One of the many defining characteristics of the Borderlands series has been its slate of characters. From the playable to the supporting characters, to legendary foes like Handsome Jack, the many people (and annoying robots) inhabiting the Borderlands universe are among some of the most unique and memorable characters in all of gaming. In Tiny Tina's Wonderlands, you can add yourself to that list of legendary characters, because for the first time in the series history, you can create your own custom character.
OK, it's a little bit of a cheat since you're creating a character to play inside a fictional universe created by one of Borderlands’ most popular characters of all, Tiny Tina. But you still get to choose the look and style of your character and put them through the paces of a Borderlands game – a first for the series. But it's more than just letting you create and customize to your heart’s content; everything about Tiny Tina's Wonderlands' character creation system fits flawlessly into the Borderlands universe, the world of Wonderlands being spun on the fly by Tiny Tina, as well as some deeper tabletop RPG touches you might not expect to find.
One of the first jokes when you start up a game of Bunkers and Badasses under the watchful eye of Tiny Tina is a dig at your character model's lack of paint. In fact, the vanilla character template is basically an unpainted miniature, freshly purchased and unpackaged. Much like any real-life tabletop gamer with an investment in the hobby, it's expected you paint and customize your own miniature, which is a great way to introduce a character creator to the Borderlands series.
If you're worried about being unfairly limited within the confines of Tiny Tina's character creator, great news: this is Borderlands. Sure, you COULD build the most handsome, rock-jawed gigachad warrior this side of the Misty Mountains, but that would be missing the point. Which is something Senior Producer Kayla Belmore and Creative Director Matt Cox were quick to point out. "You can go full Monster Factory," Cox said, referring to the infamous YouTube series where character creation tools are taken to places no one should go. With Tiny Tina's Wonderlands, that sort of freedom to create the most outrageous characters is not only encouraged, it's cooked right into the creation process. It's practically expected of you.
One of the funnest ways to make your character deeply… off… is to disengage the sliders for symmetry. I was more than happy to push the creator to its most horrific levels, especially with the blessing of the development team, and I gotta say, I wish I had taken a photo. Being able to turn off symmetry means I was able to make one ear almost imperceptible while the other was a massive, pointed elven ear that reached proportions only seen in animals like the fennec fox, or certain bat species. Except it was just the one. Same with the eyes. One massive, bulging eye, like something dragged from the coldest depths of the sea by a Russian fishing boat, while the other was merely a bead, a single black dot sunken into the socket. In a word, my character was beautiful.
One of the funnest ways to make your character deeply… off… is to disengage the sliders for symmetry. I was more than happy to push the creator to its most horrific levels...
The team stressed Tiny Tina's Wonderlands is about your choices, about making the experience feel like your very own, and the tons of options available to you in the character creation process alone is a great way to hammer home that intent. It really is a blank slate from the start, a pale greyish-purple figure upon which you can apply the paint of your imagination. There are no options locked behind gender, no specific set of voices to commit to, you are free to make whoever and whatever you want. My character, with his offset eyes, horrifying ears, and weird ginger Richard Simmons-fro and mutton chops, will not win any beauty awards, and that's really the kind of thing that appeals to me.
Now you're probably thinking "Hold up, why would I want to customize a character I never see? Isn't this a first-person game?" Well, Gearbox has out-thunk you, I'm afraid, and taken this into account. While it's true a large portion of your playtime is in first-person, anyone playing with you gets to enjoy your horrific or gorgeous creation, but you, the person playing the game, also get to enjoy the fruits of your labor in Tiny Tina's Wonderlands' overworld. When moving from area to area in the overworld, you see a tiny, super-deformed version of your character moving across the playscreen. This big-headed avatar is a great chance to really appreciate the hard work you put in creating your character, and the fact they're SD makes even the most straight-laced character creation look fairly ridiculous. I say, lean into it.
When moving from area to area in the overworld, you see a tiny, super-deformed version of your character moving across the playscreen.
Another feature I find appealing about Tiny Tina's character creator is that the options at the start of the game aren't static. Much like previous Borderlands games and their Quick Change machines, you can find new customization options during the course of the game and apply them later on. One of my favorite parts of Borderlands 2 was equipping new heads to my premade character and then flexing to my friends when we'd squad up. Tiny Tina's Wonderlands will also have that sort of rarity of customization, only the combination of options will almost certainly be unseen by anyone else. I'm really interested to see what kind of customization options unlock as you progress. The Minecraft helmet Easter Egg in Borderlands 2 remains one of my favorite customization options in all of gaming, and knowing Gearbox, I'm confident there will be weird, wild, and hopefully ridiculous, options to unlock in Tiny Tina’s imminent adventure.
Tiny Tina's Wonderlands is our featured IGN First game for February, and we've already taken a deep dive into Tiny Tina's Wonderlands' spell system, as well as our hands-on Tiny Tina's Wonderlands first impressions. For all the Bunkers and Badasses news, make sure to check out our Tiny Tina's Wonderlands hub, and for everything else, you know where to keep it.
Continue reading...
OK, it's a little bit of a cheat since you're creating a character to play inside a fictional universe created by one of Borderlands’ most popular characters of all, Tiny Tina. But you still get to choose the look and style of your character and put them through the paces of a Borderlands game – a first for the series. But it's more than just letting you create and customize to your heart’s content; everything about Tiny Tina's Wonderlands' character creation system fits flawlessly into the Borderlands universe, the world of Wonderlands being spun on the fly by Tiny Tina, as well as some deeper tabletop RPG touches you might not expect to find.
One of the first jokes when you start up a game of Bunkers and Badasses under the watchful eye of Tiny Tina is a dig at your character model's lack of paint. In fact, the vanilla character template is basically an unpainted miniature, freshly purchased and unpackaged. Much like any real-life tabletop gamer with an investment in the hobby, it's expected you paint and customize your own miniature, which is a great way to introduce a character creator to the Borderlands series.
Get Monstrous
If you're worried about being unfairly limited within the confines of Tiny Tina's character creator, great news: this is Borderlands. Sure, you COULD build the most handsome, rock-jawed gigachad warrior this side of the Misty Mountains, but that would be missing the point. Which is something Senior Producer Kayla Belmore and Creative Director Matt Cox were quick to point out. "You can go full Monster Factory," Cox said, referring to the infamous YouTube series where character creation tools are taken to places no one should go. With Tiny Tina's Wonderlands, that sort of freedom to create the most outrageous characters is not only encouraged, it's cooked right into the creation process. It's practically expected of you.
One of the funnest ways to make your character deeply… off… is to disengage the sliders for symmetry. I was more than happy to push the creator to its most horrific levels, especially with the blessing of the development team, and I gotta say, I wish I had taken a photo. Being able to turn off symmetry means I was able to make one ear almost imperceptible while the other was a massive, pointed elven ear that reached proportions only seen in animals like the fennec fox, or certain bat species. Except it was just the one. Same with the eyes. One massive, bulging eye, like something dragged from the coldest depths of the sea by a Russian fishing boat, while the other was merely a bead, a single black dot sunken into the socket. In a word, my character was beautiful.
One of the funnest ways to make your character deeply… off… is to disengage the sliders for symmetry. I was more than happy to push the creator to its most horrific levels...
The team stressed Tiny Tina's Wonderlands is about your choices, about making the experience feel like your very own, and the tons of options available to you in the character creation process alone is a great way to hammer home that intent. It really is a blank slate from the start, a pale greyish-purple figure upon which you can apply the paint of your imagination. There are no options locked behind gender, no specific set of voices to commit to, you are free to make whoever and whatever you want. My character, with his offset eyes, horrifying ears, and weird ginger Richard Simmons-fro and mutton chops, will not win any beauty awards, and that's really the kind of thing that appeals to me.
Now you're probably thinking "Hold up, why would I want to customize a character I never see? Isn't this a first-person game?" Well, Gearbox has out-thunk you, I'm afraid, and taken this into account. While it's true a large portion of your playtime is in first-person, anyone playing with you gets to enjoy your horrific or gorgeous creation, but you, the person playing the game, also get to enjoy the fruits of your labor in Tiny Tina's Wonderlands' overworld. When moving from area to area in the overworld, you see a tiny, super-deformed version of your character moving across the playscreen. This big-headed avatar is a great chance to really appreciate the hard work you put in creating your character, and the fact they're SD makes even the most straight-laced character creation look fairly ridiculous. I say, lean into it.
When moving from area to area in the overworld, you see a tiny, super-deformed version of your character moving across the playscreen.
Another feature I find appealing about Tiny Tina's character creator is that the options at the start of the game aren't static. Much like previous Borderlands games and their Quick Change machines, you can find new customization options during the course of the game and apply them later on. One of my favorite parts of Borderlands 2 was equipping new heads to my premade character and then flexing to my friends when we'd squad up. Tiny Tina's Wonderlands will also have that sort of rarity of customization, only the combination of options will almost certainly be unseen by anyone else. I'm really interested to see what kind of customization options unlock as you progress. The Minecraft helmet Easter Egg in Borderlands 2 remains one of my favorite customization options in all of gaming, and knowing Gearbox, I'm confident there will be weird, wild, and hopefully ridiculous, options to unlock in Tiny Tina’s imminent adventure.
Tiny Tina's Wonderlands is our featured IGN First game for February, and we've already taken a deep dive into Tiny Tina's Wonderlands' spell system, as well as our hands-on Tiny Tina's Wonderlands first impressions. For all the Bunkers and Badasses news, make sure to check out our Tiny Tina's Wonderlands hub, and for everything else, you know where to keep it.
Continue reading...