EDIT: So now I'm level 50 and have played an extra 60 hours after having written my original review. Let me say a few things now that I'm sitting at the end of the game and I am able to look back unbiased:

I still like it. I think there are a lot of things that annoy the heck out of me though. Firstly, how guns seem weak and the game seems hard UNTIL you learn that farming optional bosses for their predetermined legendary items is absolutely REQUIRED to be able to succeed at the game. Also, I don't like the fact that the drop rate, outside of these fights, is abysmally bad.

What's also bad about this is how enemies will always scale to your level, so your "awesome legendaries" get worn out and become useless within 3-5 levels. Then, you have to walk back to the optional bosses that drop that gear and grind them for 2 hours to get re-leveled versions of the same gear. Fun, right? No.

But here's the thing, once you get re-geared, the game is phenomenal. I love the open world, the large mobs, the tougher and more element heavy battle mechanics, it's all so much better than any other Borderlands game. Even the boss fights are better.

But good lord, that scaling and the need to grind to get gear to break that imbalance...it's horrid. If this is what they wanted, they should've just made an MMORPG out of this.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Old Review:)

So...I have a lot to say about this game. I'm lv 22, played quite a bit, and there is a lot of good here and a little bad (or different) for some folks.

First of all, the gameplay is pretty decent. I'll agree that there is a lot more emphasis on action skills now and guns seem a little weaker. I will also echo other reviewer's observations of the balancing being skewed and the damage model being wonky enough that shields seem mostly worthless. (Make sure to get a Turtle shield and skills that increase shield max, you'll thank me later) Still, the gunplay is tight, the cringe dialog is gone (I'm actually impressed how SERIOUS the game is now) and the open world aspect is a nice change in my opinion. It feels fun, dynamic, and the combat loop is addicting.

Now, the performance? Well, I haven't crashed a single time and my FPS is around 90-100 with FSR on....but here's the deal: I'm not running the typical PC. I'm currently using a 9800 CPU, a 9070XT GPU, 96GB of RAM (I do video editing) and a 4TB NMVE. I can run the game maxed at 2K resolution fine without any hitches, but as always, your mileage may vary.

My friend I co-op with is crashing semi frequently (three times in the 20 hours we've played together) and some may not like the open world Far Cry-esque environment, but I think it's a nice change of pace. Is it your typical Borderlands game? Definitely not. Though, I think some change is what the series needs right now.