While manyTiny Tina’s Wonderlandsplayers were positive about the game after release, praising its combat and storytelling, the discussion around the spin-off has become more negative recently. The complaints are largely tied tothe Coiled Captors DLC, with many down on the pack due to its overall lack of content.
In comparison to the major expansions seen with theBorderlandsgames, which provide several hours of content for just $5 more, the first Mirror of Mystery inTiny Tina’s Wonderlandsis shockingly light on things to do despite its $10 price tag. While this would be frustrating no matter what, as players surely would have loved some full-fledged expansions, part of the issue is tied to how the content in the Mirrors of Mystery is unlocked over time.
RELATED:Borderlands 4 Should Swap Out Vehicles For Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands’ Overworld
The Problematic Release Format For Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands’ DLC
WhenBorderlandsexpansions like Assault on Dragon Keepreleased, players got access to all the content at once. A fully story campaign, raid bosses, side missions, and gear were all accessible at once. Unfortunately, this is not the case with the Mirrors of Mystery, as the Coiled Captors content has a problematic release format.
Each week after a Mirror of Mystery releases, the boss will evolve and become harder, getting new attacks and a larger health bar. In theory, this is a good idea since it encourages players to keep coming back to the game. Unfortunately, there is not enough content in the rest of the DLC to make this approach work. Coiled Captors is between 10-30 minutes long depending on a player’sTiny Tina’s Wonderlandsbuild, a far cry from the 5-10 hour expansions ofBorderlands.
Because of this release format forTiny Tina’s Wonderlands’ DLC, some players feel like they are only getting 10 minutes of content for $10 - a huge asking price. While Coiled Captors would be controversial no matter what, there might be a lot less outrage if gamers could access every stage of the boss in one go. Currently, a one-to-two-hour DLC is being stretched across four weeks, which makes the launch of each Mirror of Mystery a lot less exciting.
If the Mirrors of Mystery were added as part of a larger expansion, the weekly updates to the mission would make perfect sense, as there would be other aspects of the DLC to enjoy in the meantime. With the entire Coiled Captors DLC consisting of one replayable but brief mission, though, time gating the different versions of the boss makes little sense. In future Mirrors of Mystery packs,Tiny Tina’s Wonderlandsplayersshould be free to run the mission several times in a row, seeing all the different versions of the boss in a few hours.
If players were able to see each phase of the mission in one play session, the changes to Vesper’s storytelling and the growing strength of the boss would be clearer. With a week passing between each run, many players are going to forget the last version of the boss that they fought and will fail to see just how much has changed between their runs. With Coiled Captors being such a brief DLC, timegating the different difficulty levels is unsustainable. As such, in future Mirrors of MysteryGearboxshould allow players to access every variant of the boss in one sitting, making the DLC feel a bit less small. While Mirrors of Mystery will always be seen as a step down from the expansions of old, changing the release format for the boss phases could still make a difference.
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlandsis available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
MORE:Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands’ Frette and Valentine Should Return in Borderlands 4
