What The Critics Are Saying About New Tales From The Borderlands
"New Tales from the Borderlands" is the spiritual successor to Telltale Games' critically acclaimed "Tales from the Borderlands." Although set in the Borderlands universe, "New Tales from the Borderlands" is far detached from the looter shooter gameplay the mainline series is known for. Instead, "New Tales from the Borderlands" is a choice-based graphic adventure game full of humorous dialogue. The game follows three brand-new protagonists as they try to survive in the "Borderlands" universe. Fans of Telltale Games' previous titles will be familiar with the non-action-oriented gameplay of "New Tales from the Borderlands."
Because Telltale Games shut down in 2018, this spiritual successor needed a new development team. During its announcement, it was revealed that "New Tales from the Borderlands." was to be developed in the studio at Gearbox, to the displeasure of many. So now that "New Tales from the Borderlands" has hit shelves, it's time to see if Gearbox pulled off a worthy entry in the "Tales from the Borderlands" series.
Great characters bogged down by a not so great story
Ryan McCaffrey at IGN rated "New Tales from the Borderlands" a 7/10. In his review, McCaffrey wrote that "New Tales from the Borderlands" had no shortage of great characters that, through their dialogue, exude the charm of the first game. However, McCaffrey felt the story went off the rails towards the end of the game and never recovered. He also believed the game would have been easier to digest with an episodic release window instead of coming all at once, as he felt there weren't enough breaks between the episodes.
Game Informer's Wesley LeBlanc gave "New Tales from the Borderlands" a 7/10 rating. LeBlanc wrote that although the game retains the same great sense of humor as the first game, he felt that "New Tales from the Borderlands" lacked a cohesive story. Additionally, LeBlanc wrote that the minigames shoehorned into the gameplay were too simple and didn't have a purpose.
Jordan Ramée from Gamespot also awarded "New Tales from the Borderlands" a 7/10. Unlike the previous two reviewers, Ramée enjoyed the ending chapters of the game in addition to the game's various narrative arcs. However, they didn't find the story to be perfect. Ramée felt that the story dragged in a few chapters in the middle and that the brain-numbing minigames failed to keep things interesting.
Overall, fans' mileage may vary with "New Tales from the Borderlands." However, reviewers seem to agree that the new characters introduced in the game add something special to the franchise.