In Defense of Breath of the Wild's Brittle Weapons - Arlo - General

In all honesty, I mostly flat out avoided combat rather than actually fighting weapons and getting creative.

I think my only complaint about the system isn't even tied to the durability, more the management of weapons. I agree with the person suggesting a drop in the quick menu. Other than that, I have no major issues with it. Weapons break fast, but you also get weapons fast, and those weapons are also almost always different from one another, so you get to learn how certain weapons work. With weapons also breaking fast, it sometimes gets you to try out other methods of engagement as well. Whether that's long range via bows, sneaking around, or using your sheikah runes. If anything, at the point of the game where I'm at now, I sort of wish weapons were even less durable, because with how many hearts I have, the extra durability on later more powerful weapons makes me sort of miss the challenge I had in the early stages of the game. Here's to hoping the "New Hard Mode" in the DLC is something substantial. In the mean time, after I beat the story, I'm debating on doing it all over again with a 3 heart run.

I think it would be cool if they made the master sword non breakable. You've played the game all cunning and sheepish the entire game most likely; but when you get the master sword you are now Link. You are the sword fighter, YOU are the enemy now. Stepping out of the forest as a motherfuckin badass, and having an infinite durability sword (without having to wait for it to recharge) would really reinforce that.

[QUOTE=Toothpick;51949606]I think it would be cool if they made the master sword non breakable. You've played the game all cunning and sheepish the entire game most likely; but when you get the master sword you are now Link. You are the sword fighter, YOU are the enemy now. Stepping out of the forest as a motherfuckin badass, and having an infinite durability sword (without having to wait for it to recharge) would really reinforce that.[/QUOTE] that seems like it would run counter to every other design goal

[QUOTE=Toothpick;51949606]I think it would be cool if they made the master sword non breakable. You've played the game all cunning and sheepish the entire game most likely; but when you get the master sword you are now Link. You are the sword fighter, YOU are the enemy now. Stepping out of the forest as a motherfuckin badass, and having an infinite durability sword (without having to wait for it to recharge) would really reinforce that.[/QUOTE] That would sort of ruin the core gameplay though. I think having it be limited via regeneration and damage to certain enemies while still always being an option is the best compromise they could've done with it. Having it be completely breakable would've just made it useless, and making it have infinite durability and its full damage output would make the game a bit too easy and worry free. There would be no incentives for weapon slot upgrades or to even try other weapons.

[QUOTE=Rahu X;51949681]That would sort of ruin the core gameplay though. I think having it be limited via regeneration and damage to certain enemies while still always being an option is the best compromise they could've done with it. Having it be completely breakable would've just made it useless, and making it have infinite durability and its full damage output would make the game a bit too easy and worry free. There would be no incentives for weapon slot upgrades or to even try other weapons.[/QUOTE] if you were link, which would you choose? link would probably choose the master sword over a shittier weapon in his regular combat. he would probably use the shittier weapon like only if he wanted to for fun lol the way im proposing it is like, a complete dynamic change when you step out of the lost woods, you are no longer are the guy hiding in the bushes hoping his weapon doesnt break; you are now the wielder of the sword of evils bane... you're the fucking demon now. the game shouldnt force you to use other options just because you might be a dumbass and not think to use something other then the master sword because it's good... if you are so keen on using the shitty boko spears and throw away weapons like that for the sake of variety then you're still welcome to do that, lol. and pretty much, it's dumb for the master sword to fall to pieces in my opinion.

Spoiler tags cause this is pretty spoilery [sp]The way the Master Sword works is at its weakest it only does 30 damage which is pretty awful compared to most endgame weapons, that's because depending on who you're fighting and where you are in the world changes how the Master Sword works. The game straight up tells you this when you first get it to not just swing it around, but to treat it with "respect" essentially. When you're in a dungeon, Hyrule Castle, or fighting a Guardian in the overworld the attack power of the sword doubles and increases it's durability significantly, bringing it up there with late game weaponry. The game is pretty much trying to tell you to only use the sword when you really need it, as it will last longer in the long run than just repeatedly breaking because you kept using it on bokonlins which can easily be taken out with any of the other weapons in the game. Moral of the story is treat the Master Sword with respect and it'll do the same for you [/sp]

[QUOTE=Toothpick;51949759]if you were link, which would you choose? link would probably choose the master sword over a shittier weapon in his regular combat. he would probably use the shittier weapon like only if he wanted to for fun lol the way im proposing it is like, a complete dynamic change when you step out of the lost woods, you are no longer are the guy hiding in the bushes hoping his weapon doesnt break; you are now the wielder of the sword of evils bane... you're the fucking demon now. the game shouldnt force you to use other options just because you might be a dumbass and not think to use something other then the master sword because it's good... if you are so keen on using the shitty boko spears and throw away weapons like that for the sake of variety then you're still welcome to do that, lol. and pretty much, it's dumb for the master sword to fall to pieces in my opinion.[/QUOTE] it doesn't fall to pieces though... Like reading up about it, it doesn't break, it just goes "unusable", oh well

Dead Rising is the only series I have ever played where it felt like I wasn't being cheated by a durability system.

[QUOTE=Xubs;51946321] also it could perhaps be compared to dark souls but i think its closest comparisons are its own predecessors, the main thing that makes its resemblance to dark souls more complete is that dodging is much more of a necessity, but its not like dodging works in this game like it does in dark souls. It works exactly like the previous 3D Zelda games. Back flips, side-hops, forward jumps, and no invulnerability frames for any of it. [/QUOTE] Just to clarify, link is actually invulnerable when he dodges moves correctly (When the flurry rush prompt appears) [QUOTE=Toothpick;51949759]if you were link, which would you choose? link would probably choose the master sword over a shittier weapon in his regular combat. he would probably use the shittier weapon like only if he wanted to for fun lol the way im proposing it is like, a complete dynamic change when you step out of the lost woods, you are no longer are the guy hiding in the bushes hoping his weapon doesnt break; you are now the wielder of the sword of evils bane... you're the fucking demon now. the game shouldnt force you to use other options just because you might be a dumbass and not think to use something other then the master sword because it's good... if you are so keen on using the shitty boko spears and throw away weapons like that for the sake of variety then you're still welcome to do that, lol. and pretty much, it's dumb for the master sword to fall to pieces in my opinion.[/QUOTE] From a lore standpoint this makes sense, but from a gameplay standpoint, it would really suck if the Master Sword didn't break. If the Master Sword was always a 60 damage unbreakable weapon, you would never ever choose any other melee weapon, making 2/3 weapon types redundant, no longer throwing weapons for the bonus damage and so on. If the Master Sword was always a 30 damage unbreakable weapon it would be way worse than a lot of other swords in the game, which would feel really out of place. If the Master Sword works as it does now but is unbreakable, it would be the only weapon used in still a lot of the game since 30 damage is pretty good for a weapon, and in a big chunk of the game being the only weapon used since it gets way stronger vs certain enemies. Not to mention that it would take a lot away from the experience if you could just use the master sword exclusively for the part vs the enemies where its strong. PS: Sorry for my weird language, trying to not spoil anything

[QUOTE=metalhand;51949986]Just to clarify, link is actually invulnerable when he dodges moves correctly (When the flurry rush prompt appears) From a lore standpoint this makes sense, but from a gameplay standpoint, it would really suck if the Master Sword didn't break. If the Master Sword was always a 60 damage unbreakable weapon, you would never ever choose any other melee weapon, making 2/3 weapon types redundant, no longer throwing weapons for the bonus damage and so on. If the Master Sword was always a 30 damage unbreakable weapon it would be way worse than a lot of other swords in the game, which would feel really out of place. If the Master Sword works as it does now but is unbreakable, it would be the only weapon used in still a lot of the game since 30 damage is pretty good for a weapon, and in a big chunk of the game being the only weapon used since it gets way stronger vs certain enemies. Not to mention that it would take a lot away from the experience if you could just use the master sword exclusively for the part vs the enemies where its strong. PS: Sorry for my weird language, trying to not spoil anything[/QUOTE] Again, you are totally welcome to use other weapons if you want to but if you want to use the master sword (the mainstay of the entire series) you aren't gated by the game telling you "lol fuck you wait for a dungeon lol". The damage is fine the way it is even if it is unbreakable. Fighting some bokoblins? they aren't evil so yeah when using the master sword it's just gonna be a regular longsword; but it's still the master sword, Links weapon. If you're fighting stuff you can still use different weapons, nothing is stopping you, just you will always have the badass mainstay as an option.

the durability is kind of nuisance but not really. i wouldn't say it encourages experimentation though, just going apeshit on a group of enemies with everything you have normally goes pretty well.

I'm okay with the durability system, but sort of like weapon enchantment in Skyrim, it can make what should be the feeling of finding some cool, unique treasure into just having grabbed a temporary powerup.

[QUOTE=Toothpick;51949759]if you were link, which would you choose? link would probably choose the master sword over a shittier weapon in his regular combat. he would probably use the shittier weapon like only if he wanted to for fun lol the way im proposing it is like, a complete dynamic change when you step out of the lost woods, you are no longer are the guy hiding in the bushes hoping his weapon doesnt break; you are now the wielder of the sword of evils bane... you're the fucking demon now. the game shouldnt force you to use other options just because you might be a dumbass and not think to use something other then the master sword because it's good... if you are so keen on using the shitty boko spears and throw away weapons like that for the sake of variety then you're still welcome to do that, lol. and pretty much, it's dumb for the master sword to fall to pieces in my opinion.[/QUOTE] I'm pretty sure the Master Sword breaking is supposed to tie in thematically with the story. If you watch the memories you'll find that [sp]Zelda has a lot of self doubt in the prophecy and her powers. A lot of the ranting she does to link is about the expectations placed upon her, and how that reflects in to Link as her knight. Obviously the end result is that nobody was able to meet that expectation and died. One of the memories is about Zelda stating that in the prophecy, she will gain the powers of the triforce(Power, Courage, Wisdom) through speaking to the spirits/goddess and can not hear them at all. She then states that the hero of time is supposed to hear something from the master sword, and questions if Link can hear it at all. This would lead to the logical conclusion that either A. the powers of the triforce or the three goddesses have dwindled leading to the weaker Master Sword. Or B. Link does not entirely fufill the role of "Hero of Time"[/sp] Spoiler free conclusion, it's about the journey and finding yourself, not fulfilling or fitting the prophecy entirely.

What I really like about Breath of the Wild's weapon system is the elemental weapons. I have the [sp]Master Sword[/sp], a strong weapon for if I cannot use it, and elemental weapons everywhere else. Where in other Zelda games, elemental powers is a content gate; Breath of the Wild lets you get at them at a very early time.

For those wondering if there's a way to store weapons, in case you didn't know: [sp]Link can buy a house in Hateno Village for 3000 Rupees and 30 wood bundles, and can also buy weapons displays for 100 r. a piece to decorate the walls. This essentially works as a weapon storage. You can only store up to 3 weapons, 3 bows, and 3 shields, though. The Master Sword cannot be 'stored' in this way. It's useful if you find a weapon/bow/shield that you really like the look of and want to keep, or for more powerful weapons that you want to save for right before an important battle.[/sp]