New Tales From The Borderlands Looks And Feels Familiar In Extended Gameplay Demo

Publisher 2K teased back in April that it was bringing back Telltale’s Tales from the Borderlands series but that this time, it would be developed in-house by Gearbox Software. Then, during Gamescom’s Opening Night Live event, Gearbox officially revealed the sequel, which is less a direct continuation of Telltale’s story and more a spiritual successor to the series, which is evident in its official name: New Tales from the Borderlands. 

That new trailer gave us a look at the new protagonists – altruistic scientist Anu, her street-wise brother Octavio, and local business owner Fran – as well as a look at just how Tales from the Borderlands this new entry is this time around. Sure, it’s a new cast and an all-new story in the world of Borderlands, but it’s clear it will play and feel familiar. In speaking with the team, it’s clear that this is Tales from the Borderlands with some added Gearbox edge. 

“As someone who worked on the previous Tales, I was acutely aware it was a critical darling,” Gearbox Software director of production James Lopez tells me. “The people who have played it love it. Instead of trying to replicate those steps, we acknowledge where they came from and then attempt something new. Use the formula, use what worked, but do it Gearbox style.” 

That’s why this game looks more similar to Borderlands 3 in visual style than the first Tales from the Borderlands, and it’s why it features better, updated animation. 

Lopez says Gearbox is partnering with developers from the first game to ensure its spiritual successor remains authentic to the series’ roots. The first gameplay demonstration of New Tales from the Borderlands was released at Pax West this September. It demonstrates that Gearbox is committed to making New Tales from the Borderlands feel at home. The video shows Anu and Octavio trying to escape dangerous situations in an underground sewer network populated with Tediore troops. It was immediately apparent to me how Tales from the Borderlands gameplay looked, from the moment-to-moment gameplay and the writing. 

The jokes are plenty, with some hitting harder than others, depending on your tolerance of Gearbox’s trademark Borderlands humor. And the gameplay is nearly identical to that of Telltale’s first and only foray into this universe, which is to say your primary mode of input comes from selecting dialogue choices and watching how they affect characters and the world around you as well as the overall narrative. 

As you’d expect, when it’s time for a dialogue choice, you’ll see options pop up on the screen and a red bar beneath them to indicate how much time you have left to select one. Don’t expect to see a “Fran will remember that” notification pop up after you make your decision, though, because unlike in Telltale’s game, the team has done away with on-screen markers like that. Instead, you’ll have to decipher how that choice affects those around you based on what they do and say following it. 

As for why the team opted to drop those notifications, it’s to strengthen the impact of each choice. 

“There’s an immediate impact; there’s an immediate joke linked to what choice you made,” Gearbox Studios Quebec producer Frédéric Scheubel says of the demo’s first dialogue choice. “What choice you make…will have its own sequence that will play differently. And some of those choices will have an impact mid-term and even longer term, affecting which ending you’ll see, so pay attention, see how the characters will react. If you diss them, they’ll react to it. We feel that every choice is important, so we moved away from the hints that we had prior in Tales from the Borderlands.” 

He continued, “Instead of doing it like ‘this choice is the important choice,’ all choices may be important and may have led you to these circumstances later on.” Beyond diegetic reactions and moments, there are two other ways to grasp how your choices affect the game. Each episode will end with a brief recap. A NPC robot assassin bot will be following the trio, acting as the Greek Chorus character. 

“If you say something that is particularly harsh to someone, he’ll call you on it,” Lopez says. “He won’t criticize you. He’ll just go, ‘that was pretty harsh.’ There’s a mechanic, too, where he’ll measure the bond level of the group. When you get those moments where he calls this stuff out to you, it is an opportunity to go, ‘do I like this? Do I want to go back and make my bond higher?’” 

Lopez notes that there are hundreds of dialogue choices in Pax West, which will all help you choose between the five endings. Lopez states that Anu, Octavio and Fran all have distinct archetypes. However, players don’t need to adhere to these. It’s your story, after all, and when you veer off the archetypal path of each character, Lopez says you’ll see and hear characters react to that. 

One exciting aspect of New Tales from the Borderlands shown during its first gameplay demo was Vaultlanders, one of the game’s many minigames. You choose a Borderlands-themed minifigure from the character selection screen. This doubles up as a collectible that you find and earn throughout the story. Your adventure begins with a hilarious, action-figure-based fight. This is accomplished using button clicks as well as quick-time events. In this case, you won the battle and earned Octavio Zane Flynt, a minifigure that fans may recognize from Borderlands 3. This game takes place one calendar year prior to the current one. 

The rest of the demo plays out as you’d expect – jokes, quick-time events, tough dialogue choices, and plenty of Borderlands peril – and it’s worth watching if you’re excited about what’s in store in New Tales from the Borderlands ahead of its Oct. 21 release.

Are you excited to try New Tales from the Borderlands next week? Please comment below.