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Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands is a Borderlands spin-off that’s just … fine. It offers exactly what one would expect from a Borderlands game at this point but also doesn’t manage to reach the heights of some of its predecessors or even surpass them - making the final product tough to recommend at full price
When Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep released as a DLC for Borderlands 2, it was widely praised for its unexpectedly well-working mix of Borderlands gameplay and a “Dungeons & Dragons” fantasy setting, now called “Bunkers & Badasses”. Not only did it offer riffs on genre-typical tropes and popular fantasy works but it also managed to tell a surprisingly emotional story about dealing with the loss of a loved one. Even today, it’s often referenced as one of the best DLC out there.
As such, it’s almost surprising that it took almost ten years for the “Bunkers & Badasses” setting to return to the Borderlands once more - only this time as a full-fledged spin-off. But as the latest game in the franchise after the disappointing Borderlands 3, can Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands live up to the DLC that inspired it?
The answer to that question isn’t “yes”, sure, but it’s also not a profound “no”. Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands does quite a few things right but after the mere 22 hours it took me to complete all main quests, side quests, dungeons and shrines of the main game, I got mixed feelings about what’s on offer here - at least for its full price.
Let’s take the gameplay, for example. Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands takes the Borderlands looter-shooter formula and once again transfers it into a realm of fantasy. However, in contrast to the original DLC, we finally got ‘proper’ fantasy characters to play as, as well as associated weapons like a shotgun firing arrows or an SMG with magic beams. Grenades have been replaced by magic spells, which are way more fun, and we even got melee weapons now, a more than welcome change from the basic punching we got before.The new classes & skills are also great, even allowing for two-class combinations!
If we combine these additions with a lot of enemies, levelling & loot (of course), the basic gameplay loop works just as it always did, if not better. The new additions are fun to use in practice and even though I’d have loved more enemy variety, it’s equally fun to shoot skeletons and wyverns here as it was shooting skags or Psychos in Borderlands games before. That said, this unfortunately isn’t the case all the time, thanks to a few issues.
One of these issues concerns the early game. Simply put, during the first few hours of my playthrough, I was usually stuck with (lower rarity) guns that just didn’t feel great to use. It was not until later that shooting enemies in the face actually started to be fun. Sure, one should not expect the most powerful weapons at the start of the game – but at least give me something that feels nice to use. However, to be fair here: This could’ve been an issue that was simply caused by bad loot luck (which, by the way, is a stat that can be increased by finding lucky dice hidden all over the world). However, I can’t recall having similar experiences with the other Borderlands games.
Another problem is (item) progression, which wasn’t as consistent/smooth as I’d liked it to be. For example, I once got a gun drop that had significant higher item level (~500) than any of my other guns (~400) at the time - a lucky find, sure, but it took hours until other loot drops caught up to that one lucky find in terms of item level. This also caused issues in terms of difficulty, as sometimes my high item level weapons essentially tore through enemy encounters while I sometimes felt like I was underperforming even though my item level was perfectly matching the typical loot I got.
The last gameplay-related issue I want to talk about concerns side content and to some degree, the endgame of Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands. First of, the explorable zones aren’t connected with each other anymore like in previous Borderlands games. Instead, we got a tabletop-style overworld, so the player(s) can pick each zone/dungeon/quest/etc. as they want. In my opinion, this makes world feel rather disjointed in my opinion, but it does fit the “Bunkers & Badasses” theme.
What I actually want to criticize here is how much of the side content in Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands just turns out to be random fights in the few same small areas/arenas. A lot of side activities (certain side quests, camps, random encounters, dungeons, mines, etc.) just throw you into the same few maps where you’re doing nothing but fighting a random bunch of enemies until you’re allowed to move on. Even the endgame, consisting of the so-called “chaos chamber”, is basically just this with a bunch of shallow rogue-like mechanics on top of it. These same-y encounters basically feel like filler of which I quickly grew tired of. I would’ve vastly preferred more “traditional” side quests instead.
In terms of writing, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands is as much of a mixed experience as the gameplay was. The good news here is that the main story doesn’t reach the lows of a Borderlands 3 and does a good job of getting the player through the various areas of the game. It should also be noted that thanks to its spin-off nature, it’s also completely accessible for newcomers to the franchise – no previous knowledge required.
That said, being a spin-off makes Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands a double-edged sword for longtime fans of the franchise as there are only extremely few connections to the remaining Borderlands franchise. Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands is all about its own original characters instead, so don’t expect a cameo-filled fantasy adventure here.
The writing of Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands offers the commentary on the fantasy genre you’d expect if you played the Borderlands 2 DLC. Or any Borderlands game, really. While much of it fell flat for me personally, by being too on-the-nose for example (stuff like a quest chain parodying “The Witcher” called “The Ditcher”), the game did get a laugh out of me on a few occasions. Considering how the game loves to reference current internet culture (like an angry customer called “Karen”), however, I’m not sure how well some of it may age.
As for the story itself, again, iit serves its purpose just fine - but doesn’t leave much of a lasting impression beyond that. A villain rebelling against the game master sounds like a fun idea but isn’t really explored much – just like the villain itself. The other “Bunker & Badasses” players are nothing more than one-dimensional characters representing tabletop player stereotypes. The game also misses the emotional connection the original DLC had, which elevated it from being a simple parody to something greater.
That said, the story did offer some unexpectedly hilarious moments (which I won’t spoiler here) and it doesn’t overstay its welcome. In short, if you’re just looking for a game that doesn't take itself too seriously or if you’re a big fan of the fantasy genre who loves some good ol’ references, you’re in luck. If you’re a Borderlands fan hoping for some revelations or another emotional journey however, you might need to adjust your expectations.
I also need to mention some technical problems I experienced during my playthrough (mainly audio issues, NPCs being stuck in animation loops, game crashing).
To conclude, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands does some things right - and some wrong. Sometimes, with the right guns and skills, it felt amazing to blast through enemies. Sometimes, as I was working through monotonous battles, I was wondering if I should just drop the whole game. Quite similar to a real tabletop session, really. Regardless, it’s a game that should not be bought at full price - I'd advise waiting for a significant sale instead.