It’s not that I don’t like Gearbox’s shoot and loot style for Borderlands - they did create the universe after all. In a way, I’m more excited to see what Telltale has up their sleeves for Pandora in the future. While it never impacted my gameplay, the four or five times it happened were enough to make note, especially considering how good the engine has been running until now. The game itself never froze or slowed down, but sometimes character arm and head positions would suddenly snap to where it was supposed to be instead of actually animating there. Episode five’s main issue seemed to be characters snapping into place to prep for new scenes. It’s important to note that I did experience more technical problems with Vault of the Traveler than any prior Tales From the Borderlands episode, which isn’t saying much as I didn’t really have any notable problems with episodes one through four. It’s the perfect kind of madness that finds a balance in toying with every emotional state you have available. They’ll take you on a roller coaster, and have you laughing, crying, disgusted, and questioning every NPC that you’ve ever killed in a game. The writing and flow, apart from the sudden cut after the Helios disaster, are once again top-notch, and Telltale flexes their unique ability to cast a known property in a light that feels completely different, yet retains the crucial elements that keep it rooted in the source material. Having a sweet series of button combos reminiscent of old fighting games is a nice touch, but hardly enough to help me forget that I didn’t have enough money to hire the mystery vault hunter going into the final mission to seize the vault. Did you allow Felix to live or die at the end of episode one? The bifurcation of whatever outcome you got will be made painfully obvious. The second half following the reveal of the stranger shows just how far of an impact decisions made as far back as episode one have on a certain final choice. You can get a sense of finality for characters like Sasha, August, Vaughn, and even some characters that may have seemed to play a bit part in the series. It’s not exclusive to Fiona and Rhys either. How you decide to play my subtly affect these outcomes, but Telltale is giving closure no matter which direction you decide to go. Undeterred by this sharp separation of plot points, and perhaps a little bit because of it, we get both solid conclusions for individual character development arcs, and a resolution for the group as a whole and various character relationships. The fall of Helios brings an end to the Jack/Rhys conflict in a brutal and cringe-worthy manner, and closes the struggle with Vallory and her crew, but then seems to abruptly jump forward in time to the current day with the kidnapper, which kicks off the second half of the finale, and the true ending of the game. The only issue was that some of it felt disjointed instead of all tying into the final conclusion of the game. Vaughn’s ultimate fate since we last saw him. Fiona carrying Sasha’s present from Felix. Most every major unresolved plot point is given a conclusion in The Vault of the Traveler. Rhys wrestling with Jack in his head. There’s a gray area of identifying as a hero or villain, and Telltale does a great job of showing that it’s all about perspective. My own connection to the characters made me try to justify the killing of so many, and when Jack pointed out that I was doing just that, I couldn’t deny it. It’s this unique ability to offer depth, humor, emotion, and mass carnage in a single package that really makes Tales from the Borderlands succeed. Were they the heroes? Or were they just another couple of fortune seekers who would murder countless other people to lay claim to the prize at the end of that bloody tunnel? The Gray Area Between Hero and Asshole It was a moment that made me step back and think about Rhys and Fiona’s journey to this point. It’s traditional dark Borderlands humor, and Jack is quick to remind us that the things we do as the hero may not be so different than those actions of a villain. Very quickly into the episode, we see the opening credits sequence set to the destruction of Helios.
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