In Borderlands games, players need to go to specific locations in order to change their appearance items. There are plenty of funny and stylish customization options to find, unlock, and earn throughout the Borderlands games, and the process for changing equipped cosmetics has been the same throughout each of the games. Although at times this process can be quite tedious, future Borderlands games have many different options to explore that could change this. One such solution comes from Bungie’s looter-shooter, Destiny 2.
Most of the Borderlands franchise games expanded upon the player customization options available in-game, and Borderlands 3 made some of the biggest advancements in this regard. At this point in the franchise, players can choose between head cosmetics, skin patterns, and skin colors for characters, as well as skins and trinkets for weapons. The weapon customizations from Borderlands 3 are available for players on the fly, and it’s time the character customizations took on similar ease of access.
The Character Customization Process in Borderlands Games Hasn’t Aged Well
Players can swap out weapon skins and trinkets from their inventory regardless of where they are in Borderlands 3. When it comes to player character customizations though, players need to locate a Quick Change Station. This process dates back to the New-U Stations from the original Borderlands when the only customizations in the game were primary and secondary character outfit colors. Nowadays, there are plenty of cosmetic options available in Borderlands games, though the steps that players have to go through in order to utilize any owned cosmetics are sometimes too tedious for their own good. Quick Change Stations aren’t exactly the most abundant thing to find throughout Borderlands 3, as they are mostly reserved for the main locations throughout the game.
Going to a Quick Change Station is also the same process for players who want to purchase skill point resets for creating different builds in Borderlands. Resetting skill points doesn’t quite compare to simply changing cosmetic items, so the fact that both of these actions have the same process doesn’t quite hold up anymore. With this in mind, Borderlands 4 has plenty of room to shake things up, and Destiny 2’s approach to cosmetics is a prime example of what things could be.
Destiny 2’s Ease of Access to Cosmetics Sets a High Standard to Compete With
Destiny 2’s Eververse Store, cosmetic items archive, and ornaments catalog are all available from anywhere throughout Destiny 2 because these features are tied to inventory menus. This spells a clear difference between Borderlands and Destiny games’ approach to cosmetics, but things don’t have to stay this way forever. The cosmetics store in Borderlands 3 is an in-game store as opposed to Destiny 2’s real-world currency store, so it makes sense that Borderlands’ cosmetic store is in a physical location. Although, Borderlands’ customization scene could severely benefit from separating character customization from the physical Quick Change Stations when it comes to owned items. Specifically, Borderlands 4 should make character customization included in the players’ inventory menus.
Destiny 2’s transmog system is available for players in nearly every instance, be it loading screens, social spaces, endgame content, or out exploring planetary destinations. The only places that Destiny 2 somewhat limits players from changing customization options are in high-difficulty activities that lock in players' equipment for the duration of the activity. Since Borderlands games don’t have a feature that locks in a player’s equipped gear, the potential for customization options to go mobile would be revolutionary.
Although this would be a big step for Borderlands games, loadouts might also be beneficial to the game’s customization scene. The newly introduced loadouts feature in Destiny 2 lets players save different ornaments and shaders over the same pieces of gear between separate loadouts in addition to the standard gear components. Destiny and Borderlands are plenty different as far as looter-shooters go, though Gearbox can and should embrace the similarities between the series' customization options.