Breath of the Wild I still hate the weapons breaking mechanic

[JeffJ]

but it's more about the fact that I find myself gaining VERY good weapons, and then being "afraid" to use them so that I don't degrade them.

Yes. This. I have been carrying a 54-damage weapon for several hours and have yet to use it for this very reason. I'm thinking about adding a couple of more weapon displays at my house and putting it there for the time being.

 

[Justac00lguy]

I was up and down about the mechanic my entire play through, but finishing and looking back made me realise how stupid it actually was.

The idea of breakable weapons isn't inherintly bad and many games have actually used it well, but it's sole use was to restrict the player in BOTW. Literally, that's the only explanation for why it exists - so players can't get a powerful weapon early in the game and abuse the scaling system. It hurt the game so much. Getting a weapon felt like a burden. Either you got a powerful weapon relative to your character and preserved it or you ignored weapons because you didn't have enough space because you were too busy holding onto weapons. It just didn't feel natural whatsoever.

The thing is, I actually don't think weapons should be permanent. It's just that the concept of durability in this game was counter productive and didn't add anything to the game. There should have been a durability metre of some sort so we could actually judge what weapons to use in certain situations rather than using a weapon only to have it unexpectedly break mid-combat. There also should have been durability stats on each weapon, so we could see which weapons are overall more durable. Adding to this, you definitely should have been able to repair and upgrade /all/ weapons. This gives items a more personal feel as well as longevity. It also solved what Nintendo originally tried to restrict.

Overall one of the many disappointing aspects of a great game.

 

[Wiggum]

Adding to this, you definitely should have been able to repair and upgrade /all/ weapons. This gives items a more personal feel as well as longevity. It also solved what Nintendo originally tried to restrict.

I have seen/read from many people that they wish for the ability to have a weapon repaired. I know that in this game, the Master Sword is self-healing ... and there are a few more weapons/shields/bows you can "repair" or at least buy a new one. Honestly though, as much as I'm not a fan of the current durability system, I am not at all in favor of weapon repair unless it involves a weapon that you MUST have for some part of the game.

The whole point of a durability system - regardless of how well it's implemented in the game - is to make all weapons temporary. Having the ability to go have a certain weapon repaired breaks that mechanic. I realize that you can get another "copy" of your broken weapon by searching for enemies that have it, defeat them, etc. But being able to just go to "the blacksmith" and have them make you a new one ... to me, that's just not ok.

In SS your gear was permanent, and the upgrade system to your gear made perfect sense. But again, that's because it was all part of a larger overall system in the game. You can't just pull the upgrade feature out of that entire system and apply it to this one.

 

[Justac00lguy]

I disagree. The few games that have weapon durability include some way to repair or strengthen the weapon. There's so many misc items/materials in the game that don't have a real practical use, so using these to consistently repair weapons would give the collection of said items a bigger purpose. Weapon durability could also be linked to damage output/degradation. I have yet to see one advantage of the durability system present in Breath of the Wild; it does nothing to benefit the game other than act as a fustrating restriction. Weapon durability concepts in other games have an actual purpose rooted within the game's mechanics and serve to compliment, not hinder the game.

 

[Wiggum]

Perhaps my lack of familiarity with how other games have implemented weapon durability and repair functions/mechanics is keeping me from being able to fully understand either how bad it is in this game, how good it is in other games, and how it could be for this game if it were implemented in a more proper fashion.

That said, and to repeat something I've mentioned before ... I don't mind having weapon durability in this game. I do, however feel that weapons break too easily and too quickly. If they lasted about 1.5x or 2x longer, that feels like (on paper) that it would be a game changer - literally.

On a similar note, playing off a comment you made (about so many items in this game having no real use) ... I agree. This game is FULL of items ... TONS of them ... some that are functionally so similar there's no need for the extreme amount and variation. I have a post in another thread listing out all the one-handed weapons ... there are over 30 of them. That's so unnecessary, even though I understand the logic. The devs went to great length to give each race, culture, situation, etc. their own weapons, which would be much like real life. However, it's just overkill in the game, and lends itself to confusion and too much decision making. It should be much simpler. Same with a lot of the foods and monster parts. All the different meats, fruits, herbs, veggies, etc. I get it, I do ... same logic as the weapons, re: realism to a degree. But man, having 7 pages of "materials" to scroll through when all you really need are a few. It just makes it that much more cumbersome to work though the game. You end up spending so much time changing clothing, selecting a new weapon, sorting through foods, monster parts, ores... so on and so forth.

I still give the devs a pass here though, as they really broke convention for Zelda here, and did work very hard to create something special. I think we all have to realize that a first pass at something like this would not be perfect. I just hope they hear the feedback, compliments, complaints, suggestions, etc. from their audience and take them to heart when developing the next version of this game. There is a ton of potential here for the next iteration to be a vast improvement, and something truly amazing.