New Tales from the Borderlands: an adventure full of humor and decisions

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Borderlands became one of the most prominent franchises of the last 15 years as it was able to deliver multiple sequels and spin-offs. In this last group we find Tales from the Borderlandsa narrative title developed by Telltale Games where the player’s decisions determine the fate of the protagonists.

Nearly 10 years after that single-player experience launched, the Gearbox and 2K teams announced at gamescom 2022 New Tales from the Borderlandsa video game that, as its name implies, will present a new cast of characters and will narrate an unpublished story.

Recently, at LEVEL UP we had the chance to see this proposal in action and chat with some of the people behind the project like Gearbox Studio Québec producer Frédéric Scheubel and lead writer Lyn Joyce. The creatives delved into the characters, context, mechanics, and other elements of the game.

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It’s time to return to Promethea

New Tales from the Borderlands is a cinematic game that revolves around decision making. Frédéric Scheubel pointed out that it is not a sequel to the original Telltale Games title, and that they prefer to see it as a spiritual successor. This gives rise to an unpublished plot and a totally new leading trio, although we were told that familiar faces from other installments will return.

One point to keep in mind is that it will not be necessary to play previous installments of the franchise to understand this new adventure, although, obviously, fans of bone colorado will find nods to classic characters and locations.

The events of this title will take place one year after the events we saw in the third installment of the main series. On this occasion, we will move once again to the planet Promethea, which seeks to rise from the ashes after constant wars. There, we will meet our protagonists: Anu, Octavio and Fran.

Naturally, each of these characters will have their personality and desires. For example, Anu is an altruistic scientist, while her brother Octavio seeks fame and her great moment to shine. From what we saw in the presentation, the group dynamics are very interesting and the interactions between the protagonists seem to be one of the great attractions of this experience.

Will every decision in New Tales from the Borderlands matter?

Faithful to other proposals of the genre, in this new narrative video game we will make hundreds of decisions, which will change, to a lesser or greater extent, the way events occur in the campaign.

Frédéric Scheubel explained to us that they put a lot of effort into making all choices feel meaningful, which is why they removed the “This person will remember this” message that appears in other Telltale Games titles to only point out important decisions.

The creatives want all the options that the players choose to have some impact; from provoking the immediate anger of a character to presenting medium-term consequences that can lead the story to one of the 5 endings.

Of course, some of the choices will also unlock unique lines of dialogue and new jokes. Fans will have to replay New Tales from the Borderlands multiple times to discover all the variants offered by the adventure of Anu, Octavio and Fran.

With so many decisions to choose from and with so many variations that the story can take, there is always the risk that the narrative will not feel coherent; for example, that a character’s personality and actions conflict with the choices the player makes. The Gearbox teams are aware of the above, and that is why they took into account all the variables so that the experience is harmonious.

The task was titanic and required constant planning and feedback, in addition to the participation of the entire studio, not just the teams responsible for the narrative. Lyn Joyce told us that developers and QA members meet to check continuity and identify possible bugs.

Finally, Frédéric Scheubel stated that they received feedback at all stages of production. For example, sometimes the actors themselves identified continuity errors and discrepancies in the dialogues or situations.

Think fast! In New Tales from the Borderlands there will be more than decisions

As in the original Telltale Games title and other proposals of the genre, in New Tales from the Borderlands there will be Quick Times Events (QTE), a mechanic that consists of pressing the control buttons that appear on the screen. In case of failing these sequences, there will be consequences.

The Gearbox Studio Québec producer explained to us that, for example, missing a Quick Time Event can cause a character to die, forcing us to retry the scene. However, there will also be times when failing a sequence will create new branches in the story. Luckily, we can modify the difficulty to make these segments easier or more difficult.

In New Tales from the Borderlands There will also be a special minigame that revolves around plastic figures known as Vaultlanders. These sequences consist of simple 1v1 fights where the main mechanics are tied to QTEs and other simple commands. Is the idea absurd? Yes, but it fits the tone of the rest of the experience. In addition, the presenter immediately reminded us of the one we heard in Killer Instinct.

It’s worth noting that these sequences are optional, with the exception of the one we saw in the demo. So, we can skip them and change their difficulty to make them more accessible or challenging. Finally, the plastic figures will be throughout the campaign in the exploration zones, where we will also interact with elements of the scenario.

The challenges of working in a pandemic

As expected, the health emergency that has afflicted the world since 2020 was a key factor in the development of New Tales from the Borderlands. In fact, security restrictions forced the teams to rethink elements of the plot to protect the health of the actors and other members of the team.

Frédéric Scheubel told us that from the earliest stages of production they were committed to creating a game that lived up to what was expected from a product that debuted in 2022. To achieve that level of quality, they used motion capture and of facial expressions.

“When the pandemic hit in March 2020, we had a script where up to 10 people interacted, and the staff was bigger back then. We had to come up with a plan to ensure the safety of the actors on set and the people who were there to assist them in the recording process,” explained the producer.

It was Lyn Joyce who, along with her team, reworked elements of the story to have fewer people in the scenes. These limitations, however, were an opportunity to create a more intimate and “even better” narrative.

“Considering, because of the restrictions, how many actors we can have on set at one time really allowed us to focus on character development and moments, especially with our 3 leads. We got a chance to do that, which I think is a really cool thing in the end,” Lyn Joyce shared.

New Tales from the Borderlands looks promising, will it live up to the hype?

At the end of the presentation, this narrative proposal left us with a good taste in our mouths and the desire to know more. The characters seem interesting and their interactions were very entertaining. This gives us hope that the jokes won’t prove annoying or anticlimactic in the long run.

Since we are talking about the humor present in New Tales from the Borderlandswe must confess that the jokes amused us, especially one that made a clear reference to the franchise metal gear solid by Konami. Of course, the effectiveness of the jokes will depend on the tastes and sensitivities of each player.

With all this on the table, we will have to wait until the official launch to find out if the script and the general plot result in round products that invite us to revisit the campaign to find all its ramifications. Also, it remains to be seen whether all the choices we make will actually be meaningful and interesting.

But tell us, does this project catch your attention? Let us read your thoughts in the comments section.

We remind you that New Tales from the Borderlands It will be available for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and PC (via Steam and the Epic Games Store) starting October 21. You will find more news related to this title if you click here.

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