Just over a week after its initial release, Borderlands 4 players continue to highlight the game’s navigation systems as an area for improvement. Whether Borderlands 4‘s navigation can be truly solved without a radical overhaul remains up for debate, although players have some solutions.
Although it’s still very early days in the game’s lifespan, Borderlands 4 fans have not been shy in sharing their potential areas for improvement for the game, whether it be widespread changes or small quality-of-life fixes. The performance is one obvious area for improvement, especially on PC. Meanwhile, some Borderlands 4 players just want slot machines back. It’s clear that Gearbox is taking all feedback seriously, so hopefully the game continues to improve in future updates.
Some Borderlands 4 Players Think a Minimap Could Solve the Game's Navigation Problems
Right now, the Borderlands subreddit is flooded with fans discussing the game’s navigation, with one user beginning their thread suggesting it needs “a major overhaul.” In this regard, the frustrations are seemingly endless. Borderlands 4‘s lack of a minimap is a starting point, an annoyance amplified by the fact that it was a feature in previous games. However, players also highlighted the ECHO-4 pathfinding, which is the only way to receive assistance in navigating without opening the map menu. However, the ECHO-4 has a frustrating cooldown, with players pointing out that it often takes players in impossible directions.
Some fans noted that Borderlands 4‘s Grappling Hook is somewhat of a missed opportunity, with not enough areas where they can be used to navigate the open world environment. Invisible walls are present, too, so players who try to find unique solutions to their navigation issues are occasionally blocked by the game. It all feels like growing pains in Gearbox’s attempt to turn Borderlands 4 into a true open world for the first time in the series.
The problem here is that the fix isn’t clear. Gearbox has been receptive to Borderlands 4 fan feedback so far, but navigation is so core to the experience that any massive changes to improve it may be too big. Removal of the ECHO-4’s cooldown and the addition of a minimap may help matters somewhat, but it’s unclear how much of a priority this is for Gearbox at the moment.