Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands Review: Here is a quick review of the game in this short review article I will share some pros, some cons and some personal opinions of the game.
It’s essentially a “Borderlands” game dropped onto a fake fantasy Dungeons & Dragons tabletop game with the “Borderlands” character Tiny Tina serving as the DM.
It’s just her weird world, and you’re just playing in it.
And I came away pretty surprised on this one. Let’s jump in.
- Read more: Thymesia review: Is it Worth playing?
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands Review: Gameplay
For me, personally, I’m a casual “Borderlands” fan. I thought “3” was a nice update, with a story and vibe I didn’t really care about, but I liked the gameplay.
Ultimately, “Borderlands 2” is still my favorite.
I didn’t have crazy high expectations for “Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands” or anything, but I came away really enjoying it. I think it’s a good breath of fresh air for the franchise, as cliche as that sounds.
It’s a little bit of a hot mess in spots, and it doesn’t blow me away or anything, but I had a lot of fun playing this one and easily sinking tons of hours into it.
Character Creation
Now, right from the start, one of the big wins for me is the fact that you create your own character.
You don’t choose a set of characters.
You start as an unpainted model, and then you dive into a full and fairly robust character creator, with sliders and everything, and you can make your own special person.
It’s not just pre-selecting heads, and I was really happy to see a lot of options, including voice options, and then a bunch of classes to choose from, six, I believe.
And they all have their own special, passive, and active abilities and bonuses that seem fairly unique.
Then you choose a character background with some stat presets.
And you go from there, leveling up and dumping points into strength, dexterity, intelligence, traditional RPG stuff like that, that gives you, say, critical-hit-chance bonuses, health and shield stuff, faster cooldowns, you know, “Borderlands” stuff.
It is a good mix, and works pretty well, translates to the game and leveling up really nicely, like genuine, good old-fashioned RPG character building and growing.
It feels good here.
The actual gameplay itself is that new, kind of updated, faster, “Borderlands 3”-style shooting and sliding with some new twists.
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands Review: Gun Mechanics
Shooting and aiming feels as good as expected on the PC mouse and keyboard and controller, with it being zippy and reactive with good feedback, despite the various different weapon types.
The weapons themselves are pretty cool. It’s still “Borderlands,” so there’s a big focus on guns, but they feel less sci-fi overall at times.
They feel more like over-the-top magic or fantasy or medieval.
There are a lot of crossbow-style weapons of various different shapes and sizes, But plenty of weird shotguns and machine guns that still just go shooty bang bang.
Now, as I said, they usually have a bit more of a magical or fantasy twist to them, and sometimes, it takes a second to figure out if a gun is a shotgun or a long-range rifle or whatever, but it just kind of adds a fun new little level of discovery on the endless weapon loop.
There are still category manufacturers for each, and I just had fun picking up new guns, which is the whole point of “Borderlands.”
Along with that, there’s a dedicated melee weapon, and you can really kind of lean into that as a build, although the melee itself is really just clicking the stick or pressing a key to slashing.
There’s not much to it.
I wish there was a bit more to it.
I actually found that a little bit disappointing.
But still, having some stats behind it, having different weapons to pick up for it and different swinging speeds is pretty cool.
It’s a good change-up.
Magic and Casting
Along with that, the magic and casting are great.
It shakes itself out of the “Borderlands” framework a little bit with a couple of magic abilities that just really impressed me, and I loved learning into those abilities in my build and picking up new spells and things to test out.
The game encourages it, too. Cooldowns are generous, so you’re not always shooting.
You’re also doing these crazy things pretty consistently in any type of firefight.
And I really think Totino’s taps into that looter-shooter addiction, but the new presentation and spin really helped sell me on falling back into it, endlessly scrounging for loot, weapons, spell abilities, and even armor stuff.
Glitches
The armor stuff isn’t quite as in-depth as I’d hoped, but everything else is good, and there’s still some customization to it.
The actual menu screens for the loot, however, are really freaking messy.
There are a few glitches with it here and there, and it all just feels cluttered, and navigating it, even with a mouse, feels really old and unintuitive.
Usually, I don’t really give a damn, but it’s a game where you spend a lot of time looking at and weighing over stats and tossing things in and swapping things, so it does make a difference that the menu and layouts are kind of annoying.
Map
The same goes for the map. It’s pretty rough. But speaking of maps, the game’s structure is pretty cool.
There’s a top-down overworld where you go from location to location.
Now, you can find side-quests in this overworld.
You can explore a bit and get more loot.
You can come back to spots and turn in quests later.
And also you can unlock shortcuts.
Also, there are actually patches of grass that you can walk through that trigger and load you into a random enemy battle, classic RPG style.
I was really into that. From the overworld, you can load into bigger areas and engage in the full 3D missions and regular exploration stuff.
But I really like this overworld thing.
It is charming and simple and does a good job of helping
keep the game really focused, while also a bit charming and
endearing at the same time. Basically, it proves that they really committed to the bit and I gotta commend them for that.
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands Review: Missions
Now, the actual missions themselves are your typical “Borderlands” fare, but with a fantasy twist. It’s all narrated by Tiny Tina, which, yeah, can be annoying, but the way she shakes up what’s going on is actually pretty cool.
Occasionally, an area will transform or something funny will happen, and it all works, really, thanks to the supporting cast chatting to you while you’re questing.
Andy Samberg as Valentine is decent. Wanda Sykes has some really good moments.
I just, like her as kind of a cartoon voice actor these days.
And Will Arnett as the bad guy totally works.
I was really entertained.
I think “Tiny Tim’s Wonderlands” made up for the weak villains from “Borderlands 3” big time.
Now, the actual humor and writing are completely subjective.
It’s down the personal taste.
So take that for what you will.
People will either love “Borderlands” writing or find it completely grating and annoying.
I will say I wasn’t super into the jokes too much in “Borderlands 3,” but I think we do have an improvement here.
Man, it’s still “Borderlands,” so it’s still very like random, but it got a few more chuckles out of me this time around, especially a lot of mid-game, mid-mission throwaway lines, so I think it’s worth pointing out.
I don’t think it’s gonna totally change a series veteran’s overall vibe, but yeah.
And the missions themselves manage to keep things interesting, despite the only real thing you do is shoot things and cast spells.
Side Missions
The side missions, too, are often pretty involved and usually have multiple tiers.
Sometimes it’s goofy stuff, sometimes it’s funny stuff, sometimes it’s real stuff, but usually worthwhile, and even more, if you’re a “Borderlands” fan ’cause they tuck some stuff in there for you.
Along with that, there are bounties to pick up in the world to engage in and towns with vendors and blacksmiths, and it all feels a bit more streamlined and straightforward compared to “Borderlands,” dare I say a tiny bit more linear, but none of it is dumbed down, and I like it all quite a bit.
Now, these games get better with friends, and unfortunately, your boy is a lone wolf, and I wasn’t able to test that pre-release, so definitely please be aware of that.
I did have pretty consistent disconnects from Gearbox’s servers, but because I was playing single-player, I just got a little notification on the side of the screen.
I’m hoping that’s a pre-release thing and not something that bleeds over into launch, because a lot of people play these things together, either with a group or with a best friend or significant other, and I think there’s a lot of good potentials here like that, especially with the over-the-top magic casting abilities to chain together some really nasty stuff.
But overall, I think “Tony Timbo’s Wonderlands” is a solid “Borderlands” spinoff.
I’m a casual fan of the series.
I think it has its ups and downs, but the tweak in structure and the totally different style made it fun and enjoyable.
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands Review: Conclusion
I can’t really comment on the endgame, unfortunately, and I know all that’s where these games can sometimes really shine, but all I’m really concerned about is getting some of the technical issues fixed, you know, the glitches, some of the menu problems.
“Borderlands 3” had issues, too, so I’m hoping this one gets cleaned up quickly.
Still, otherwise, it seems to me like some good old-fashioned FPS fun with not a lot of BS.
It’s not as complicated as a “Borderlands” game and it’s not as cringey as a “Borderlands” game can sometimes be, depending on your personal tastes, and I think it’s definitely worth something to keep an eye on.
Maybe not a runout and buy it right now immediately.
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands System Requirements
MINIMUM:
-
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS: Windows 10 (latest service pack)
- Processor: AMD FX-8350 (Intel i5-3570)
- Memory: 6 GB RAM
- Graphics: AMD Radeon RX470 (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 4GB)
- Network: Broadband Internet connection
- Storage: 75 GB of available space
RECOMMENDED:
-
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS: Windows 10 (latest service pack)
- Processor: AMD Ryzen™ 5 2600 (Intel i7-4770)
- Memory: 16 GB RAM
- Graphics: AMD Radeon™ RX 590 8GB (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB)
- Network: Broadband Internet connection
- Storage: 75 GB of available space
So, that’s just our Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands review and these are some pros, some cons, and some personal opinions, and now I want to hear yours.
Let us know what you think in the comments.
What type of build are you going with, what type of weapons are you embracing, and what are your thoughts on the overall “Borderlands” series? Are you like me? Do you think “2” is the best?
Maybe you like the Telltale games more than anything.
There’s a lot to talk about, so let’s do it.
You can also reach out to us on Twitter.
