Borderlands Syndrome

Borderlands Syndrome is a video game concept coined by youtuber "Some Nobody" in his video essay "The Dangers of Borderlands Syndrome"

Borderlands Syndrome is basically where a game series gets better in terms of gameplay each installment but worse in terms of writing. Named so because the Borderlands franchise is the main example, in that the first game had meh gameplay but a solid storyline, while 2 much improved on the gameplay but had corny ass humor and a predictable storyline carried by one character.

Borderlands 3 arguably had the biggest gameplay improvements but it featured even worse humor than 2 and had a downright insulting story.

Often times franchises with Borderlands Syndrome have writing so bad it takes you out of whatever fun you're having with the game

Tony: Yo Billy what do you think of Far Cry?
Billy: I think it started out solid in terms of writing but over time got a bad case of Borderlands Syndrome. Like you go from 3 having a pretty emotional story, 4 having a so so but kinda cool story, and 5 having some convoluted nihilistic nonsense story.

Borderlands Syndrome by TypicalDude42 November 11, 2026