some.
What sets "Tales From the Borderlands" apart from the "Borderlands" series is its heart and focus on character. You play as Rhys and Fiona, a corporate weasel and two-faced con artist respectively. These two wimpy manipulators have to talk their way out of the incredibly dangerous situations they unwittingly fall into. They sometimes fight, but they're not especially good at it. Typically in "Borderlands," a tough situation is resolved through bullets, explosions, and exploding bullets. Telltale's dialogue is sharp and keeps situations tense and humorous simultaneously.
The dialogue works because the characters are fully realized. The main characters all start out as one-dimensional archetypes: the douche, the con artist, the sister, and the nerd. As the episodes progress, they change and take on new layers, often through your choices. You decide whether you want Rhys to reform his ways and reject his megalomaniacal hero or embrace his wit and exploit enemies and friends alike. Choices don't have huge repercussions, but they do affect the characters and that's important.
Borderlands is known for being fun despite itself. The main games are boring once the shooter elements wear thin and your new guns only marginally improve at face-shooting. Similarly, "Tales's" gameplay of point-and-click and quick-time-events aren't immersive. Honestly, they're tedious. I don't enjoy mashing my keyboard for 10 seconds to repel a bandit or casually pressing directions to avoid missiles.
It's the biggest downside of the game, but while the main games reel you in through better loot and funny missions, "Tales" is completely worth playing for humor, characters, and story. The gameplay is brief and easy, so the focus always remains on the other elements. It's a consistently funny game because of witty banter, slapstick, well-timed jokes, absurdity, and great facial animations.
Besides, the gameplay is entirely validated for a two minute finger gun shootout that lampoons the entire game series.
