Tiny Tina's Wonderlands Review

On Friday March 25th, 2022 Gearbox and 2K released their next installment in the Borderlands franchise. Wonderlands. This game, inspired by the Bunkers and Badasses tabletop roleplaying game that Tina is seen playing in the Assault on Dragon Keep. It is basically a Dungeons and Dragons inspired Borderlands game. The hype around the game was massive, as many content creators went far and beyond to showcase the game and give their honest opinions of the gameplay.

Little by little, Gearbox released the classes that would be playable in the game and with each class release I know I was more and more excited about the game. We got several classes with companion mechanics which people loved in Borderlands 3, we got your melee classes, and your spell casting classes. There is a class for everyone who loves fantasy role playing games and Borderlands games.

Honestly, I stayed away from gameplay minus the trailers until I could play the game myself, now about four hours into it, I can say that this might be easily my favorite Borderlands game to date. The character creation puts YOU in as the main character of your own fantasy story, and as a fan of D&D and Borderlands this is honestly just what the doctor ordered.

The main maps are your typical Borderlands like areas. The great epic landscapes, with exquisite artwork and design. This is where you'll find side quests and the mobs that you're used to seeing and fighting. Though they aren't the bandits and monsters of the Borderlands. Oh no. These creatures are all new for Wonderlands. So far, my favorite enemies have to be the Goblins, as they are small and challenging to hit but also hilarious.

The Overworld map is set up more like an open world gameboard. It's got interactive bits and then it's got little grassy areas where if you run around, you end up in Random Encounters. It made me laugh the first time I had this happen because I got the sense it was a poke at Pokemon. I learned later that you could punch these encounters before they come at you, and you won't have to do the actual fight.

The guns are just what you would expect from a Borderlands game, but with a bit of a fantasy twist. Don't come into this game thinking you're going to use an ATLAS or HYPERION though. But the guns are just as fantastic as they were in the last four games. My favorites so far are the ones that have a crossbow look. Assault Rifles and Pistols can come in this so far, and I am in love with them.

So, each class again has action skills, and I haven't gotten to play all of them so I can't talk about them. But they all seem really amazing. You also get to pick between two different ones, and later when you can Multiclass (yes multiclass), you can up that to four! But that's just the tip of the iceberg, because along with action skills, you also get spells. Every class can use spells. I found one that fires an ice meteor down onto enemies and explodes, then another that was basically a large fireball. All of the spells seem to be different and I can't wait to try out each and every one of them. Makes you wonder if someone's going to do a Spell Only run. Hmmm. Nope. Not it.

I haven't even come close to getting a legendary but from what I've seen, they are once again RARE and you're going to be lucky to get one during your first playthrough. That makes me excited. Finally, we have some things to really farm for and to strive for again, instead of just being gifted them at all turns. Also, the audio cues are upped in this game from the last game, so Gearbox listened to people when they asked for that.

I'm hopefully with how great the early game is that it means the endgame is going to be just as good. But we shall see.

So far, I'm giving it a solid 9 out of 10. It's a Borderlands Fantasy game. You really can't go wrong here.