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Borderlands 4 Just Got FOV Sliders On Console And Some Other Nice Fixes
Game Reviews

Borderlands 4 Just Got FOV Sliders On Console And Some Other Nice Fixes

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Since the launch of Borderlands 4 earlier this month, the game has suffered from performance issues on both console and PC. Players have also been upset about the lack of a field-of-view slider on console. Well, good news, Gearbox’s latest patch for Borderlands 4, out now on all platforms, adds the missing FOV slider, improves performance and stability, and fixes a ton of other issues, too.

On September 25, Gearbox published the lengthy patch notes for Borderlands 4‘s latest free update. And there’s a lot to go through, but the biggest news for many console players is that Gearbox has added an FOV slider to the game. This had been one of the main requests from players, and something Gearbox has been working on since launch. Just a heads-up that increasing the FOV in Borderlands 4, like in any game, could lead to performance issues. Speaking of performance issues, the patch notes don’t specifically mention a fix for the issue of the game running worse on consoles after extended play, but it does make mention of “various” fixes for “hitching, low FPS, and crashes.” So hopefully that helps and means I don’t have to restart my PS5 Pro every so often to play Borderlands 4 at 60fps.

Another bug that is supposedly squashed is the problem of missing weapon icons when using your menu or inventory. This happened to me a lot on PC and to a few friends of mine on PS5. Oh, and for all you fans of the Doom-inspired Hellwalker shotgun, Gearbox has confirmed that the gun not being a fire elemental weapon was a mistake, and all future Hellwalkers will come with fire pellets. Tiny fix, but one that I love.

And that’s not all. While this update makes a few tweaks to the playable vault hunters, Gearbox has confirmed that there are even more buffs coming in a different Borderlands 4 patch next week. No word on nerfs to the popular knife build or the super jump, which is nice. It seems these broken strats are safe…for now. Oh, and in case you didn’t hear, the Switch 2 port of the game has been delayed. At least it will launch with all of these fixes on day one.

Anyway, here are the full patch notes:

Stability And Performance

  • Improvements to stability and performance.
  • Addressed various instances of hitching, low FPS, and crashes.
  • We are continuing to investigate and will make further improvements to stability and performance.
  • Updated character animations for performance improvements.
  • Graphics Preset could be set to High or Very High when using Run Auto-Detect in Visual Menu.
  • [Xbox] Corrected an issue where players would get a black screen after the Vault Symbol loading screen.
  • Addressed rare issues of infinite loading screens during crossplay.
  • Improved loading of characters in menus to reduce visible delays when entering character select.

Rewards And Progression

  • Addressed a reported issue where players could lose or be rewarded unintended extra Skill Points in multiplayer.
  • Addressed an issue that could prevent Contract target enemies from consistently spawning.
  • Updated Repkit lifesteal challenge to track lifesteal from any source.
  • Prevented region discovery trophies/achievements from unlocking before discovering all areas.
  • Prevented instances of unowned DLC content appearing in chests or in menus.
  • Improved clarity of DLC-related warnings and reward availability.
  • Addressed a reported issue where the Reward Center could stop working after claiming the Gilded Glory Pack rewards.
  • Rewards Center popup now correctly excludes already-claimed cosmetics.
  • Reduced sell prices on Gilded Glory Pack gear in Vending Machines.
  • Updated the Break Free Pack reward bundle to redeem properly in all instances.
  • Challenge timing has been updated so players can properly progress from Ultimate Vault Hunter (UVH) 4 to UVH 5 after completing the required Wildcard Mission.
    • When ranking up in multiplayer, players that are not the host will not see the change to their UVH level, but will be able to switch to the higher level. This will be addressed in an upcoming update.
  • Updated Class Mods to prevent them from dropping with incorrect skill points.

Harlowe the Gravitar

  • Gravitar Ground State Capstone has been corrected to remove inaccurate verbiage about enemies taking reduced damage when they do not.
  • Gravitar Flux Generator no longer heals enemies with Potential Transference Capstone.
  • Updated Gravitar Accretion passive to consistently grant Lifesteal to allies.
  • Addressed various reported issues with Gravitar Unstable Energy Pocket created from CHROMA Accelerator Action Skill.
    •  Includes instances where it would not disappear properly, convert to Cryo Damage, or split as intended with certain skill tree combinations. Skills that saw updates: Special Purpose Magnets Augment, The Shattering Light Capstone, QED passive, Break the Ice passive, Containment Breach Augment, and Eureka! Passive.

Amon the Forgeknight

  • Forgeknight Primal Surge passive now properly restores Shield and Ammo.
  • Forgeknight Firewall Action Skill has been adjusted so Vengeance cannot be stored by Firewall before Scourge is active, as intended.
  • Forgeknight Onslaughter Rocket Punch now connects more reliably with shielded enemies.
  • Addressed a reported issue with Forgeknight Forgeaxe not consistently seeking nearby enemies.

Vex the Siren

  • Addressed a reported issue with Siren Grave Harvest Augment being triggered while Incarnate is not active.
  • Addressed a reported issue where Siren Blight Attunement passive could occasionally fail to damage the Timekeeper.
  • Damage caused by Siren Spirit Bomb passive now counts properly as Companion Damage and changes its color to match attuned element.

Rafa the Exo-Soldier

  • Addressed a reported issue preventing Exo-Soldier Blowout passive from stacking properly when repeating Action Skills.

Gameplay

  • Addressed a reported issue in the “Overwriting a Wrong” Side Mission where nodes would not spawn consistently.
  • Addressed a reported issue in the “Talk to Zadra” Mission where the objective could fail if players exited and relaunched mid-dialogue.
  • Updated beam hit detection, as it was causing beams to not be blocked properly. Eg: Forgeknight Forgeshield.
  • Repkits now consistently consume the correct amount of charges after activating Forgeknight Scourge action skill.
  • Prevented Forgeknight from sliding at the end of Molten Slam.
  • Addressed various reported instances of enemies getting stuck.
    • Impacted Missions: during “Kill Order Forces” in the Fadefields, “His Vile Sanctum” Mission, and “A Lot to Process” Mission.
  • Addressed reported desync issues observed with Lightweight Armature enemy movement in multiplayer.
  • Updated Zadra’s Lab Fast Travel unlock to after discovery.

Gear

  • Vladof Atling Gun Heavy Weapon Ordnance now properly targets Primordial Guardian Inceptus.
  • Queen’s Rest Pistols with Daedalus Ammoswitcher licensed underbarrel now shoot the correct projectiles.
  • Gear with the Short Circuit Augment now traces properly toward enemies instead of random directions.
    Addressed reported edge cases where interrupting reload could cause ammo desyncs that would prevent ammo from firing.
  •  Gear Balance Changes:
    • Hellwalker: now always spawns with Fire element.
    • Tediore weapons: +10% Damage and +10% magazine size.
    • Order Pistol Lucky Clover (Rocket Reload): increased fire rate.
    • Order Sniper Rifle Fisheye: increased Damage.

UI & UX

  • Updated gear thumbnails in cases where they did not display properly, and ensured stand-in thumbnails load properly.
  • Updated various UI visuals for alignment, consistency, and clarity.
  • Adjusted inventory dropdown menus to prevent unintended selected changes.
  • Added D-pad navigation support to the Reward Center and improved handling of the Inventory Overflow message.
  • Prevented Matchmaking Menu hint bar from displaying incorrect prompts when joining another player’s game.
  • Addressed compass occasionally displaying incorrect location name after teleporting.
  • Updated localization and various text descriptions across the game.
  • Added various improvements to compass, custom waypoint placement, and ECHO location.

Visuals

  • Addressed carryable objects disappearing or appearing in the wrong location after being picked up; includes cases in Ready to Blow, Lost Capsules, and Hangover Helper Missions.
  • Improved triggering of Armor Segment breaks VFX when Shield Capacity effects expire.
  • Updated NPC and enemy pathing.
  • Addressed VFX concerns with various weapons, vehicles, and elemental states.
  • Various animation updates.
  • Various visual updates and improvements.
  • Adjusted rift portal effect to corrected visuals.
  • Updated ECHO-4 to have correct positioning when viewing various menus, and to prevent clipping.
  • Ambient critters have a more natural spawn behavior.

Audio

  • DJs in Carcadia Burn and Fadefields now play their VO when starting or completing Contracts.
  • Adjusted radio music mix for improved audibility.
  • Added missing audio for multiple weapon types, customization, and menu navigation.
  • Reduced instances of voiceover cutting out during Missions.
  • Updated startup movies to have correct audio.

Settings & Accessibility

  • [Xbox/PlayStation] Enabled Field of View (FOV) slider on console.
    • Note: Increasing the FOV past the default could cause some dips in performance.
  • Vehicle Field of View settings will now be changed for both users when playing in splitscreen.

Misc

  • Addressed reported instances of incorrect or deleted characters appearing in Menu or Lobbies.
  • Enabled Tab key in SHiFT UI.
  • Added haptic feedback for controllers to Exo-Soldier Unmissable Missiles Augment.
  • Updated Credits listing.



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A soldier in an icy landscape facing off against two well-armed skeleton enemies while a dragon watches in the background
Product Reviews

This metroidvania based on an old Atari 2600 classic had the audacity to release on the same day as Silksong, but it’s a nice break from Hornet’s hell

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Every week at least a couple of metroidvanias release on Steam, and most remain obscure. Adventure of Samsara, which released on September 4, was more fated to obscurity than most, despite being published by an ascendant Atari. Because September 4 was also the day Silksong released. Few were going to make time for a handsome but orthodox pixel art metroidvania when the joys and indignities of Pharloom beckon.

Except me: I needed a break from Silksong earlier this week, mostly because I was getting my ass kicked, but also because a small detail on the Adventure of Samsara Steam page piqued my interest. This is actually a spiritual sequel of sorts to the 1980 game Adventure, which was probably the most cryptic and sprawling Atari 2600 cart on the market.

Adventure gave me nightmares as a child. Whereas most Atari 2600 games were cheerfully straightforward one-screen arcade games or scrolling shooters, Adventure had designs on being a full-blown, well, adventure, and it displayed some proto-metroidvania qualities to that end.


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You explore a same-ish labyrinth as a dot, collecting color-coded keys to unlock color-coded doors, avoiding bats and dragons, and using tools—such as a magnet and a bridge—to solve problems. Its austere blocky graphics are to ASCII what Duplo is to Lego, but there’s a quiet inscrutability to it that freaked me out as a kid (as did Secret Quest, another fairly ambitious Atari 2600 adventure game).

Here’s what the original Adventure looked like (via Retro Games Fan):

Atari 2600: Adventure – YouTube

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After spending around seven hours in Adventure of Samsara, I can confirm that it doesn’t share a hell of a lot in common with its 1980 source material. The closest call-back I can find, the dragons, are coiled in the same way as the old game and similarly color-coded. If you liked Adventure (I highly doubt you ever loved it), then you’re probably not going to feel relief or the frisson of familiarity with this 2025 game. It definitely feels like a case of having a languishing IP fitted to a new game, almost as an afterthought. (Beyond the Ice Palace 2 comes to mind.)

That’s fine (that’s business) but how does Adventure of Samsara stack up as a 2025 exploration platformer? Kinda well, but not brilliantly. As a “Solar Champion” it’s my job to reactivate “a mysterious interdimensional fortress”, which means exploring a big interconnected underground labyrinth full of monsters, traps and those dragons. Along the way I find the usual array of exploration-gratifying power-ups while unlocking shortcuts, save points and fast travel stations.

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(Image credit: Atari)(Image credit: Atari)(Image credit: Atari)(Image credit: Atari)(Image credit: Atari)

My Solar Champion is a floaty lil’ fellow (“lil” because Adventure of Samsara feels more zoomed out than most modern platformers) and his actions can’t be canceled. These qualities do not bode well at first, but I did get used to the stiffness of the controls, probably because Samsara isn’t otherwise a very demanding game. My Solar Champion eventually has three weapons—a sword, a bow and a hammer—and the latter two double as traversal and exploration tools, alongside the usual hard-won character upgrades. Yes, there is a double jump.

I was surprised to find that this game kept me up just as late as Silksong has been this past week.

What I like about Adventure of Samsara is its atmosphere. Yes, it blends fantasy and sci-fi in a pretty familiar way, but the retro-futuristic synth soundtrack is evocatively subtle. It clearly has designs on channeling the 1980s, but it does so in a quiet, nearly plaintive way that’s quite at odds with the nowadays suffocating banality of synthwave.

The other thing I liked about Samsara, especially compared to the 30-odd hours I’ve spent in Silksong, is how exploration-forward it is. There are bosses, but they’re not especially hard, and once you’ve beaten them you can look forward to big chunks of just nosing around. At first this exploration is done tentatively, as the combat is pretty rote and repetitive: attack, dash back, attack, dash back. But once my Solar Champion has some crisper moves and more effective weapons, the exploration becomes freewheeling and engaging. I was surprised to find that this game kept me up just as late as Silksong has been this past week.

(Image credit: Atari)

I also came to appreciate the pixel art, which was a bit of an obstacle for me at first. The world is coherent and carefully illustrated, but the enemy sprites kinda look like something you’d see in uh, Siralim. They’re barely animated—they just blob around. But this culminates in Samara having an interesting primitive quality that oddly reminded me of Barbuta from UFO 50.

Will Silksong signal the end of the charming, humble indie metroidvania? Are these games now doomed to be big budget affairs designed to sap mindshare for weeks going and months? What I love about the genre is that the vast majority of its purveyors—the ones making games you find on Steam with less than 50 reviews—feel like the work of joyful hobbyists, a tradition that runs from Cave Story through to stuff like Astalon.

Adventure of Samsara definitely belongs to that tradition, despite having a 40-odd year old IP attached to it. Yes, it has rough edges, but the next time you want to slide into a mysterious, enveloping metroidvania that doesn’t want you to suffer mercilessly, I’d recommend giving it a look. Maybe also check out Zexion.



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You are a mail delivering turnip with a surprisingly nice butt in Letters to Arralla, which is out now
Game Updates

You are a mail delivering turnip with a surprisingly nice butt in Letters to Arralla, which is out now

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There are a bevy of games available in the world that let you play as what can only be described as “a little guy.” However, you can throw all of them out of the window, because I have found the game that has the perfect iteration of such a creature. It is called Letters to Arralla, and in it you quite simply play as a turnip, who has the juiciest derriere I’ve ever seen in perhaps any game ever. Yes, even more so than one of those anime gacha games, this turnip’s rump has got some serious jiggle physics.


A turnip with a pleasant dumptruck does not a game make, though, so here’s the lowdown: you deliver mail! There are plenty of equally funny “little guys” who you can bring mail to on an Australian island, with the added benefit of being able to open said mail. As the game’s Steam page notes, this is a crime – no, really, don’t read other people’s mail, it’s not allowed – but apparently in Letter to Arralla’s world it’s encouraged!

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Said pieces of mail include pictogram puzzles you have to solve, and throughout your journey you’ll also need to help the island’s inhabitants figure out personal problems. There’s no pressure to do anything at any particular time, you’re welcome to play around, “throw stuff,” and even “call your mum!”


We might be heading into autumn in this hemisphere, but Australian developer Little Pink Clouds will slowly be making their way towards summer, and that’s exactly the kind of vibe this game gives off. Summer is arguably a video game genre unto itself, with games like Super Mario Sunshine, Outrun, and Boku no Natsuyasumi all being peak examples of such a thing. I think Letters to Arralla could fit quite neatly into that, so it’s one I hope to be able to make time for. Even if it’s only to warm myself back up again.


It’s also out today! And you can pick it up on Steam right here.



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The original PlayStation turns 30 years old in America today, so here are some nice stories about it
Game Reviews

The original PlayStation turns 30 years old in America today, so here are some nice stories about it

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Feeling spritely? This shouldn’t help: the original PlayStation console was released 30 years ago today in the United States, on 9th September 1995. It was a machine that would change gaming forever.

We celebrated the 30th anniversary of PS1 last December because that’s when it was first introduced, in Japan, on 3rd December 1994. Sony’s debut console was released in Europe at a similar time to America, on 29th September 1995.

We love an indulgent 90s nostalgia binge here, and Jim’s video on the legacy of WipeOut 2097 and the PS1 is a great watch to scratch that particular itch with. He’s really funny and handsome too.Watch on YouTube

It’s such a momentous milestone we dedicated a week to it, writing a collection of articles about the grey, oversized Discman-style box. The articles ranged from love-letters to WipEout and Tekken, to interviews with former PlayStation executive Shawn Layden, who was there at the time (which is why his photograph is in black and white).

We also asked for your memories of PS1, which you provided in abundance – there were more than 300 comments. And I read them all. And they’re all lovely; funny, heartfelt, poignant. Prepare yourself: it’s an emotional ride.

As the regional reverberations of the PS1 anniversary are felt again, I thought I’d resurface some pieces you’ve maybe not read.



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Borderlands 4 launch times come with a nice surprise if you're on PC
Game Reviews

Borderlands 4 launch times come with a nice surprise if you’re on PC

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We’re just days away from the launch of Borderlands 4, and Gearbox has officially revealed when – exactly – we’ll be able to play it. The full launch times schedule also has a nice surprise for PC players, who will be able to jump in a day early.

Though the game technically launches September 12, because of the way the launch is going to work on PC, Borderlands 4 is going to be playable on September 11 instead.

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On PC, Borderlands 4 has a fixed launch time. What that means is that when it’s out for one country or region, it’s going to be out everywhere else, too. This is true for both Steam, and the Epic Games Store.

On PlayStation and Xbox, however, Borderlands 4 will unlock at midnight local time, which means some parts of the world will be able to play the game ahead of others, simply because of how time zones work.

This is good news for players on PC, who will effectively be playing on September 11. For some, that unlock time falls fairly earlier in the day than others. This is admittedly going to make things a little awkward if some of your friends are getting the game on console (Borderlands 4 supports cross-play), but that’s only really something you have to worry about on launch day.

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Borderlands 4 PC (Steam, EGS) launch times

  • September 12 at 2am AEST – Australia.
  • September 12 at 4am NZST – New Zealand.
  • September 12 at 12am SGT – Singapore.
  • September 12 at 1am JST – Japan.
  • September 11 at 5pm BST – UK.
  • September 11 at 9am PT – California.
  • September 11 at 12pm ET – New York.

Borderlands 4 PlayStation launch times

  • September 12 at 12am AEST – Australia.
  • September 12 at 12am NZST – New Zealand.
  • September 12 at 12am SGT – Singapore.
  • September 12 at 12am JST – Japan.
  • September 11 at 12am BST – UK.
  • September 11 at 9pm PT – California.
  • September 11 at 12am ET – New York.

Borderlands 4 Xbox launch times

  • September 12 at 12am AEST – Australia.
  • September 12 at 12am NZST – New Zealand.
  • September 12 at 12am SGT – Singapore.
  • September 12 at 12am JST – Japan.
  • September 11 at 12am BST – UK.
  • September 11 at 9pm PT – California.
  • September 11 at 12am ET – New York.

Borderlands 4 Nintendo Switch 2 launch times

The Switch 2 version arrives three weeks after PC, PlayStation, and Xbox, as recently announced.

  • October 3 at 12am AEST – Australia.
  • October 3 at 12am NZST – New Zealand.
  • October 3 at 12am SGT – Singapore.
  • October 3 at 12am JST – Japan.
  • October 3 at 12am BST – UK.
  • October 3 at 9pm PT – California.
  • October 3 at 12am ET – New York.



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