The Extra I Play Borderlands 4, the Extra Obvious This Large Loot Flaw Turns into

After counting right down to Borderlands 4’s launch day for months, the sport is lastly right here, and I’ve already sunk 30 hours into it within the brief time since its debut. As somebody who has earned the Platinum Trophy for each single Borderlands sport to this point — a few of which I’ve gotten a number of occasions — I couldn’t wait to play the brand new title till I reached 100% completion. That is very a lot nonetheless my purpose, as if a part of me misses the person areas that preceded Borderlands 4’s bounce to open-world, I’m actually loving the sport. There are numerous parts to reward, from the balanced tone and improved writing to new options like ordnance and Firmware, however that doesn’t imply I’ve nothing to criticize. For instance, one in every of my largest complaints has to do with the sport’s loot system.

To be clear, Borderlands 4 has made some much-needed strides on the subject of its loot sport. Legendaries not drop from virtually each single enemy like they did in Borderlands 3, decrease rarity weaponry has an actual goal within the endgame, and farming loot from particular bosses is simpler than ever because of the addition of Moxxi’s Big Encore machine. With shiny variants of Legendaries to chase and Pearlescent weapons deliberate as a post-launch addition, there’s a lot that makes the method of incomes loot really feel nice and lots to sit up for. Sadly, there was seemingly a devastating trade-off to carry all these enhancements: the lack of crimson textual content Uncommon and Epic weapons.

Borderlands 4’s Lack of Purple Textual content Uniques Makes Facet Quests Much less Rewarding

Whereas it might probably actually be argued that Borderlands 4’s side quests are price enjoying purely for his or her dialogue and storytelling, as some are actually hilarious or emotionally impactful, it’s nonetheless unlucky that they lack unique weaponry. Positive, sure quests will present particular beauty skins and types, however as somebody who has all the time made a behavior of utilizing crimson textual content “basic” weapons within the lead-up to being kitted out with Legendaries, it’s a disgrace to see particular results and crimson textual content references restrained to solely orange-colored drops. Traditional crimson textual content Uncommon and Epic weapons embody:

The Bane SMG (Borderlands 2) — Acquired from a facet quest sharing the identical identify. Screams when shot and significantly hinders motion pace, however offers excessive injury and builds accuracy over time.
Shotgun 1340 (Borderlands 2) — Obtained from a facet quest known as “Out of Physique Expertise.” Speaks to the participant within the voice of the entertaining NPC Loader #1340 when fired.
Grog Nozzle (Borderlands 2) — Highly effective mission-exclusive weapon from the Assault on Dragon Keep DLC’s “The Beard Makes the Man” quest, which dishes out excessive slag protection.
Sand Hawk (Borderlands 2) — Earned from the “Whoops” facet quest within the Captain Scarlett DLC. 3-round burst, however fires 8 rounds per shot that make the sample of a hen.
Moxxi’s Good Contact/Unhealthy Contact (Borderlands 2) — each variants of this weapon drop from the slot machines in Sanctuary, and are extraordinarily highly effective SMGs with Moxxi’s image positioned on the round journal.
Null Pointer (Borderlands 3) — A reward from former playable Vault Hunter Zer0 through the quest “Hostile Takeover.”
Crit (Borderlands 3) — A returning distinctive from Borderlands 2, awarded from tipping Moxxi aboard Sanctuary 3. Has an opportunity of being dropped when reloaded, however is well worth the danger because of its tremendous excessive injury.
Hail (Borderlands 3) — Additionally acquired from tipping Mad Moxxi. Bullets hearth in an arc sample, however deal excessive vital injury if gamers can grasp the bullet drop.
Gettleburger (Borderlands 3) — A launcher that actually fires burgers, this weapon is a reward for Borderlands 3’s “Dynasty Diner” facet quest.
The Clipper (Borderlands 1) — Drops from the primary most important boss within the sport, 9 Toes, and is the one weapon with a melee accent and elemental impact.

With even a white-color crimson textual content merchandise attainable (the ECHO-2 grenade from Borderlands 3), it’s genuinely stunning that there aren’t any uniques exterior Legendaries in Borderlands 3. Uniques made sure facet quests must-plays on repeat playthroughs, as gamers would need max-level variations of the robust weapons tied to the facet content material. Now, if gamers have been to replay a quest in Borderlands 4, they’d simply get one other thriller crate filled with random loot. Whereas these crates are undoubtedly a handy approach to dish out rewards, as they usually get rid of pointless walk-backs to show in quests, their contents by no means include distinctive weapons, shields, ordnance, and sophistication mods, which makes them far much less thrilling to open than they need to be. Holding the randomized rewards for bounty crates, and filling the crates from facet quests and story quests with some pre-set distinctive loot, would have been an ideal center floor.

Borderlands 4’s Loot System is Nonetheless Nice, However It’s Lacking That Additional One thing With out Non-Legendary Uniques

Borderlands 3 Unique Weapon Hail — Borderlands 3 Distinctive Weapon Hail

There’s no denying that Borderlands 4’s elements system has made each primary purple, blue, inexperienced, and white drop extra deserving of a correct look, and it’s one thing that might hold the sport enjoyable for years to return. Nonetheless, the random likelihood of getting a Jakobs gun that fires Torgue rockets simply isn’t the identical as getting a assured blue or purple weapon with a particular firing sample or gimmick, distinct look, and a crimson textual content joke. Quest or activity-themed distinctive weapons have been an ideal approach to let gamers carry round a nod to a quest they cherished always, and Borderlands 4 is stuffed with alternatives for such gear that Gearbox handed up on. From flat-Kairos throwing knives to a everlasting Catch-tainer, with virtually each facet quest I accomplished, I noticed an opportunity for the unlucky pattern of no uniques to be damaged, solely to but once more be let down.

Since Borderlands 4 is a live-service game, I’d like to see Gearbox change course on crimson textual content, introducing some blue and purple distinctive world drops alongside distinctive facet quests rewards for BL4’s expansions. Till this occurs, the earlier video games within the collection can have an edge for me on the subject of elective content material, which wouldn’t be the case in the event that they supplied some particular loot to cap off the enjoyable.