Tales from the Borderlands is an interactive narrative Telltale Games originally released on multiple platforms in an episodic format from 2014 to 2015. The choice-driven, light on gameplay title recently made its way to Nintendo Switch, this time published by Take-Two Interactive. The story of Tales from the Borderlands is still remarkable and impactful, but the game is slightly hampered by its obvious age and often hollow attempts at engaging the player.
Titles from Telltale Games tend to be narrative-focused, and often offer another entry into different franchises' universes that are perfect for dedicated fans. The player has limited control over character actions, usually through quick time events, while a branching story plays out dependent on dialogue chosen by the player. Somewhere between full-fledged game and visual novel, Tales from the Borderlands offers a nuanced experience unique in the larger Borderlands canon. The gameplay will not excite those who greatly enjoy the looter shooter mechanics of the mainline Borderlands titles, but the narrative is in a league of its own, featuring many characters from previous titles without entering the realm of fan service.
Tales from the Borderlands puts players in control of dual protagonists Rhys and Fiona in a story set between the events of Borderlands 2 and 3. Rhys is a Hyperion employee stuck in middle management purgatory, while Fiona is a Pandoran con artist trying to make a living for her and her sister. The unlikely duo find themselves dragged into an adventure all too familiar to Borderlands: vault hunting.
One major benefit to the Switch version releasing so recently is that the five-part episodic game comes in its complete form, meaning players won't have to wait to see the story's conclusion. This plays heavily in Tales from the Borderlands' favor, since its characters are the most compelling reason to play the game. This is not to say the gameplay is necessarily bad, but it is still only passable for what it is. Outside of pressing the A, B, X, and Y buttons for choosing Rhys and Fiona's dialogue, the game is filled with QTEs that often feel meaningless and sluggish.
The game essentially plays out like one extended cutscene, but the pacing stumbles when all the characters pause what they're doing so the player can press a button or move the right stick in a certain direction. This works fine in some wonderfully choreographed action sequences that actually engage the player with multiple inputs, but when a single button press is bookended by minutes of dialogue it tends to feel unnecessary.
Tales from the Borderlands approaches genuinely interesting gameplay when it gives the player an opportunity to walk around and interact with a small playable area. These sections are often a great reprieve from the constant vigilance for the next button prompt. There's some player freedom in who the protagonist talks to, what they interact with and how, and succeeds in providing some genuinely interesting Borderlands universe trivia through an environmental scanning mechanic thanks to Rhys' cybernetic eye.
Unfortunately these sequences - much like the game in general - are held back by an odd tendency for Tales from the Borderlands to feel jittery and disconnected, possibly a side-effect of the Telltale Tool game engine. It oftentimes feels like an animation that starts upon pressing a button does not align with where the character model was when the button prompt showed up. It isn't a major issue most of the time, but this frequent lifting of the veil is a reminder that the story isn't playing out 100% organically. That's buoyed by phenomenal voice acting, and the range of emotions displayed by Tales from the Borderlands in just a matter of minutes can be surprising.
Luckily for Tales from the Borderlands, its minor annoyances aren't nearly enough to mar the incredibly rewarding narrative experience. While still humorous, the writing is much more nuanced than that of the mainline Borderlands games, offering an impressive amount of character development. The whole cast interacts in ways unmatched by the rest of the series, and achieves some of the most impactful narrative beats in the whole franchise, all while having player choices impact future events.
Tales from the Borderlands is available for the Nintendo Switch as of March 23, 2021. It is also playable on PC, Mac, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Android, and iOS. Screen Rant was provided with a digital Nintendo Switch download code for the purpose of this review.