Having had a chance to see a 30-minute gameplay presentation of New Tales from the Borderlands, I'm cautiously optimistic about the upcoming consequence-driven episodic adventure game. What I saw has left me intrigued--even if it didn't quite match the irreverent charm of the original game. I'm willing to give the game the benefit of the doubt but I am a little worried that this sequel may not live up to the narrative highs of its predecessor.

New Tales from the Borderlands is a clean break from the original game. It follows a new trio of characters--altruistic Anu, ambitious Octavio, and violence-first-questions-later Fran--as they work together to find a Vault Key, each for their own ends. You guide the story through dialogue choices and quicktime events, resulting in a number of short-term or long-term consequences that can color the story.

Gameplay-wise, it looks a whole lot like the original Tales from the Borderlands. But the humor in New Tales isn't working for me as well as what we got in the original Tales--I think it's because I really liked the protagonists of Tales (Rhys and Fiona) from the very first trailer, while I still haven't been able to quite connect with Anu, Octavio, and Fran, even from the snippet of the game I saw.