Review: Tales from the Borderlands: The Vault of the Travellers

We finally get the payoff to this flashback focused story that we have followed from the beginning. The story that our heroes have been recalling catches up to the current day and the results are great. Everything comes to a head in this episode and all to great effect. Each story line feels complete and meaningful while still leaving enough left open for a sequel.

The Vault of the Traveller highlights all the best aspects of its cast and uses this to great effect. It also brings back many faces from the previous episodes based on the decisions you made throughout the series. This allows you to pair up some characters who haven’t met and see the results. It also shows off how the moral choices in the game have been impactful. What is best of all is that you can tell the characters had a clear path for their growth and we see this from the well earned resolutions. Adventure games typically live and die by their narrative and the strength of their characters and Tales from the Borderlands succeeds here.

As this is an episodic series, we have come to expect a grand finale to the work we have put in. Episode five meets this in spades. The entire episode is full of fast paced moments and the action and explosions are frequent. The final fight is a fantastic set piece filled with some insane and hilarious references (fans of Voltron and Dragon Ball will be delighted). On the other side, for every explosion there’s a calm section too filled with tension and importance. The leading line throughout this is that the game remains hilarious. We have grown attached to these characters and the circumstances around them. The game pulls you through a roller coaster of emotion from start to finish.

The Vault of the Traveller finishes off one of the strongest series that we have seen from Telltale Games. Your favorite characters (from the entirety of the series) are either front and center, or show up when you least expect it. We get a good juxtaposition of heartfelt, low-key moments, and over the top, laser-sword filled shenanigans. This series has been hilarious throughout and the characters drive this home until the very end. Tales from the Borderlands has been a delight for the entire season and this is a fantastic conclusion.