In Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, players will still see some traditional side quests that resemble those in the Borderlands series alongside some fun Overworld-focused activities. However, the game also introduces major side quests. These are as long as the main quests in Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, and they also introduce players to some unique locations they do not visit during the main story. Going forward, major side quests should be a must-have feature for Borderlands.
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Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands’ Best Side Quests Feel Like Main Quests
While there are plenty of fun, quick quests in Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, some of the optional content feels as fleshed out as the main missions. For example, The Ditcher quest is not just a parody of The Witcher franchise, but also a way to access Sunfang Oasis. Players never visit this area in Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands’ main story, so completing this quest opens up a whole new location to explore and fresh enemies to fight.
While The Ditcher quest takes players to a fresh area like a main quest would, it also has the length of one as well. Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands’ parody of Geralt of Rivia will lead players through almost the entire desert, with the final boss of the quest having a unique moveset and memorable arena. All of this is missable, which makes it even more rewarding. While classic Borderlands 2 side quests like Face McShooty are great, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands provides a perfect mix of long side quests and minor ones.
The entirety of Tangledrift is locked behind a side quest, with the memorable beanstalk area and Punchfather quest entirely missable if players push straight through the main story. Mount Craw, which features one of the funniest missions in the game, is another area that can be completely missed if players do not engage with the location’s major side quest. While Borderlands 3 experimented with this concept via the Killavolt side quest, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands fully embraces this approach, and it should be the new norm.
While it is a risky move on Gearbox’s end to design such detailed and thought out quests that a portion of Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands’ player base may miss, it is a risk worth taking. By building entire areas around the game’s best side quests, Gearbox ensures that the entirety of the game feels enjoyable. Side quests in video games will often feel like an afterthought and something that can be skipped, but Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands makes sure that some of them feel just as meaningful as the main quests. Being able to tell longer stories with certain side quests is terrific, too.
With the Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands approach, players can still explore huge, new areas once the story is finished, or visit them in between main missions for some environmental and enemy variety. This is something that Borderlands should absolutely do going forward. Some large areas should be tied entirely to side quests, and these major missions should be significantly longer than a regular side quest. More than any other game in the series, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands nails the balance between main and side missions, as every piece of content is worth experiencing. As such, Borderlands 4 should take some notes and feature several major side quests that introduce unique areas.
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
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