Current Events > Game that have weapon durability are shit game

(+) Yeah! (+)

It shit game on my list
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Depends on the game, I like the durability in FNV for example.

By and large a resounding yes but there are some exceptions.

Also there are games like BotW that are still great even though they are made worse by their durability systems.
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They're not going to be a shit game because of that, but I also don't really understand what value a durability system offers other than more unfun busywork.

I've never played a game that had a degrading set of armour and thought, "Wow this is really fun, now I need to get some leather scraps to repair it instead of doing the quest, brb in 45 minutes"
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pinky0926 posted...

They're not going to be a shit game because of that, but I also don't really understand what value a durability system offers other than more unfun busywork.

I've never played a game that had a degrading set of armour and thought, "Wow this is really fun, now I need to get some leather scraps to repair it instead of doing the quest, brb in 45 minutes"

Yeah I don't know if I can think of a good example of a case where the durability is nice. Like, most of the time it just ends up with me hoarding the high-end stuff for "when I'll really need it", and then every time I get a new item I need to clean my inventory and throw away equipment.
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Elmer_Glue posted...

Depends on the game, I like the durability in FNV for example.

Yeah, NV does it well.

It gives you options, not just "run back to Cromwell gotta fix my everything."
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Imagine you're playing Dark Cloud. You're rocking with your +99 Dark Chronicle sword. You're destroying everything in sight, confident nothing can stand in your way.

Suddenly you get a message saying your weapon broke.

It's gone forever.
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On principle, the statement is way too broad and absolute for me to cast a vote.

But I generally agree, its a shit mechanic.

As mentioned above, Ive never ever been happy to have my gear degrade/break, nor have I ever wished that my otherwise permanent gear would degrade. Its just... never a good thing, cant think of a time that it enhanced the experience.

While it certainly wasnt enough to make it a good mechanic, I did appreciate in the Elder Scrolls series when your broken gear still remains in your inventory, so you can repair it. Of course Id rather just not have to deal with that, but at least you dont ever lose your equipment and can keep it forever.

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Its not a great mechanic, but there are games I like that use it.
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I don't like it, but it's never ruined a game for me.
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Depends. Its fine in some games like botw because the game is built around jumping between weapons, but is shit in something like Dark Souls 2 because its buggy and exists to annoy you without balance for example

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While I mostly agree theres also games like Arc that would be complete shit without it.
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BotW got some things right about it, but it was still tedious. For a system like this to work, new weapons need to be readily available, like ammo drops. For you to be able to economize and plan ahead, you need to have some idea of what's coming. Otherwise the punishment for being greedy will just feel bad.
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Most are fine, especially if the weapons can be repaired. Breath of the Wild made weapons feel like tissue paper and it sucked.
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Huh.

Was thinking to implement it in my own RPG, but you don't lose the weapon, its effectiveness just degrades until you fix it.

i like it in dead rising because it helps emphasize the variety of weapons and balance the more typical but practical weapons with the more fun/whackier weapons. until you unlock the small chainsaw, at least. that's one of the only times I can really remember it adding something to a game though.
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It's in Diablo II, but the game is so brilliant otherwise that I can overlook it. Plus, repairing items is generally cheap. It's only certain RuneWords in certain bases that cost loads.

There is an interesting aspect of this though, which is Ethereal items that can't be repaired. They add 50% to (base) damage/defense (which can be further boosted by other modifiers). There's the Indestructible modifier (added by the famous Zod Rune and present on certain items by default) and the "repairs durability / replenishes quantity" modifers, so it adds some interesting options. Certain Eth items are very desirable as a result.

There was also a "Zod bug" at one point, where you could socket a Zod for the Indestructible mod, then remove it without losing the Indestrucibility, allowing you to socket something else. Those items are potentially worth loads since the bug has been long fixed.

Without dura, you'd have none of that.

I think DRPGs (Dungeon Crawlers) which Dark Souls is derivative of need this. A lot of DRPGs is item management and how far can I get safely this time before it's time to retreat? You could argue Dark Souls doesn't mange this well, but keep in mind King's Field games were early 3D dungeon crawlers and Demon's Souls split off from that and they sort have been evolving from there. It's a legacy of its origins in the genre. Diablo also originated in a subset of DRPGs, roguelikes.
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No durability system?

Nothing of value was lost
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Not necessarily a shit game but has been a shit mechanic 100% of the time I've seen it used. I think something like RDR2 weapons degradation is better where it wont break but will need cleaning or start to perform worse is acceptable.
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ssjevot posted...

I think DRPGs (Dungeon Crawlers) which Dark Souls is derivative of need this. A lot of DRPGs is item management and how far can I get safely this time before it's time to retreat? You could argue Dark Souls doesn't mange this well, but keep in mind King's Field games were early 3D dungeon crawlers and Demon's Souls split off from that and they sort have been evolving from there. It's a legacy of its origins in the genre. Diablo also originated in a subset of DRPGs, roguelikes.

That's a good point. In a roguelike you know approximately what's ahead and it'll be a lot more realistic to actually plan usage of resources.
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I think I actually like it more often than not tbh. Best use of it is probably Dead Rising because there are weapons literally all around you at all times and the breaking makes you have to improvise and try new items
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Fallout New Vegas
Minecraft

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I hate weapon durability but the only time it's been a deal breaker for me is BotW. I haven't played it but I've read on here how bad the weapon breaking system is.
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It works in some games like Fallout where it's all about surviving in a post apocalyptic world and stuff. Most of the time it's just there to be there and for forced difficulty.
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On a similar note, a lot of MP systems in games suffer from the same problems, ultimately causing you to barely ever use spells
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PMarth2002 posted...

Its not a great mechanic, but there are games I like that use it.

This

See Fallout 3
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scar the 1 posted...

On a similar note, a lot of MP systems in games suffer from the same problems, ultimately causing you to barely ever use spells

This reminded me of Vagrant Story. Where durability barely ever causes you a problem and everything can be repaired for free, but MP is only restorable by waiting or using scarce items (there are no shops in the game), meaning basically everyone plays the game as a melee character and uses MP just for the buff/debuff spells.
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scar the 1 posted...

On a similar note, a lot of MP systems in games suffer from the same problems, ultimately causing you to barely ever use spells

Seriously, and if the MP restoring items are even available in shops theyre like thousands of dollars.

Basically turns your mages into liabilities with awful defense and weak attack power, who only get to unleash when a boss comes up.

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won't call them shit, but it's a shitty mechanic.

same with item/weight overencumbrance.
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Anime profile pic tc
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Don't forget games like Fire Emblem, that are much better for having weapon durability.
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ok real talk

what is functionally the difference between action games with weapon durability and shooters with limited ammo
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Dark Souls is not a shit game.

In fact, when I played Dark Souls III, the lack of weapon durability felt like the game was lacking a layer of of depth to me.

I love the old Fire Emblem games, and I didn't mind Fates, but I started playing Three Houses a few days ago, and god I didn't realize how much I missed weapon durability.

Yes you horde the good weapons until the end of the game, but at least that means you actually have to make a conscious decision about what weapons you're using.
In Fates it was pretty much just a matter of 'might as well spam Killing Edges' or whatever because it's not like I had anything to lose by doing so. Admittedly, at least the silver/brave weapons had downsides to using them like stat penalties after attacking, but I can't remember how much of a hindrance they were tbh)
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Cthulhu_Fhtagn posted...

I hate weapon durability but the only time it's been a deal breaker for me is BotW. I haven't played it but I've read on here how bad the weapon breaking system is.

It's not that bad. The game throws so many weapons at you that the actual problem becomes not having enough inventory space for everything. You won't ever really have a favorite weapon though, you'll just have a favorite type of weapon. For me, it was the Royal Claymore. I always made sure to have at least 5 or 6 of those in my inventory. And they're not too hard to come across.
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Fantastein posted...

Admittedly, at least the silver/brave weapons had downsides to using them like stat penalties after attacking, but I can't remember how much of a hindrance they were tbh)

Iron weapons just straight up much better than steel and silver, full stop
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For those of you saying the durability in BotW isn't bad, play master mode + DLC

If it's fine poorly, yeah. If not, it's usually not a problem.
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without durability there wouldn't be a zod rune to barter with xd
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It can be a great mechanic but really hard to do effectively. Basically if you cant do it perfectly, dont bother because itll just make the game worse if not done well.

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kirbymuncher posted...

ok real talk

what is functionally the difference between action games with weapon durability and shooters with limited ammo

I think you should be asking moreso about ADVENTURE games with weapon durability vs shooters with limited ammo.

Because in that case, the important thing to note is that shooters are short-term games in comparison, and are often more self-contained in their bursts of gameplay usually within a level.

Adventure games and RPGs are long-burns with more investment. So finding a more powerful or rare weapon or piece of armor is often the result of extended exploration and possibly the intended or surprise goal for a big effort.

Also, shooters are more competitively balanced, so you might get an awesome weapon but it shouldnt be too extreme in its power and abilities.
Meanwhile adventure games and RPGs dont need to worry about that, so you might find a rare sword that does exponentially more damage than others or has some innate effects that change your whole experience radically. Theres room for more significance in the better gear.

So in a shooter you may run out of ammo, but you can either find more in the right spot or find another weapon nearby that should be viable for the situation if the game is balanced well. But in the scenarios were talking about, losing a rare sword makes much more of a difference in your capabilities, is harder to replace, undoes a lot more hard work, and it simply means something different to the player.

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Yeah, I ain't about that. I'm pretty annoyed that Fire Emblem went back to it
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Generally I don't like it as a feature, but there are plenty of games with weapon durability that are great

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Fantastein posted...

I love the old Fire Emblem games, and I didn't mind Fates, but I started playing Three Houses a few days ago, and god I didn't realize how much I missed weapon durability.

Yes you horde the good weapons until the end of the game, but at least that means you actually have to make a conscious decision about what weapons you're using.
In Fates it was pretty much just a matter of 'might as well spam Killing Edges' or whatever because it's not like I had anything to lose by doing so. Admittedly, at least the silver/brave weapons had downsides to using them like stat penalties after attacking, but I can't remember how much of a hindrance they were tbh)

Imo this would be mitigated well if weapons had durability per map. So maybe you have five hits with the Killing Edge but it resets after the map is over.
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scar the 1 posted...

Imo this would be mitigated well if weapons had durability per map. So maybe you have five hits with the Killing Edge but it resets after the map is over.

Thats how magic works now. But you can repair them and weapon skills cost extra durability. I think Three Houses does durability very well.

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i don't like the feature but games have been good enough in other aspects to offset it for me
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D2 did a good job of it.

Got a sweet runeword? Cool, use it.

Its broken? So pay a bunch of gold to use it again. Trade off makes sense.
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