3.5/5 ★ – jdong6's review of Borderlands 3.

Borderlands 3 really won me over. Yes the writing is ass. Yes the content and mission design can feel dated next to Destiny's live events, or even Fallout 76's open world. But BL3 doesn't really try to be its contemporaries, instead deciding to double down on what it knows the players love - loot, and shooting. The loot is unashamedly awesome, throwing you such gems as guns that shoot explosive bullets, grenades that explode into more grenades, sniper rifles that convert into RPGs - there's so much variety here and it makes for an incredibly addictive gameplay loop, and personally I enjoyed it much more than Destiny's relatively tame guns. Even if the loot isn't always good, you can always sell it for cash, which you can spend buying more loot. It's very simple, but Gearbox definitely knows its audience and leans into every player's kleptomaniac itch. The gunplay is vastly upgraded compared to previous titles - the repetitive pop-pop-pop of unloading bullets into enemies feels great, as does the movement - strip away all the loot and explosions, and there's a very solid shooter under the hood. There were so many moments where I would get into a hectic gunfight or boss battle as my party decimates hordes of enemies under a flurry of explosions, where I would just think to myself "wow - videogames are awesome." Borderlands 3 lets everybody be a hero, and executes its indulgent, explosive fantasy so well that you can probably just forget about all the boring weird cringe stuff in between.