

This Edition Includes: The Nintendo Switch digital version of New Tales from the Borderlands.Fans might get more out those cameos just by their nature, but there's still plenty here for non-fans to enjoy. The worst you'll get is a sense that a person who just showed up probably isn't a brand new character, but Tales does a good job of explaining why they're important now and not leaving you twisting in the wind. Yet those references are never so esoteric that people who never played the Borderlands games will feel lost. Not only does that make Tales feel like a true addition the series, but it doles out that sweet fanservice like candy, giving fans a peek into the lives of their favorite characters in a new game that's worthwhile in its own right. The story is almost entirely about a treasure recovered from the defunct Atlas Corporation, the protagonists hunt Psychos and run from skags while searching for a Vault, and beloved characters like Athena, Zer0, Scooter, and of course Handsome Jack show up in roles perfectly carved out just for them. More than just using the Borderlands universe as a convenient backdrop, Tales is a canon addition to it, and liberally integrates characters and bits of lore from throughout the franchise's history. Of course, part of the reason all of that high-octane hilarity feels so right is because it's so perfectly Borderlands, and Telltale's loyalty to the franchise remains consistently clear. Sometimes it's downright juvenile - how else do you describe a hologram using its lack of physical body to make it look like someone's tender bits are talking? Sometimes it elevates the action into something unique, as during a chase scene where our heroes dodge death-beams in a collapsing Airstream trailer while fleeing a genitalia-faced superbeast.

Sometimes it's situational, like when two characters fall off a cliff and share a heartfelt goodbye before realizing they're two feet off the ground. Of course, while it would've been easy for those scenes to blur together into a smear of indistinct car crashes, explosions, and bullet-hurricanes, Tales’ comedy is expertly used in a variety of ways to make every sequence feel memorable. It works out to a very satisfying conclusion that may not wildly alter the course of the story, but does make for one incredible final act. You don't deal with as many moral conundrums here, so it's less about who you pandered to most often and more about what singular favors you happened to do for them.

Despite their stark differences, Tales from the Borderlands takes a page out of The Walking Dead's book by letting your choices affect who accompanies you in the final fight.
