The presence of DLC playable characters in the Borderlands franchise brought a lot of value to the games that offered it, but unfortunately, this feature has been discontinued. However, Borderlands 4 can have its cake and eat it too when it comes to DLC characters, by breaking away from a franchise pattern that’s slowly become an unnecessary tradition.

While DLC characters may have been discontinued due to a lack of player support, one seemingly small trick could help Borderlands 4 set these characters up for better success than the previous games ever did. By expanding the roster of playable characters immediately at launch, DLC playable characters could finally have their best chance of succeeding, allowing this feature to make a permanent comeback for the franchise.

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Future Borderlands Games Should Avoid Setting DLC Characters Up For Failure

For franchise veterans, the DLC playable characters were generally all fan favorites. However, allegedly there wasn’t enough support for these characters for them to be a recurring thing in the Borderlands games. This is unfortunate, because these characters brought some of the most unique character builds in the Borderlands games, and for the players that did play them, they also brought more replayability to the franchise.

Apparently, most casual players never end up starting second characters for additional playthroughs of the Borderlands games. Consequently, any characters that aren’t available at launch naturally get neglected for reasons unrelated to the characters themselves. This is partly a symptom of a bigger problem, that the endgame loop of the Borderlands franchise games incorporating multiple playthroughs of each game as a natural progression system might be worth changing.

However, before making this kind of drastic change, future Borderlands games might be better off featuring an expanded roster of characters immediately at launch. This could technically revive the beloved tradition of offering DLC playable characters without releasing them too late in the game’s lifecycle to doom them to failure. Traditionally, the Borderlands games only offer four playable characters at launch, so breaking a franchise tradition for Borderlands 4 like this could be the trick to save Borderlands’ DLC characters once and for all.

Why Future Borderlands Games Should Bring Back Playable Character DLCs

One of the main reasons why Borderlands 4, and future Borderlands games in general, should consider reviving playable character DLCs is because most of the DLC characters in the franchise have featured some of the best builds among every playable character in the Borderlands franchise. For example, Aurelia from Borderlands the Pre-Sequel featured an entire skill tree dedicated to buffs that affected both themselves and one other co-op player. This may not have been the strongest build of any character, but it incentivized co-op play unlike any other playable character ever has, DLC or not. Not to mention, the DLC characters from Borderlands 2, Krieg and Gaige, on the other hand, are often considered to be the most powerful characters in the Borderlands franchise, at least among the playable characters.

The Borderlands Franchise Has Too Many Unsung Heroes

Another reason why Borderlands games should consider offering a wider selection of playable characters is because, among the existing and returning characters, the Borderlands franchise arguably has too many underutilized characters. Making certain background or returning characters playable for future Borderlands games could be a great way to give many deserving characters their due time in the spotlight.

While certain expansions in the Borderlands franchise have a history of featuring characters in self-contained storylines, these expansions don’t always do fan-favorite characters proper justice. Such is the case with Borderlands’ Tiny Tina character, that some fans feel that this character still deserves a more prominent role in the Borderlands franchise despite even being the lead role of an entire spin-off game, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands.

Borderlands

Borderlands is an action RPG first-person shooter created by Gearbox Software and published by 2K Games. The series is commonly called a looter shooter set in a space Western style, where players can select from multiple classes that can level up and acquire new skills. The franchise has quickly become one of the best-selling franchises and produced spin-offs like Tales from the Borderlands as well as a film adaptation being developed by Lionsgate.

Video Game(s)

Borderlands , Borderlands 2 , Borderlands 3 , Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel! , Tiny Tina's Wonderlands , Tales From The Borderlands

Creation Year

2009

Developer(s)

Gearbox Software , Telltale Games

Publisher(s)

2K , Telltale Games