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I want to talk about how genius the weapon breakability in Breath of the Wild is...

What do you think?

  • It's a great mechanic.

    Votes: 691 23.6%

  • I hate it. It ruined the game for me.

    Votes: 1,112 38.0%

  • I like it, but would have preferred a way to make certain weapons last longer.

    Votes: 983 33.6%

  • I hate it, but I still enjoyed the game.

    Votes: 140 4.8%
  • Total voters
    2,926
FernandoRocker

FernandoRocker

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
7,987
México
Probably a good percentage of persons in this forum has played and finished Breath of the Wild, but if you haven't and are still on the fence, do not worry at all about the weapons breaking very often.

Let me give you a small example. It's similar to when you play Mega Man. You defeat a boss and get their weapon, but you never use their weapon in regular stages because you are afraid to waste the ammo, so you use the regular buster, and only get to enjoy special weapons against bosses. You are too worried about not wasting ammo that you just don't enjoy it.

Same in RPGs. You save those potions because you will probably need them against a more powerful boss. You beat the game and you just hoarded the potions and never enjoyed them.

I remember when I first started/finished the game, I was deeply worried about the weapon breaking thing. In fact, I bought the game on release date and didn't like it at first (only played 3 hours and then I quit the game until 2019) precisely because I wanted to hoard the weapons.


But then it clicked. You are supposed to use the weapons and let them break. There are hundreds and hundreds of weapons in the game, and it would be impossible to try them all and enjoy them all if they didn't break.

The game gives you weapons like candy. You never run out of weapons. You find weapons in chests, by killing enemies, on the floor, in buildings, in caves, in trees. You find weapons every minute. You are supposed to use them all, and enjoy them.

It's a genius mechanic. Enjoy it and embrace it.
 
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tacocat

tacocat

Alt account
Banned
Jan 17, 2020
1,434
Its literally the worst part about the game.

Design enemies/combat better if you want players to use different weapons.
 
Trace

Trace

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,689
Canada
It just removes any emotional attachment to the weapons because you know they're basically all treated like disposable trash.

So no. It's a shit mechanic.
 
goodretina

goodretina

Member
Dec 30, 2018
1,700
At least someone liked it enough to write a small essay about its dubious merits. I don't think many people will be convinced.

Genius, though? Ummm...
 
OP
OP
FernandoRocker

FernandoRocker

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
7,987
México
TheInfinityGauntlet said:
Wrong
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kiaaa said:
If it's so genius, why don't I like it?
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tacocat said:
Its literally the worst part about the game.

Design enemies/combat better if you want players to use different weapons.
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Kyoufu said:
Reported.
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Trace said:
It just removes any emotional attachment to the weapons because you know they're basically all treated like disposable trash.

So no. It's a shit mechanic.
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goodretina said:
At least someone liked it.

Genius, though? Ummm...
Click to expand...
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What the fuck am I reading?
 
The Albatross

The Albatross

Member
Oct 25, 2017
38,981
It was my least favorite mechanic in the game and because of my play style I was so worried about breaking my good weapons on easy enemies that I went through most of the game using sticks and tree branches. I guess someone can say "you're playing the game wrong then" but it's a game, games are played differently by different people, and it's a feature that I think took away from the game for me.

I appreciate your effort to rehabilitate the controversial feature tho.
 
Ferrio

Ferrio

Member
Oct 25, 2017
18,047
Actually playing through the first time now, almost on my way to the castle. I love the system. Not sure why people get so flustered about it.

Trace said:
It just removes any emotional attachment to the weapons because you know they're basically all treated like disposable trash.

So no. It's a shit mechanic.
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Why do you need emotional attachment to weapons?
 
ghostemoji

ghostemoji

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,816
I get why some liked it. I didn't at all.

I played the game almost entirely avoiding combat solely because the weapons system. Fortunately, there's a lot of game to enjoy without engaging in combat.
 
Skittzo

Skittzo

Member
Oct 25, 2017
41,037
The game simply wouldn't work as it was meant to if you didn't have weapons breaking. It encourages you to improvise use your entire skill set so that you progress through battles as efficiently as possible.

Without weapon durability there would be no reason not to just blow through the game with a royal claymore, and that would get extremely boring very quickly.
 
TeenageFBI

TeenageFBI

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,229
The fragile weapons and shields made me actively avoid incidental combat around the world, especially when I knew that the enemies had shit equipment. I guess I could have kept one or two garbage weapons on-hand for that kind of thing but eh.

BOTW has some real blemishes yet Nintendo's all-in approach on systemic game design is so surprising that I can't help but love it. So I'm not THAT mad about it.
 
Beth Cyra

Beth Cyra

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
2,903
I fucking hated it and it ruined the game for me.

granted I had other issues, but it was the single biggest reason I quit and decided that so long as Zelda has it will be sitting the series out.
 
Tohsaka

Tohsaka

Member
Nov 17, 2017
6,791
No, it's terrible. I liked it a lot more once I used a trainer to disable durability.
 
Ferrio

Ferrio

Member
Oct 25, 2017
18,047
Trace said:
Ask yourself why weapons are iconic in games, and it's generally not because they're used for three minutes and thrown in the trash heap.
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Weapons became iconic because there was no choice back then, you were stuck with one sword, this game allows you to have choice. I don't see that as a downside. Zelda series already has an iconic sword too, and it's in the game, I still don't see the big deal.
 
bluehat9

bluehat9

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,384
Garbage mechanic and why I never finished the game. Absolutely straight garbage. I hate it.
 
Trieu

Trieu

Member
Feb 22, 2019
1,774
To each their own. I hope they never do it again. I prefer fewer but more meaningful weapons. It felt more like an idea from a free2play Survival Crafting Steam game.
 
capnjazz

capnjazz

Banned
Nov 11, 2017
991
Byrgenwerth
People who don't like the fact that weapons/shields have durability are just outing themselves as plebs. :^)

Though, I will admit that the game would have been better with a crafting/repair system.
 
MP!

MP!

Member
Oct 30, 2017
5,198
Las Vegas
skittzo0413 said:
The game simply wouldn't work as it was meant to if you didn't have weapons breaking. It encourages you to improvise use your entire skill set so that you progress through battles as efficiently as possible.

Without weapon durability there would be no reason not to just blow through the game with a royal claymore, and that would get extremely boring very quickly.
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this is correct
I feel like a system to repair weapons would fix everyone's complaint though
 
Ferrio

Ferrio

Member
Oct 25, 2017
18,047
BlueTsunami said:
Hear me out, what if we ADD tedium to force people into using other weapons?!
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How is it tedium? Sword breaks, pick up new sword that the thing you just killed dropped, keep trucking.

I have yet to ever been without any weapons at at time. If anything there's too many as they are breaking fast enough!
 
vestan

vestan

#REFANTAZIO SWEEP
Member
Dec 28, 2017
24,612
The system is good, I hope the sequel sticks with it.

People need to get into the mindset of just making use of the shit they can get their hands on instead of getting attatched to weapons. Otherwise you'll have no real incentive to experiment with your skill set.

It's kinda like OSP from Metal Gear Solid in a sense. Link is the weapon. Weapon breaks, pick up new weapon which the game throws at you constantly, rinse and repeat.
 
Zolbrod

Zolbrod

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,070
Osaka, Japan
Nope, sorry OP.
Weapon breakability is never fun.

FernandoRocker said:
Let me give you a small example. It's similar to when you play Mega Man. You defeat a boss and get their weapon, but you never use their weapon in regular stages because you are afraid to waste the ammo, so you use the regular buster, and only get to enjoy special weapons against bosses. You are too worried about not wasting ammo that you just don't enjoy it.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

This is not a good comparison, because you never run out of ammo for the regular buster.
Link does not have a default, unbreakable weapon he can always rely on.
 
OP
OP
FernandoRocker

FernandoRocker

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
7,987
México
User Banned (3 Days): Trolling, drive by, accumulated infractions
I really hope Breath of the Wild 2 embraces the same system again, just to see your salt.
 
thecaseace

thecaseace

Member
May 1, 2018
3,218
It's genius but not as much for the reasons mention.

It's Breath of the Wild. Everything in the world is a resource and interactive, weapons are no exception.

The thing is people (here) get attached to good weapon and get annoyed when they break.

But the game is clearly teaching you that good weapons are a resource, easy to find and replace.

Once you stop being attached to individual weapons you start to realise them breaking isn't a big deal, it's just there for you to sample the full palette.
 
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