Current Events > Is the weapon breaking mechanic in Zelda:BOTW really that annoying?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I haven't played it yet but this seems to be the main sticking point with almost everybody.
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I didn't mind it at all, but it was surprising just how quickly they broke. Anyway, I enjoyed it, it added another element to the game.
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I haven't gotten to end game yet, but it sort of feels like the situation in RPGs where I end the game filled with consumables that I was always worried to use in case I needed them.
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It annoyed me at the beginning of the game but late-early/mid game it stopped being a real issue.

Still kinda sucks if you have a specific weapon you like though.

It is kinda nice how it stops you from leaning too much on one specific play style though
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No. It's not a traditional RPG where you collect and keep weapons and a lot of people struggle to wrap their head around a fundamental change like that.

It's more similar to a weapon system you'd find in a brawler. You're meant to keep picking up weapons from enemies, throwing them around etc. They're a resource. It's the game encouraging you to use all kinds of weapons and not get attached to a specific one.
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nah, i thought it would be one of the worst things but i got over it real fast, you will p much always have tons of amazing weapons at your disposal, especially later on. it does suck if you grow fond of certain weapons but you will always find more
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It's not a bad mechanic. It's just the fact that you have to pause the game to re equip a new weapon when one breaks.

It should auto equip. It seriously breaks immersion.
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Darmik posted...

No. It's not a traditional RPG where you collect and keep weapons and a lot of people struggle to wrap their head around a fundamental change like that.

It's more similar to a weapon system you'd find in a brawler. You're meant to keep picking up weapons from enemies, throwing them around etc. They're a resource. It's the game encouraging you to use all kinds of weapons and not get attached to a specific one.

this. if you're swinging your lame ol sword or axe at enemies instead of riding guardians, telekinesis slaying, shield surf smashing enemies then ur doing it rong.
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I just got a switch last week, my only game so far is botw.

The weapon breaking aspect really is my only complaint. Whoever thought a breakable master sword and hylian shield (literally icons of TLoZ) was a great idea for this game should never have a career in the gaming industry. It really disconnects me from the game when I'm midfight and a weapon breaks, or your shield breaks. It just doesn't feel like a Zelda game at all after a while because of that, in my opinion.

Still a great game, but horrible decision on the devs end for breakables. It doesn't add immersion, it takes you out of it instead. If the next entry has anything even remotely similar to breakable weapons, I'll pass.
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It can be when fighting tough enemies at least in the beginning. I've only beaten one guardian but going through 5 of your top weapons in fight with a Lynel is really annoying. It'd be better if they didn't break so easily

Anteaterking posted...

I haven't gotten to end game yet, but it sort of feels like the situation in RPGs where I end the game filled with consumables that I was always worried to use in case I needed them.

This, basically. "I need this but I shouldn't use it in case I need it!" It really hinders the fun and excitement of the game. Enemy variety also isn't fantastic and the game world at times is reminiscent of NMS. A 6-7/10 game imo, really good concept and AMAZING integration of the physics into the game world, but not something I feel I ever need to play again after getting my 200 hours or whatever in.
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eh, at first it was. But once you get used to it, it's really not that big of a deal. Plus it encourages you to try all sorts of weapons out >_>
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It might seem bad on the plateau (first ~2 hours of the game) and it's not good enough for Master Mode DLC... But, once you actually get into the game (on normal mode) you'll be getting so many weapons you'll wish they broke more often to save time on inventory management because breaking makes the attack a critical hit.

You're going to want to put all your Korok Seeds towards weapon slots. I can only recommend 1 or 2 additional shield/bow slots before diminishing returns kicks in.
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I'll give an example of what I mean.

Early on in the game my primary tactic was to grab a wooden club or spear and set that weapon on fire. That did lots of damage. This would usually lead to me also throwing that club into explosive barrels or setting a grass fire which created an updraft I could paraglide on. I would save my steel swords for tougher fights or when I'm low on supplies.

The game puts the weapon system in place to encourage stuff like this. There's usually always a weakness in each enemy camp you can exploit. Stuff like a hanging lantern over explosive barrels or a giant boulder on top of a hill. If you could wack away with the steel sword you collect near the beginning there'd be no incentive to do stuff like that because you'd simply stick to your best weapons.
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I haven't played it but I love the forced diversity of breakable weapons.
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depends on how much the Stockholm syndrome has set in

it's not annoying at all. it's necessary and it's fine.

It's annoying when you're first starting out and haven't amassed a huge hoard of weapons yet. Eventually you realize weapons are everywhere and you're holding on to a million swords that are useless not because they'll break but because you're irrationally scared of using them. As soon as you learn to start chucking valuable weapons at enemies instead of saving them for a situation too dire to ever actually happen, the whole experience becomes much more enjoyable.
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It's fine. I don't understand how this is much different than say Halo. Oh damn my Needler Rifle is empty and there's no ammo around. Either I carry this empty gun I like so much around until I find ammo or I pick up some dead enemy's weapon and give it a try. All BotW does is completely break the weapon thereby forcing you to try a different one.

I'm in master mode now. Full slots on all weapons and still drop out weapons for others I find. The only way I break shields is intentionally fighting Guardians with only shield deflect. Bows I'm always dropping out one for another. I rarely have more than one empty bow slot 90% of the time.

TBH the later you get in the game, unless you fight every enemy you encounter they almost don't break fast enough to cycle out what you get from defeated enemies.

I will also agree with other poster; at the beginning yeah it's annoying (challenging in a bad way in master mode) and the pausing to change out weapons could have been done better. But it doesn't take long before these annoyances aren't that big of a deal.
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It's not bad at all, I actually enjoy it.

1. Unbreakable weapons would have been really broken in a game like BOTW, because you'd be able to go right to Hyrule Castle at the start of the game and get the best weapons to use for the entire game, breaking the game difficulty completely.

2. If they didn't break, there would probably be much less variety in the weapons you could find since the developers know nobody would use any of the weaker weapons at all.

3. Because they're so throwaway, it means you can use them in ways you wouldn't if you planned on keeping them forever. Like throwing them, or using Magnesis with them to pop balloons and then tossing them. Sometimes your weapon falls off a cliff or something. But it's not so bad since they're disposable anyway.

4. It is part of the theme of the game, which is living on the land. You wake up in the wild and your only real possessions are the clothes on your body (which you don't even have at first) and the Sheikah slate. Everything Link uses in his quest, he finds in the wild.

5. Weapons are easy to find.

The only problem with the system is how you pause the game all the time to change weapons. But I don't mind.
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