To this day, there are few collectible hunts as infamous asThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’s Korok seeds. These elusive collectibles first appeared inBreath of the Wild, offering players the seemingly impossible task of tracking down all 900 of them without clear in-game guidance. Instead, the online community had to work together to create a map revealing the location of each one. Then, the sequel ramped things up by not only bringing the total of seeds up to 1,000 but also making 800 of those tied to organic discovery and the remaining only obtainable by reuniting lost Koroks with their friends usingTears of the Kingdom’s Ultrahand ability. Now, it seems likeBorderlands 4might actually haveTears of the Kingdom’s Koroks beat when it comes to obscurity.
WithBorderlands 4taking place in a seamless world for the first time in the series, there are bound to be some massive changes to how it handles its collectibles. Rather than merely giving players something extra to chase down, it’s natural thatBorderlands 4’s collectibles would be integrated into its world to encourage exploration and foster the satisfaction of curiosity-driven discovery. However, withBreath of the WildandTears of the Kingdom’s Koroks becoming a meme for their absurd quantity,Borderlands 4might be setting itself up for the same treatment, though not necessarily on account of how many collectibles there are.
Borderlands 4’s Collectibles Might Be Harder to Find Than Tears of the Kingdom’s Koroks
Borderlands 4 Features ‘Well Over 200’ Collectibles
That’s not to say the game won’t have plenty of collectibles for players to find, as Randy Pitchford recently confirmed in a post on X that there will be “well over 200” scattered throughout the seamless world ofBorderlands 4’s Kairos. There’s more intention behind the game’s collectibles than it might seem, however, as Pitchford explained in his post that the purpose is to reward players for exploring the game’s “remote or uninhabited areas.” That reward, a Marcus Bobblehead, would therefore serve as an indication that players had discovered one of those locations.
In other words, whereas manyopen-world gamestend to throw collectibles in that merely serve as a way to fill the map with icons and things for players to do,Borderlands 4uses its Marcus Bobbleheads as a method of communication from the developers to the players — one that says, “Thanks for taking the time to explore what our environmental designers worked so hard to build.” There’s even a lore reason behind their presence in the game as well. As Pitchford added, “Someone on the moon of Elpis had a crate, bought from their favorite local vendor. And, in the cataclysm, the crate, still full of collectibles, was hurtled towards Kairos. It broke apart and scattered the 200 or so of these things all over the place.”
Borderlands 4’s Collectibles Could Outdo Tears of the Kingdom’s Koroks in Their Obscurity
It’s not their quantity that might give some players a headache, though. Pitchford confirmed that he expects “most players will never see any of them.” This is due in large part to their small size, but perhaps even more so, the fact that they are located in “unreachable areas,” as Pitchford called them. So, not only are there over 200 Marcus Bobbleheads to be found, and not only are they small and likely easy to glance over, but players will need to make full use ofBorderlands 4’s new traversal mechanicsin order to reach them.
Fortunately, Pitchford was kind enough to offer a map in the final segment of his post, but that will still only give players a general idea of where to find the Marcus Bobbleheads. If his claims about their obscurity end up being true, players might arrive at those locations on the map, only for the collectibles to be far above or below them, or even right under their nose, yet indistinguishable from the rest of the environment. In short, it looks likeBorderlands 4fans might have another case ofTears of the Kingdom’s Korokson their hands, and perhaps an even worse case. Only time will tell whether the most dedicated players can prove Pitchford wrong.
