r/gaming • u/TheUndeadGunslinger • 9d ago
In my opinion, Borderlands 1 is the best in the series and everything that came after was too meta for its own good.
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u/multiversalnobody 9d ago
The problem is BL2 improved the gunplay so much BL1 feels like fucking Goldeneye by comparison.
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u/Snoo49148 8d ago
Agreed, 1 is extremely hard to play bc of it's lackluster gameplay compared to 2 and even 3
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u/FrigidofDoom 8d ago
When the remaster came out I was excited to play it again, but I couldn't get over how clunky the shooting and movement feel when compared to modern games.
Still love the game, I have many fond memories of playing it with my bros, but it has not aged well.
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u/SkrallTheRoamer 9d ago
BL1 has the best atmosphere imo, but the gameplay got improved with every game. what got worse was the humor tho. bl1 was dry and fitting, references to pop culture were not in your face as in the other ones. now its outdated memes, childish humor and obnoxious jokes.
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u/xenophonthethird 9d ago
I generally agree. BL1 had great atmosphere, writing wasn't very expansive, but fit the vibe well. BL2 was great, and while it eliminated a lot of the dour desperation that filled the first game, it also made the general gameplay a lot better.
The presequel and 3 turned basically every character into a Tiny Tina/Handsome Jack in attempts to recapture the magic of the very popular characters, but succeeded in making everyone completely insufferable.
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u/datdouche 9d ago
dour desperation
Yeah, this is a good way to put it. The universe of the first game was not a happy place. Humor was juxtaposed against the brutality / desolation / violence of it, but not the sole focus.
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u/C21H27Cl3N2O3 9d ago
You really felt like the lone sane person on a planet of lunatics. You were alone, looking for a mythical treasure. There were no major villains, just the occasional corporate stooge or bandit leader you had to kill to get closer to the vault. The story was just you looking for this treasure, nothing more and nothing less.
After that they fell to the pressure of being like every game out there and taking you from a simple treasure hunter to being the over-powered hero out to save the planet/galaxy. There is someone constantly in your ear yelling at you over the ECHO, it’s no longer a desolate planet but somewhere really overcrowded with people trying to get your attention.
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u/TheBoBiZzLe 9d ago
Idk torgues dlc was the hardest I’ve ever laughed at a video game.
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u/Gary_Space 9d ago
THAT SENTENCE HAD TOO MANY SYLLABELS! APOLOGIZE!
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u/Krednaught 9d ago
THIS MESSAGE IS IRRELEVANT! - my text notification for years
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u/MrWoodburn 9d ago
I CAN DO INNUENDOS TOO! THIS NEXT FIGHT IS BETWEEN FLYBOY AND THE VAULT HUNTER! BLOWJOBS!
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u/MrGerbick 9d ago
100 percent agree! So many good lines.
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u/Immersi0nn 9d ago
Torgue is probably the only character they haven't run into the ground. I fBLEEPn love that guy
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u/ERRORMONSTER 9d ago
I just about burst into tears the first time I played Tiny Tina's B&B story. I did it right after finishing the main story.
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u/whatnameisnttaken098 8d ago
Whenever I feel down, I just find compilations of Torgue quotes. Or wonder how much better he'd be if played by Randy Savage
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u/damien665 9d ago
I think my problem with 3, ignoring the mediocre story, is that every weapon is legendary. When everything is legendary, nothing is legendary. And instead of cool, badass stuff, we mostly just get guns that shoot in patterns or just a really fast 2 shot shotgun. Don't get me started on the damn Mayhem or whatever, adding extra complexity and nonsense to it. Now all my best weapons are junk because Mayhem just blew it all out of the water with green rarity guns.
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u/Traveytravis-69 9d ago
The legendaries last for like 20 levels too
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u/Fiftycentis 8d ago
Yeah, I had this legendary fire sniper, I think I got it around level 10 and it barely fell off in the last missions
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u/Kayback2 8d ago
I had a lower lever pistol that I used in the final boss battle.
Now they last a handful of levels. I just played Tiny Tina Wonderland again and realized I was switching weapons every few levels.
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u/Soldier-one-trick 9d ago
I COULD NOT STAND Ava in BL3
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u/xjuggernaughtx 9d ago
It blows my mind that in the years and year and YEARS they spent making Borderlands 3, no one apparently could figure out that Ava is a seriously unlikeable character and not someone that we want to see Sanctuary and the Crimson Raiders handed over to. At no point is there a moment when you think Ava should be the next in line to lead.
Quite a lot of my playtime in that game was hoping to find a way to fire her out an airlock to go wander space with Kevin.
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u/blubbinatorGRAAAH 9d ago
There was supposed to be a cutscene that actually made Ava somewhat likeable and explained why she became the leader after Maya dies but that was cut and her funeral was instead everyone standing around and saying a sad thing and boom back to gameplay
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u/Kalfadhjima 8d ago
Honestly it would have taken far more than a single cutscene to make her just tolerable, let alone likeable.
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u/xjuggernaughtx 8d ago
Agreed. I do not understand what they were trying to do with her character. She's written in such a way that you'd cheer for her getting kicked off of a cliff, but the plot acts like she's had a growth arc and now the audience is rooting for her. You're waiting for the whole game for her to get her comeuppance for being an obnoxious twit and then they're like, "Ava, you're our hero!"
She seemed like a high school DMs OC that they keep forcing the players to interact with who everyone hates but the DM just thinks is the coolest addition to the game.
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u/jester695 9d ago
Yeah, that little shit wasn't worth Maya's left pinky toe.
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u/saltynanners15 Xbox 9d ago
Ayo, I heard something about Maya's toes, whatever it is, I'm in.
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u/Hangman_17 9d ago
The pre sequel is the funniest borderlands game, I wont stand anyone to slander it. It had better game play than 2 as well, just not enough content.
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u/Taraxian 9d ago
The Claptrap DLC for that was legit one of the coolest environmental sequences in the whole series and way better than the theme implied it was gonna be
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u/SLEDGEHAMMAA 9d ago
I used to hate Pre Sequel
And then i played 3. Definitely took Pre Sequel for granted
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u/Currie_Climax 9d ago
Pre Sequel had some cool stuff. I personally enjoyed the low gravity/ no oxygen zones helping to make certain areas pop. Some of the characters were good too. It was no Borderlands 1 in terms of mindboggling goodness but I still thoroughly enjoyed it
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u/allgravy99 9d ago
Athena was OP in that game IMO. Had a lot of fun playing it, but it lacked more end game fun (more raid bosses for example).
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u/randomgamerdude 8d ago
Bro Athena is so hilariously fun when you have good roid shield and her blade dash ability, you just fly around the fights screaming. Its peak borderlands gameplay imo
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u/Guiltspoon 9d ago
My two complaints for the pre sequel are oxygen is a shit mechanic that while logical was completely negative on my gameplay experience and the maps were extremely boring and grey with a set up I didn't like. It was a good game but I still think BL2 is my top of the series all around.
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u/MoldyLunchBoxxy 9d ago
I told my wife this last week and her reply was that I’m older now and the same things are not funny like they used to be. I’m not sure if the jokes got bad or I’m just old and boring now.
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9d ago edited 9d ago
Other people said it, but a lot of games lean way too hard into meme and internet culture and most of it isn't really all that entertaining. It's not because you're older. Everything from the memes to having the main villains be streamers of all things was just...groan-worthy. They were trying way too hard to be funny and latch on to current trends.
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u/ListenItWillHear 9d ago
Bl2 had the best classes. Gauge and Kreig are magical when you max out thier trees. Gauge is pure chaos and Kreig is the most fun glass hammer ive ever played.
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u/requiemofchaos 9d ago
Krieg was the start of my love for high-risk, high-reward gameplay styles. The Mania tree is so much fun that I just can't bring myself to go down the others; shooting fireballs and having massive ammo capacity just doesn't compare to the unadulterated thrill of ripping and tearing your way through Bandits while screaming about pounds of flesh and fences with no fences....or the hilarity one-hit KOing yourself with Silence the Voices.
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u/outerlabia 8d ago
Running kreig as a maxed rage monster with the flame of the firehawk shield basically made you invincible against anything that wasn't immune to fire as well. The second the shield went down you were a twirling flame hurricane of doom with constantly regenerating health
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u/xenophonthethird 9d ago
My brother and I played so many runs with those two, and to this day we still quote Kreig back and forth in the most inappropriate times. Like right before his wedding inappropriate.
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u/mr_showboat 9d ago
It feels like every Borderlands game since the first one is just like... trying too hard on the humor front. The first one feels more organic -- it was trying to be its own new thing, while future games are trying to be "more / better BL" and it just feels forced.
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u/UnquestionabIe 9d ago
It was a hard reaction to that gen of games having a very muted aesthetic. The original previews of 1 had it seem like a Fallout style game with the very grey atmosphere and somehow less humor. Personally I felt the first was a little too bland when it came to the main plot so I kind of lost interest later on, 2 gave at least a bit more investment in characters so was easier for me to complete.
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u/GreatCosmicButthole 9d ago
memes and pop culture stuff never age well, I wish devs used their own memes based on their private jokes instead.
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u/DarkShippo 9d ago
The jokes are what made repeating 2 so rough for me. I replayed 1 a dozen times and farmed so much. 2 replayed it 2 times and was so sick of the jokes I stopped.
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u/TheNerdFromThatPlace 9d ago
Maybe that's why I don't much care for the story on the D&D podcast I'm listening to. It's DM'ed by Anthony Burch, and their season 2 plot is pretty much the same as season 1. Together with the other players, it still comes out hilarious, but I honestly couldn't care less if they get through the plot or not
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u/DonStampler 9d ago
Never thought i’d see a comment about DAD’s in the wild. I think its harder to care about the plot when the plot is just saving the world. It’s a lot less personal than saving your sons and harder to invest in emotionally.
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u/SafetyJosh4life 9d ago
Agreed, 3 has the worst story but the best gameplay.
1 was unpolished, 2 didn’t scale well and forced slag on every build. In 3 you actually feel powerful through the whole game and as you progress through end game. The talent tree and perk trees are the best in the series, and all the vault hunters are uniquely powerful with carried builds. The only problem I have with it is the story and a few of the story elements.
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u/random_femdom 9d ago
I literaly play BL1 and endure the clunky gameplay just because of the amazing athmospehere
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u/AOL-Customer 9d ago
I agree. I replayed BL1 several times. I beat bl2 and the nautical/desert themed dlc. I took a long break and couldn't get through it when I started a new character
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u/MacAttack2015 9d ago
BL2 came out during my college years and one of my friends had Claptrap as a message tone for his texts. It was terrible.
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u/jimmyerthesecond 9d ago
BL2, I think, had the really sick backstory that the company abandoned Pandora and that all the psychotic people used to be doctors and researchers and regular people until they were driven insane by the environment they had no chance of surviving on.
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u/Corwyntt 8d ago
BL3 has great gunplay, while also killing off Maya and Lilith in the story. And the other supporting characters in that game, holy fuck..
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u/Pyro911help 9d ago
I would love a remake of borderlands 1 with the gunplay mechanics of borderlands 3
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u/ReallyGargoyled 9d ago
i just want the soldier with the turret from the first one again, had a great spec setup with perfect weapons matching it, had the "shoot allies to heal them for damage amount" and then a shotgun with a scope on and +200% accuracy and extra damage, i could literally be on the other side of the battle field and my team mates would call out heals and i would snipe them with my shotgun, healing them entirely in one shot! (as long as i didnt miss, but i got pretty good with it)
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u/feelin_fine_ 9d ago
Gunplay is what I like about 1....
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u/The_Re3v3r3ND 9d ago
2 ruined 1. There are too many improvements across the board to honestly suggest 1 was a better game. 2 topped it on every aspect.
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u/JohnnyJayce 9d ago
I played 1 and 2 on Xbox ages ago and thought I would finally play the third game on PC. The story was so bad I thought to myself why not play first game instead since I own them all on PC now.
It was painful to go from the gameplay of the third game into the first game. Decided to try second game too, just to see if it was as bad. The second game is miles better.
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u/The_Re3v3r3ND 9d ago edited 9d ago
Exactly. BL1, on release, was great. So good. 100+hrs, multiple consoles, but it did not age well. It's hard to go back to if you didn't have that nostalgia because 2 was a great sequel.
3... Jesus. Wut the hell. Gameplay is good, feels great. I hate the writing and new characters so much. The twins are awful, Eva is THE worst. If you hated the meta, childish humor in 2 then buckle up, turd farmer, because that neverending joke is regurgitated a dozen times to the same, dead eyed response every time. Painfully unfunny.
DLC is fine tho. The wedding missiona are good, but Tiny Tina Wonderland is a better game in almost every aspect. Skip 3, go Tiny Tina Wonderland and Dragonkeep. Specifically Dragonkeep has the feels. If you don't think a Borderlands can make you cry then Dragonkeep is your kryptonite.
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u/hhcboy 9d ago
Bounty of blood was really good. A serious self contained story where you’re just a wandering character was great.
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u/Auran82 9d ago
3 is the only one I have actually finished, despite the story and characters. When I went back to play I accidentally did Bounty of Blood, it was so much fun to play and I think I ended up using some of the guns from there for ages.
Borderlands is weird though, the gunplay definitely improves in each game, but the storytelling and jokes definitely get worse. Which means you’re left with the best games story wise having the worse combat.
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u/Vocalic985 9d ago
Yeah, I'll openly admit that borderlands 2 is a near universal improvement over 1. BL1 will always mean more to me though simply for the time of life I was in when it released.
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u/realmaier 9d ago
Borderlands was supposed to be a serious sci fi fps. It was only later they found out by accident that it looks very cool with cell shading graphics and went with an over the top style. But imo you can sometimes feel that some assets weren't really designed with a cartoony look. In BL2 they just fully embraced it and that's why I think it feels more borderlandsy than BL1.
I miss binging those games with friends. The coop is so well made.
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u/SneakyCanner 9d ago
I remember the announcement issue of GameInformer it was in, and the shots of it pre-cell shading
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u/N0ob8 9d ago
Plus the cell shading gives borderlands it’s iconic look that separates it from nearly every other game. When you think of cell shading you think of borderlands
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u/wesleyar1 9d ago
Nah, when you think of cell shading you think Borderlands.
Most people born before 2000 are probably thinking Jet Set Radio, Viewtiful Joe, Wind Waker...
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u/Phate4569 9d ago
The DLCs alone, Fuck. Tiny Tina, Captain Scarlet, TORGUE!!! The holiday packs too.
Hammerlocks was meh though.
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u/Khakizulu 9d ago
The DLCS were fantastic. I liked hammerlocks big game hunt, but the later ones were pretty great. Captain Scarlett's and Dragonkeep. The smaller ones were nice, I really liked the character voices. They were short, but they never said they'd be long, so they can be hit or miss.
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u/ConfidenceKBM 9d ago
The only thing missing from 2 was Atlas guns. Fuckin loved Atlas. But yeah obvious story reasons for that.
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u/MyThirdBonusDonut 9d ago
Except slag. 2 ruined 1 for all the improvements, but slag ruined 2 for me. I couldnt finish it because I couldnt stand how slag is so clearly the strongest way to play but requires so much more swapping.
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u/GerFubDhuw 9d ago
There's no bird in BL2 so it's entirely inferior.
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u/ReallyGargoyled 9d ago
i disagree, sure, some gameplay and features was improved, but 2 just didnt have the same feel as the first one, but to me, when a game is so good it turns into a series, the first one is most likely always the best one, as that was the first experience with the universe as well as the game it self in general, and sequals just kinda adds a little here and a little there, but you don't ever get that first experience with the universe or the game it self, sequals needs to lift way more than what the borderlands sequals did. They were still fun to play the first time, but i never felt like replaying them like i did with the first (which i still replay like once every year to every other year, it's just a great nostalgic experience now)
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u/DankSpanking 9d ago
Borderlands 1 definitely laid the ground work but 2 I think the majority of fans will agree on as the best. It improved on everything imo
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u/Zoso03 9d ago
Borderlands 2 imo really is what a sequel should be. It was better is just every conceivable way. It made 1 look like a tech demo. Then the DLCs started coming out and that's where the game went to shit.
So many sequels to games are almost just the same game with some refinements, maybe longer story or bigger maps, but doesn't do much to differentiate. sometimes it's good and sometimes it's not.
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u/DankSpanking 9d ago
Agreed. BL2 is among my top favorite games of all time. It still holds up well and has lots of replay value with 4 characters and so many different weapons every time
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u/da_muffin_man_12 9d ago
Nah, the second one was the best. The first one jogged so the second one could sprint. Everything after that was a mediocre shit show.
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u/JohnnyTatts22 9d ago
Second one was the only game me and my friend split screen co op the whole game together. Every other time it was a couple hours and we just never played again But BL2 was pure magic and every chance we had we were playing the campaign together. RIP Tyler.
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u/equityconnectwitme 9d ago
The gameplay and loot in 3 is superior but other than that it's entirely forgettable.
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u/da_muffin_man_12 9d ago
It's a pretty boring game. They tried to shine a turd by adding the fancy loot.
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u/TheUndeadGunslinger 9d ago
I love the second one to death, don't get me wrong but there's so only so much "butt-stallion" I can personally take
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u/Deviate_Taco 9d ago
Buttstallion was barely in the second game if we aren't counting tinas dlc.
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u/CapnRogo 9d ago
I dont think he means butt-stallion specifically, but all the silly writing that follows the same vein.
If Handsome Jack wasn't so charismatic it would make replaying BL2 a lot more cringe
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u/sydillant 9d ago
My favorite butt stallion moment was when Fiona shot her in Tales from the Borderlands.
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u/PhoenixTineldyer 9d ago
Idk 2 was superior in every way. Handsome Jack is an amazing villain.
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u/Semour9 9d ago
Except endgame content. It was basically "Use these very few specific builds or you will die"
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u/PhoenixTineldyer 9d ago
I'm trying to remember anything about the endgame but that whole section of my memory is just the words "CONFERENCE CALL"
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u/ReallyGargoyled 9d ago
Borderlands 1 was such a journey for me, i remember meeting a couple who played together on xbox 360 in red dead redemption online (i think they were french but english speaking if i remember correct) when i got borderlands i basically only just got through the first part, like tutorial part and they contacted me, saying they noticed i was playing it and asking if i wanted to play it with them.
We played through the entire game together, it was such a great experience of venturing into this game with other (kind of) strangers to me as the other vault hunters.
End game was amazing, i remember us all being very focused, basically callouts was all that were going through comms. When end credits was rolling, we sad silently for a while and then just started talking about what a great game that was and how sad we all were that it was over now LMAO! unfortunately lost that xbox account and never got to play the sequals with them as i lost contact, but that could have probably made me enjoy the sequals more than what i did. still enjoyed them, just felt more lonesome with different people through the game instead of the same team all the way through.
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u/Burggs_ PC 9d ago
Ppl who experienced pre-patch Conference Call know that it's one of the most broken weapons in gaming history.
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u/Zoso03 9d ago
1 was more gritty 2 had better story, voice work, enemies, environments and guns. It only really suffered in the end game where meta became king and slag was the only way to play. 3 had the best gunplay, controls and difficulty curve. The mayhem mode really helped players fine-tune the difficulty they liked and can play the game with that setting.
IMO I would so be down for 1,2 and pre-sequal to get 3s engine, aesthetic, gunplay and controls along with the mayhem mode and fuck off with the slag or at least make it less mandatory, maybe have it slow and debuff enemies.
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u/mahiruhiiragi 9d ago
I want to live in a world where I can play BL1's campaign, but with 3's gunplay.
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u/CareerCoachKyle 9d ago
The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned was peak Borderlands. Just the right amount of humor, some QoL improvements with the pacing, and fun gameplay mechanics.
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u/AlphaDag13 9d ago
I remember when this game came out. I got it from gamefly at 10am on a Saturday. I played it until 3am Sunday morning. I slept until 10am and got up and played it until 1am Monday morning. I then called in sick that morning and played it until 3pm. It was to this day my best moment in gaming.
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u/Extension-Ad-1581 9d ago
My partner and I played BL1 together but by the time we got to the last boss we were able to kill it in like 6 seconds.
Not really what I'd call good game design.
BL2 was challenging and funny throughout. Much, much better IMO.
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u/-undecided- 9d ago
BL1 had better balancing.
I would say BL1 With BL2 Gameplay and mechanics (minus Slag) would be a perfect game.
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u/ballsballsohballs 9d ago
I’ve been trying to put my finger on it and I think you nailed it. Too meta for its own good is exactly how I would describe it. The first game just hit so many sweet spots for me, not to mention how satisfying the revolvers are
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u/Ghostbuster_119 9d ago
Borderlands 1 also had the best build variation.
With all the class mods you could really make yourself unique even if every player in the game was your class.
Also the legendary guns were actually cool and not just throwaway memes that sucked.
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u/CollateralSandwich 9d ago
I agree with you. Handsome Jack, but for a few jokes here and there, is tedious (but people LOVE this motherfucker for some reason), and the plot is maddening.
"We have to impress upon you, character, that you absolutely not do this one thing. Everything depends on it"
"Right!". Proceeds to immediately do the one thing.
Why did she do that? shrug It's in the script.
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u/UglyKidEnzoo 9d ago
I absolutely hated 1 after coming from 2, its slow and clunky and while I dont care about graphics, something about 1st looked so bad it turned me off entirely
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u/DarkAizawa 9d ago
OMFG SOMEONE FINALLY SAID IT.
I've been saying this for years and I get shit for it because everyone jumped on the bl train with 2 and think it's the best thing since sliced bread or have this obsession with handsome jack. I've never had more fun, felt more like a badass building my character how I wanted, and felt more powerful than I did in borderlands 1.
Don't get me wrong, bl2 fixed allot of issues the original had but beyond that, it truely just brought the series down. In 2 and so on the guns never feel powerful, elements feel like water (when used by you), shields are seemingly made of tissue paper and drop if someone looks at you wrong, powers feel beyond weak, and the obsession with the story brings the game to a slog. I could go on but I'm gonna stop there. In short, after 1 meta took the series over and made it boring to play along with multiple things they decide to change.
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u/skibidebeebop 9d ago
This is the only correct opinion. Borderlands 1 is a perfect looter shooter.
Edit: someone mentioned that the gameplay got better with every game and I'll give them that but something was lost with each new sequel.
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u/jongscx 9d ago
BL1 was very, very good, but BL2 felt like the game they really wanted to make but were 'limited by the technology of their time.'
Then BL3 was their Just Cause 4.
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u/basselsak 8d ago
Have you actually played bl3? Aside from the story, which can easily be ignored because the game has so much post game content, the game is an improvement in every aspect possible, the gunplay, the build variety, the gun creativity, the map design, special effects, graphics and quality of life improvements. The ONLY complaint i might have about this game is sanctuary. I do prefer the sancutary in bl2. But aside from that the game is perfect. Oh also the DLCs are some of the best in any game.
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u/RuggedTheDragon 9d ago
Borderlands was a great game, but I have to disagree. Borderlands 2 was the best in the series considering it had a great story and the best villain we've ever seen.
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u/ithinkitsnotworking 9d ago
Played through both BL1 and BL2 don't know how many times. Pre Sequel was 'Meh" and I couldn't get through BL3 even once with those annoying characters.
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u/bobface222 9d ago
I tend to agree.
BL2 has a lot of improvements but the writing combined with the introduction of slag ruin it for me.
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u/PointHrO 9d ago
I 100% agree with OP, I have mentioned this and it always felt like I was the only one.
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u/Van_Bur3n 8d ago
I went back to play it recently and I don’t think it aged well. It has a great atmosphere to it that isn’t over the top with its humor like it’s sequels, but gameplay wise, the combat just feels so much more shallow compared to BL2 and BL3. Really makes you appreciate just how much the sequels did.
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u/dotNomedia 9d ago
I like the guns in the first one more. I feel like the first one had much wider variety of gun stats within any given class.
The second game made all the gun classess much less random. Some guns have some kewl scripted effects, but things like firerate, magazine sizes, etc. seem to be nearly the same from one gun to another (whit some minor scaling with the level).
I also absolutely dig the more grounded atmosphere.
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u/hidden_secret 9d ago
I have the same opinion.
Though the ending to the first one was anticlimactic as fuck, everything was there already, the graphics, the gameplay, etc...
So when the second one came, to me it wasn't that special, and I actually didn't like the atmosphere and characters as much.
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u/Bigcheese0451 9d ago
Based take. I loved the first game and it's a top 10 for me. Replayed it like 6 or 7 times with the different characters and the new playthroughs for them. Still the best gunplay and ttk for the enemies and the atmosphere hasn't been topped in the sequels. I can't stand the series nowadays, tho. Too much cringe dialogue across-the-board.
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u/AttyFireWood 9d ago
I just bought the Pre-sequel a couple days ago because it was so cheap on steam, so I figured Id go for some nostalgia since I really liked 1 and 2. The first couple hours are kinda bad - the low level guns are terrible, and it feels like a never ending tutorial (here's ANOTHER game play mechanic we need to pause the game so you can read a message, and then we'll give you a fetch quest to explain it). It definitely feels dated it quite a few aspects, and most of the side quests are "go here, grab this item, and come back" which feels super repetitive when having to backtrack so much, and not being able to fast travel to every area. Not being able to ledge grab is super annoying after playing the modern Doom games. The controls felt so unintuitive I actually switched to a controller (weird for a PC shooter...). When it clicks, it's a blast to play.
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u/JoelsCaddy PlayStation 9d ago
I cant think of a single thing 1 did better than 2
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u/Jetmonk3y 9d ago
Balancing, weapon design, and mission flow to name a few. Part of the reason I find the first game to be the best is that it doesn't have at ton of backtracking like the others.
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u/MOON13VAN 9d ago
No one ever really agrees with me on that, but Borderlands 1 is 100% the best in the series. Maybe it’s nostalgia, but still
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u/BRIKHOUS 9d ago
Nah. 1 was wonderful for it's time, but skill trees that pushed you into only using specific weapons was a bad idea. Brick in particular, he got bonuses to nothing but rockets. My favorite character in the whole series, and the one I picked for coop when we did 4p, but man was i hurting by the dlc. Use ult or don't bother. Character personality design was super on point in 1, but gameplay wasn't the best.
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u/Jonas_Venture_Sr 9d ago
I am replaying BL1 right now, and using nothing but assault rifles with Roland. I have one rifle that hits for 300 and has a regenerates ammo quickly. My main assault rifle is a fucking monster, hits for like 250+ dmg, and absolutely spits out bullets.
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u/OrdinaryCactusFlower 9d ago
And the soundtrack was incredible! Every so often i put on this song and just zone out
I promise it’s not a Rick roll
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u/Little_Brat12 9d ago
It was really good and it’s fun to play the remastered every once in a while plus Roland isn’t dead
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u/DrParallax 9d ago
I loved how powerful the revolvers felt in BL1, to the point that I didn't really use any other weapons, except as backups. I have never really felt the same about any of their weapons in later games.
I agree, the games more and more had story stuff get in the way of just running through and fighting guys. Some story is great, but it hurts replayability if there is too much monologue to hear or dialogue/cut scenes to wait for.
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u/SplendidPunkinButter 9d ago
This series has fantastic gameplay and unbelievably annoying writing. Seriously, the writing is so juvenile and awful. Its awfulness is paralleled only by how fun these games are to play.
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u/Retrbunny 9d ago
That's so true, B1 was the best in the series to show how cruel and harsh was pandora, and coupled with the best humor quotes from different characters, not like the dumb jokes from the next iterations, a truly masterpiece of its time.
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u/Rough_Promotion 9d ago
By the third game, the guns and leveling were irrevocably broken and just kept going downhill after that.
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u/Left_Speaker8949 9d ago
BL1 is still my favorite out of the series. I wanted to like 2 I really did I played all the classes something just didn’t do it for me. It’s not bad but BL1 was magical to me and my friends. The pre sequel is second after BL1 it was a ton of fun I even roped the wife into playing it. We brought BL3 in hopes it would be good and I think we got to level 8 or so and never picked it back up.
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u/Zombie_Gandhi 9d ago
I do feel they got a bit high on their own supply (which you're not supposed to do, as I understand it).
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u/Zombies637 9d ago
After borderlands 1 they went a little too hard with the zany quirky quips it kind of ruins any sense of tension in the story 2 had a good balance though
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u/downonthesecond 9d ago
More like "Memelands 2". More like "Memelands the Pre-Memequel". More like "Bordermemes". More like "meme meme meme meme meme meme meme".
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u/natephant 9d ago
I still haven’t played more than 5 minutes of any of the other games and I own them all.
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u/Hikirion 9d ago
I really liked the referential humor of bl1. No game in the series comes close to it.
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u/MindwormIsleLocust 9d ago
story of 1, map design of 2, gunplay of 3. they've each got one piece of the puzzle. they have to combine their powers.
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u/jaccoo123 9d ago
Borderlands 1 was the best. Had the most satisfying guns I think. I did really enjoy borderlands 3 tho despite the cringy story
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u/KingDisastrous 9d ago
Enemies dropping their weapons they used against you as loot was a cool detail. Too bad they don't do that anymore.