After my 12th playthrough of BL3 I decided to take a break and play some other shooters. Doing so has given me time and space to reflect on what I truly love about this series and also some things it can do better. So here are some things that are great (and not so great) about Borderlands (specifically focusing on 3, since I haven't played very much Tiny Tina).

The Guns

This almost goes without saying, but letting it go is doing a disservice to the game design. I always thought the advertising about "4.5 Billion Guns" was hogwash, and, to some extent, it is. At some point, the guns do converge to a kind of sameness ("Tenacious Power Play" is not all that different from "Neverending Power Play"). But nonetheless I have at one point had all 4 of my slots filled with Hyperion SMGs. And that's because the games do a REALLY good job of making every single gun feel unique and interesting to use.

A common criticism of the franchise is "you just pick the gun with the biggest numbers" and yes, you can do that. But I've developed a policy that I'm not allowed to trash any gun that I haven't tried, no matter how garbage it looks. Because you never know how it's going to feel.

The only thing that I think needs improving is sniper rifles. At every point in the game that I've measured, the damage per percentage of total ammunition is horrible. Pretty much the only acceptable way to use sniper rifles is legendary Jakobs, and even then, you're probably going to either run out of ammunition or get overrun before you finish a fight. I'm hesitant to suggest just a straight damage buff to sniper rifles, because it would be pretty easy for them to become the straight best guns in the game. But at the very least, a higher max sniper rifle ammo would be much appreciated

The Manufacturers

Oh god do I love the manufacturers in these games. They have such distinct personalities and feelings. They each have their own unique gimmicks that are at this point honed to a science. I really feel like I have a relationship with the manufacturers with every new VH I make.

I do feel like some things could be better though.

For one, Dahl needs something to put it "out there". I love Dahl, probably my favorite manufacturer. But in the late game I always find myself reaching for a Vladof instead because either damage, fire rate, magazine size, or gimmick, Vladof just goes harder. That being said, I LOVED the dual sights gimmick in BL3. ADSing on a Dahl is always a satisfying experience

Torgue needs a rework, I know it probably works great with Moze's splash damage tree, but I actively avoid Torgue guns because they just don't feel good to use to me. Maybe my tastes have changed since they were one of my favorite manufacturers in BL2, but I feel like Torgue guns have a potential for real zaniness that rarely comes through.

Hyperion SMGs are my soul food in every game. I live for them. But I have never understood why they make shotguns and sniper rifles. Like, their gimmick is based on repeated fire, why put that on the lowest fire rate weapons? And speaking of gimmicks, I feel like Hyperion's shield is the weakest one. It's small, doesn't take much damage and it has that weird delay to deploy? Not a fan. Between that and the fact that I don't like Hyperions sights, I always just fire them from the hip.

Jakobs. No notes. Perfection. Sniper rifles, assault rifles, pistols and shotguns. All of them perfectly fit the motto and live up to it. Add the bullet ricochet mechanic and you have some of the most satisfying guns to use in any game ever. The only note I have here is the same for every manufacturer. I'd like to see them branch out. Make SMGs, launchers, hell, I'd pick up Jakobs shields!

Atlas. God I want to love Atlas. I almost always have an atlas gun in my inventory. They have, in my opinion, the best sights of any manufacturer, plus generally high accuracy, good handling and damage, they're solid weapons. But they lack variety, and the ones that do vary it up just aren't that good in my experience. The nail in the coffin is the homing gimmick. It's cool but it's really awkward to constantly switch to alternate fire mode, and it's always a different rule set for how things home in. I didn't think this was fixable until I played Cyberpunk 2077 which has a similar mechanic. And the way they do it is to just have an enormous reticle, and your bullets home in on anything inside it. It works great and its fun to use. I'd love to see this.

Maliwan is great. I really like what they did in BL3. Added the "Charge up" mechanic to make them a little more costly to use. But also give them TWO kinds of elemental damage to keep them competitive. Maliwan has always been a favorite for me, and they continue to deliver. I don't think there's anything that really needs improving here.

Finally, we have Tediore. I fucking love Tediore. I didn't think you could improve on guns that were also grenades. But they fucking did it. I had one gun that I used for like 7 hours straight because it became a little flying bot that was re-armed when I reloaded. All I want in my life is more Tediore bot guns. Oh AND THEY TALK NOW! YESS!!

Grenades/Spells

I don't use grenades, I blow myself up too often. But on the occasion I do use them, I really appreciate the grenade mods because for one, they scale with my character, so they're never overpowered or useless (except when they are). And for another thing, they have variety it's not just "blue grenade" and "red grenade". But then Tiny Tina introduced the spells system and I fell in love. Just the sheer variety and customization available! I found myself waiting for that button to come off of cooldown!

Shields

I can't think of another game that has lootable shields. And that's a damn shame, because shields are one of the many things that make Borderlands awesome. For one thing, they give a canon reason for why people don't die in one shot, something 99% of games could do, but just don't bother to. But more importantly, they don't just flatly absorb damage, they have all kinds of other fun effects.

Mobility

Sprint, slide, jump, mantle, shoot, repeat. One of the reasons I can't go back to BL2 is because I've gotten used to modern mobility. But what I didn't appreciate until I played some other modern games is just how well BL3 does it. Again, no notes, it just feels good to play.

The Future

One thing I would love to see is a faction system. They even have built in factions, just take The Crimson Raiders, the Corps, and the Bandits, and you have a full on war on your hands. I'd love to see a galaxy map with different factions controlling different territory in the game as it progresses. You could take on faction quests (some of which would lock you out of others) which would influence the "war" and the progression of the story. I'd even love to see procedurally generated fights (like in Tiny Tina) you could drop into on one side or the other to help factions win territory.

I think this would help with Borderlands story problem, because it would allow the protagonist to be a lot more morally grey, you get to pick who the "good guy" is. Potentially (ideally) out of a load of really shitty ones.

Another thing I'd love to see is more Loyalty systems. The Loyalty program that gifts you a free gun after 100 kills was tons of fun, and quite useful at some points in the mid-game. And there's a few perks that reward you for having matching gear. I'd love to see that expanded. Like, I'd like to see a "sponsorship" system, where you get bonuses for using that manufacturers gear. And being able to level up those sponsorships would be even more fun. I always end up gravitating towards one manufacturer or another, I think it would be fun to have a mechanical reinforcement for it.

Finally, I don't want another 4 new vault hunters. I'd like to see them either bring back old ones (my pipe dream is bring back all of them). Or have a character creator like Tiny Tina did. This is probably a controversial take, and I'm sure I'll be proven wrong, but they've already done so many interesting things, I don't really see them making another 4 super memorable classes.