Sometimes it feels like the whole marketing strategy of Borderlands over the past 16 years is like a person pointing to a huge sign that says “The number is bigger.”So, before "Borderlands 4" is released, we have to accept and digest a similar statement: there will be 30 billion guns in the game.

My (foreign media PC Gamer) question is always: In fact, what exactly do these exaggerated numbers mean to players? Can they really improve your gaming experience? I like to buy treasures like other players, watching the attribute value rise, but when playing "Borderlands", the only thing that really makes me feel the impact of "huge amounts of items" is that I have to stop and clean up a bunch of garbage guns every ten minutes.

So, I was a little skeptical when I heard the same swelling spirit applied to the skill tree this time.Lead character designer Nick Thurston said in an interview with Polygon that Borderlands 4’s passive skills “are more than all previous Borderlands series combined”, with each hero having about 80 passive skills.Their goal is to maximize Build diversity

"If you have a very cool character, you certainly want to play in a variety of different ways. I want players to see four Amons on the team, each of them has a completely different build."

In theory, more Build choices are indeed worth looking forward to, but to make skill choices more attractive, skill choices must bring real impact.The previous "Borderlands" has always been a 50% opening in this regard - some skills can significantly change the gameplay and bring interesting new experiences; the other part just adds a little percentage bonus to a certain value. This change is almost impossible to feel when playing, and at most it can only be considered useful until the end game Build.

In this case, can double the number of skills really improve? Will these skills be really interesting choices? Or will they just become another cumbersome menu interface, allowing players to miss the pleasure of "let the enemy's heads spray numbers" between dots?

Maybe I'm too pessimistic - from all the signs, Borderlands 4 is indeed better than the controversial Three Generations in many ways.However, it is still difficult to say whether these digital expansions can be transformed into real improvements in actual games.

After 16 years of series, it is becoming increasingly difficult for me to get rid of this worry: this sequel may still be the old formula, just twisting all the scales a little longer.What I really long for is not to have twice as many passive skills, or 29 billion more guns than Borderlands 3 - but some meaningful innovations that can substantially change the combat experience.