Tiny Tina’s Wonderlandstakes theBorderlandsseries in an entirely new direction, adding a fantasy spin to the usually gritty, post-apocalyptic shooter. It tells a rollicking tale of tabletop fun led by the titular heroine, Tiny Tina. With plenty of new guns, mechanics, andwonderful characters, this new titleis a bombastic entryin the long-running series.
RELATED:Beginner Tips For Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands You Need To Know
But, as good asTiny Tina’sWonderlandsmight be, there are still a few areas where it stumbles in executing all of its different ideas. While a few of these problems are specific toWonderlands, many are staples of the franchise that have lingered since the very beginning, and fixing these issues should be at the top of Gearbox’s to-do list.
8Better Menu UI
The menu user interface inTiny Tina’s Wonderlandsis just ascluttered and difficult to read as it has been in every otherBorderlandsgamesince the first title was released way back in 2009. In fact,Wonderlandsis actually slightly worse than the other games, as it has a few extra pieces of gear players can equip, further crowding the inventory screen.
It would be nice to have a cleaner setup to work with, especially when trying to compare multiple pieces of gear. Trying to parse every detail on a particular gun, trinket, or spell can get tiresome when players have to sift through multiple pages of items just to find the specific piece of loot they were looking for.
7More Fast Travel Options
Fast travel has become one of gaming’s most useful tools over the years, and theBorderlandsseries has mostly done well with the system.Wonderlandstakes a half step back in this regard, though, restricting fast travel to landmarks like the Overworld, Brighthoof, andthe Chaos Chamber.
While in a particular area, players can also fast travel to local points within the region, but there’s no way to teleport to a specific locale from anywhere in the world. To get from Mount Craw to Tangledrift, players simply have to head out into the Overworld and walk there. While this isn’t a terrible problem while still exploring the Overworld, it becomes a tedious chore during the late game.
6Easier Storage
Storing items has always been a bit of a mixed bag in theBorderlandsfranchise, and whileWonderlandsmanages to fix at least one major issue (storage space), it still runs into the problem of storage access. Izzie’s Fizzies is the only place in the entire game where players can store or remove items, forcing them to return to Brighthoof whenever they want to safely stash gear.
RELATED:How Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands Dual Classing Should Be Refined
It breaks the enjoyable combat flow to constantly worry about whether there’s enough backpack space to pick up another legendary piece of loot. Without easy access to the safe, players might opt to sell or drop valuable gear rather than save it for later experimentation.
5More Specific Respeccing
Character respeccing is a tradition as old as role-playing games, offering players the opportunity to restructure their character’s stats and abilities to try out a completely different build. It’s been present in every game in theBorderlandsseries, andWonderlandsis no exception.
But respeccing a character is an all-or-nothing deal in the new game, resetting all skill or hero points in one go. Many modern games allow players to select individual points to re-allot, and it’s a little disappointing thata game centered on creative class constructionmakes it more difficult to experiment with different builds.
4Lost Loot Filters
Lost loot is a phenomenon that scares many fans of role-playing games; losing out on a powerful weapon or high-level piece of armor can ruin an otherwise enjoyable experience.Wonderlandshas a solution to this problem with its Lost Loot machine, a handy device that picks up rare gear that’s been left on the battlefield.
The problem with this system, though, is that there’s no way to curate what kinds of loot the Lost Loot machine picks up. Players who aren’tinterested in collecting melee weaponswill probably find their Lost Loot machine full of abandoned swords and axes they have no interest in using. Adding a filter to only collect specific kinds of gear would make this mechanic much more useful.
3Remove Duplicate Cosmetics
Cosmetic options are always welcome in role-playing games, as it gives the player more freedom to express themselves in the game.Wonderlandshas a robust character creator that allows players to craft a fantasy character all their own. More cosmetic options can also be found while exploring the Wonderlands, adding even more customization to the game.
RELATED:Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands: How To Respec
But the game doesn’t discern whether a player has already acquired a particular cosmetic piece, which often leads to new drops that are only worth their monetary value. What’s worse, ignoring these duplicates still leads to them popping up later in the Lost Loot machine.Wonderlandsdesperately needs duplicate cosmetic protection, if only to save the inventories of thousands of players.
2More Focused Loot Grind
There’s plenty of loot to go around inTiny Tina’s Wonderlands, and many of the new pieces add fun variety to an already excellent gaming experience. Finding powerful new weapons and spells is always exhilarating, and testing them out against challenging enemies offers a satisfying feedback loop.
While the Chaos Chamber functions asan endgame activity designed to provide players with tons of powerful loot, it still feels like the overall loot grind is unfocused. Most gear that drops isn’t worth picking up, and there’s nothing in the way of a bespoke activity that rewards specific loot. The Chaos Chamber is a good foundation that could adapt to add such parameters.
1Moon Orb Cap Raise
Moon Orbs are a particular type of currency that unlock after players beat the game’s main quest. With them, players can re-roll the enchantments on their weapons, armor, and accessories to hopefully pick up a perk more suited to their character build. There’s a slight wrinkle to the system, though: every subsequent enhancement for a single item costs double the price of the previous roll.
This system is fairly designed to limit how often players will attempt to enchant any particular piece of gear, but there’s another hurdle in place that restricts enchantment even further: a Moon Orb cap. Both limitations combined can clean out a player’s currency stash, especiallyonce they’re in the endgame. Raising the cap would go a long way to alleviating this issue.
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlandsis available now for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC via the Epic Games Store.
