Biggest reason for not recommended review is because of the Epic exclusive deal. Bought this off of a reseller for that reason. Played the Ultimate Deluxe Edition or whatever it's called. Didn't play DLC outside of Arms Race because I got so bored.
If released without exclusivity, I would still give it a not recommended, because it doesn't improve on BL2 enough to warrant that.

Pros:
-Comedy was alright. Maybe its because I'm a zoomer but it was a lot funnier than BL2
-Gameplay has been polished much more than the previous entry; short intro sequence, less escort missions compared to BL2, less "wait for person to get to place". way more replayable IF the story was any good
-Some of the sidequests can genuinely tug at the heartstrings (Grace's birthday party) or be hilariously funny (Microtransaction Hell)
-Really solid soundtrack. Favorites: sanctuary theme, im looking for a specific human head, ava's on the case, dark water
-Less stupid overpowered guns that are locked behind quest rewards like bl2 did (orphan maker, some moxxi slag weapons). if you really want something locked behind a quest reward, you have the crazy earl rewards shop
-No slag (thank ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ christ)
-Can fast travel without going through loading screen within a map
-Sliding and mantling are good additions
-Eridium's use being expanded is awesome
-AI can revive you
-Arms Race is a cool idea
-Claptrap has less of a presence than the previous game, and manages to actually be funny and annoying rather than just annoying

Cons:
-Zero endgame content
-Bad story. Antagonists weren't awful but were not as interesting as bl2. troy > tyreen
-Typhon Deleon is the only really likable and multifaceted character introduced. Some other characters have been flanderized to where it feels like they are only a vehicle for the story
-Way too easy. no raid bosses are hard; all done either on the first or second try, with ♥♥♥♥ gear. running a moze banjo bear build but without a good shield.
-So few raid bosses compared to bl2. Where's the content? Takedowns suffer the same fate.
-Ava sucks. It's another case of "we have this very flawed character but we forgot to make her likable". Characters die for her sake while other characters conveniently forget the fact that she caused those deaths
-Mayhem modifiers are simply an inconvenience. Why does mayhem 11 drop less loot?
-Not as optimized as it could or should be
-Dialogue from vault hunter every time you come into a new area (why)
-Anoints aren't terrible in concept but are lacking in execution; a lot of them are way too OP for their own good
-Borderlands series STILL has its trademark awkward dialogue, both basic and intense, that ruins any immersion you had and slows the pace to a crawl.
-QA testing was not done for Iron Bear fitting under many doors and openings it *should* be able to fit through.
-Takedown at the Guardian Breach is difficult for all the wrong reasons
-Arms Race: Too easy to skip immediately to mayhem 10 with the loot you get

It could be my build that's way too OP, but i should not be able to get to level 72, do an easy farm on any mayhem level for electric banjo, and obliterate every single boss. It's just bad balancing that's inexcusable (especially in 2021, 2 years after this game came to PC, where developers can easily push patches to any platform). I don't mind broken builds, as long as you have to put in a lot of work to get that build working.

If you're new to Borderlands, buy BL2 with all the DLC when it's on a big sale. Don't pick this up, it's not really that worth it.

Biggest reason for not recommended review is because of the Epic exclusive deal. Bought this off of a reseller for that reason. Played the Ultimate Deluxe Edition or whatever it's called. Didn't play DLC outside of Arms Race because I got so bored. If released without exclusivity, I would still give it a not recommended, because it doesn't improve on BL2 enough to warrant that. Pros: -Comedy was alright. Maybe its because I'm a zoomer but it was a lot funnier than BL2 -Gameplay has been polished much more than the previous entry; short intro sequence, less escort missions compared to BL2, less "wait for person to get to place". way more replayable IF the story was any good -Some of the sidequests can genuinely tug at the heartstrings (Grace's birthday party) or be hilariously funny (Microtransaction Hell) -Really solid soundtrack. Favorites: sanctuary theme, im looking for a specific human head, ava's on the case, dark water -Less stupid overpowered guns that are locked behind quest rewards like bl2 did (orphan maker, some moxxi slag weapons). if you really want something locked behind a quest reward, you have the crazy earl rewards shop -No slag (thank fucking christ) -Can fast travel without going through loading screen within a map -Sliding and mantling are good additions -Eridium's use being expanded is awesome -AI can revive you -Arms Race is a cool idea -Claptrap has less of a presence than the previous game, and manages to actually be funny and annoying rather than just annoying Cons: -Zero endgame content -Bad story. Antagonists weren't awful but were not as interesting as bl2. troy > tyreen -Typhon Deleon is the only really likable and multifaceted character introduced. Some other characters have been flanderized to where it feels like they are only a vehicle for the story -Way too easy. no raid bosses are hard; all done either on the first or second try, with shit gear. running a moze banjo bear build but without a good shield. -So few raid bosses compared to bl2. Where's the content? Takedowns suffer the same fate. -Ava sucks. It's another case of "we have this very flawed character but we forgot to make her likable". Characters die for her sake while other characters conveniently forget the fact that she caused those deaths -Mayhem modifiers are simply an inconvenience. Why does mayhem 11 drop less loot? -Not as optimized as it could or should be -Dialogue from vault hunter every time you come into a new area (why) -Anoints aren't terrible in concept but are lacking in execution; a lot of them are way too OP for their own good -Borderlands series STILL has its trademark awkward dialogue, both basic and intense, that ruins any immersion you had and slows the pace to a crawl. -QA testing was not done for Iron Bear fitting under many doors and openings it *should* be able to fit through. -Takedown at the Guardian Breach is difficult for all the wrong reasons -Arms Race: Too easy to skip immediately to mayhem 10 with the loot you get It could be my build that's way too OP, but i should not be able to get to level 72, do an easy farm on any mayhem level for electric banjo, and obliterate every single boss. It's just bad balancing that's inexcusable (especially in 2021, 2 years after this game came to PC, where developers can easily push patches to any platform). I don't mind broken builds, as long as you have to put in a lot of work to get that build working. If you're new to Borderlands, buy BL2 with all the DLC when it's on a big sale. Don't pick this up, it's not really that worth it.