While Borderlands 4 could take inspiration from Spells, the Multi-Class system, side quests, or the Chaos Chamber, it is unlikely to use Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands’ Overworld. The unique top-down traversal was crafted specifically because of the spin-off’s Bunkers and Badasses setting, and while it is adorable, cuteness is a lot less common within the gritty world of Borderlands. Still, the Overworld could have a valuable lesson to teach Borderlands 4.
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Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands’ Overworld Makes Traversal Between Areas More Interesting
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands’ Overworld not only gives players a break from the core gameplay of looting and shooting, but it makes them feel like they are actually traversing between the game’s locations. In Borderlands, players will just click on an exit door to leave an area and end up in another, getting no look at what happened in between. This extends to Borderlands 3 and its planets, as gamers will fly from one location to the next with nothing happening in between.
Borderlands 4 could shake things up by giving players control over Sanctuary, providing an interesting replacement for the Overworld that works better for Borderlands’ mature tone. Piloting the ship could look just like controlling the Normandy in Mass Effect games, with players actually flying between locations. Unlike that system, though, gamers could enter into more traditional gameplay for combat sections.
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands’ random encounters were a lot of fun, and they should influence Borderlands 4. When flying between planets using Sanctuary, players could encounter enemy ships. They could choose to shoot and instantly destroy them using Sanctuary, or they could bump into the enemy ship to engage in some combat. Once this happens, the game could switch to first person, with Borderlands 4 players fighting on the enemy ship or engaging pirates aboard Sanctuary.
Like with Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands’ Overworld map, players could complete some special side quests in the ship sections. These could take players to smaller planets, moons, or asteroids, with Gearbox once again letting gamers get out of the ship to play in first person. Similar to dungeon doors from Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, players could clear a few areas of enemies to find an item or get some extra loot, returning to the NPC afterwards to turn in the quest. By actually having players fly from place to place and asking them to complete side quests during their travel segments, Borderlands 4 could feel like a more expansive game. Gearbox could even surprise players by hiding a Borderlands raid boss in some far-off corner of space.
Considering how big the Borderlands universe is, letting players travel to more planets in the sequel could be a lot of fun. Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands’ Overworld provides an example of how to make the travel between them feel more impactful, with players actually seeing and controlling their journey between areas. Completing brief quests to unlock new planets or having the choice to engage in random encounters could make gameplay feel more varied, giving Borderlands 4 players a more engaging experience. While the next Borderlands game could certainly still be enjoyable without space travel that works like Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands’ Overworld, the feature is worth taking some inspiration from since it worked so well.
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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