Borderlands 4 Developers Credit Borderlands 3 DLCs For Inspiring The Sequel’s Tone

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With Borderlands 4, developer Gearbox is aiming to dial again the comedy and provides gamers a extra grounded storyline, which might result in chuckle-worthy moments that really feel natural, not pressured.

Chatting with IGN, Gearbox narrative director Sam Winkler, lead author Taylor Clark, and managing director of narrative properties Lin Joyce spoke about how the Borderlands 3 expansions helped lay the groundwork for the story of Borderlands 4.

“I have been on the sport for a few years, and it was positively one thing from the second that I got here on-board, after I was speaking to Sam, the grounded tone was a precedence,” Clark mentioned. “Grounding the humor on the earth, he made it very clear that if I attempted to place a meme within the recreation, he would come to my home with a baseball bat [laughs]. So, it was positively within the transient from the start to make the tone match the world.”

Winkler did add that there is a meme in Borderlands 4, however it’s one which he felt justified in including to the sport as a result of he “by chance” created it–just do not count on Hawk Tuah or Skibidi Bathroom.

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Clark defined that the shift in tone was additionally obligatory, as the sport takes place on the authoritarian world of Kairos, not the “wild west” of Pandora and its surrounding planets that have been residence to companies waging struggle on one another. Mixed with a deeper concentrate on open-world exploration, the Borderlands 4 crew wished to guarantee that humor “wasn’t just a few sticker that we’re slapping on one thing” as gamers explored Kairos.

“At no level did we are saying, ‘Let’s cease being humorous in Borderlands. Let’s not try this anymore.’ It’s nonetheless a Borderlands recreation made by a Borderlands crew, many who’ve been right here since 1,” Joyce added.

As talked about above, the Gearbox crew laid the muse for this new strategy in type and tone with the expansions of Borderlands 3. DLC like Moxxi’s Heist of the Good-looking Jackpot, Bounty of Blood, and Psycho Krieg and the Improbable Flustercluck have been usually well-received after launch, as these have been seen as a course correction for the sport’s narrative.

Not solely did these expansions supply a sharper humorousness, however they have been additionally shocking with their themes of affection, closure, revenge, and redemption that have been organically woven into their particular person storylines. Moreover, senior venture producer Anthony Nicholson defined to GameSpot in an interview earlier this 12 months that Gearbox is “actually proud” of its previous titles and the jokes in them, however occasions change and the studio desires to enter its “Simpsons period” with Borderlands 4.

Borderlands 4 launches on September 12 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Sequence X|S, with a Swap 2 launch lined up for October. If you happen to’re trying to seize the sport and you are still undecided on which Vault Hunter you wish to play as, you’ll be able to try deep-dives on all the talents and abilities that characters like Harlowe, Amon, Rafa, and Vex deliver to the desk.