They decided that selling singular missions as dlcs is a good post-launch model.
I am so completely done with this franchise.
Randy, time to retire, nobody likes you.

How this got the green check-mark of verification on the Steamdeck at 20 frames per second-before-you even get on a mount, I'll never know. Thought Valve oversaw the green-lighting process..

Edit: I just noticed borderlands 2 isn't even fully verified for the deck and that runs on the ps vita. Yet somehow the infamously unstable Borderlands 4.. C'mon Valve. What're we doing?

EDIT:
A dev responded to my review saying the game is indeed not steamdeck verified chaps. Im... Not sure what the giant green 'steamdeck verified" button when browsing the game from a steamdeck in your library or on the store page is supposed to mean then.

Went to the official reddit for clarification and my post was immediately removed.

Thanks for making it here, friend.

I wanted to really wanted to love this new installment from Gearbox. I’ve played every Borderlands game over the years, on multiple platforms, including The Handsome Collection on console. Borderlands isn’t just a series to me; it’s my gaming happy place. Borderlands 1 was the very first couch co-op game my fiancée and I ever played together. We sank hundreds of amazing hours into it, laughing and looting. Along came Borderlands 2 which took that magic and fun from BL1 and perfected it, for me it was the pinnacle of the vault-hunting experience.

Back then, Vault Hunters had identity. They had roles. Choosing characters mattered. Running a support-focused/turret soldier Axton alongside a crowd-controlling/elemental melting Maya made co-op feel intentional and rewarding. Your strengths complemented each other. Strategy emerged naturally. The invincibles (end games bosses - yes, looking at Hyperios) were a real challenge, to be taken on as a co-op experiance.

Borderlands 4 abandons that philosophy entirely. The new Vault Hunters feel bleghhh, like a Fortnite-inspired horror where everyone can do everything equally well. When no one has a clear role, character choice loses weight, and with it, the sense of mastery and identity that once defined the series.

Now Borderlands has always been king of the guns, it is the beating heart of Borderlands, but how, just... HOW have Gearbox managed to ruin this staple from the franchise and reduced the gun gameplay to a bland same-y experiance that we now have Borderlands 4. When every weapon can roll with parts from every manufacturer, well the result is... Jakobs doesn’t feel like Jakobs. Torgue doesn’t feel like Torgue, well then we have lost all sense of joy. The fun in farming true uniques that were the hallmark replaying experiance from the older games is dead in this game.

The open-world shift is another painful misstep. Borderlands thrived on carefully constructed levels with strong visual identity and enemy design. Borderlands 2 gave us places like The Highlands, Opportunity, and the Wildlife Exploitation Preserve each with its own flavour and personality, its own stories, its own unforgettable moments (including mutated skags, loader bots, invisible basta**ds lol, and even the beloved loot bot Jimmy Jenkins hiding in lockers). You visited areas intentionally, and most importantly they were fun to explore.

Borderlands 4 trades that craftsmanship for expanses that feel bland, and directionless. In doing so, the game hasn’t just lost its aesthetic (yes, the they decided the art direction required "evolving" and now it looks like a fortnite clone) this series has it’s lost its sense of place, its humour, and ultimately its digital soul. I’ve maxed out achievements in Borderlands 2, Borderlands 3, and The Pre-Sequel. I’ve stayed loyal through highs and lows. But this time, I don’t even feel motivated to finish the game to completion or even turn it back on. Playing feels like a chore, not an adventure. And that’s the most painful part of all.

So this is where I step away.

I have a deep gratitude for what the series once was. Borderlands gave me laughter and memories. But this chapter doesn’t feel like it was written for players like me anymore.

As Marcus once said:
“No refunds!”

Fair enough. I’m not asking for one.

Marcus… take me back to Pandora.

I did not want to write this but the new update is appalling. You cannot release a new character and then in the same stroke make it so 70% of the game's content isn't replayable.

Shared progression. I get it, a lot of people wanted this, but it was not thought through. This is not an issue of "OH no now my character starts at level 5 I cant experience 1-4 again"
Thats not an issue, that doesn't logistically matter.
What matters is that all of the maps side objectives: The reason you have an open world, the activities in it, the stuff to find, the stuff to DO. Can all only be completed once. Ever.
Yes I get that some can view them as tedious. But mind you that is SOME people.

What if you want to play through again with your friend? Y'know Co-op. What the game was designed for. Now you have all objectives on your map over and done with. There is not way to have a fresh clean start.
Do you like the Radio Tower defenses? A good source of early xp and fun to have? Too bad, gone. Go do a quest.
Do you like survivalist cache's, y'know the BIG box of free loot? Sorry, locked to one character ever. A world chest, UNOBTAINABLE if you've already opened it on another character.
Do you want to relisten to an echo log you haven't heard ina while and you just stumbled across? Well its in you inventory already, and you totally will go through the hassle of opening up you echo logs and playing the specific one for that specific area because you totally remember.
Do you want actual reason to explore, to go through and PLAY in the open world like its SUPOSSED to.
You can only do it once. ONCE

That's crazy, this is a game with now FIVE characters.
I don't care if you just skip through and don't like the grind and just want to get to the end point of your build and loop endgame bosses til your hearts content
REAL PEOPLE EXIST THAT WANT TO EXPERIENCE PARTS OF THE GAME MULTIPLE TIMES!!

How was it not toggleable?
Why did they think "Let's cut out 70% of replayability" in the same update that we introduce a new character to relay the game with.
The thought process of "Our players don't have to do this anymore! We're helping!" Just ending up with "Our players can no longer do this anymore, you're welcome!"

The game is good, the game is fun.
But locking progression likes this is so disgusting. Why make secondary characters if there's less stuff to do. I want to PLAY the game, not get told "Oh you already did this, go do the REAL content" Like you should not get to decide what is valuable content and what's not.
I want to be able to open ALL survivalist cache's on ALL my characters. I WANT to do the radio towers on ALL my characters. I am a NEW player that WANTS to PLAY the game.
Not have to accept this, with no option otherwise....

Borderlands 4 is such a great game to buy two years later with all the content and patches. Don't waste your money on it now.

Gear Box i Don't know what high horse your CEO is on but we are definitely not the problem you have had three updates to fix audio issues, optimization issues, and overall how choppy the game runs. For those with high end PC's I don't know what rock yall been living under but this is some BS, especially charging how much for your game again with these issues and then updating and creating more like you want us to just hate you and your company and your game you want this to be a redemption for your so called label but here you are biting the hand that feeds you and then criticize them when your game runs like ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ on the highest specs of ones PC maybe listen to the people that are taking their time playing your game that want to make it better so its actually worth the money you dumbass charge it for. Your Proving that AAA companies cant learn new tricks and will always think of their money first instead of the actual player who enjoys what they used to make. WAKE THE ♥♥♥♥ UP!!!!

I wanted to be patient about this review, while I had a lot of reasons to make a negative review. But then Randy spoke on twitter.

I can in no good conscious recommend this game.
I won't lie, this is definitely better than BL3 (gameplay-wise) and might be (story-wise), I can't confirm, as I can't really enjoy the game with this horrendous performance.

Do not buy this game at full price.
Do not encourage such behavior from AAA studios.
Under no circumstance, a game with this price tag, from a developer like this, should be this bad on launch, there's no excuse whatsoever.

What makes it worse, is the clown that keeps talking on Twitter, only making the situation worse.

My advice to you:
Wait till performance is fixed and till it goes on sale. Teach them a lesson!

Do not buy this game!

I played for roughly 552 hours. Linux. Proton. All good.

I then got banned from denuvo (CodeFusion) for no obvious reasons.
CodeFusion did not react when I tried to reach out multiple times.

Steam support could not help. I understand that.

2kgames support quite quickly made clear that they won't help,
after I told them multiple times, that CodeFusion did not react.

In the end you buy a game for a lot of money. You do nothing wrong
and get banned. You won't even know why. Nobody seems to be responsible.
Nobody seems to care. Nobody is willing to help.

Well done, society, well done. Do not buy this game!

Poor optimization once again. CEO is blaming the customer. Don't support game devs with their heads in the sand.

The actual gameplay is fun and the writing isn't as bad as expected, but it still runs like ♥♥♥♥ so hold off until it's on a very deep discount. I had maybe 10 or so crashes through the course of the campaign but they weren't nearly as annoying as the frequent stuttering and multi-second freezes