Warning: Spoilers ahead for Borderlands 3.Though there was a lot to love in Borderlands 3, there were plenty of criticisms leveled at the game as well, many of which were directed at the story. Fans were disappointed with how Maya’s fate was handled, annoyed by how rushed moments like the big Tannis reveal were, and sad that certain characters did not appear. Ava was another negative point for many, though at the center of most critiques were The Calypso Twins.
Following up Handsome Jack was almost an impossible task for Gearbox, as he is widely considered one of the greatest villains in the video game industry. Still, the developer took the risk of delivering a new adversary instead of going the safe route and bringing back Handsome Jack. While this attempt was commendable, few players liked the Calypso Twins as antagonists. One reason for this could be a lack of character development, a natural drawback of having two villains. As such, Borderlands 4 may want to go back to focusing on a single foe.
The Calypso Twins Show Why Borderlands 4 Should Only Have a Single Villain
One of the many reasons Handsome Jack worked as well as he did, aside from his charisma and a perfect balance between humor and intimidation, is that he did not have to share screen time with other villains. While he did have underlings like Wilhelm, for the most part, players were always in direct conflict with Handsome Jack and working to undermine his plan in some way. This meant that Gearbox could really go all-in on making Jack intriguing, fleshing out his story with Angel and giving him a lot of time to shine.
Unfortunately for The Calypso Twins, neither character was able to fully take the spotlight. Tyreen becoming a soulless husk after merging with the Destroyer robbed players of a proper boss fight with her, and her familial ties to Typhon DeLeon were begging to be explored more on-screen. Unfortunately for Troy Calypso, a character many fans preferred over his sister, he was killed off before he fully overthrows his sister. With all signs pointing to this betrayal, the game may have been better off letting Troy kill Tyreen and take over for the last act, as Gearbox could have focused fully on the more popular twin.
By splitting attention between the two villains (and extra antagonist like Katagawa Jr.), Gearbox failed to make either of the twins truly iconic. Troy never escapes his sister’s shadow, and the shadow Tyreen casts is not a particularly impressive one given how her story ends. When Handsome Jack kills Roland, he does so after Gearbox has fleshed out his story and given him a reason to lash out, as his twisted love for Angel is a deeply intriguing personality trait. When the Calypsos kill Maya, it is not personal in any way, and fans know little about them. In turn, they come off as two annoying children that players just want to kill off. By the time more of their backstory is revealed, fans are too annoyed to care.
A messy story resulting from how attention is split between multiple villains is not exclusive to Borderlands. Video games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 have suffered from this issue. Additionally, countless superhero movies have suffered from this problem, whether it be The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Iron Man 2, or The Dark Knight Rises. While a carefully crafted story can pull off multiple villains at once, like Red Dead Redemption 2 or God of War Ragnarok, more often than not it is better to keep the story focused on a single antagonist.
Hopefully, The Calypso Twins and the negative response to them serves as a lesson for Gearbox when the developer is crafting the story of Borderlands 4. Tyreen had potential on her own, as her closeness to Typhon was intriguing, and it could have been fun to see Troy struggling without his sister’s guidance. Together, though, the Calypso Twins just got in the way of each other. If Gearbox ever wants to come close to the greatness of Handsome Jack, Borderlands should return to the single villain format.
Borderlands 3 is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.