Contrary to popular opinion, I like the first Borderlands game better, although I can see why most consider this one to be the best in the series. Much more interesting story (and, obviously, villain), a lot more creative and colorful environments, tighter gameplay, lots of improvements over the first game. For me, personally, I just like the aesthetic and vibe of Borderlands 1 better, and think that the main 4 playable characters are better, too (evidenced by the fact that the original 4 are the only ones that really stick around, minus Roland). I'm not gonna be a revisionist and say this game was never funny, but the specific brand of Borderlands comedy does feel a bit forced at times in this game, too. But, a lot of these points I have are just personal preference. The game is great, and it only goes downhill from here for Borderlands.

First of all: better than borderlands 1, B1 was an alpha of this one

Jokes are better, mechanics, story, characters, cutscenes, bossfights, etc. Everything is better! I get the "I think it's edgy" vibe, but It's a stupid humour that I like and with friends is way better.

Good one 👍🏼

As an act of rebellion to avoid playing another game, i decided to spent 3 full days getting all the achievements in BL2 for the first time, as redemption to my younger self who put almost every game aside to play nothing but multiplayer shooters for 4-5 years. I do remember this one being the most fun to play, aside from BL1 which is my fav all around being introduced to it in 2011. Gunplay and build crafting is simple and enjoyable i played Axton for the first time so i went with a turret/kill skill build that made my normal playthrough trivial. Now, not having played this game in quite a few years i had forgotten the majority of the dialogue or jokes written and it has to be just the over-saturation of the style of writing, but after the halfway point and for all the DLCs i was tuning that out. I dont know if BL2 is seen as the perfect middle ground of snappy and good writing compared to the other ones (especially BL3) but i was generally bored when it came to having to pay attention to the story, and almost any wit gave me an excuse to eye roll especially with the dated humour, but those got a pity laugh for them even adding it in the first place (they had a Do it for the Vine Badass Challenge name and its there forever). And of course the massive positive i can give the game is the grind it gives you for gear, i didn't do too much of that during my playthrough but if i get bored and return i know for sure i can go hours killing the same boss for a specific thing. All in all BL2 still holds up as an amazing looter shooter with those fundamentals honed in, while i feel like i moved away from its style of writing, i know some people that will quote this and other BL games for hours and die laughing in the process.