'New Tales from the Borderlands' is more Gearbox than Telltale

It's hard to put a finger on what, exactly, as the action plays out during a virtual demo presented by Gearbox, the studio handling development after Telltale, the spinoff's originator, died in 2018 and then (sort of) came back the next year. The setup is reminiscent of the original "Tales from the Borderlands" while starring a new cast: Anu, Octavio and Fran, three lovable losers who'd likely be background NPCs in a standard first-person shooter "Borderlands" game, bumble, stumble and stutter their way through the machinations of evil capitalists and a planetary invasion on the worst day of their lives. There are jokes and quips aplenty. There are dialogue choices, quick-time events and minigames. Octavio, the main male lead, exudes a certain-to-be-humbled cocksureness that's reminiscent of previous "Tales" lead Rhys, except streetwise instead of corporate.