This year’s Summer Game Fest kicked off with the official announcement ofTiny Tina’s Wonderlands. While the game may feel familiar to fans of theBorderlandsfranchise, the reveal hinted thatTiny Tina’s Wonderlandsmay be distinguishing itself fromBorderlandsin a few key ways.
Borderlandsfans were first exposed to Tiny Tina in theTiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon KeepDLC forBorderlands 2. In the DLC, players navigate through aDungeons and Dragons-inspired fantasy campaign. Now, the announcement at Summer Game Fest confirmed thatTiny Tina’s Wonderlandswill be a spin-off gamethat acts as a standalone experience.
RELATED:Elden Ring Reveal Teased Again Ahead of Summer Game Fest
While Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands will obviously diverge from Borderlands in terms of flavor—fantasy versus post-apocalyptic—it will also change a few key features of the series. The first will be the introduction of spellcasting. SinceTiny Tina’s Wonderlandsdraws inspiration fromDungeons and Dragons, it’s likely that the spells will be inspired by thecasting classes withinDungeons and Dragons, but suited to an action roleplaying pace, meaning fans can expect laborious, drawn-out spells to be left by the wayside.
In the Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep DLC, gamers were able to play with a variety of grenade mods inspired by tabletop RPG spells. For instance, one grenade mod drew inspiration from the famous Magic Missile spell fromDungeons and Dragons. Since Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands will likely act as a love letter to traditional fantasy RPGs, fans should anticipate a variety of classic spells to make their way into the game. While there is a variety ofways thatTiny Tina’s Wonderlandscould play out, fans should bet on two things. First, that the game will draw inspiration from theBorderlands 2DLC. Second, thatTiny Tina’s Wonderlandswill take a lot fromDungeons and Dragonsin terms of enemies and abilities.
A brief discussion after the announcement trailer confirmed not only that Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands will be a standalone game, but also that it will offer a greater degree of character customization than theBorderlandsfranchise. While details were scarce, this focus on customization fits directly with the tabletop RPG inspiration for the game since games likeDungeons and Dragonsare centered around character creation. This could manifest in a variety of different ways, but it seems to suggest that players will be able to craft their own character to some degree rather than pick from aroster of vault hunters like inBorderlands 3.
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlandsis in development for unspecified platforms.
MORE:E3 2021 - Schedule, Where to Watch, Everything Announced, & More
