The worst thing about Borderlands 3 is that the main villain(s) feel like a side mission boss from the other games. Side missions are often small jokey things about whatever is going on in culture at large, but they are not big enough to actually be important. Like streamers.
Anyhow, I tend to like side missions, which are a change of pace for the game. The game itself is fun, but it wouldn’t have a very long shelf-life. I also want to learn about the world. I mean, there are actual people living on Pandora (and some other planets, but it’s more evident on them). What do they for a living? How do they contend with a bunch of bandits (or CoV) living next door? So, I tend to like those missions, so here are my favorites in no particular order.
Dynasty Dash: Eden-6 / Pandora
Okay, these are two separate missions. You are delivering hamburgers in environments where you wouldn’t expect anyone to pay that amount for that delivery.
Why do I like them? Because they are very different from the other missions in that they require planning on a whole different level. In Borderlands 2, I would do similar missions by abusing the ability to have two separate vehicles on the map, but here you only have one… but you can fast travel to it.
These are not that hard to do in the time required to get the optional tasks done and with the mechanic of getting extra time by destroying competitor ads, it’s actually pretty easy to do it with just fairly straightforward driving and shooting. Still, I like these.
… and you know, spoilers.
Heart of Gold
You meet Joy, a Hyperion bot, with a software problem. It just lacks in the violent intentions it’s brethren have, so it asks you to go on a picnic with it.
Why do I like it? It’s weird. You are in a huge cavernous trash pit, which also houses an anarchistic community, bunch of looters and Hyperion bots. And yet, you are willing to try to make the best effort you can to make that moment special for Joy.
Cold Case: Buried Questions / Restless Memories / Forgotten Answers
You are helping Burton, a local private eye, figure out a mystery he doesn’t even remember himself.
Why do I like it? It goes into places most side missions wouldn’t go. It turns ouBurton is the way he is, because he is trying to suppress the memory of his dead daughter, but it isn’t that simple, because this is a horror based world and in horror death is not necessarily the end.
Get Quick, Slick
You are asked by an unseen woman, Prisa, to help her make a commercial for lube by driving her car around the basin.
Why do I like it? I guess I like the driving in this game more than most (at least until the poor scaling makes it difficult in the late and end game). It’s a pretty simple and straight-forward mission. Just drive through the various obstacles. Nothing special here. I just enjoy it.
There is again this small piece of world-building, when Prisa tells you that her dad used to do these commercials, but he died. In the end, she asks you to destroy her father’s outrunner so as not to let it fall into the hands of the CoV.
Baby Dancer
This is the last mission provided by Claptrap. He asks you to go and dance with Baby, a woman living alone in Devil’s Razor. Well, turns out that with Claptrap taking seven years to answer her, she lost the use of her legs in between.
Why do I like it? Weirdly, this is actually my favorite of all the side missions. This isn’t so much a mission as it is a reward for doing all the other missions (you have to actually do all the other Claptrap side missions to get this). There is basically nothing here gameplay-wise. You just follow Claptrap to the house, show your dance moves and get sent away for being so bad at it.
… but this is where my empathy kicks in. Baby clearly enjoyed dancing, but has lost the ability do so (or that’s what she thinks). Claptrap shows her that she can still enjoy herself despite her physical limitations, possibly giving her a new lease on life.
Also, is Zed selling wheelchairs or where did she get one?