Borderlands 3

Ari: Pretty much the only knock on Borderlands 3 is how frequently it doles out high-powered gear. By the end of the game, the drop rate of legendary weapons is so high that it totally devalues the joy you’d get from finding one. Since it’s a loot game, yeah, that’s a pretty big deal. (I’m glad Gearbox took this to note and turned it down for Wonderlands.) But the game itself is mechanical bliss, and makes good on the narrative promise sketched out in Borderlands 2’s finale. Plus, it even features the darkest expansion of Borderlands history: the haunting, beautiful Bounty of Blood

Zack: The only thing, in my book, that keeps Borderlands 3 from the top spot is that Handsome Jack in Borderlands 2 is such a strong villain. There’s a reason he kept coming back in various forms after this game. Hell, even one of Borderlands 3’s amazing DLC packs features Handsome Jack, or at least his legacy. Nearly everything else in Borderlands 3 is an improvement on the past games. Movement feels better, guns have more oomph to them and the entire scale of the game feels bigger and more exciting. But there is a better Borderlands game and if you can count (or have read the rest of this list…) you already know what took our top spot.