New Tales from the Borderlands has its fair share of comedic moments. The three protagonists shooting each other once they realize they have a healing device is one of them, as is any sequence with L0U13 or the Tediore soldiers. Octavio’s self-hostage situation toward the end of the game is another highlight, as is Fran's backstory. However, some of the best moments of all may go unseen by players.
Usually, failing in a game comes with some level of frustration. Death can lead to a loss of valuable upgrade materials like in the FromSoftware games, set players back a bit due to some weak checkpoints, or simply get players annoyed if they have died too many times. In New Tales from the Borderlands, though, death is a highlight and can put a smile on a player’s face.
The Many Hilarious “Tale Over” Scenes Reward Mistakes
Instead of having boring deaths, or deaths that are limited to QTE slip-ups, players can deliberately make mistakes and get themselves killed during dialogue choices. For instance, Octavio can be shot for threatening a criminal with finger guns, Anu can panic instead of making a final choice and die at the end of the game, and Fran can be eaten by The Devourer. Octavio can shoot himself accidentally or choke on tacos, Brock can get his revenge - the list goes on and on.
All of these deaths get unique and funny animations instead of cutting to black, leading to some highly missable comedic moments. Additionally, they bring up some great quotes from Marcus Kincaid, who is narrating the story. Marcus will say something along the lines of “this is what would happen if I was a terrible storyteller,” or he will say it was an alternate universe. He’ll also suggest that he was just keeping the listener on their toes in another line of dialogue. These fourth wall breaks combined with the unique types of fails results in a strength of New Tales from the Borderlands that will likely go under-appreciated.
Funny Deaths Are Nothing New For Borderlands
The main Borderlands franchise has also excelled at making death entertaining, as it has used its New-U stations to great effect over the years. When players die and respawn, they will often hear a funny message delivered by the New-U AI, with the machine making a comment about the nature of death or poking fun at the Vault Hunter for their failure. While they are non-canon, the New-U stations have also played a part in side quests.
Both Borderlands 2 and Borderlands 3 offer entertaining side quests where the villains ask the Vault Hunters to kill themselves, getting out of the way so that they can continue their rise to power unchallenged. While players have a choice to refuse their demands, following through is often more entertaining, as the antagonists will make light of the player mindlessly following orders instead of getting angry. Borderlands 3 even provides a unique weapon called the Sellout, which has Tyreen Calypso’s voice and regularly plays quotes where she belittles the player.
Ultimately, New Tales from the Borderlands’ Tale Over screens, the New-U Stations, and Borderlands side quests where players kill themselves for the entertainment of the villain all share the same goal: entertaining players even when things have gone wrong. With gaming being a form of entertainment, this is a smart decision on Gearbox’s part. Even when players may be frustrated since a scene is broken up or because they have to retry a tough boss, a silly quote from Marcus or a New-U Station is there to cheer them back up.
New Tales from the Borderlands is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
