Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands tries not to be exactly like Borderlands, but borrows just the right amount of things from the the looter shooter action RPG template. It’s game full of relentless humor, over-the-top quests, and lots and lots of loot. If you’ve been waiting for the Borderlands series to do something different, this does that in spectacular fashion. Through the creativity in avoiding being too much like Borderlands is actually what makes Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands so endearing and clever.
You are a newbie to this crew of B&B (Bunkers & Badasses, you know, like Dungeons & Dragons?). And as part of this role-playing game that gets made-up as you go, you are the Fatemaker, seeking the Sword of Souls to defeat the Dragon Lord. It’s pretty standard fantasy fare here, but of a different flavor than you’re used to in these kinds of games. The titular Tiny Tina is once again played by Ashly Burch, with a little more restraint and less annoyance. Other characters voiced by Wanda Sykes, Andy Samberg, and Will Arnett are wonderful additions and overall improvements. While the premise is simple, the depth and customization is far from that.
Because this isn’t D&D, strays from the usual fantasy or known rules, so things like binicorns exist, as well as guns, because Tiny Tina said so. Guns will take the form of crossbows and muskets, but sometimes shotguns and rocket launchers are just what you’d expect them to look like, but with some fantasy flare. The parallels to Borderlands is apparent: wards are shields, spells are grenades, and even the premium golden keys to unlock chests are now skeleton keys. None of this is a bad thing, the way they’ve transformed the familiar into something new totally works. And for once, you get a meaningful melee weapon as a loot item with rarity to equip and use as a last resort, that doesn’t actually feel like a last resort.
It wouldn’t be B&B (or D&D for that matter) if you didn’t have full customization of your character. For the first time in one of these, you’re free to design any character you like; complete with pronouns, colors and patterns, and being able to name the character helps put a stamp on it. Before you can do any customization, you must select a class, as there are six of them to choose from. The Brr-Zerker has a skill much like the Barbarian from Diablo where you perform whirlwind attacks. The hunter class is the Clawbringer, with a pet wyvern that delivers vicious attacks. The Graveborn is a necromancer who summons a demi-lich companion to deal dark magic damage. Spellshot is your wizard class, casting spellweaving that charges based on casting a spell or reloading a gun but cools down fast. The Spore Warden is accompanied by a mushroom companion that deals poison damage. And finally, the assassin-like class with the Stabbomancer increases critical hits to an impressive degree like no other class, for quick kills. After this you’ll even have access to not only skills to invest in, but a character sheet to boost strength, dexterity, intelligence, and so on. After level 40, you’ll be able to invest in multi-classing. This blows the skill tree wide open as you can mix’n’match to create really devastating and nearly broken character builds.
The way you traverse the Wonderlands is largely the same. You will unlock fast travel in just a few hours, but each area is its own contained zone that must be cleared before moving on to the next one. There’s now an overworld, where you as a caricature of a figurine roams the land. You’ll encounter large Cheetos and soda cans, which reminds you you’re playing a tabletop game. Then sometimes random encounters will stop you, where you’ll find an arena full of enemies to gain experience, coin, and loot before leaving. It’s really fantastic how much Gearbox committed to the B&B experience, to retain things such as that.
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands is a smaller game than ones that have come before it. Completing the main quest will take about 15 hours, but those looking to get the most out of their game will spend two to three times that amount. The enemy variety is rather low, as you’ll encounter endless trolls, undead, goblins, and wyverns. It’s not terrible by any stretch, just monotonous. It isn’t helped by the fact that the bosses aren’t as memorable as the ones in the universe this fictional tabletop game exists in. After the campaign is over, there’s a series of myth ranks (see: badass rank) to attain, and nearly endless dungeons to take part in, the endgame is only the beginning.
The game has collectibles, but they provide a meaningful reason to hunt for them. There’s die scattered through each region you visit, and snagging them increases your luck find. Meaning, the loot that drops has a better chance of being of a higher quality than had you not collected it. Gearbox worked hard to add crossplay to the game, ensuring that no matter which platform you’re on, you can always play with your friends. Removing this barrier is a huge benefit to all players, and coop games can be had from nearly any console or PC.
