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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

Acquiesc3

Member
Oct 30, 2017
1,724
I like the system too OP.

But I do wish there was a *bit* more durability across most of the weapons.
 

Neiteio

Member
Oct 25, 2017
24,132
It's am awful band-aid to fix the issue of not being able to make exploration rewarding. They didn't want someone to be able to get something super powerful early on (which sucks, cause in an open world game someone with the proper skills should absolutely be able to reach something powerful early on) so they filled every area with garbage breakable weapons. Finding the fire rod on the plateau should have been a great moment. Instead it ends up being nothing more than a portable heater.
You can find powerful stuff early on. Raid Hyrule Castle for the absurdly long-lasting Hylian Shield, powerful elemental broadswords, etc.
 

sheaaaa

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
1,556
Yea if you don't like the durability you're literally wrong. The game would be significantly worse without it.
 

Deleted member 18021

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
4,000
I like the weapon variety in BotW, but I don't really personally care for it coming in this form.

You don't really need to have weapons shatter if the wind strikes them wrongly to encourage creative use, or just to use them all in general. Give me a strong reason I would prefer to use a spear over a sword in a given situation, for example.
 

Ferrio

Member
Oct 25, 2017
18,071
You're making justifications for a poor decision, if the weapons were substantially different it would make more sense. But no, there is almost no difference between different weapons in that game how the combat works, they're almost entirely interchangable which makes them effectively garbage. Might as well just replace them all with pieces of garbage and throw them at people the whole game, it'd serve the same function.

The weapons have different stats, animations, durability, special property and material they're made from . Sure it's no like Diablo or anything, but the weapons do make a difference. If they were all the same we wouldn't be having this discussion because no one would be upset about weapons breaking cause the rest would be exactly the same.
 

Dog of Bork

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,989
Texas
No, it sucked and ruined the game for me (along with spending forever in menus and samey shrines).

I always reserved the majority of my weapon slots for the best ones I found and would only use the worst ones. I would actively avoid any combat if the enemies had worse weapons, which was almost always. Bleh. I straight up dropped the game when my "master sword" had some idiotic form of ED after a dozen or so swings.

Give me less and more meaningful weapon options that don't disappear after a few swings.

I 100% disagree with your opinion.
 

Xevross

Member
Oct 28, 2017
2,048
Preach it, OP! While on the surface it seems like a bad system the game would absolutely be worse off without the weapon durability system. I realy don't get the hate for it, no matter how you play the game you should be swimming in weapons and you always have a lot of choice on which weapons you want to use since you can carry a lot of them as well. I personally always had the weapons I wanted, and the system encouraged me to try out most of the weapons in the game to find my favourites.
 
Apr 19, 2018
3,970
Germany
Hated it. All it made me do was hoard all the good stuff and actively avoid combat as much as possible. One of the big reasons i dropped the game after ~20 hours.
 

Trisc

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,488
SGAymX2.png
 

Deleted member 14377

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
13,520
Break weapons to beat enemies to get a treasure to get a new weapon. Rewards for your efforts are worthless a majority of the time. And the combat isn't all that fun or engrossing, so it's not like i'm being rewarded with a new toy to have fun with, especially since the main selling point is exploration. It's certainly not the dungeons or the afformentioned combat.

Why do I need heart upgrades for when I can just avoid most combat, since the most important rewards are the shrines. The game is incredibly odd from a design perspective.

And to be honest, weapon durability doesn't bother me. It just doesn't make sense in this game.
 

ShapeGSX

Member
Nov 13, 2017
5,224
The issue is in its execution - the system is MASSIVELY overtuned. There are fights where you will break multiple weapons and have to pause the action to flip through UI repeatedly. Such a kick in the pants to the flow of the game especially considering how immersive the rest of the open world plays out.

YES!! Exactly this! It was so tedious and boring having to go into the inventory to find another freaking weapon multiple times during a fight.
 

kubev

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,533
California
I'm not opposed to weapons breaking, but I feel as though Nintendo took it to a whole new level of stupid by making them break so often. If you want a game that does breakable weapons right, then play Beyond Oasis for Sega Genesis. Most of the weapons in the game will break after so many hits or uses, but you can earn unbreakable versions of some of the cooler weapons by undergoing really difficult trials.
 

Ferrio

Member
Oct 25, 2017
18,071
This discussion always seems like the Mega-Elixir Conundrum.

I have all these Mega-Elixirs, I don't wanna use Mega-Elixir cause I might need Mega-Elixir later, so it just sits in my inventory. People just need to let go and just stop worrying about using a finite resource.

Hated it. All it made me do was hoard all the good stuff and actively avoid combat as much as possible. One of the big reasons i dropped the game after ~20 hours.

Exactly what I'm referring to.
 

Mechaplum

Enlightened
Member
Oct 26, 2017
18,821
JP
I treat all the melee weapons as close range ammo. It's not really that inspiring, just adds more inventory management.
 

JediMPG

Avenger
Jan 6, 2019
892
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.
This is my problem with it. I remember in the game when I climb a mountain with a waterfall over it and found a bombable rocks. I did so, it opened up a small cave with a treasure chest inside of it. I opened it up AND I FOUND A FIRE SWORD INSIDE! It felt amazing cause I didn't have any help or walkthroughts of it. I found it all by myself! And while I wasn't able to carry it at the time due to my inventory I wanted to come back. But after a while, as a got more into the game, I just never got it cause I thought to myself "Well, it's just gonna break anyways...so is there a point for me getting it?" It feels like the game discouraged me from playing with the treasures that I myself found.
 

Trisc

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,488
Hated it. All it made me do was hoard all the good stuff and actively avoid combat as much as possible. One of the big reasons i dropped the game after ~20 hours.
You're not supposed to hoard them. You'll get more weapons through combat and exploration, meaning getting into fights is an expenditure of different resources beyond weapons. You'll get back those resources, too, because BOTW is super generous with weapons, ingredients, and monster part drops.

 

DarKaoZ

Member
Oct 25, 2017
711
It was a poorly implemented system. If you want to limit the player on not using the same weapon, make each weapon weak or useful against certain enemies instead. Forcing you to use weapons you don't usually use to defeat them faster.

A good example of this is when they game forces you to use non metallic stuff when there is a storm. It makes me use weapons I usually didn't care for.

Or if anything, find a mechanic that will allow you to fix it, kinda like the Master Sword.
 

Deleted member 34714

User requested account closure
Banned
Nov 28, 2017
1,617
Genius. So genius, they should go beyond that and make them break in 1 swing instead of like 3. Why not? All the positives that people like about this system is that it encourages using more weapons that break! Why? I don't know but for some fucking reason people like it?
 

GuEiMiRrIRoW

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
3,530
Brazil
I agree OP.
It took me sometime to let it go. Gamers have a deep emotional idea that you have to save ammo or weapons. Gamers are used to not change their weapons and people hate loosing things.
It's so weird when the mechanic start making sense. The game actually gets better because you keep changing tactics all the time.
One time i had to defeat a bunch of gobli s using a good damn stick and fire.
People really like to play games on the defensive. It's like playing street fighter and keep shooting hadoukens because you are afraid of doing combos.
The same idea applies to BOtW. I hope nintendo makes people use more weapons on the next game, like making enemies weak to certain weapons so you'll have to change the weapons and tatics accordingly.

actually, they could make the heroes weapons more durable and create sidequests to obtain them.

but i really hope they create a switch weapon button. The breaking pace mechanic of choosing weapons all the time is bad.
 

Jakisthe

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,578
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.
And that's part of what makes it so bad. It was a bad system on it's own merits, but then BotW bases it's entire core on such a rotten foundation, and it all falls apart. Tons of games don't have even as close to as punishing a system, and yet they still manage fine. No excuse for the poor design.
 

JustinH

Member
Oct 27, 2017
10,398
This is my problem with it. I remember in the game when I climb a mountain with a waterfall over it and found a bombable rocks. I did so, it opened up a small cave with a treasure chest inside of it. I opened it up AND I FOUND A FIRE SWORD INSIDE! It felt amazing cause I didn't have any help or walkthroughts of it. I found it all by myself! And while I wasn't able to carry it at the time due to my inventory I wanted to come back. But after a while, as a got more into the game, I just never got it cause I thought to myself "Well, it's just gonna break anyways...so is there a point for me getting it?" It feels like the game discouraged me from playing with the treasures that I myself found.
Hm. It's been years since I played it, but I think I remember storing all the cool weapons I found in my house on displays or something (this was a thing right?) and basically going out and farming the tall boys for clubs or whatever they had.
 

Thrill_house

Member
Oct 27, 2017
10,622
One of the worst mechanics I have ever had to deal with in a game. If the sequel has it I will avoid it like the plague
 

HardRojo

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
26,125
Peru
Wrong. They could've designed 8-10 standard types of weapons (boomerang dagger, pole, broadsword, elemental weapon, bow and arrow, etc) and created dungeons and certain enemies that would require you to use different weapons for different puzzles and strategies, the freedom would've still been there and you wouldn't have had to put up with a shitty mechanic.
 

Mzen

Member
Oct 25, 2017
578
Portugal
What the hell is up with all of these hot takes in ResetEra? Is 2020 the year of the Hot Take and I missed the memo?
This is coming literally hours after the "What happened to Devil May Cry V?" thread, what's wrong with folks lately?

Either way, no, weapon breakability in BOTW is terrible and I never once felt excited about getting a new weapon, because I knew it would get destroyed as soon as I dared to shove it into someone's face. Every time I beat some challenge and my reward was a cool, shiny looking new weapon, I would proceed to eye-roll my way out of the dungeon and carry on my adventure, under the protection of my new glass sword.

In general, I think the system has some potential to it, but it was executed in the lousiest way. No doubt the worst part of the game for me.

EDIT: Which, in turn, only served to aggravate the second worst part of the game, which is fiddling with the menus all the time. The sequel needs to really streamline that whole process because that got incredibly annoying and time-consuming.
 
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WestEgg

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,047
You're making justifications for a poor decision, if the weapons were substantially different it would make more sense. But no, there is almost no difference between different weapons in that game how the combat works, they're almost entirely interchangable which makes them effectively garbage. Might as well just replace them all with pieces of garbage and throw them at people the whole game, it'd serve the same function.
I wouldn't call understanding the point "justifying". Breath of the Wild was very much a game about survival and scavenging in the wild, and limiting your resources is a function of that. If you fail to prepare and equip yourself, you're going to die. In other Zelda games, survival isn't really the concern outside of combat, so the resource systems are straightforward and focused because the game is putting its attention elsewhere.
 

Deleted member 8468

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
9,109
I agree 100% OP. Folks are just used to playing games a different way and refused to adapt. I agree hoarding weapons isn't the most fun way to play it, but as others mentioned the game doles out weapons everywhere all the time.

The main theme of the game is exploration, the more you explore the more weapons and variety of them you find. The korok seeds being tied to inventory slots provides a major bonus for exploring to find these hidden items. It fits with the rest of the game very well imo.
 

Lizardus

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,276
Let's see what majority of people would do if the game didn't have weapon durability. People would sneak into Hyrule Castle, loot the Royal Weapons and then use those for rest of the game. There would be clickbait YouTube guides with obnoxious thumbnails saying "HOW TO GET OP WEAPONS AFTER LEAVING GREAT PLATEAU" (Maybe those guides still exist but the weapons will break regardless)

What's a shitty mechanic is the where games like Witcher 3 do it and all it does it make the game more tedious because you can literally repair weapons on the fly by going in the menu so it really doesn't serve any significant purpose to the game design.

I also don't understand how people are spending so much time in BotW menus when all equipment is on quickmenu.

I hated the mechanic initially but I saw its genius after I stopped "getting attached" to weapons and saw how weapon durability compliments the game design in BotW. I hope they keep it same for BotW sequel.
 
Nov 3, 2017
4,393
I think Dead Rising is a better application of the same mechanic. It's really sensible, you run around the mall familiarizing yourself with the locations and being able to accurately predict what kind of weapon you go for in your various runs (e.g Tools in appliances shop, sports and gym equipment in sports shop, arms from the gun shop...etc)

In BOTW, I felt no satisfaction or a sense of control since almost every piece of crap loot is randomized Bethesda style. The mechanic trivializes itself since the game literally barfs them at you around every corner making me question why its needed at all. I felt no tension or excitment when these pieces of crap broke, just an eye roll.

It's an interesting mechanic implemented horribly in BOTW.

I think this is the best take I've read on weapon durability (which overall I'm not a fan of) Dead Rising definitely got that shit right
 

Jakisthe

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,578
Let's see what majority of people would do if the game didn't have weapon durability. People would sneak into Hyrule Castle, loot the Royal Weapons and then use those for rest of the game. There would be clickbait YouTube guides with obnoxious thumbnails saying "HOW TO GET OP WEAPONS AFTER LEAVING GREAT PLATEAU" (Maybe those guides still exist but the weapons will break regardless)

What's a shitty mechanic is the where games like Witcher 3 do it and all it does it make the game more tedious because you can literally repair weapons on the fly by going in the menu so it really doesn't serve any significant purpose to the game design.

I also don't understand how people are spending so much time in BotW menus when all equipment is on quickmenu.

I hated the mechanic initially but I saw its genius after I stopped "getting attached" to weapons and saw how weapon durability compliments the game design in BotW. I hope they keep it same for BotW sequel.
The fact that there was too much of the rest of the game designed around a bad mechanic doesn't make it a good mechanic.
 

trikster40

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
682
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.

If the weapon degradation wasn't in place, developers would have had to design better weapons that progressed as you advanced in the game. You wouldn't get a royal claymore at or near the beginning. There would be no blowing through the game. It would be something entirely different that you wouldn't even get until near the end.

Your argument assumes that the entire rest of the game would remain unchanged.
 

Dog of Bork

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,989
Texas
I love how the only options are weapons that break in 5 swings OR the exact same rate and method of acquiring weapons with 0 durability system. As if they couldn't have just designed better exploration rewards instead of filling the entire world with disposable garbage. Or made weapon choices more meaningful with upgrade paths, or, like, a dozen other popular options seen in other OW games.
 

goodretina

Member
Dec 30, 2018
1,704
Weapon durability in BOTW and the control scheme in RE4 are two of the best litmus tests in gaming to see if people have any idea what they're talking about with respect to gameplay systems.

People are obviously free to like or dislike the mechanic, but anybody who says how it was *implemented* was "bad" or "awful" or think the game wouldn't completely fall apart with durability removed are woefully unaware of how the game is designed and what made BOTW an absolute smash success.
Weapon durability was a selling point for BOTW?

Is there a true litmus test for taste in gameplay systems? Are there really absolutes in this regard with opinions rendered moot, or is this just bunch of hyperbolic nonsense?
 

Kinsei

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
20,532
Let's see what majority of people would do if the game didn't have weapon durability. People would sneak into Hyrule Castle, loot the Royal Weapons and then use those for rest of the game. There would be clickbait YouTube guides with obnoxious thumbnails saying "HOW TO GET OP WEAPONS AFTER LEAVING GREAT PLATEAU" (Maybe those guides still exist but the weapons will break regardless)
So put the weapons behind mandatory enemy encounters. If someone can get through end game enemies with starting gear then they've earned the right to use those super powerful weapons.
 
Jun 23, 2019
6,446
Lol Not going to lie OP. Read your post and had a very deep and hearty laugh. No, the weapon breaking system was terrible and would not surprise me if it doesn't make a return in BotW2.
 

Fuchsia

Member
Oct 28, 2017
6,648
I think there is definitely a middle ground to be reached in terms of the existing system in Breath of The Wild and having no durability system at all. Personally I found the existing system to be a bit too extreme but there is a way to do it right a second time without throwing the whole thing out the window.
 

VariantX

Member
Oct 25, 2017
16,887
Columbia, SC
The issue is in its execution - the system is MASSIVELY overtuned. There are fights where you will break multiple weapons and have to pause the action to flip through UI repeatedly. Such a kick in the pants to the flow of the game especially considering how immersive the rest of the open world plays out.

This. I already posted something to this tune in another thread. I hate the BOTW inventory system. And with the low durability of weapons and gear, im constantly forced to go into it. Even if they kept durability exactly the same in the next game I wouldn't give a shit if they made that experience far better. Going into menus in the middle of fights when I want to immerse myself in the fight and my surroundings just takes me out of the experience.
 

Slai-Man

Member
Oct 25, 2017
387
Dark Souls had tons of weapons yet you don't lose them. You can try them all and choose what suits you.

Castlevania also and many more games.