Borderlands 2 is an airtight experience that is best experienced with another person, and for the most part serves as a fun-as-fuck co-op game. While most looter shooters fail for being ridiculously repetitive, BL2 doesn’t fall under the same level of scrutiny because there is enough quest variety to keep it mostly refreshing. In fact, I’d say the side quests are some of the best I’ve seen in a title like this; on pure variety alone, I’d say bare minimum the objectives are refreshing even if you end up just killing people on the way there. Some of the quests have some interesting story & character implications and help flesh out the world just a bit.

On the topic of story, it’s…. ehhhhh. Handsome Jack was hyped up to be this amazing villain but at best he was incredibly charismatic and entertaining, beyond that he isn’t anything too special. The plot is serviceable and the stakes are hardly felt, there’s as much to get out of Borderlands 2 as there is a Resident Evil game… so like, nothing. The humour is absolutely early 2010s but I found it oddly charming even though it was cringeworthy at some points too. I didn’t hate the humour and I get it’s part of BL2’s quirks but it just led to a lotta eyeroll moments. Though, it does fit how I feel about the game holistically. The game is meant for shutting your brain off and shooting shit and in that regard it’s a solid game.

However, some gameplay quirks were a lil annoying. Endgame enemy damage scaling got ridiculous at points even when you’re at their respective level and honestly if you don’t get golden keys to get the special weapons in the cases, then you’re stuck with some really shitty and boring weapons.

It’s fun, but I don’t know how much I’d like it had I played it solo, and especially if I didn’t find out about the special crate weapons. But from what I’ve experienced, I liked it!

Borderlands 2 is like a loot-splosion fueled by hilarious writing and frantic action. You blast your way through colorful alien landscapes, collecting a ridiculous amount of guns and gadgets, all while cracking up at the insane dialogue from the characters (especially Claptrap!). The story's decent, but honestly, it's all about the mayhem and the neverending quest for the next awesome weapon. If you love shooter games with a heavy dose of humor and a sprinkle of RPG elements, Borderlands 2 is a total blast.

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.