Tiny Tina's Wonderlands is a fun Borderlands spinoff, but the constant chatter of its enemies is easily its worst part. Being a lighthearted side story of an already largely satirical game series, it's obvious that Wonderlands would lean more toward humor. However, the comments of the enemies miss far more often than they hit.
Tiny Tina's Wonderlands is Gearbox's latest title from the Borderlands series, and it's quite different from the previous entries. The game is rated T rather than M, so swearing has been toned down and gore has been removed completely. The game is narrated by returning character Tiny Tina, as well as newcomers Valentine and Frette. In addition, the frequently barren and mechanical landscapes of Pandora have been traded out for colorful fantasy settings. It's a distinct enough experience that players don't need to know Borderlands' story in order to enjoy Wonderlands. As a result, while the game largely still plays like Borderlands, it has enough new elements to feel like a fresh experience.
Enemy chatter is not a new feature for Tiny Tina's Wonderlands. In previous Borderlands titles, enemies would make quips every once in a while in the heat of combat, especially the Psycho enemies that grace the cover of every game in the main series. However, in Wonderlands, the skeletons that make up most of the games' enemies seem to be even more talkative than the foes of previous games. This, combined with the large waves of enemies that the game sends out during their quest to beat Wonderlands' Dragon Lord, means that the player will be hearing a lot of lines from the enemies in almost every encounter with them.
Tiny Tina's Wonderlands' Enemies Speak Too Much But Have Too Few Lines
The sheer amount of enemy dialogue that the player will encounter in battle turns out to be more of a problem than it sounds. The enemies have a relatively small pool of quotes, so the player will likely start hearing repeated quotes very quickly. Even if the player is incredibly competent and kills off the enemies quickly, they will still have to hear their death quotes. Because the death quotes are equally limited, the player will encounter the same problem of hearing the same quotes over and over. By the time the player encounters the first boss, they will likely be sick of hearing the same skeleton quotes in each fight. This actually makes circumstances worse for players who encounter the Wonderlands glitch that erases game progress, because they will have to hear all the same quips they've heard before while replaying the game.
The biggest issue with these repetitive quotes is that they actively harm the mood of the game. While a skeleton pointing out that they are a talking skeleton may have been amusing in the first battle, it quickly becomes very old when multiple skeletons keep parroting the same line. Tiny Tina's Wonderlands relishes in its humor, largely in the form of Tina's fast-talking quirkiness and commentary from the other advisors. However, the enemies' lines are repeated in such a way that what may have been slightly amusing instead becomes annoying. Wonderlands is basically a fantasy-influenced Borderlands, and is as fun as its description implies. However, the overly repetitive enemy chatter hurts the game's charm.
Tiny Tina's Wonderlands is still a good game, and for the most part, it delivers as a fun fantasy-themed shooter. However, the repetitiveness of the enemy lines does hurt the game's charm by being overly annoying. While Tiny Tina's Wonderlands usually manages to make its humor work, it would be a much better experience if the enemies remained silent.
