#fran borderlands

[vaulthunterlands]

NEW TALES FROM THE BORDERLANDS: A REVIEW

Alright alright I gotta do this because I put off playing this game for nearly two years and finally binged it yesterday. SO, obviously, spoilers ((FOR ALL FIVE EPISODES)) will be discussed and I highly recommend watching or playing the game first (price tag is a little steep) if you want to experience it firsthand. I also wanna say: this is just my opinion! If you didn't care for the game, that's fine! Just be respectful please :)

Continuing under the cut!

I'll give you a TLDR right up front in case you don't feel like reading this: It was okay. It's not a stellar game, but it's far less egregious than people were saying. I'd say it's probably my least favorite game in the series, but that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it.

CHARACTERS:

ANU: First of three player characters you're introduced to, and I thought she was really charming in that awkward nerd sort of way. I think it was interesting to have a character so vehemently opposed to killing as a Borderlands protagonist, but I liked what they did with that aspect of her character. I will be honest that I was a bit unsure how to feel about the whole "shard possession" plot point, especially when Anu is in the coma, but I think seeing her try to reevaluate herself as a person while in that coma was an interesting way to tackle subjects like regretting the past, and wishing you'd said something else. I did choose to reject the shard at the end, and I also got the ending where everyone lived, and I think that's a really good way to wrap up Anu's story.

OCTAVIO: I'll level with you guys. Way back when I saw the trailer for New Tales, I already didn't care for Octavio. My assumption was that he was going to be your typical dumb, annoying "comic relief" character. And, I mean, he kind of is? But he does have more than that. He's a genuinely sweet guy who's trying his best, and the jokes they made with him did make me laugh occasionally, but sometimes I got secondhand embarrassment from listening to him. (I have to point out that I get that with all the Borderlands games at certain points, so I really can't put this as a point against Octavio). I thought the ways he found solutions to situations were interesting (the whole "holding the talking gun to his head because Coldwell wanted him alive" was a really funny and creative bit imo), but then sometimes they'd have him be like... too stupid??? (Spending their money on the exact place they left felt... interestingly dumb LOL) Overall I didn't nearly dislike him as much as I expected to, and seeing the sibling bond between him and Anu mend over time was sweet.

FRAN: Okay. Alright folks. I'll be honest. When I first started the game? I wasn't a fan. The anger controlling stuff was interesting (I managed to not squish the sponsor-bot early on in the game), but I just didn't get a great vibe from Fran? She's extremely flirty in-game with a ton of characters and it kind of just gave me whiplash. I got used to it as the game went on but I was often squinting at my screen like "huh?" I thought her hoverchair was pretty sweet though--super interesting way for her to fight, as well as using the Pre-Sequel cryo+melee damage combo! I will say, she grew on me as I played, but the time when I really started to like her was with her backstory reveal. In episode 4, they explain why she doesn't use the "crazy mode" on her hoverchair anymore (after kind of alluding to it all game) and it was surprisingly heartfelt to hear this strong woman bare her trauma like that. (P.S. the 8-bit section was so cool I will die on this hill). Anyway, I think Fran is pretty cool in my book even if some of her dialogue did make me double-take.

L0U13: L0U13!!!! I LOVED HIM!!!!! L0U13 was a really cool character on many levels. Firstly, he's a robot and I love robot characters. Secondly, the whole idea of an "assassination bot" makes perfect sense in the Borderlands series, though I was perplexed by the caveat of him having to hear the victim's name first. I still thought it was a really interesting plot point, though! I loved how he became closer and closer to the team as the game went on, and you know when I had the opportunity I said he was part of the team. Also may have cried when he died on the Tediore ship. (Though I got the ending where he's rebuilt and I popped off so hard when he appeared). Overall I love L0U13 and he needs to appear in future games.

SUSAN: Hoo boy. Oh man. Susan... I liked her a lot as an antagonist. Overall, she is a pretty standard corporate baddie (iirc I read she was designed as a polar opposite of Wainwright, I.E. she doesn't care about commoners or the poor) but when her plan was revealed, I was shocked. The idea that you could not only kill someone but then revive them and repeat the process over and over until their spirit is broken resonated with me. I was like "oh shit this is BAD." Needless to say I was definitely not expecting when she basically GLASSED PROMETHEA WITH THE DEATH RAY. But overall, I think she was a good antagonist and it felt so good having Fran punch the shit out of her.

SIDE CHARACTERS

PHUONG: I really liked her!! She was cute and funny and WHAT HAPPENED TO HER WHY DIDN'T THEY BRING HER BACK AAAAAA

BADASS SUPERFAN: Hilarious. Genuinely smiled every time he showed up. I really enjoyed the Vaultlander stuff and I thought him just showing up in random places was peak Borderlands humor. Fantastic, 10/10.

BROCK: Another banger (get it? Because he's a gun. He's a g) of a character. Talking guns always have potential in the franchise and I think they knocked it out of the park with this little shooting-crazed guy. When Octavio was in prison and he was like "STOP BEING DEPRESSED" I laughed pretty hard.

STAPLEFACE: GOD I LOVED STAPLEFACE!!!!! SHE'S SO SILLY AND SHE JUST WANTED TO PROTECT THE PRETTY LADY WHY COULDN'T ANU HEAL HER WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY

The Elephant in the room

Okay so the healing crystal. Obviously pretty big implications for being to revive people but at the end of my playthrough, it kind of just fucked off into space. And I think they should leave it like that! I think this kind of power was okay for a one-off story, but I think it risks making the events of the series as a whole inconsequential. As much as I love Roland, I wouldn't want to see him revived. That moment in BL2 was so visceral and powerful that it made you want to kill Jack even more, so to have him revived would kind of ruin that, for me at least. Idk. I think they should leave the crystal out of future installments.

CONCLUSION:

I'm probably forgetting some stuff to write about the game because I was up super late playing it and thinking about it but I'll reiterate that it was nowhere near as bad as it was made out to be. Definitely the worst in the series, definitely a mediocre game overall, but there were some really good plot points and funny scenes. If you don't want to drop the money on it, I'd suggest watching a playthrough if you want to. No pressure! I just think it's interesting as a game.

[brights-place]

⋆˚࿔Master List𝜗𝜚˚⋆

Arcane Alice in borderland Adventure time Animal crossing Blue lock Clone High Cult of the lamb Cup-head C.O.D C.R.K Clone High Caste Heaven ERROR143 Ever after high Demon Slayer Deadpool Far Fetched Genshin Gravity Falls Going Live Hazbin Hotel Haikyuu Helluva Boss Heart Break High Inside Job JJK Little Nightmares League of Legends Loony Tunes MLP Monster High Marble Hornets Murder Drone My Street My Inner Demons MPHFPC Nimona PJO RAMSHACKLE Scatter Shot Nine Sally Face South Park ( + Hell Park AU) Spiderman Star Rail Stray The Slenderverse Saiki K Sk8 infinity Tokyo Revengers The Owl House One Piece Twisted Wonderland TMNT The Amazing Digital circus Tribe Twelve Trolls The Boondocks Undertale Villanous Valorant Welcome Home Winx We bear bears (human ver) Wuthering Waves Yarchin Bitchu Club

♡˗ˏ✎*ೃ˚ Brights Map! ˊˎ˗

[snappedsky]

Borderlands: Skies the Ultimate Treasure Hunter

Trophy Earned: Skies' Ending

--

New Tales From the Borderlands Epilogue

Rhys stands behind his office desk, typing furiously on his keyboard while on a call with his ECHO communicator. Only a few hours ago, the Tediore warship crashed into the middle of Meridian City. With no call from Susan Coldwell, Atlas has declared the war over. But there is still so much work to do.

“The site is still too dangerous to salvage,” an Atlas soldier tells him. “But so far we’ve only found Tediore soldiers, most of them dead.”

“Keep looking!” Rhys orders, “give medical treatment to anyone still alive! And if you find anyone who isn’t Tediore, tell me immediately!”

“Sir...if there’s someone specific you’re looking for...”

“Just do as I say!” he barks before cutting the call.

Rhys sighs heavily and starts to sit back, before remembering he still hasn’t gotten a new chair and catches himself to stop from falling onto the floor.

He leans over his desk, running his hands through his hair. “She was on that ship...did she manage to escape? Surely she wouldn’t have...she can’t be...”

He thinks about the Teed Talk, and his stomach twists into knots.

“I should have never let her go off alone. Why didn’t she listen to me...”

He hears the office doors open and he stands, exasperated. “What is it? Can’t you see I’m-.”

He stops when he sees who’s walked in.

Skies pants like she’s just been running. Her hair is a mess- more than usual- and she’s covered in bruises and scrapes. She’s not wearing her usual trench coat; her pants are ripped up the legs and her t-shirt has been turned into a tank top, with the left side completely stained in blood. Rhys stares at her, dumbstruck, as she stands in the middle of his office.

“Sorry,” she says quickly, “I know you’re busy and I should’ve called first, but I lost my ECHO and I can’t call my ship and it was so hard to get up here, with all the lock downs and emergencies, and you would not believe the day I just ha-.”

[radioactive-synth]

New Tales from the Borderlands (2022)

[rolilith]

ntftbl gifs (3/10): "...there's no way i can give you a lifetime supply of free frogurt, hank. not at the rate you eat it."

[ifighttheurgetotalkmyshit]

I'm planning on rewriting the ENTIRE New Tales From the Borderlands storyline. As much as I enjoyed it, it was severely flawed and contributed nothing to the Borderlands universe. It will probably be a 200+ page project (which I've already started).

Would anyone be interested in something like this?

[shinakazami1]

I decided to write my live written thoughts for each Ep as I will play New Tales from Borderlands to figure out what's happening 👀

NEW TALES: EPISODE 2

- THE SONG SEQUENCE HELLO? 😭😭 I know the main characters had to wait but it was silly in an awkward way. Like my guys disliked each other (4/10 relation) so them trying to team up and then later failing to save Juniper just makes them such girlfails I love it.

- I don't get why did they have to make the full 'not DNA siblings' though. Some parts feel forced just to make some sort of joke or comment and that felt like one of them. Awkward humour is a constant with few breaks but once again, I feel that's the typical Borderlands writing.

- I'm going to try look back to Tales but in comparisment, these QuickTime events feel way slower? I wonder if it's a stylistic choice or accessibility one but they more often felt like they were just judging me

- Close enough - welcome back, solid snake (Octavio in a box)

- HELP THE FRICKING VAULTLAUNDER FIGHTS 😭😭😭 I was wondering for their combat as I've seen it in the menu. Weird that this is the minimage you can't skip while it takes as much thinking.

- voice acting on the 3 tediore soldiers is so silly kshwhwhs

- Why DID THEY MAKE THE POINT OF FRANK SEEMING DUMB she is in this run anger driven ofc but

-I love how Octavio maintain a point Juniper should get in any way but the last ep she got stuck,,,, But I'm glad Juniper is seen as cute

- BUT ALSO FRAN HAVING A CRUSH OR WHATEVER ON OCTAVIO 😭😭😭😭😭 like yes folks are like that sometimes, and the way he called her unconventionally attractive for Boost is silly to me. He knows it is important to her but it does seem one sided

- "You think too much, way much actually" IS A QUOTE INDEED

- also there was a thing with hole being too small for Fran and they left her but like in next sequence, she immediately was back? Idk if it's just the relationship or me succeeding beforehand a quick time event that got me there but it did feel a tad unnecessary s we already established Fran can be stubborn

- "It's an expression" "You're an expression" WHY DO I FIND IT FUNNY IT'S THE SAME HUMOR LIKE EVERYTHING ELSE

[inksplit]

[borderlandsmostwanted]

Thought it might be fun to do a poll!

[tremolo-legato-suckas]

timtams writing this lil X///D is killing me he's the worlds most kawaiiest boy

[doortale]

[gamingladies]

Fran Miscowicz | New Tales from the Borderlands

[borderlands-ate-me]

Octavio and Fran in that one scene:

[snappedsky]

Borderlands: Skies the Ultimate Treasure Hunter

Mystical powers clash in the final battle between Skies and Susan.

One chapter left.

--

New Tales From the Borderlands Part 11

Skies, Anu, Octavio, Fran, and LOU13 enter the bridge of Tediore’s warship. Across the large room is a window looking out at Promethea. Up on a short balcony, at the main control console, is Susan Coldwell. She glares at the group with mild annoyance as they enter.

“Oh, look, you’re all here,” she remarks, “I don’t know what I pay my soldiers for. But, well, I guess they did manage to take down one of you.”

Without hesitation, Skies fires her pistol at her. Susan doesn’t even flinch as the bullet pings harmlessly off her shield.

“Did you think it would be that easy?” she asks.

“Can’t blame me for trying,” Skies shrugs.

Susan chuckles as she paces around. “Look at you all, on my bridge. Doing what? First attempt at a corporate takeover? A hollow, vainglorious attempt to ‘save the world’?” She laughs mockingly and motions to the green gem shard in Anu’s chest. “You possess one of the most powerful objects in the known galaxies. But it doesn’t negate one crucial, inescapable fact.”

“What’s that?” Fran scoffs.

“You’re weak,” Susan grunts.

“Since the very beginning, from the moment you bumbled onto that shard,” she continues, “had the delusion to call yourself a company, you never had a chance. But why? You have a valuable product, capital, smarts. And yet you all fail, so utterly and completely. Why?”

“Because you never had the spine to start a real company. You can’t stomach the violence of the business world. No iron ovaries. What hope could you have in the big leagues.”

“Skies, you’re the only one with any real power, and yet you waste it with those buffoons,” Susan snorts. “But despite your strength and wealth, you’re still just one person, hoping to take down an entire army, for what? Friendship? Love? Please.”

“Don’t have to stop an army, Suse,” Skies retorts, “just you.”

She just scoffs and types at her console. “Business Lesson One: your weakness provides me with a competitive advantage.” Out of the console, she grabs a container holding the red gem shard as a large, robotic arm rises out of the floor. “Now allow me to show you what we call ‘aggressive restructuring’.”

[wainwrightjakobshammerlock]

theyre discussing new tales. yknow honestly i can understand they made fran horny just because.

and the fact anahatium didn't heal her disability is something that kinda flew under my radar.

[angeltannis]

Also while I’m thinking about it, do you guys think the ridiculous amounts of parallels between Fran and Gaige were intentional? Or does Gearbox only know how to write so many character archetypes, leading to the series now having 2 unrelated disabled anarchist punk redheads who struggle with emotional regulation and whose backstories involve them accidentally killing classmates with anti-bullying robots?