LogFAQs > #878486218

IAmNowGone posted...

Would I need to play Borderlands to understand Telltales Borderlands story?

To understand it? No. It's relatively self-contained with its own characters, and the parts you absolutely NEED to know to understand the plot are usually referenced in the game itself.

That being said, the game is pretty MASSIVELY into the idea of fan service, and you'll enjoy it a hell of a lot more if you've played Borderlands 2. There's a few in-jokes, cameos, and other references that will go completely over your head if you're new to the franchise, but which are fun callbacks if you're familiar with the other games. There's also a few parts that will have a hell of a lot more emotional impact (if any, depending on how emotionally invested you tend to get when playing story-heavy games) if you've played Borderlands 2.

Now, all THAT being said, Borderlands 2 is a fun game with a pretty good plot, so you should play it anyway. And there's a few people on PotD who have PS4 copies of the game who might be willing to play it with you if you're interested in the larger online team experience. And if not, it's still relatively easy to solo and pretty fun if you're into FPSes.

So I'd definitely recommend getting Tales from the Borderlands for free, then buying and playing Borderlands 2, and THEN playing Tales.

I'd also just recommend playing Tales in general, because at this point it's literally one of my favorite games ever made in the entire history of the video game industry.



Smarkil posted...

Half the story of 2 is about the characters from 1.

So.

To be fair, I started playing Borderlands with #2 (and enjoyed it enough to go back and get Borderlands 1 afterwards), and there's almost no real connection to the first game in spite of that. The setting is the same, and the main characters of the first game are all important NPCs in the second game, but pretty much every single thing you need to know from Borderlands 1 is summed up in Borderlands 2 in various dialogues, and the first game barely has a plot in the first place (a large part of why Borderlands 2 is the MUCH better game of the two). And really, none of the characters from the first game really had any personality in the first game - when you think of Roland, Lilith, etc, nearly every aspect of their characterization comes from 2, not 1.

And in a way, skipping the first game and starting with 2 is almost thematically more appropriate, because then you have the same point-of-view of the new Vault Hunters who've only just arrived on Pandora and are learning about things for the first time, as opposed to the jaded, been-there/done-that/seen-it-all attitude the characters from the first game have.


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