[Steam] Borderlands 3 -50%, $29.99

I didn't say it wasn't about story at all. I said it wasn't about a fantastic story. Those are two very different things. A game with a story build around gunplay is not the same thing as a game with gunplay that's build around a story. There's a difference between a game like Borderlands, and a game like Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice.

There's another thing at play here: People who are now 25 played Borderlands 2 when they were 17. And they were 14 when the first one came out. Characters in Borderlands have always been cringy and over the top, and the humour has always been immature, childish and "poop gun!". And the story has always been mediocre. The difference is that most people were teenagers, with a teenage sense of humour and accompanying expectation of literature, when the previous "good ones" came out. And they are not teenagers now.

They grew up. Borderlands did not.

If you're over 25 today, try re-reading a book or re-watching a series or film you thought was the absolute greatest thing ever when you were 14. There's a pretty big chance you'll be quite disappointed, and wonder what the hell your younger self was thinking.

Personally I haven't found the writing to be poor or bad. It has a typical amount of standard videogame tropes, many of which it makes fun, and some of the humour is either your thing or it's not, but it has its moments. Sure, it's no Brandon Sanderson, Peter F. Hamilton, Pierce Brown, Ann Leckie or Frank Herbert, but for a game centred around and marketed as "a bazillion guns and exploooooooosions", the story is pretty entertaining. I re-played 1 and 2 just before playing 3, and the story is pretty much the same level. I was 21 when BL2 came out, and to my non-teenage mind the previous game was just as cringy, over the top and immature as this one, and the writing is pretty much the same. I rolled my eyes at the cringy immaturity and silly writing in BL2 more times than I care to remember.

Most people seem to be more affected by a rose tinted nostalgic view of previous games than judging the actual story for that it is.

The characters I've met so far have been memorable enough to remember both their names and their personalities, I have no problem remembering who Lorelei, Balex, and Clay are, for instance. (Didn't even have to google their names) And I'm still curious enough about what happens next to keep playing, which is the whole point of a story. It has a decent, interesting story, and the characters are cool.

Likeable is a different matter, because likeable in Borderlands? Lol. Whomever expected that either never played or doesn't remember the previous games. Handsome Jack was everything except likeable. Did everyone forget what he did to his own daughter? And the current badguys are written to be annoying, ridiculous and over the top: They're a caricature of Twitch streamers. They're not meant to be likeable. And they do a great job being as annoyingly punch-able as possible.

Most of the new good guys are reasonably likable so far, and some are pretty cool. Even the most hated character (Ava) is exactly what she should be, an annoying as **** teenager who is self-obsessed and gets on everyone's nerves by thinking she's important and relevant. Like most teenagers who think all the adults are stupid and wrong. She's annoying and universally hated by fans because that's exactly who she's written to be. Anyone over 25 who has to deal with 14 year olds will immediately recognize her behaviour as the reason why so many game servers have an age minimum.

Does being authentically annoying count as badly written? Or well written for being authentic? It's an interesting conundrum.

Hell, I picked Amara because it best fits the story to play as a Siren. Story is usually the only thing I play games for to begin with (hence why I stay far away from Multiplayer these days), and whilst the one in this game won't win the Hugo Award for best Sci-fi writing, it is by no means poor or bad. It's entertaining, occasionally funny, and has its moments. (Some hilarious, some incredibly dark once you give it some thought.) And it's still way better than the pre-sequel. It's funny how everyone said the exact same thing about that one, and is now pretending it's great.

The game is entertaining, silly and fun. And it doesn't take itself too seriously, which the series has never done. Is it the best game ever? Nah. Is it fun? Yea.
Is it worth the full price? No. Definitely not. But 50% off is a pretty good deal.

Edit: That got a little longer than I'd planned, lol. Sorry about that!

The game has no value for me at the moment, I'm interested in it for the gameplay changes but have enough to keep me busy for a good while. When I'm ready to tackle it, its price will be around that.
I bought Skyrim on its 11/11/11 release, haven't touched it up to this day, so I know my habits.

bl3's story is even worse 🙊🙉🙈

Let's hope Borderlands 2 won't be a textbook example to be followed by having multiple "season passes" for a single title. The one linked below is joke onto itself.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/218560/Borderlands_2_Season_Pass/

That's entirely subjective though - I couldn't justify spending $40 bucks (CAD) on a brand new game, let along a game that was released months ago. The speed at which games get discounted (and how far) also varies by publisher/developer - for BL3 they've had a 50% off promo very recently and now they are having another one again. Based on that fact, I have a feeling that they are giving one last push to get sales at a decent profit before the next sale (maybe during the summer sale in a couple of months).

I could be entirely wrong, of course, but that's just my thoughts on OP's question. Good for whoever are able/willing to afford it now, buuut I think I'll hold off for now and see if my theory hold truth in the end. :P