YMMV / New Tales from the Borderlands

• Audience-Alienating Premise: The game received a heavily divisive reception for a variety of reasons. Mainly it was an In Name Only sequel to a highly acclaimed game that ended on an unresolved cliffhanger, a tone that focused entirely on the comedic aspects of the series with little drama to balance it out, and the fact that no notable or fan favorite characters from the previous Borderlands games play any role in this story, and get a cameo appearance at best and instead the focus is entirely given to a new cast of characters that didn't exactly leave a good first impression to most fans. The overall backlash is similar to the one Borderlands 3 received, but while that game had at least better received gameplay, New Tales being an interactive story means it doesn't have even that.
• Base-Breaking Character: The Main trio consisting of Anu, Octavio, and Fran have proven to be some of the most divisive characters the series has produced. It can even be argued that only Ava exceeds them in terms of divisiveness.
  • You either like Anu for being a Wide-Eyed Idealist who genuinely wants to make the universe a better place and has relatable anxiety issues, or you dislike her for coming off as self-righteous hypocrite whose lack of confidence comes off as irritating. That's not even going into her interactions with Rhys. (See Strawman Has a Point.)
  • Octavio received a ton of hate even before release due to many fans finding him an annoying and obnoxious idiot who often comes off as an attempt at being Totally Radical. On the other hand there are those who did find him funny and endearing, while were also invested in his goals due to them being more along the lines of a typical Borderlands protagonist than the other two.
  • Fran tends to get the least amount flak out of the three, Mainly due to being a Handicapped Badass that isn't afraid to get dirty, all while being usually a decent person with a Hair-Trigger Temper that makes her flawed but likable. However, her constant flirts and open sexual quips does turn people off from her and then there are those who believe her more moments of badassery while still being wheelchair bound push the pounds of believably even by the standards of this series.
• Broken Base: Although Borderlands is known for its comedic tone, the previous games balanced it out by having a healthy dose of action and bits of drama. So for the comedy to be given the main focus for New Tales to the point where some of the developers called it "A playable sitcom", heavily divided the fan-base between those who enjoyed the comedy of the series and those who believed it would heavily hinder the story. It doesn't help that the comedy of the series has increasingly become viewed in a much more critical light.
• Contested Sequel: Although the general consensus is that it isn’t as good as the first game, there is a split on whether New Tales is a straight up case of Sequelitis or if it is a good game on its own merits. On the other hand, there is a small number of fans that actually consider the game an Even Better Sequel.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: L0U13 is easily the most popular of the new cast thanks to being a Comically Serious badass robotic assassin that boasts some of the best lines in the game. It isn’t a stretch to say He is more popular than the main trio.
• Just Here for Godzilla: Some players who are not interested in the new protagonists only came to see Tediore finally getting under the spotlight.
• Replacement Scrappy: The new main trio consisting of Anu, Octavio, and Fran are generally considered to be less interesting and entertaining protagonists than the duo of Fiona and Rhys. It does not help that both actually appear in the game, but have minor roles.
• Sequelitis: New Tales is widely considered to be a massive step down from its much acclaimed predecessor. As pretty much everything the first Tales from The Borderlands was praised for (Namely, The well-written story and well-developed characters.) New Tales was panned for having the exact opposite reasons.
• Strawman Has a Point: Rhys is meant to be seen in the wrong for dismissing Anu’s device as well as firing her. However, Rhys does have some legitimate reasons to think little of Ana and her device.
  • While Anu’s non-fatal device does sound good on paper and her hopes for it are certainly idealistic. Anu seems to forget that she lives in the Borderlands universe. From a business point of view it is very unlikely that the idea of something “non-fatal” would sell well in a galaxy filled with mercenaries and killers. That’s not even mentioning the fact that in order to do it’s basic function, the device requires eridium which is both a valuable resource and not exactly easy to come by, thus rendering the device Awesome, but Impractical from a technical standpoint and not exactly one that could be mass produced easily when compared to something like the standard assault rifle. Anu’s demonstration of the device certainly did not help her case either.
  • Although Animal Testing is a touchy subject, Rhys is right to show anger towards the way Anu protests the practice. Not only would there be damage to company property, but the animals she’s shown to release happened to be Jabbers, which are creatures that have proven to be quite dangerous^note  In Borderlands 3 where they are introduced, they are an enemy type found on Eden-6 and one of the Vault Hunters, Fl4k can have a Jabber fight alongside them. and pose a serious threat to anyone not capable of handling them, which very likely includes a good number of Atlas staff. With that in mind, Rhys ends up coming off as the more reasonable person in the debate.
• Tainted by the Preview: Initially many fans were hyped that Tales from the Borderlands was finally getting a follow up (especially since it ended on a massive cliffhanger). But much of the hype turned into skepticism once it was revealed that the game would focus on a new set of characters and a plot that bore very little relation to the first game.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
  • Many fans were disappointed and even frustrated with how Rhys was handled. Aside from the fact that he was one of the two protagonists of the first Tales game, he happens to be the CEO of Atlas, the company that controls Promethea, the planet the game is set on. It could be expected that he would have a significant role in the story. But outside of Anu’s arc in the first episode and some brief pieces of info provided in later episodes, his overall presence proves to be minimal and his characterisation amounts to little more than being a dorky CEO. It doesn’t help that what happened to him after the cliffhanger from the first game isn’t touched on either.
  • Athena FINALLY returns after being Put on a Bus since The Pre-Sequel... but not only is her role very minor (she only attends a meeting with other CEOs and Tediore), she doesn't even say anything, she just looks on silently. Her role is so minuscule she could have been replaced with an entirely different character and it wouldn't affect the story at all.
  • Many fans thought the meeting of the various CEOs was an opportunity to see Naoko once again, this time as the new owner of Maliwan, nicely concluding her story... But she's nowhere to be seen, instead the company is represented by Katagawa Sr. Considering how Naoko was The Faceless in Borderlands 3, many have made the assumption that the developers didn't want to create a character model for this brief scene so they just stamped wrinkles on Katagawa Jr. and called it a day.
  • In terms of the new cast, Stapleface is easily one of the biggest wastes, as she is notable for being the first benevolent Psycho since Krieg. Given how the latter has proven to be such a fan favorite for his insane personality and behavior there was potential to replicate that for Stapleface. However, after a run-in with Anu in episode one, she disappears entirely from the plot. Until she suddenly reappears in episode 5, where she is soon killed off.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: One of the biggest criticisms of the game is how it doesn’t even touch upon the massive cliffhanger that was left on The First Tales, (which is one of the biggest reasons why fans wanted a follow up in the first place.) This is even more glaring since Rhys and Fiona appear in the flesh, making the overlooking of this plot point all the more glaring.
• Tough Act to Follow: The original Tales was beloved so immensely that the fanbase was clamoring for a sequel. New Tales, following the same episodic story format, but not following up on any of the story beats introduced by that game, ended up facing a lot of scrutiny and criticism due to being an In Name Only sequel.

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