What do you think is the hardest thing to “convey” in media today? Movies, TV shows, comics, and yes, video games all attempt to deliver various kinds of “feelings” and emotions. However, when it comes to the writing of those things, what do you feel is the hardest to deliver? Romance is hard because you don’t want to come off as “too cheesy” or “unrealistic.” Horror is difficult if you don’t know what really scares people, or if you go straight for gore. Yet, as Borderlands 3 proved, and its follow-up proved in a better way, comedy is the thing that is the easiest to struggle with.
But why is that? Simply put: everyone laughs at different things. Not to mention, the general “feeling” around comedy will depend on who’s playing, how old they are, what “references” they get, and so on. Romance and horror are more “generalized” than you might think, but comedy is truly about the audience and the “quirks” they feel are the funniest compared to others.
As GameRant fairly pointed out, the biggest problem with Borderlands 3 was its comedy, and on many levels. For example, Gearbox Software was known from the start of the franchise to want to use comedy as a key part of the game’s “vibe,” which was fine! However, in the third entry, mainly due to the influence of its publisher, The Embracer Group, they stepped away from the “standard forms” of comedy and went straight…to “Meme Humor.” Yep. They did that. Just as bad, they went and “cranked things up” so that EVERYTHING in the game was about comedy, and that’s not what anyone should want.
Even in TV shows and movies that are labeled “comedies,” the point is that there are serious moments that help ground things so that people aren’t getting bombarded with joke after joke after joke. Sure, some properties do try for that, but it’s a risk if you don’t play things out properly.
In the case of the Gearbox’s third entry, it was a disaster, especially since the memes and internet jokes they were using had basically gone “out of date” by the time the title launched! So, yeah, not the best thing to base your game’s comedy on.
However, things did turn around for the better, as they learned their lesson and ensured that things were much better for the 4th entry, which recently launched and had pretty good sales in its first few days. Let’s hope they never forget this lesson.
