My friend Steve and I have been replaying the Borderlands games, and what a rollercoaster of emotion we’ve gone through, playing them back-to-back-to-back.

Borderlands 1 has a certain level of charm to it, as you get off the bus, ready to take on the dusty wastelands and murderous fiends of Pandora in search of the Vault. It loses its charm soon after when it starts chugging on PC because, for some reason, Borderlands: Game of the Year Enhanced on Steam runs at like 2 FPS.

Borderlands 2 is the greatest game of all time, flawless as all.

Then Borderlands 3… is weird? It’s better if you turn dialogue off and just shoot and loot. At least, if you have room in your inventory, since you get an exorbitant amount of loot every time you kill something, most of it is not good whatsoever.

Despite the emotional highs and lows (not you, Borderlands 2, my sweet prince), the vibes for Borderlands 4 were very high. If Gearbox could make adjustments to the loot and completely overhaul the narrative, Borderlands 4 could be something sweet as hell.

Thankfully, we’re in that timeline.

Borderlands 4 feels like a massive step in the right direction, almost so massive that it feels like a different game at times. If it wasn’t for the Vault Hunters and the core gameplay being the same, you could’ve fooled me into thinking this was a completely different game or another studio’s take on the looter-shooter (like when Sanzaru Games did Sly Cooper).

Combat feels good, and building off Borderlands 3’s multi-skill tree system, I feel like I can really spec my character the way I want. The world is massive, and there’s plenty of shit to do, although it flies kind of close to the Ubisoft formula (a large open world with question marks for you to investigate). The gunplay is good, loot feels good, and plenty of quality-of-life updates like “pick up as junk” and “sell all junk” are a Godsend.

I’m still early into the narrative, but there’s a palpable tonal shift. I’m unsure if the same team from Borderlands 3’s narrative isn’t there or decided to lock in. Gone are the “toilet-humor jokes” or the cringe-inducing streamer check-ins from the twins. I will say some of the side quests are pretty damn funny, with the same Borderlands humor present, just more “refined” is the word I’d use here.

I feel like a kid again with how hooked I am on the game. I’d had to force myself to log off; otherwise, I’d sink way too many hours into the game and never see the sun again.

I will address the elephant in the room: the game’s optimization is a hot mess. At least, for the majority of players, with the game currently sitting at a “Mixed” reception on Steam. That is much better than what it was on launch…

It ran fine for me day one, but day two, it crashed twice when I tried using an assault rifle’s secondary ability that lets me call in an airstrike (what a wild sentence).

Once they iron that out, which is such a crap sentiment to express, I know more players will get in and have a ton of fun, especially since the core is so solid. I do hope fixes come sooner rather than later.

I don’t know exactly where Borderlands 4 will land in the Borderlands power rankings, but I do know it’s in the top two. Small sample size, but hey, Gearbox could honestly keep making these forever.

There’s always going to be a Vault Hunter looking for their next big break.